Learning digital processing
Discussion
As mentioned in another thread, I've finally bought a decent digital SLR.
It's for both my other half and me - she's a keen artist wishing to learn photography, I'm a photography graduate from the last days of professional film, although I've never worked in the industry in any capacity.
I had a darkroom at 15, and became by most standards a pretty good developer and printer, including most of the more advanced techniques employed in the darkroom.
However, I'm at a complete beginner level when it comes to digital processing. It doesn't help that I'm colourblind, so this is my first foray into good quality colour work. Previously I focused on fine art B&W, in 35mm and medium format.
Any guides/courses/books you'd recommend on learning the ropes in turning reasonable exposures into high quality finished images, for screen and print?
Subjects will be very varied, from family and individual portraits, wildlife, macro and landscape, so generic learning is good!
It's for both my other half and me - she's a keen artist wishing to learn photography, I'm a photography graduate from the last days of professional film, although I've never worked in the industry in any capacity.
I had a darkroom at 15, and became by most standards a pretty good developer and printer, including most of the more advanced techniques employed in the darkroom.
However, I'm at a complete beginner level when it comes to digital processing. It doesn't help that I'm colourblind, so this is my first foray into good quality colour work. Previously I focused on fine art B&W, in 35mm and medium format.
Any guides/courses/books you'd recommend on learning the ropes in turning reasonable exposures into high quality finished images, for screen and print?
Subjects will be very varied, from family and individual portraits, wildlife, macro and landscape, so generic learning is good!
I'm in the minority here as I hate learning from books, or Youtubes, or Facespace.
I too started out with wet film, and moved from medium format to DSLR in 2000, and I learned by taking a photo, deciding what was wrong with it and then experimenting to fix the problem. I've done that about a million times since, and now have a workflow that suits me.
I'm sure others will have books to recommend, but IMHO a problem solved by oneself is 'proper learned' - one that is solved by another, then spoon fed is only half learned.
As I say, I'm sure to be in the minority on this... but my tip... just jump in and test the water.
I too started out with wet film, and moved from medium format to DSLR in 2000, and I learned by taking a photo, deciding what was wrong with it and then experimenting to fix the problem. I've done that about a million times since, and now have a workflow that suits me.
I'm sure others will have books to recommend, but IMHO a problem solved by oneself is 'proper learned' - one that is solved by another, then spoon fed is only half learned.
As I say, I'm sure to be in the minority on this... but my tip... just jump in and test the water.
Pleny of options to pick from.
If you want online courses, then Lynda.com and kelbytraining.com have some good courses for Lightroom and Photoshop. You can join for up for just a month, so not much of a commitment.
Scott Kelby has written some good books on LR and PS.
Your local college might offer an introductory course on digital processing.
Just pick whatever works best for you.
If you want online courses, then Lynda.com and kelbytraining.com have some good courses for Lightroom and Photoshop. You can join for up for just a month, so not much of a commitment.
Scott Kelby has written some good books on LR and PS.
Your local college might offer an introductory course on digital processing.
Just pick whatever works best for you.
Photoshop is the industry standard. You can get a free 30 day trial from the Adobe website. It has a tutorial thing built in, and there are 2,385,097,056,930,117 websites/youtubes/forums/books around to make sure you're properly confused. Scott Kelby has written books on each version of PS/Elements/Lightroom.I like the clarity of these.
Much depends on how much editing to want to do. There are some pretty good free downloads - Faststone do a good one* - and GIMP is freeware that users say is pretty much up to Photoshop standards. Photoshop Elements is the entry level one, and is an amazingly powerful bit of kit that is likely to do pretty much anything you are likely to need. Currently going for around £60, I think. Lightroom is a bit more, and good if you want to get through loads of images quickly, but lacks the editing power of Elements (though it can do a heck of a lot of stuff). Many FE colleges offer intro courses, and it may be worth looking at one of these.
Much depends on how much editing to want to do. There are some pretty good free downloads - Faststone do a good one* - and GIMP is freeware that users say is pretty much up to Photoshop standards. Photoshop Elements is the entry level one, and is an amazingly powerful bit of kit that is likely to do pretty much anything you are likely to need. Currently going for around £60, I think. Lightroom is a bit more, and good if you want to get through loads of images quickly, but lacks the editing power of Elements (though it can do a heck of a lot of stuff). Many FE colleges offer intro courses, and it may be worth looking at one of these.
- Only download any of these from the manufacture's site. There are places that try to install nasty toolbars and redirectors on some sites.
Use YouTube to learn the techniques but always keep in mind that you will just use these techniques to create YOUR vision of your picture.
Learning by trial and error will see you miss out on some clever techniques developed by experts and slow your progress.
+1 for any of the Kelby books/tutorials/videos. Lots of his stuff is on YouTube as well
Learning by trial and error will see you miss out on some clever techniques developed by experts and slow your progress.
+1 for any of the Kelby books/tutorials/videos. Lots of his stuff is on YouTube as well
If you want most of general dark room editing then Adobe Lightroom is quite a 'soft environment' to manipulate your images. Most of the changes are sliders with easy to approach tags like 'exposure', 'saturation', etc.
It also does cataloguing (in fact it requires it) so you can keep track of your photos with thinks like keywords that you can easily add to them during importing.
There are free tutorials online in many capacities, I'd recommend the Adobe TV site. Maybe even worth sitting through a couple of these and see if this is a way you want to learn? As Mr Carter points out, not everyone learns in the same way
For more 'fine grain' editing (layering images, pixel-level control, etc) you could try Photoshop Elements. A bit more involved, but again, free tutorials online from Adobe TV.
LOTS of tutorials available on YouTube but the quality is somewhat patchy (as user-created content tends to be) but if you can find a decent channel then there are always things to learn
It also does cataloguing (in fact it requires it) so you can keep track of your photos with thinks like keywords that you can easily add to them during importing.
There are free tutorials online in many capacities, I'd recommend the Adobe TV site. Maybe even worth sitting through a couple of these and see if this is a way you want to learn? As Mr Carter points out, not everyone learns in the same way
For more 'fine grain' editing (layering images, pixel-level control, etc) you could try Photoshop Elements. A bit more involved, but again, free tutorials online from Adobe TV.
LOTS of tutorials available on YouTube but the quality is somewhat patchy (as user-created content tends to be) but if you can find a decent channel then there are always things to learn
Cheers chaps,
Completely agree with regards self learning - it's my favoured method but I typically find a little foundation building up front pays dividends in having a good platform to experiment from!
Had a look at Kirby - the other half is very taken with the idea, she's very much a visual learner so having the ability to have a vid on tablet whilst out trying things out will be great for her. Another Christmas present found...
Hopefully it'll give me a headstart too.
Think I have a copy of PS Elements on the laptop, so will start there and see where we go.
Loving getting back into things, I took the camera out for the 3 minute walk to the shops earlier just to have a play in some decent winter sunlight. Even bagged one decent shot, so doing much better than my student days!
Completely agree with regards self learning - it's my favoured method but I typically find a little foundation building up front pays dividends in having a good platform to experiment from!
Had a look at Kirby - the other half is very taken with the idea, she's very much a visual learner so having the ability to have a vid on tablet whilst out trying things out will be great for her. Another Christmas present found...
Hopefully it'll give me a headstart too.
Think I have a copy of PS Elements on the laptop, so will start there and see where we go.
Loving getting back into things, I took the camera out for the 3 minute walk to the shops earlier just to have a play in some decent winter sunlight. Even bagged one decent shot, so doing much better than my student days!
Sway,
I'm CP2 colour blind, for me, i found it only slightly affects my photos, far less than i originally thought. I've used youtube to learn certain tips/tricks and asked on here and Talk Photography about other methods. Overall, it's been self teaching that has really helped me, just messing around with images in Lightroom until i understand EXACTLY what things do! Also, try Digital Photography magazine (future PLC). I get my editions through my iPad, and they routinely feature how to's on portrait, landscape and everything in between for post processing. Also, they offer built in video tutorials in the magazine.
Overall, it depends on your learning style, VARK - Visual, Audio, Reading or Kinaesthetic - I'm a combination of V, R, K.
I'm CP2 colour blind, for me, i found it only slightly affects my photos, far less than i originally thought. I've used youtube to learn certain tips/tricks and asked on here and Talk Photography about other methods. Overall, it's been self teaching that has really helped me, just messing around with images in Lightroom until i understand EXACTLY what things do! Also, try Digital Photography magazine (future PLC). I get my editions through my iPad, and they routinely feature how to's on portrait, landscape and everything in between for post processing. Also, they offer built in video tutorials in the magazine.
Overall, it depends on your learning style, VARK - Visual, Audio, Reading or Kinaesthetic - I'm a combination of V, R, K.
Edited by HedgehogFromHell on Sunday 8th December 23:24
Sway,
I'm CP2 colour blind, for me, i found it only slightly affects my photos, far less than i originally thought. I've used youtube to learn certain tips/tricks and asked on here and Talk Photography about other methods. Overall, it's been self teaching that has really helped me, just messing around with images in Lightroom until i understand EXACTLY what things do! Also, try Digital Photography magazine (future PLC). I get my editions through my iPad, and they routinely feature how to's on portrait, landscape and everything in between for post processing. Also, they offer built in video tutorials in the magazine.
Overall, it depends on your learning style, VARK - Visual, Audio, Reading or Kinaesthetic - I'm a combination of V, R, K.
I'm CP2 colour blind, for me, i found it only slightly affects my photos, far less than i originally thought. I've used youtube to learn certain tips/tricks and asked on here and Talk Photography about other methods. Overall, it's been self teaching that has really helped me, just messing around with images in Lightroom until i understand EXACTLY what things do! Also, try Digital Photography magazine (future PLC). I get my editions through my iPad, and they routinely feature how to's on portrait, landscape and everything in between for post processing. Also, they offer built in video tutorials in the magazine.
Overall, it depends on your learning style, VARK - Visual, Audio, Reading or Kinaesthetic - I'm a combination of V, R, K.
Edited by HedgehogFromHell on Sunday 8th December 23:29
The most important thing to learn is getting an "eye" for what can or will improve a picture.
I've found the best way to learn this is to watch lots of people correcting, fixing and adjusting pictures though whatever medium. Then it is a lot easier to use any program you like to achieve what you want.
I've found the best way to learn this is to watch lots of people correcting, fixing and adjusting pictures though whatever medium. Then it is a lot easier to use any program you like to achieve what you want.
Have a look at PHlearn on Youtube or check their website
http://phlearn.com/
http://phlearn.com/
Edited by LandR on Monday 9th December 23:21
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