Processing in RAW

[ft22]

I was wondering how other people process thier photos that are in RAW.Do you go buy your eye and do what is more pleasing to you? Or do you go by the histogram to make your pics better? I use Photoshop Elements 6.0.

[Gooshin]

first thing i do is just hit "auto" on both white balance and exposure

usualy auto white balance does the trick, but if it was tricky lighting conditions i go in manually and fiddle with the temperature slider until i "feel" it the way i want it

it is KEY to have a calibrated monitor at this point, for the longest time my blacks had a bluish tint to them until my friend pointed it out.


as for exposure controls, i eye ball it, on every single picture.

While you cant rely on the histogram (since one thing it doesnt show is noise) 100% of the time, use it as a testing mechanism against your tweaks.


personaly i apply ample effort on every photo while post processing.

i know its tedious, but way easier than developing and enlarging in a darkroom

[kerrowdown]

At the end of the day, just tweak them around until your happy with them.

If it's for a client you must get it right by using a calibrated workflow through each step of the process. This setup will also enable repeatability when it comes to reprints etc.

[mithrandir]

I use Lightroom 2.0. I have a set of presets that I have developed. I use them to quickly prep the picture (adjusting for my camera and lens). From there, it is eyeball it until it looks like what was in my mind when I took the shot.

[Seafood]

I am just getting ready to jump into the world of RAW. I have experimented with RAW therapee and found the process of downloading....doing PP (which I dont understand) and then converting to jpegs to be EXTREMELY time consuming and laborious.

I was wondering if you all would do a few things.

1. I dont want to break the bank. $90 for Elements 6 is a bit high for me. Is it worth going back and getting 4.0 or 5.0
2. How does Lightroom differ from Elements?
3. would you mind taking me through your workflow step by step so I can understand a bit better how this whole thing is done?

Thanks!

[SpecialK]

Originally Posted by Seafood

I am just getting ready to jump into the world of RAW. I have experimented with RAW therapee and found the process of downloading....doing PP (which I dont understand) and then converting to jpegs to be EXTREMELY time consuming and laborious.

I was wondering if you all would do a few things.

1. I dont want to break the bank. $90 for Elements 6 is a bit high for me. Is it worth going back and getting 4.0 or 5.0
2. How does Lightroom differ from Elements?
3. would you mind taking me through your workflow step by step so I can understand a bit better how this whole thing is done?

Thanks!

You can do similar images (that need the same adjustments) in a batch, and you don't need to watch it in action, so that can save a little time.

If you don't understand, then you ned to study a bit. Ask (someone who uses RAWTheraoy, ot me) for specific progarm answers.

The workflow question has been answered in several long threads. Search around.