Did you go through the awkward adolescents of over processing?

Schmidlapper · 07-14-2012, 04:37 AM

You know the quick rush of your first pro plug-in and how it made you feel, pretty soon you're buying more, and recreating every aspect of shadow in your photos. Then one day while you're looking at your photos it finally hits you, You've become a plug-in abuser, you're processing things that don't need it just to get that rush. You've become gaudy. That my friends is an important day, and I am right there beside you. I'm still at the tentative shaky stage of slide it to the left, tone it back a little more, and I think I'm going to be all right. Now like any obsessive I need to go back and redo my entire body of work over. Don't you just love digital?

**Rondec** · 07-14-2012, 04:56 AM - **1 Like**

Tastes change over time. I am convinced that most of the people doing lots of filters through instagram are going to hate them in a couple of years, but right now they seem cool. Still, as long as you keep your original files, you can always go back and change them later on, if you want.

slackercruster · 07-14-2012, 05:20 AM

Great stuff at the PPG Rondec!

magkelly · 07-14-2012, 07:25 AM

That's why I keep the original raw or jpeg file separate. I make copies of the photos and use that file to work with. I also work saving several PSD and TIFF's at different times. So later if I think I went a little overboard with the enhancements I can step backwards. But that's also why I do a lot of my processing in Camera Raw first. So I can take the file to the point where I think I want it without it being destructive. After that if I usually use a filter it's because I want an additional special effect. But all my sharpening and cropping and real edits I've already done but it's done in such a way that I can step back and undo it easily. If worse comes to worst I even have the original folder to make more copies from. I don't just do it all then throw the working copies and the original out. That wouldn't be very smart. With CR I don't need to save as many PSD's as I used to because CR keeps all those edits in a side car but still I like to keep 3 or 4 versions of my photo at different stages so I can easily step backwards.

I don't really do that very often though go back and second guess myself. I have with some very old stuff, but that's mostly because I feel I can do more with the new version of PS/CR then I could then. I'm pretty aware of what I want to do and I usually know when I've done too much. I'm conservative on my sharpening and such to begin with. Unless I'm really going for a grunge effect or a retro one or I'm working with a photo that needs a lot of color, like one with an insect, I don't tend to over pop my photos. I almost always look at what I am doing and step back a tiny step from what I think I want, use just a tad less sharpening or whatever. It seems to work out best that way in the end.

Last edited by magkelly; 07-14-2012 at 07:32 AM.

**Rondec** · 07-14-2012, 08:59 AM

Originally posted by slackercruster

Great stuff at the PPG Rondec!

Thanks!

sb in ak · 07-14-2012, 12:01 PM

Originally posted by magkelly

That's why I keep the original raw or jpeg file separate. I make copies of the photos and use that file to work with. I also work saving several PSD and TIFF's at different times. So later if I think I went a little overboard with the enhancements I can step backwards. But that's also why I do a lot of my processing in Camera Raw first. So I can take the file to the point where I think I want it without it being destructive. After that if I usually use a filter it's because I want an additional special effect. But all my sharpening and cropping and real edits I've already done but it's done in such a way that I can step back and undo it easily. If worse comes to worst I even have the original folder to make more copies from. I don't just do it all then throw the working copies and the original out. That wouldn't be very smart. With CR I don't need to save as many PSD's as I used to because CR keeps all those edits in a side car but still I like to keep 3 or 4 versions of my photo at different stages so I can easily step backwards.

I try to do this. Keep the RAW files, and then have a photoshop file with smart filters, so I can go back and redo sharpening, etc. I find that I do often go a little overboard when learning a new plugin (Silver Efex, for example, is one of my favorites and one that I found myself going overboard in the beginning). Keeping the originals allows me to go redo it if I feel like I need to.

civiletti · 07-14-2012, 10:24 PM

I started out conservatively and have become more adventurous with experience.

deaning · 07-16-2012, 02:24 AM

Current favs are Viveza 2 and Exposure 4, Love the realism of the filmstocks and often use Kodak 100G because I used to shoot with it. Viveza's group function can make all the difference to select areas of the shot that are a bit flat as I like vibrance and colour.

Oh, and yes, I did go overboard at first, now I let the shot dictate it's needs.

**baro-nite** · 07-17-2012, 05:13 AM

I used to routinely boost saturation, not a lot but definitely a bit more "vibrant" than true-to-life. I've gotten over that and now only change saturation to compensate for a strong contrast curve -- boost for a flat curve and reduce for a deep curve -- or when I want a particular effect (over- or under-saturated). I still tend to push sharpening but am gradually pulling that back too. Having spent many hours honing my PP skills I am now trying to do a better job with capture.

TomTextura · 07-17-2012, 06:26 AM

Great thread title!

TomTextura · 07-17-2012, 06:36 AM

I used to use the presets in Lightroom a fair amount but as I've become more experienced I can usually dial in the look I want without using any of the presets. I feel better going about it that way. Sometimes you don't notice right away what all a preset adds in, like grain that maybe you didn't want. I try to avoid preset for the most part these days but I have yet to try ones other than those that come installed with the program. My post processing work flow is quite simple. I'm really only truly capable of using Lightroom. Photoshop may as well be in Chinese (I really want to learn Chinese though!

). The SilkyPix PDCU can drive me crazy and I've mostly given up on using it as it's rather limited and buggy. Beyond that, I haven't tried anything. I love how Lightroom is completely non-destructive though. I also use the Virtual Copies to create different versions of the image or compare two or more versions against each other. Having the edit history available to scroll through in LR is very nice too. My current weakness is resisting the temptation to dial the contrast and clarity way up.

chesebert · 07-18-2012, 08:01 PM

Originally posted by TomTextura

I used to use the presets in Lightroom a fair amount but as I've become more experienced I can usually dial in the look I want without using any of the presets. I feel better going about it that way. Sometimes you don't notice right away what all a preset adds in, like grain that maybe you didn't want. I try to avoid preset for the most part these days but I have yet to try ones other than those that come installed with the program. My post processing work flow is quite simple. I'm really only truly capable of using Lightroom. Photoshop may as well be in Chinese (I really want to learn Chinese though!

). The SilkyPix PDCU can drive me crazy and I've mostly given up on using it as it's rather limited and buggy. Beyond that, I haven't tried anything. I love how Lightroom is completely non-destructive though. I also use the Virtual Copies to create different versions of the image or compare two or more versions against each other. Having the edit history available to scroll through in LR is very nice too. My current weakness is resisting the temptation to dial the contrast and clarity way up.

I use preset all the time; granted, those are my own presets. I have also found too much clarity and vibrance can destroy pixie dust, as are too high contrast and brightness. I generally spend the most amount of my processing time cropping and adjusting color temp/color to match "pentax" color.

TomTextura · 07-18-2012, 08:18 PM

Originally posted by chesebert

I use preset all the time; granted, those are my own presets. I have also found too much clarity and vibrance can destroy pixie dust, as are too high contrast and brightness. I generally spend the most amount of my processing time cropping and adjusting color temp/color to match "pentax" color.

I'm still working on building my own presets that quickly take me back to how I've edited other pics. It just seems like each image is unique though. I'll admit I have had a hard time getting the color results out of Lightroom that I would get from the in-camera JPEGs or PDCU, which at first frustrated me a lot but these days I feel it's worth the trade off for how much else I can do with LR. I will tone down colors more often than I will boost them with vibrance as I tend to like the muted, desaturated look a little more. Do you know of any good downloadable presets for LR that match well with Pentax? It'd be convenient to have the the different K-5 Custom Image settings available in LR and then tweak the image from there. From what I understand such a feature is available in LR for Nikon cameras. Wish that were the case with Pentax. I've tried working with the JPEG next to the RAW in Lightroom trying to make my own presets to match the K-5's Custom Image settings but my patience, eye, and editing skills just weren't up to the job.

chesebert · 07-18-2012, 08:46 PM

I thought someone here created a Pentax color preset for neutral and landscape? I am not sure if those are actually the same as Pentax color, but they do look more "pentax" to my eyes than embedded or Adobe standard.

**PPPPPP42** · 07-24-2012, 08:58 AM

If you always keep all the originals its no big deal.
As far as what is "right" and when to stop I look at post processing (which I am horrible at) like women's makeup, if you can clearly see what you did then you've either made the picture a goth (HDR and artistic effects go here) or a "lady of the night" (over processed or sloppily processed).

07-14-2012, 04:37 AM	#1
Schmidlapper Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Photos: Gallery Posts: 534	Did you go through the awkward adolescents of over processing? You know the quick rush of your first pro plug-in and how it made you feel, pretty soon you're buying more, and recreating every aspect of shadow in your photos. Then one day while you're looking at your photos it finally hits you, You've become a plug-in abuser, you're processing things that don't need it just to get that rush. You've become gaudy. That my friends is an important day, and I am right there beside you. I'm still at the tentative shaky stage of slide it to the left, tone it back a little more, and I think I'm going to be all right. Now like any obsessive I need to go back and redo my entire body of work over. Don't you just love digital?

07-17-2012, 06:36 AM	#11
TomTextura Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Denver Photos: Albums Posts: 570	I used to use the presets in Lightroom a fair amount but as I've become more experienced I can usually dial in the look I want without using any of the presets. I feel better going about it that way. Sometimes you don't notice right away what all a preset adds in, like grain that maybe you didn't want. I try to avoid preset for the most part these days but I have yet to try ones other than those that come installed with the program. My post processing work flow is quite simple. I'm really only truly capable of using Lightroom. Photoshop may as well be in Chinese (I really want to learn Chinese though!). The SilkyPix PDCU can drive me crazy and I've mostly given up on using it as it's rather limited and buggy. Beyond that, I haven't tried anything. I love how Lightroom is completely non-destructive though. I also use the Virtual Copies to create different versions of the image or compare two or more versions against each other. Having the edit history available to scroll through in LR is very nice too. My current weakness is resisting the temptation to dial the contrast and clarity way up.

07-18-2012, 08:01 PM	#12
chesebert Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Chicago Photos: Gallery Posts: 360	Originally posted by TomTextura I used to use the presets in Lightroom a fair amount but as I've become more experienced I can usually dial in the look I want without using any of the presets. I feel better going about it that way. Sometimes you don't notice right away what all a preset adds in, like grain that maybe you didn't want. I try to avoid preset for the most part these days but I have yet to try ones other than those that come installed with the program. My post processing work flow is quite simple. I'm really only truly capable of using Lightroom. Photoshop may as well be in Chinese (I really want to learn Chinese though!). The SilkyPix PDCU can drive me crazy and I've mostly given up on using it as it's rather limited and buggy. Beyond that, I haven't tried anything. I love how Lightroom is completely non-destructive though. I also use the Virtual Copies to create different versions of the image or compare two or more versions against each other. Having the edit history available to scroll through in LR is very nice too. My current weakness is resisting the temptation to dial the contrast and clarity way up. I use preset all the time; granted, those are my own presets. I have also found too much clarity and vibrance can destroy pixie dust, as are too high contrast and brightness. I generally spend the most amount of my processing time cropping and adjusting color temp/color to match "pentax" color.

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07-14-2012, 04:56 AM - 1 Like	#2
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,652	Tastes change over time. I am convinced that most of the people doing lots of filters through instagram are going to hate them in a couple of years, but right now they seem cool. Still, as long as you keep your original files, you can always go back and change them later on, if you want.

07-14-2012, 05:20 AM	#3
slackercruster Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: NE, USA Posts: 1,302	Great stuff at the PPG Rondec!

07-14-2012, 07:25 AM	#4
magkelly Veteran Member Join Date: May 2010 Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,901	That's why I keep the original raw or jpeg file separate. I make copies of the photos and use that file to work with. I also work saving several PSD and TIFF's at different times. So later if I think I went a little overboard with the enhancements I can step backwards. But that's also why I do a lot of my processing in Camera Raw first. So I can take the file to the point where I think I want it without it being destructive. After that if I usually use a filter it's because I want an additional special effect. But all my sharpening and cropping and real edits I've already done but it's done in such a way that I can step back and undo it easily. If worse comes to worst I even have the original folder to make more copies from. I don't just do it all then throw the working copies and the original out. That wouldn't be very smart. With CR I don't need to save as many PSD's as I used to because CR keeps all those edits in a side car but still I like to keep 3 or 4 versions of my photo at different stages so I can easily step backwards. I don't really do that very often though go back and second guess myself. I have with some very old stuff, but that's mostly because I feel I can do more with the new version of PS/CR then I could then. I'm pretty aware of what I want to do and I usually know when I've done too much. I'm conservative on my sharpening and such to begin with. Unless I'm really going for a grunge effect or a retro one or I'm working with a photo that needs a lot of color, like one with an insect, I don't tend to over pop my photos. I almost always look at what I am doing and step back a tiny step from what I think I want, use just a tad less sharpening or whatever. It seems to work out best that way in the end. Last edited by magkelly; 07-14-2012 at 07:32 AM.

07-14-2012, 08:59 AM	#5
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,652	Originally posted by slackercruster Great stuff at the PPG Rondec! Thanks!

07-14-2012, 12:01 PM	#6
sb in ak Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Omaha, NE Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 612	Originally posted by magkelly That's why I keep the original raw or jpeg file separate. I make copies of the photos and use that file to work with. I also work saving several PSD and TIFF's at different times. So later if I think I went a little overboard with the enhancements I can step backwards. But that's also why I do a lot of my processing in Camera Raw first. So I can take the file to the point where I think I want it without it being destructive. After that if I usually use a filter it's because I want an additional special effect. But all my sharpening and cropping and real edits I've already done but it's done in such a way that I can step back and undo it easily. If worse comes to worst I even have the original folder to make more copies from. I don't just do it all then throw the working copies and the original out. That wouldn't be very smart. With CR I don't need to save as many PSD's as I used to because CR keeps all those edits in a side car but still I like to keep 3 or 4 versions of my photo at different stages so I can easily step backwards. I try to do this. Keep the RAW files, and then have a photoshop file with smart filters, so I can go back and redo sharpening, etc. I find that I do often go a little overboard when learning a new plugin (Silver Efex, for example, is one of my favorites and one that I found myself going overboard in the beginning). Keeping the originals allows me to go redo it if I feel like I need to.

07-14-2012, 10:24 PM	#7
civiletti Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Oregon Photos: Albums Posts: 1,435	I started out conservatively and have become more adventurous with experience.

07-16-2012, 02:24 AM	#8
deaning Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Photos: Albums Posts: 737	Current favs are Viveza 2 and Exposure 4, Love the realism of the filmstocks and often use Kodak 100G because I used to shoot with it. Viveza's group function can make all the difference to select areas of the shot that are a bit flat as I like vibrance and colour. Oh, and yes, I did go overboard at first, now I let the shot dictate it's needs.

07-17-2012, 05:13 AM	#9
baro-nite Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: North Carolina, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,294	I used to routinely boost saturation, not a lot but definitely a bit more "vibrant" than true-to-life. I've gotten over that and now only change saturation to compensate for a strong contrast curve -- boost for a flat curve and reduce for a deep curve -- or when I want a particular effect (over- or under-saturated). I still tend to push sharpening but am gradually pulling that back too. Having spent many hours honing my PP skills I am now trying to do a better job with capture.

07-17-2012, 06:26 AM	#10
TomTextura Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Denver Photos: Albums Posts: 570	Great thread title!

07-18-2012, 08:18 PM	#13
TomTextura Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Denver Photos: Albums Posts: 570	Originally posted by chesebert I use preset all the time; granted, those are my own presets. I have also found too much clarity and vibrance can destroy pixie dust, as are too high contrast and brightness. I generally spend the most amount of my processing time cropping and adjusting color temp/color to match "pentax" color. I'm still working on building my own presets that quickly take me back to how I've edited other pics. It just seems like each image is unique though. I'll admit I have had a hard time getting the color results out of Lightroom that I would get from the in-camera JPEGs or PDCU, which at first frustrated me a lot but these days I feel it's worth the trade off for how much else I can do with LR. I will tone down colors more often than I will boost them with vibrance as I tend to like the muted, desaturated look a little more. Do you know of any good downloadable presets for LR that match well with Pentax? It'd be convenient to have the the different K-5 Custom Image settings available in LR and then tweak the image from there. From what I understand such a feature is available in LR for Nikon cameras. Wish that were the case with Pentax. I've tried working with the JPEG next to the RAW in Lightroom trying to make my own presets to match the K-5's Custom Image settings but my patience, eye, and editing skills just weren't up to the job.

07-18-2012, 08:46 PM	#14
chesebert Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Chicago Photos: Gallery Posts: 360	I thought someone here created a Pentax color preset for neutral and landscape? I am not sure if those are actually the same as Pentax color, but they do look more "pentax" to my eyes than embedded or Adobe standard.

07-24-2012, 08:58 AM	#15
PPPPPP42 Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Wisconsin Photos: Albums Posts: 947	If you always keep all the originals its no big deal. As far as what is "right" and when to stop I look at post processing (which I am horrible at) like women's makeup, if you can clearly see what you did then you've either made the picture a goth (HDR and artistic effects go here) or a "lady of the night" (over processed or sloppily processed).