Originally posted by mccririck I have never really done any Digital processing, so I watched some YouTube videos. It looks quite complicated! I am currently shooting in RAW and JPEG as I understand you are best to process in RAW. Some people say RAW+?
I think I understand sharpening, but it looks like it can get complicated with different layers. I think I'm worried my photos might end up looking artificial.
I had the same learning curve that you are describing. I am still not what I consider good at it (or photography in general) but the learning of digital developing is a skill in an of itself.
Tip #1. Start out with a good image. This means getting your exposure right, getting good lighting, having good composition and exposure and so on a so forth. You say 'but that has nothing to do with digital processing!?'... but I say it has everything to do with it. Digital processing can make a good image better but it cannot correct things that are just done wrong from the start. You have to know what your end goal is going to be with each image.
Typically, at least for me, this has revolved a lot around exposure and light balance.
By "light balance" I would give the example of say you take a photo of something that is beautifully lit but the sky in the background is completely blown out...it's an example of bad light balance. However on the flip side if your background is lit just as good as your foreground and subject (to the desired effect) then it is 'good light balance'. Things that are bright and shiny reflecting light spots and whatnot can be your nemesis.
Take Away: The more you have to jack around with a picture the more fake looking it can become. The less you have to correct basic errors the better.
Tip #2. Whatever software you use--read the instructions. They even have classes about just post processing. There are also numerous videos online. Even the older versions and tutorial videos for those will be helpful. Just take an image--any image of yours-- upload it and carefully go through each setting and button one by one. See what it does. When doing this--TAKE NOTES.
Later on when I need to move along to another computer I will be changing software. I will not use Lightroom any more because they went to a subscription based model. Sorry but if I buy it it's mine and I won't pay $10 a month or whatever for the privilege of using their tools. That said your basic tools and adjustments will be about the same thing even across various platforms. They might call it something different but it's basically the same stuff (more or less) although some programs might have a better work flow than others.
Take Away: Reading, watching videos (regarding any software) for tips and hints, and just literally jumping right in and playing around will pay off in the long term. Taking a class will pay for itself. Heck, go to the local university where kids are learning photography and pay somebody $100 to give you a couple of tutorials and/or demonstrations. That kind of investment in time and/or money will pay off.
You can take the time to become 'self taught' but that doesn't mean you have to start completely from scratch. My personal interest level in software and computers is about 25 times less than it is in photography itself so my drive to just go it alone is not that great. I did just that---but it was mundane and not all that exciting to me. I will probably never become an expert in baking up photoshopped images because that is not where my interests lie, but if you use digital tools to clean up the images you take it becomes a supplement to achieving the fundamentals like described in point #1.