Photoshop workflow

So, im not very photoshop savy, but i have come up with my own workflow for a lot of my topside photos, but after shooting underwater my first time yesterday and working on my photos, i realized its a bit different then what i do for anythig i shoot topside. I was wondering if anyone has an suggestions on any books or online tutorials on processing underwater images. Or if anyone is willing to share some of their secrets. I have CS2 but just started using it. I use to use elements 2.0, but im slowly getting the hang of CS2. Thanks in advance.

Dan

Dan,

I highly recommend that you try Photoshop Lightroom for this type of work. You can download a trial version for free and the full version is around $250.

Cheers

James

A good primer is Digital Imaging for the Underwater Photographer by Jack and Sue Drafahl. The last edition I know is not quite up to date with CS2 or CS3 but does cover the basics quite well.

On this site there are a number of good threads like

http://www.wetpixel.com/i.php/full/getting...derwater-blues/

My own workflow sequence usually includes one or more of the following in the order, Import and apply keywords etc, discard lousy shots (most of them) and sort the few that I want to keep and work on, Crop, Set contrast in Curves, Clean up particles and Backscatter, Color balance, Sharpen and Noise Reduction

I agree with James, think about trying Lightroom or Aperture if you have a Mac.

A good primer is Digital Imaging for the Underwater Photographer by Jack and Sue Drafahl. The last edition I know is not quite up to date with CS2 or CS3 but does cover the basics quite well.

On this site there are a number of good threads like

http://www.wetpixel.com/i.php/full/getting...derwater-blues/

My own workflow sequence usually includes one or more of the following in the order, Import and apply keywords etc, discard lousy shots (most of them) and sort the few that I want to keep and work on, Crop, Set contrast in Curves, Clean up particles and Backscatter, Color balance, Sharpen and Noise Reduction

I agree with James, think about trying Lightroom or Aperture if you have a Mac.

I wish I had a mac, but i am downloading it now. I have used it once or twice before just playing around with it a while back. Ill see how it works out for me. Thanks for the tips. What do you do to clean up backscatter? Just clone stamp? Thats what i did for my first couple shots, it worked out fairly well

I second Lightroom, it took me a while to get to grips with it but I now use it 90% of the time. It's great to be able to keyword and caption all your work at import then edit out the dross later and then (if I have to) I go to CS2 for fine adjustments.

Check this out for a few free tutorials which get you started:

http://www.photoshopuser.com/?page=lightro...import_catalogs

Martin

The spot healing brush is quicker (just click on the spot, no sampling step required) for most situations and will blend in better than the clone stamp, except when you are close to an edge in which case it will sample from an adjoining incorrect area - then one really has to use the clone tool

Quick question, does lightroom let you work on RAW files?

Edit: Not sure what happened there but here goes again

Yes Lightroom supports all raw formats.

So you can shoot, tag,import, clone out the spots, do a few exposure mods then export in jpg format or even resize and print without having to exit the program. It's pretty slick.

Like I said it takes a bit to get used to and you still need CS2 or equivalent for any major modifications.

Martin

Not only do lightroom and aperture let you work on your RAW files, the edits are non-destructive, so your original RAW file is never touched. In PS of course you have to be sure you keep a copy of your original file.

Quick question, does lightroom let you work on RAW files?

Lightroom, Photoshop CS3 are the right tools.

But for how to use them.....

- Scott Kelby's new book "Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3" - Kelbytraining.com

- "Photoshop <insert version here> for Digital Photographers"

- Membership to NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) - Photoshopuser.com

- Photoshop TV (now called Photoshop User TV) - PhotoshopTV.com

Hope this helps,

Joel

I can also highly recommend Lightroom. It will improve your workflow tenfold. I am more hesitant about recommending serious photoshop books. Most underwater photography is not about photoshopping. If you need ninja photoshop skills, then maybe a more advanced photography course is a better investment so you wont need those skills. You will be amazed at how much you will improve by going to an intense photography course/seminar.

Cor

I can also highly recommend Lightroom. It will improve your workflow tenfold. I am more hesitant about recommending serious photoshop books. Most underwater photography is not about photoshopping. If you need ninja photoshop skills, then maybe a more advanced photography course is a better investment so you wont need those skills. You will be amazed at how much you will improve by going to an intense photography course/seminar.

 

Cor

You're right, i hate using too much photoshop with any of my photos. I try to only do the basics, (sharpen, levels adjustment which is new to me, maybe add a bit of saturation/hue and crop if needed, which i dont like doing much either) It just seems like the first shots i took were pretty drab in color, but i suppose when i improve my photography skills underwater that will change without having to rely on photoshop for too much. I feel like they jsut look fake when I do that. I have pretty much just self taught everythign to myself with a little bit of help from some friends who also self taught themselves. I'll look around for some advanced courses, i've been wanting to do that anyways. Mahalo

Dan

Dan,

You can do all of that in Lightroom - so you're set!

Photoshop is really only needed for "local" adjustments now - for example masking stuff, working with layers, etc. Lightroom is pretty much all you need for "global" adjustments - ie anything that affects the whole image.

Cheers

James

If you are doing alot of the same things to your images just learn how to use actions for the main stuff. You can apply alot of settings to many images through the batch feature in the automate menu. Learning this feature will save you alot of time. Good luck.

If you are doing alot of the same things to your images just learn how to use actions for the main stuff. You can apply alot of settings to many images through the batch feature in the automate menu. Learning this feature will save you alot of time. Good luck.

Thanks for that tip. I use to use Digital Photo Professional to edit my RAW files and did that same thing, and then converted them to JPEG to work with in elements. I wasn't sure how to do that in PS but I will take a look at what you said about the batch feature. PS is still a bit new to me.