Man, editing pics really sucks up time and gets old in a hurry

[GoingUp]

Still going through my Nepal pictures. Working on getting the website up and running as well as going through the 1800 pictures I took to figure out which ones to include, then correcting them and resizing them for the web etc.

No fun.

On the plus side, I think I only have about 60 more pics to go, so then I can share everything with you fine folks

Edit: Still have a couple of panoramas to do, but here should be the majority of mine.

http://www.cheddarcheesemedia.com/nepal/ccmpictures.php

 

[jpeyton]

What software are you using to edit them?

 

[punchkin]

I think the more you view your pictures as fine works of art, the fewer you will shoot, the fewer you will pick, the fewer you will thus have to process, and you will WANT to spend more time processing each image. YMMV, and of course this does not apply to most sports and event shooters. For the rest, just set up a batch edit and be done with it.

 

[jpeyton]

Here's some advice:

Divide the photos into organized batches, either based on the day they were taken, or the specific place they were taken. Break down the 1800 into manageable chunks.

If you're not already, try using software like Aperture or Lightroom to sort through and edit the images (or even Picasa). Since they have gallery functions built-in, you can sort through and flag images you want to keep. Try quickly flagging first (spend a few moments on each image), then after you've cut the batch down once, go through the flagged photos again and spend more time scrutinizing each photo.

Don't worry about going through all the images quickly; set short term goals. For example, sorting through one day's worth of photos per day.

Worry about post-processing AFTER you've sorted through them. You work more efficiently if you do 'like' tasks at once...sort them all first...then post-process them all together. If you sort a little, then edit a little, then sort some more, etc., it gets very tedious.

 

[GoingUp]

Ive been using Bridge and PS3 to sort and edit them. Theres just so damned many to go through.

 

[jpeyton]

Download the Lightroom demo. Sorting and editing 1800 photos with Bridge/PS3 would be a PITA.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Download the Lightroom demo. Sorting and editing 1800 photos with Bridge/PS3 would be a PITA.

I've been thinking about buying LR already. I have a $150 GC with Adorama -- perhaps it'll go to that.

 

[OdiN]

LR is great.

Also - if you get exposure correct in-camera, you don't have to edit nearly as much

 

[pennylane]

Right now I only have Photoshop, but I sift through all my photos in a free Raw conversion software program, Raw Shooters Essential. It's a free, less fancy, outdated version of Lightroom. So it has gallery functions and lets you quickly export the RAW file to the format of your choice, like jpeg. Raw Shooters Essential is also convenient in that you can add pics to your export queue as you browse. You don't have to put them all in at once.

All I do in the program is go through all the pics I've taken and output a jpeg of the pics I think are worth a second look (with 0 editing). This probably filters out 70-80% of my pictures. This is especially useful with the "so-so" pics, because I can just export jpegs of them to compare with other pics later.

Then I look through those jpegs and delete the redundant ones (ie, several photos of almost the same shot--I figure out one(s) which I like best). This way I don't photoshop the same pic over and over.

So after a day of a couple hundred shots, I'm then looking at maybe only 30 shots I actually want to post-process and keep.

Of course I photoshop the RAW files, but the jpegs make a hugely useful guide. It makes things so much faster. Just the mental aspect of having only a few dozen pictures instead of a few hundred pictures makes it worth it. I find it more useful than just flagging pictures because that way you don't have to even look at the hundreds of pics to find the ones you like. It's also nice to compare before and after photoshop.

 

[punchkin]

Originally posted by: fanerman91
Right now I only have Photoshop, but I sift through all my photos in a free Raw conversion software program, Raw Shooters Essential. It's a free, less fancy, outdated version of Lightroom. So it has gallery functions and lets you quickly export the RAW file to the format of your choice, like jpeg.

All I do in the program is go through all the pics I've taken and output a jpeg of the pics I think are worth a second look. This probably filters out 70-80% of my pictures. This is especially useful with the "so-so" pics, because I can just export jpegs of them to compare with other pics later.

Then I look through those jpegs and delete the redundant ones (ie, several photos of almost the same shot--I figure out one(s) which I like best). This way I don't photoshop the same pic over and over.

So after a day of a couple hundred shots, I'm then looking at maybe only 30 shots I actually want to post-process and keep.

Of course I photoshop the RAW files, but the jpegs make a hugely useful guide. It makes things so much faster. Just the mental aspect of having only a few dozen pictures instead of a few hundred pictures makes it worth it. I find it more useful than just flagging pictures because that way you don't have to even look at the hundreds of pics to find the ones you like. It's also nice to compare before and after photoshop.

I like your method. The way I do the initial cull is by shooting RAW and small/reduced quality JPEGs, browse the JPEGs on the file-system with a quick viewer, then just delete the JPEG and RAW as a pair for the ones that didn't turn out well. I would like to have Lightroom, but can't afford it right now.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: OdiN
LR is great.

Also - if you get exposure correct in-camera, you don't have to edit nearly as much

Yikes, I just saw the price. :Q

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: OdiN
LR is great.

Also - if you get exposure correct in-camera, you don't have to edit nearly as much

Except that no one takes perfect photos

Plus on certain things, like portraits of old people, I'll give them some extra touching up in Photoshop to highlight the lines in their face etc, to make the photo more interesting.

 

[Jawo]

I feel ya! I just took 2200 in Peru that I'm beginning to sort through...I really need to reformat though so I don't want to install much new software on here.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
Still going through my Nepal pictures. Working on getting the website up and running as well as going through the 1800 pictures I took to figure out which ones to include, then correcting them and resizing them for the web etc.

No fun.

On the plus side, I think I only have about 60 more pics to go, so then I can share everything with you fine folks

bahahahahahahaha...

BACK IN THE OLD DAYS... we would have been more selective because there were only 36+ frames in the magazine and so much space in the lead bag to protect the film from X-rays. Then, sitting in the darkroom, sniff the F-Stop got old really quick.

/Shot 18 rolls in Scotland during 2 weeks. Let someone else develop them as the darkroom was 2 houses prior to that trip. Digital is too easy.

//tweaking my Hawai'i shots for prints in the house. PSP 8 color correction is not as good as my video editor

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs

Originally posted by: OdiN
LR is great.

Also - if you get exposure correct in-camera, you don't have to edit nearly as much

Except that no one takes perfect photos

Plus on certain things, like portraits of old people, I'll give them some extra touching up in Photoshop to highlight the lines in their face etc, to make the photo more interesting.

Speak for yourself

I don't take "perfect" photos, but the ones I do take, most of them I could just batch process through a simple sharpen/noise reduction and bam, done. To most people they will look great. Obviously I could enhance, etc. but why waste the time? I will spend extra time on some photos which can be excellent shots, vs. just your standard faire candid stuff.

Raw Shooter is nice, but it won't support the 40D. I used to use it, but since getting the 40D I have been using Lightroom.

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs

Originally posted by: OdiN
LR is great.

Also - if you get exposure correct in-camera, you don't have to edit nearly as much

Except that no one takes perfect photos

Plus on certain things, like portraits of old people, I'll give them some extra touching up in Photoshop to highlight the lines in their face etc, to make the photo more interesting.

Speak for yourself

I don't take "perfect" photos, but the ones I do take, most of them I could just batch process through a simple sharpen/noise reduction and bam, done. To most people they will look great. Obviously I could enhance, etc. but why waste the time? I will spend extra time on some photos which can be excellent shots, vs. just your standard faire candid stuff.

Raw Shooter is nice, but it won't support the 40D. I used to use it, but since getting the 40D I have been using Lightroom.

I setup photoshop to batch process a bunch, and it totally messed up the colors, no idea why.

 

[soydios]

I use Lightroom for batch processing, then apply edits to my favorites in Photoshop. My workflow looks like this:

1) Import RAW into Lightroom
2) Apply sharpening and noise reduction presets for each ISO level (200, 400, 800, 1600, etc.)
3) Rate Photos (1=delete, 2=poor, 3=decent, 4=good, 5=best)
4) Tweak Exposure
5) Set White Balance, then Copy/Paste Setting to all photos shot under those lighting conditions
6) Crop/Rotate
7) Edit favorites in Photoshop
8) Export JPEG from Lightroom using custom presets

 

[virtuamike]

No kidding. You should see how I spend my weekends

*edit*

Got a chance to see the pictures. Good stuff

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Nice pictures OP looks like a fun trip

 

[foghorn67]

And there is no "right" system.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I REALLY like the pics.

What was your gear loadout again?

Oh yeah, and workflow for getting that "look" to your photos.

 

[Jawo]

The pictures came out really well. I'm curious about your workflow as well, since I have lots of pics from Peru to sort through.

Who did you book your tour through? Your making me consider adding Nepal to my travels!

And yes...the Delhi airport sucks!

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
I REALLY like the pics.

What was your gear loadout again?

Oh yeah, and workflow for getting that "look" to your photos.

Gear was a Canon 40D, 17-55mm F2.8 IS and 70-200mm F2.8L IS.

95% of them are just raw tweaks in Adobe Bridge CS3 to fix minor issues. I do vingnette everything though for some added style.

The only other edits I've made, were on the portraits of the two old sisters, the woman selling coins and the girl in the doorway, I created a duplicate layer in photoshop, did a highpass on it, used softlight on the highpass layer, then did a mask layer of all black on the highpass layer and painted over the faces with a light grey to enhance the features on the faces.

If you want, I'll upload one of my PSDs and Raw Files.

 

[Alyx]

Really great photos, I thoroughly enjoyed them. I'm sending the link to a couple friends because I know they'll really enjoy them too. I'm really jealous, hopefully some day I'll be able to do a similar trip, its one of my life goals.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
I REALLY like the pics.

What was your gear loadout again?

Oh yeah, and workflow for getting that "look" to your photos.

Gear was a Canon 40D, 17-55mm F2.8 IS and 70-200mm F2.8L IS.

95% of them are just raw tweaks in Adobe Bridge CS3 to fix minor issues. I do vingnette everything though for some added style.

The only other edits I've made, were on the portraits of the two old sisters, the woman selling coins and the girl in the doorway, I created a duplicate layer in photoshop, did a highpass on it, used softlight on the highpass layer, then did a mask layer of all black on the highpass layer and painted over the faces with a light grey to enhance the features on the faces.

If you want, I'll upload one of my PSDs and Raw Files.

Please do

Ahhh... the lens combo is awesome. Need to get myself something like it in the future. Unfortunately your two lens combo equals about 4+ of my lenses