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I am always in awe looking at pictures by professionals — mainly their nature photos — and the colors they always seem to get in their pictures. Reading a few posts here I realized that apart from a good lens, post-processing must play an important role. Unfortunately, as an amateur I know only a few post-processing techniques: color balance, sharpen, shadow, and brightness.

Somehow I think in the post-processing of pros more things have to go in to make it a great picture. I know composition plays a very important part in creating that quality, but I am mainly interested in how pros post-process nature shots, like those of sunrise, sunsets, and beach side pictures with incredible blue colors. :).

Though there might be many things that are performed, which is the most used technique in post-processing by professionals?

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2  
As no single pro could possibly answer for all pros and post processing is HIGHLY dependent on individual style - I'm voting to close. If you have a question about PP to achieve a certain look on certain kids of shots (ie, how to get a really vibrant sunset or something), try asking that. – rfusca♦ May 10 '11 at 20:11
yeah I have specified that , Sunset , sunrise and nature shots, basically natural light not portraits or night shots with flashes or street photography ! – sat May 10 '11 at 20:15
I suspect that in most cases, you're going to end up talking about a workflow for these photos -- pro results are a culmination of steps that work together. – D. Lambert May 10 '11 at 20:33
3  
@sat: sunrise/sunset and "nature shots" are still pretty different. I think you'd be better off asking a "how do I do this" question, rather than looking for a "single most used technique". – mattdm May 10 '11 at 20:46
2  
@sat: When thinking about what kinds of questions to ask, you can't go wrong with starting by asking yourself "is there a right answer to the question I'm about to ask?" If there's not one specific right answer to the question that doesn't necessarily make it an 'open and shut case' that the question isn't an appropriate one for photo-SE, but at the very least it's a yellow-flag to yourself that the question may not be a good fit and it may be worth comparing it to the examples in the FAQ (photo.stackexchange.com/faq) before you decide to submit it... – Jay Lance Photography May 10 '11 at 21:38
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closed as not constructive by rfusca♦, ahockley, mattdm, John Cavan♦, Jay Lance Photography May 10 '11 at 21:26

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, see the FAQ for guidance.

1 Answer

up vote 0 down vote

I'm definitely not a pro, far from it even, but there are a few small things that have had a great impact on the way I do post processing in Photoshop:

  1. Photograph in RAW and learn how to process them in Adobe Camera RAW before exporting them to Photoshop.
  2. Export your RAW files to Photoshop in 16bit.
  3. Use non-destructive tools like adjustments layers and layer masks.
  4. Levels, Curves and Black and White adjustment layers are your best friend.
  5. These adjustment layers come with a layer mask. This is your second best friend.
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Why the downvote? If you downvote, please leave a comment. – Kristof Claes May 11 '11 at 6:42
I didn't downvote, but the OP was asking for advice specifically from pros and yet your opening statement is "I'm definitely not a pro." Someone probably felt that you weren't qualified to answer the question... – Jay Lance Photography May 11 '11 at 17:25
@Jay True, but at least I'm honest about not being a pro. The internet is filled with people who do the reverse :-) And even though I'm not a pro, I do believe I gave some good tips, no? – Kristof Claes May 11 '11 at 17:29
Whether they were good tips or not was clearly a moot point to someone... and since the question has now been closed it's really a moot point. – Jay Lance Photography May 11 '11 at 18:07

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