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PP means Post Processing.

Many guys here say they don't like to do Post Processing because they think that by doing PP they are distorting the reality of the picture.

But what is real? Is the picture coming out of your camera real?

Do you know that the Jpeg that your camera gives you is already processed by the camera itself? Yes, it applies the settings like the creative style, (sepia, b/w, vivid, portrait, sunset or whatever), white balance correction & Jpeg compression according to the color space setting. Moreover, it does noise reduction, dynamic range processing etc depending on your settings.

And of course the image that you get from a camera is already far from the real because it is 2D photo'graph' of a real subject in 3D - so it's already deviating from reality there.

Post processing doesn't mean doctoring with the image artifacts to produce something totally different. In most of the cases it means enhancing the image to give it a better look or the desired look by doing color correction, levels, contrast etc. Sometimes a fair bit of PP can produce an image which is more closer in its appearance to the real subject than the actual camera output.

I shoot in RAW and thus prevent the camera from doing any of these by processing by itself, and later I do it myself. So am I deviating from real? What if I allowed the camera to do some part of it and call it unprocessed?

I do believe in PP and without PP, the fun of photography ends with the shutter click (IMO). Remember even film photographers used to do PP old days.

@yzfrj.
Post processing, many a time produces an image, closer to how it looks in reality. Your eyes see a larger dynamic range, which your camera does not see. Simple example would be, try and shoot a cloudy sky on a nice evening before the sun has actually gone down completely ( avoid sun in the shot ). The resultant photograph will be a shot either correctly exposed for the sky, or correctly exposed for the foreground.

But the human eye does a better job and shows you a much better exposure due to its ability to handle higher dynamic range. So you see the sky and foreground much better exposed together.

So a normal photograph "distorts" reality here, but a processed one which exhibits better shadow and high light detail is much closer to the real view you saw with your eyes, which i think is what we humans perceive as reality. ( though reality is far from it, I don't want to go into that now!)

Processing is not a one button push and pull tool sliders kind of job. It is very much a part of digital photography as much as it was and still is a part of film photography.

Regards,
TG.

TG, this is exactly the same example I also wanted to quote, but missed. Yes, to make an image which is very close to what human eye see in terms of dynamic range, one must do some PP.

Thought of giving another example to this. It is Chromatic Aberration. (CA) which all lenses have and it distorts reality.

This picture had some strong CA but I corrected this in PP.



This is the unprocessed one's 100% crop. You can easily notice the CA.


And this is the processed one which has very less CA.


So which one is close to reality (as in what human eye sees)? You tell me.

This image is not too much post processed. Just some level/color corrections, that's it.

Sunlight hitting her face from 10'o clock w.r.t camera, white wall on the other side & darker background.


Exif: 1/160, f/4, 135mm, ISO 200, Aperture Prio

Thanks a bunch @ clevermax and Torqueguru for explaining.
It seems my perception was indeed "distorted" :).

Anyway shooting RAW, I've never done that should give it a try I guess.

Great...! Now I understand it better. Thanks a lot for the example.

So guys, how to get started with PP, what tools to use and what are basic "fundas" I should know ?

@yzfrj
Well you can start by googling it. You will come across tonnes of information.


Regards,
TG.

@TG: From where did you click this? Looks like they are standing in some sort of transparent floor and you clicked from underneath. Or may be it is through window blinds partially open.

@yzfrj: You should have software like Photoshop / GIMP (free - open source). You can find lots of youtube videos on basic picture editing if you just want to sit and watch instead of digging textual info on the net.

The first shot is beautiful, just wish you could take a walk out of the door, and take the pic at closer quarters. That would have been awesome!



Or maybe a reflection, I see the flag or whatever it is, is inverted.:)

Or, as a second thought I agree with you on the partially opened blinds,the shot maybe from the other side of the flag, and thus may appear inverted. stupid:

Enjoying a smoke!!


Eggs!!

@clevermax
@Preetam
Well, it is a reflection og the flag and the people, on a wet floor made of wooden planks. The lines you see are the planls' joints and the the actual picture is entirely water, on which the relections are there.

@Yrfz
I posted this for you, to twist your already twisted perception of "reality" :) ha ha.
Try to install Adobe Lightroom Ver 2.6 or so, its the best fast photo editing, archiving software minus the complexities of its big bro, Adobe Photoshop.
And here is something you might find interesting.
Free Lightroom Tutorials - Adobe Lightroom Tips & Tricks | PhotoshopSupport.com
Regards,
TG.

Well, I must say that the work is commendable, the stark contrast is what makes the image unique. Love it!

Clicked with sony c905a phone

Not really sure what to key in to tell you the truth.

Thank you. That seems to be a start for a newbie like me.
My perception is "distorted" not twisted, it gives it a meaning like I'm the villain of some sort. :Shockked:

Your latest creation seems twisted :D

Thanks again bro. Yup watch and learn is better for sure.

TG,

Thanks for the tip. Will keep that in mind (about selective coloring) when I process street images again :).

yzfrj: TG and clevermax have already told you about the advantages of PP and why it is required. Coming to the canon part, I kinda knew looking at the picture that it was a canon. I have done similar shots you see ;). The thing is, you need to dial in an EV of -1/3 to -2/3 if you are using canon as it tends to overexpose at 0EV, which is visible in the water droplets. Also, switch to the mode where the overexposed parts of an image will blink when you preview them on your camera's lcd.


Preetam and others: How did the meet go?

There was a BPC (bangalore photography club) meetup this saturday and the turnout was big. It was a strobists meetup and was good fun working with strobes etc. I am still a one light guy, don't know why I don't want to use more than one.
Meeting place was cubbon park, here are my photographs: