Post Processing of my Grandsons Portrait
Backup Images Immediately
What I normally do once I have transferred all of my photos to the computer is immediately copy all of the RAW files onto a backup CD. I will not erase any files on the Compact Flash card until I need to use that card again. At that point, I will format the card in the camera.
Select and Adjust with DPP
Now that I feel safe that I should not loose any images, I will load up Digital Photo Professional and navigate to the folder that contains the images I just downloaded from the CF card. Using the Quick Check Tool I will go through all the images and number them 1 for a “keeper”, 2 for a “maybe I will keep it” and 3 for “delete”.
At this point I will select all of the images marked with a “3″ and delete them. The only thing that remains for me to do in DPP is adjust the exposure for each image. To do this I will select all of the remaining images and then enter edit mode. While in edit mode, I will make sure that I have the “Highlight” and “Shadow ” warnings turned on.
Highlight and shadow warning in Digital Photo Professional
This will allow me to see when the highlights are burning out. I will raise the “Brightness Adjustment” until I start to see the red highlight warning. Then using the left arrow key I will slowly back the Brightness Adjustment down until the red warning goes away. If I shot this correctly, the Brightness Adjustment will be set at zero adjustment.
Brightness adjustment set at zero
You can do other things in DPP like clone out dust spots but I prefer to do this in Paint Shop Pro X2. So at this point, I am finished making adjustments in Digital Photo Professional. All that is left is to output all the files as tiff’s. I will sometimes print a contact sheet from DPP to help me select the images I will manipulate in PSPX2 if needed.
My next installment will cover the post processing I did in Paint Shop Pro.
May 13th, 2010 at 11:32 am
Those are some brilliant images, wish mine were that high-quality!
May 13th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Fabulous! I’m very jealous of those images, I wish I could do as well.Those photos took a lot of talent to produce, well done. I’ve bookmarked this site.