Post processing vs. no-Post processing: I am simply very curious to learn from my fellow members ... how many enjoy post-processing as much as taking the picture snap? Post-processing...

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

I am simply very curious to learn from my fellow members ... how many enjoy post-processing as much as taking the picture snap? Post-processing ... like a lot? Post-processing ... don't like it at all?

ahudina Loc: Browns Point, WA

elliott937 wrote:

I am simply very curious to learn from my fellow members ... how many enjoy post-processing as much as taking the picture snap? Post-processing ... like a lot? Post-processing ... don't like it at all?

Good question. Perhaps if I was better at post I would enjoy it more. But to get better like anything else requires practice. For now taking the photo is fun, post is work.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

For me it's simply a tool, a means to an end, to make the image more appealing to me..

I don't process every shot I take, only the ones I want to use for something, like printing to hang; giving to a friend; posting on my website.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

One of the reasons I shoot raw is that I "have to" process the images. I enjoy processing, and I do it for all the pictures I plan to keep. The exception is if I am taking pictures as a reference for how something was taken apart - just reference, not artistic beauty.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

elliott937 wrote:

I am simply very curious to learn from my fellow members ... how many enjoy post-processing as much as taking the picture snap? Post-processing ... like a lot? Post-processing ... don't like it at all?

Post processing is, to a great degree, the challenge of photography. Cameras have become sophisticated and have so many bells and whistles that anyone can capture a picture. Innovation and Creativity come first, then the mechanics of capturing photons on film or sensor. Now the interesting part: post processing.

At no time in the history of photography, IMHO, have we had so many tools to manipulate a photograph without exposing ourselves to harmful chemicals or dumping heavy metals into the environment.

Post-processing is a challenge. If you don't like a challenge then you just take snapshots. (My opinion only, your will probably differ).

gmontjr2350 Loc: Southern NJ

I don't enjoy post-processing in the PhotoShop sense of layers, etc..

I stick with auto-adjustments that are offered by Picasa, Polarr, or, on my phone, Snapseed.

DaveJ Loc: NE Missouri

I enjoy taking the shot the most. PP is what I have to do to make it look like what I saw, hopefully. As I learn how to PP better, it is more enjoyable. But it still seems like work for now.

FredCM Loc: Central Illinois

Since I moved up to the D750 from D5300 I don't do as much post as I used to. The D750's dynamic range is so much better than the D5300's I don't have to do much PP any more.

anotherview Loc: California

Post-processing brings out the potential of a photograph.

I experience a thrill from capturing a well-composed picture of an interesting subject.

Later, in post-processing I experience satisfaction from adjusting the picture to true it up to its potential.

elliott937 wrote:

I am simply very curious to learn from my fellow members ... how many enjoy post-processing as much as taking the picture snap? Post-processing ... like a lot? Post-processing ... don't like it at all?

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

elliott937 wrote:

I am simply very curious to learn from my fellow members ... how many enjoy post-processing as much as taking the picture snap? Post-processing ... like a lot? Post-processing ... don't like it at all?

Like it a lot

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

Believe it or not, I was just thinking about this yesterday when I was out in one of the local State Parks with a friend. I came to the conclusion that what I really enjoy the most out of the process start to finish, is the walking around, scouting, and finding a composition.

I am not technically proficient with the camera or post software, so I do enjoy taking the photo and processing it equally I guess.

JBRIII

Astro, for the most part, seems to live for post. Some of the newer systems, can select, stack, etc. and present live view photos, but most very serious photographers may take hundreds or thousands of pre-photos, flats, darks, bias images for post correction due to sensor noise, non-uniformatives, and sky brighthess, etc. Use filter wheels with 3 to 8? narrow band filters, specific elemental bands and to reduce low polluttion. Then combine everything and post-process. It's hard to say their time ratio, but many speak of nights to months of data collection followed by forever processing. Of course, the data collection can be somewhat automatic, 100 nebula photos easier than 100 moving moose to stack.
Finally, it would seem possible to apply astro methods to any method, it would apply best I think to low light, maybe indoor UV, etc. However, much of the efforts match the pre- to exact condtions, i.e., temp, exposure time, etc. used. The long term noise reduction available on my Canons seems the closest.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Since I came up shooting B&W film and doing my own darkroom work, I see post processing as a inseparable part of creating photographs. It can be tedious work at times, but the satisfaction of getting the best out of an image is worth it.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

The camera does not capture what the brain sees through your eyes. It is only an approximation with differences in dynamic range, color reproduction, detail, sharpness, contrast, local adaptation, ... Why not bring your captured images closer to what you actually see? There is just as much science and art in Post Processing as there is in capturing an image. Being able to enhance an image without making it look over processed takes skill, knowledge and the eye of an artist. The Post Processing tools and training are readily available to any photographer who wants them. Why not use them?

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

Strodav wrote:

The camera does not capture what the brain sees th... (show quote)

When you say "actually see" you must mean 'see in your mind' as only the camera objectively records the actuality. The photo is raw material.

Therefore when you manipulate your photos in post you are visually and subjectively creating what is in your mind. The photo becomes art.