Macronaut Loc: Redondo Beach,Ca.

I'm not especially crazy about doing PP but, the more I learn, the better I get, the less time it takes, the more I don't mind it so much. Personally, I think I would rather invest the money in PP classes to make my PP better, faster, easier, more able to accomplish what I envision and therefore less of a chore with more satisfaction in the finished result.

I suppose in some ways it's good that I don't have many images worthy of spending much time on :).....yet :wink:

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

Jim, I can answer for myself, and for many of the photographers I have met at art festivals over the past few years. In the beginning I relied on a lab to do most of my larger prints, but have always done the matting and framing myself. I don't make the frames as woodworking is not my thing, but I do purchase frames from a major framing supplier. They are made to my size specs using a few moldings I have chosen. I cut my own mats from blanks I also purchase wholesale.

After I had gotten established on the festival circuit, I purchased a large format printer and stopped using a lab for my prints. My printer is limited to 24 inches on the short size, so on a few occasions I have another artist I know make any very large prints for me. His printer is the same brand and uses the same ink set and ICC profiles as mine. By doing the printing, matting and framing myself I am able to keep my costs under control and not eat into my profit margin.

Another major reason for doing my own prints is the ability to use a number of high end art papers that are usually not available through labs except at premium prices. I also have the ability to tweak my file while making proofs that would take much more time and expensive were I relying on a lab.

For similar reasons, I would not consider using a third party to do any of my post processing. Obviously, I save dollars by doing it myself, but more importantly, I have control over the final look of the print. As a large number of my images are highly manipulated to give them a "painterly" quality, there is really no way for me to communicate how I envision the final print looking. Nor is there any way I could "instruct" a third party in the rather involved process I use to get the look I aim for. In the end, the only way to get the image and presentation I am after, is to do it myself.

Here is an example of one of my most popular images. I'm not sure how one would even start telling a third party to process so as to end up with this final image!

hlmichel Loc: New Hope, Minnesota

Just send me a PM.

micolh Loc: NYC

My interpretation of art is; Unless you take a brush and paint to canvas a hammer and chisel to stone it is not art. It is something else.
Not that there is anything wrong with it, it is a picture.

PaulBa Loc: Cardiff, Wales

I enjoy PP especially when it’s processing a stack for astro or macro.

The rest is mostly cosmetic such as taking out those cups/fingers you didn't notice or levelling the horizon. Some would say that’s the cost of failure, which is true, but life’s too short to stress too much over “in-camera” composition. Although I have noticed that over time my shots have needed less and less “tidying up” so maybe there’s been some subconscious learning going on.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It's like saying someone should buy furniture rather than having a workshop where he makes it. I'd say 99% of members here enjoy both photography and processing. All of my pictures are worth posting online, but I'd rather adjust things to suit my taste.

Now, if someone were commissioned to shoot a particular scene and present a perfect product to a client, maybe hr would want to pay Julianne Kost to do the processing.

Jim Bob

See my previous response to your earlier post. Applies with equal force here.

Jim Bob

I'm not confusing anything. That description would better fit your post I think.

infocus Loc: Australia

If you are so much more interested in the "shooting" than the PP that's fine - no problem. But why pay some one to do it if you don't believe in it? Simply go shoot your image and live with what you get - no PP at all. sounds like you don't think there is a place for PP any way.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

If photography is your profession and you can find a cheaper and better way to do part of it then sure, send out that work or take in a partner. Back in the film days, at least after color film became widely used, many if not most photographers, both amateur and professional, sent their film out for developing and printing. The same logic applies today if what you want more images to sell or to add to your collection.

That's not me, however. I'm an amateur photographer and I like being involved in the whole process. In fact, I've come recently to realize that the end result, even a great image, is not so important to me. I've already got too many images to keep track of; enlarging that collection further just is not the point. The process is what is important to me - much like my neighbor who goes fishing every chance he gets, but always throws them back; he doesn't really want the fish, he just likes fishing.

What I've come to realize is that it is not the final image that is important to me so I don't really need that new lens I can't afford. I'd rather use cheaper equipment and do both the shooting and processing than hire someone else with better equipment and better skills, just to get a better photo to hang on the wall or more likely put in my collection on a disk somewhere.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

:thumbup: :thumbup:
Hiring someone else to do the processing might make good sense for the professional photographer. For the typical amateur it probably makes more sense to just shoot jpeg images and let the professionals who wrote your camera's firmware do the post-processing. That way you get your final image right away.

Dale40203 Loc: Louisville, KY

Post processing is so straightforward (and non-destructive) with tools like Lightroom and Bridge that it should be considered more a part of the image review phase of your photo process. Most images can make do with basic exposure or curve adjustments, which can be applied to entire groups of exposures taken under similar circumstances. PP should be a restful period of getting acquainted with your work.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

That is a pretty extreme minority opinion. The question of whether photography can be an art form has long since been decided. Most great art museums have photography departments, it is sold in art galleries and auctions, and taught in art schools.

micolh Loc: NYC

I was in MOMA last week I did not run into any section for pictures. I must admit I wasn't looking for it.
I have been in most of the great museums in Europe. Again I did not see any pictures. Again not looking for any photos.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

I've read every single post with great interest. Why? First, I'm a photographer who does really enjoy both steps, the image capture and the post processing.

But over the last ten years, I've been asked for help in the form of *recovering a damaged print, or *simple improvement of an image, or most recently *photographing a back-to-school party where I'd take shots of each pair on arrival. The last was great fun since I was doing this for my best friend. Not much post production work needed here. Well, the very first shot was a beautiful young lady who had a (dare I say) zit on her neck. Any viewer's eye would immediately go there, yet in two weeks, the imperfection would be gone. So, I decided to speed the healing along and remove it. Much better image. Well, the next one could be improved too. Long story short, I did what what one would call "Glamor Shots". I learned 10 months later that they were looking for to the annual party where they would receive their current image, but nicely improved.

While my skills far exceed these tasks, I find great reward in helping people with this kind of work, and even built a small website for this service.

So, yes, I can understand when any photographer would like to find someone to do the post production work for them. As long as time is not vital for either, I'd think this could be great teamwork.