iSyndica

How to save yourself time editing and enjoy your work more with less post processing hassle?

I get asked by new and amateur photographers  if  there are a couple of tips or pointers that I can give; tips that would help their images come out better and needing less post processing.   

I think there are three main things that will help both new and semi-seasoned photographers alike to take better photos, spend less time post processing and obtain better results over all.  I suspect that most, if not all, pro-photographers already do most of these, even if subconsciously each time they push the shutter release. The less time you spend behind that computer monitor, the more time you can spend behind your view finder. 

1. What we see is generally different than what we want to have our final picture to look like.

I know what you are thinking.  What I am talking about here is how what we REALLY see is different than how we want our picture to look.  Let me give you an example.  You are out doing some “street photography” for example.   You see a construction worker and think it would make for a nice picture: the worker amid the new architecture.

The picture you visualize The picture you take

See the difference:  The second picture is taken in landscape format.  Notice all the extra stuff that is not needed for the picture.  The blank wall on the right adds nothing to the picture and can be considered dead space.  The picture as shot does not follow the rule of thirds.  Sure you can crop, which is a subject unto itself.  However with very little forethought you could have zoomed in, and held your camera in portrait fashion and taken the first picture.  That picture follows the rule of thirds, has no unnecessary stuff in the image like the blank wall. I personally don’t like dead space in a picture that contains people).

I see the same thing happening when photographers take pictures of landscapes and sunset/sunrise scenes.  They visualize a very limited or narrowly focused area within the scene. (Our minds are able to tune out the areas of the pictures that we don’t want in the final print.)  They lift the camera and when they look through the view finder they see the same scene while still only visualizing the limited area.  The picture is taken, and when it is reviewed there are cars, traffic signals, telephone wires and polls that are cluttering the picture. 

Here is an example of not taking the time to just step outside the car to take the image.  The image of the hurricane damage would have had a far greater impact without the clutter of the vehicle’s interior.

 Cluttered snap

Many photographers just figure they will crop the photo later if needed.  Cropping will be the subject of the third section.  Again this requires additional post processing not to mention the loss of mega pixels. 

2. Is everything in the picture nice and level?

One thing I see repeatedly are sunset or sunrise, landscape, lake photos that should be level with their viewing field but instead look like the water is ready to run off the side. View the pictures below for an example.   The first picture is a typical shot in my experience. 

The water isn’t level The horizon is now level

Although the first picture could be rotated to make it level, that would require additional post processing: Select>all>transform>rotate.  Then you would want to show grid lines to ensure that the picture is level. Then it’s on to the cropping stage.  Wouldn’t it be nice to shoot the photo and have it end up level? Well here are a few tricks you can use to ensure that the pictures you take come out of the camera level.

Water is always level and typically so are man-made structures like fences, buildings and etcetera.  If you choose to use a tripod you can purchase an inexpensive level that will sit in your camera’s hot shoe slot.  Now it is just a simple matter of leveling your tripod while rotating your camera on a horizontal axis.  (Newer cameras like the Canon 7D carry an electronic level) This will ensure that all the pictures taken from that location will be level.  My tripod has a level built-in the ball mount’s rotating axis. 

What about those times when your tripod is not available when it would be too cumbersome or you are trying to just travel light?  Some cameras’ live view sections will permit the overlaying of grid lines within the view.  That is okay but I need to be able to shoot fast sometimes and don’t have the time to use live view function.  You can purchase a grid screen for your view finder that will give you level lines to view and use while composing your shot.  However there is even a simpler method to use that almost every camera has available. 

Your metering/auto focus screen provides perfectly usable leveling points within the view finder. 

Your AF screen, through your viewfinder, will allow you to get a level horizon, fence line or building.  It takes no time and once you get used to using it it will become second nature and you will see an immediate improvement on the level composition on the output of your images.  Take the farthest AF points from the left to the right.  While looking through your view finder set the points even with the horizon or parallel with whatever you are trying to have level in your picture.  Hit the shutter release and – VOILA!  Level Pic.  Now how easy was that?  And fast too. The same can be done along building edges using the vertical AF points.  Still pretty simple huh?

3. To crop or not to crop – that is the question.

A lot of times we take a picture without much forethought on how the final output will be handled.  Granted there may be times that given the choice between taking that once in a lifetime photo or not, we need to take it and deal with it in post processing.  In the stock industry whether it is microstock or a regular stock agency having the correct file size can make all the difference in whether or not your images will be suitable for upload for future sales.   

A situation that happens quite often is, we have one lens on our camera, the opportunity arises for a classic picture, and we snap the image.  Unfortunately we had on a wide angle lens when we should have had our 28- 135mm or even our telephoto zoom (that was sitting in our camera bag).  The picture we took captures way too much peripheral and extraneous information/items in the pic.  To get the image we saw in our mind, we may have to employ extensive cropping, digging way into the file, to get where we want or need to be. The resulting image, depending on the size needed may or may not be usable.   Remember, you need to view your pictures at 100% to ensure appropriate quality for the agency that you will be submitting to.  You got the picture but you discover that the file size will be too small. Also remember that generally a larger file sell for a higher amount.  Okay what to do now? 

Closing Remarks. As this article implies, we want to get it right the first time – in camera

So we should take the time to install the correct size lens so that when the shutter is released the image captured is of the correct size, requiring minimal post processing.   Again all that is required is to know what we want the final image to look like and ensure that the lens on the camera will provide that image. So some of the questions that we will want to ask ourselves are:

• How far am I from the subject matter?
• Will that 50mm fixed focal length lens that is currently on my camera have enough reach?
• Can I get closer?   

Given the choice of snapping or not that once in a life time photo there is only one choice:  take the picture.  If you have been practicing some of the techniques above then chances are high that you will still get a usable picture that will only require minimal post processing. 

Don’t beat yourself up over poor images.  Review your images, see what could have been done to make them better then try to correct the next time.  With very little practice you will find these techniques very useful . And in little time they will become second nature.   I am sure that many of you have learned

For suggestions or other questions I can be contacted at doug AT imagesbydiamond DOT com

About the author

Doug Diamond first started his photography career using a Kodak instamatic 126 he received as a Christmas present back in the early 1970’s. Although his pictures were awful there was something magical about being able to capture images and review memories over and over. He now instructs Digital Photography and Photoshop while providing his clients with the highest level of photography available today. He enjoys street photography, macro, black and white, architectural and all forms of digital photography. His desire is to share with others that same magic he first felt and still does, taking and sharing pictures.