Post Processing and other Photography/Camera Q&A

Ok, I have been getting a lot of emails lately about these things, so I thought I'd answer them all hopefully in one post. I'm very flattered that people would come to me for this advice, so I hope that I can answer your questions well! Keep in mind that I am no expert and only speak from my own personal experience. (also, i need to update my photography/camera/actions information in my sidebar.. some actions I was using, I'm not using anymore, and I've started using some new ones.. so I'll try and update that to reflect this post!)

Just getting started in photography.. what kind of camera? lenses?

I started out with the Canon Digital Rebel. That was my first digital SLR. If you really want to get serious about photography (serious in that you want some really decent pics of your children! :-), I would say this is a good camera for you. It really was a good one for me. It's reasonably priced and it lets you get your feet wet with digital SLRs. I really do like Canon, but I've also heard amazing things about Nikon.. specifically how sharp they are. But I can only speak from experience, which is with the Canon brand. I own the Canon 30d now and I just adore it.

As far as first lenses go, I guess you could use your kit lens that comes with the body. That is what I did at first and it worked for me. Then I gradually started buying new lenses. I got the Canon 50mm 1.8 lens first to use as a portrait lens since I was doing alot of scrapbooking and naturally taking lots of pics of my child. Honestly? A few months ago I pulled out this lens again (because I had been using my 85mm lens more) and the 50mm is probably the sharpest lens I have. And it is an inexpensive lens, the cheapest one I own. All I can say, in my experience, is that you don't have to own an expensive lens to get great, tack sharp shots... that has been my experience at least. (I won't rule out buying an L series lens in the future but for now, I'm very happy with my repertoire of lenses! (HA.. i just wanted to say "repertoire". Not sure if I even used it in the right context, but oh well. ;-)

I also love the 50mm because it isn't so zoomed in as the 85mm. If you are in tighter spaces, you don't have to step as far back as you have to with the 85mm. If i were to get an L series lens, I would probably get the 50mm L. It's really great when you're doing shoots with more than one person, especially.

That said, the 85mm is also a fantastic portrait lens and I would highly recommend it! Great for single person portraits.

I own four lenses right now, (the 85mm, 50mm, 28mm 1.8 and 100mm 2.8) and I'm hoping to add another one later this year (a super-wide lens.. not sure which one yet).. but these four I just LOVE. I'm so happy with these lenses. They are all prime lenses, so they are very sharp. And sharpness for me is the most important thing when I'm buying a new lens. I honestly probably won't ever by a zoom lens again. I've just never been happy with the sharpness. But prime lenses aren't for everyone. So you just have to find what's best for you! :-) I use the 85 and 50 for portrait/family shots... the 28 is a great "normal" lens for my camera.. an everyday-not-too-wide-not-too-close shot lens. And the 100mm I use for macro shots.. the really close-up shots on small things, or if I'm trying to capture the fine details on anything really, whether it be a face or whatever. I've also known people that have used this one for portraits as well (I don't though). I hope to get the super-wide lens for obviously those really tight areas, or just to get some great fun distortion around the edges.

Post-processing:

I think the key to easy and fun post-processing is to have well exposed photos. And this starts with learning to shoot in AV or Manual mode. Getting out of Auto, really. Anything but Auto. :-) It took me a long, LONG time to be brave enough to get out of Auto mode. I made the change to AV mode a couple years ago and it hasn't been til the end of 2007 that I started only shooting in Manual mode. Manual scared me for a long, LONG time. Lol. But something clicked with me a few months ago with it, and I just "get it" now, I guess. And really, I think that just takes LOTS of practice and trial and error. I can't really recommend any books. Maybe someone else who reads this blog can, and link us in Comments.. but I've really learned just by using my camera. ALOT. Practice. Since I started shooting Manual, I also get more consistantly well-exposed photos straight out of my camera. I LOVE IT.

In general, when shooting in Auto, you get alot of dark photos. So it's hard to easily use photo actions on photos that are either too dark or too light. That is just my experience.

Another thing when using photo actions, I've found the key to making them work is making subtle tweaks to your layers. There is no one-size-fits-all photo action. You have to adjust the layers after you've played an action to make it fit the photo. It's all about subtlety in Photoshop, or you are going to get some wacky effects that you aren't going to like. ;-) It just takes practice.

Luckily with most good photo actions, the creator is good about making each step easy to understand. Once you hit the action, it pretty much tells you what you do. A good action will.. or rather a good-action-designer. Lol!

The photo actions I used for a really long time was mostly the Itty Bitty Actions set. I used that for probably a good 2 years. I used their color actions for just about every photo of mine. And I still use alot of actions in that set on a daily basis. I especially love their "Correct Blue Tint", "Correct Yellow Tint", etc, etc. Although I am pretty much always diligent about setting my White Balance correctly in every situation (i don't do Custom White Balance), there will always be times when you need to correct different tints in your photos. I have used that "Correct Blue Tint" SO much, even on photos with good white balance, because I just tend to like really WARM photos. I really really don't like blue hues in my photos, unless I'm going for that look, which is rare. This is really all personal preference though.

I've recently started using this artist's color action and I just ADORE them. They are my favorite and I'm pretty much using them exclusively for my color photos. I run them on every color photo for the most part. I saw her work on Flickr and just fell in love with the warm color in her photos. I also love this action because it is ONE action that pops your color AND you can also correct any warm or blue tints in your photo at the same time. All within one action. This ROCKS.

Here are some other actions that I use pretty regularly. One thing I would make sure if you're buying actions, is that the layers can be tweaked after you have run the action. If you don't have the option of tweaking the layers, I would say don't buy the action. Make sure to ask this question when purchasing. Like I said, there is no one-size-fits-all action for every photo, so being able to tweak your layers is crucial in my opinion. I think there may be a way to get around this problem if you have actions like this, but I haven't tried it. It's just inconvenient I guess.

I've bought LOTS of actions over time, and I have to admit that I haven't been happy with alot of them. But I guess that is the risk you take. I recently found a site where you can review actions yourself and read other people's reviews as well, but I can't find it now! Maybe someone reading this can link us? It's really a fantastic idea and so helpful for people wanting to buy actions, as they don't come cheap!

One's I use regulary:

Leah Profancik (her color and texture actions)

Mariah's Fresh Actions

Nicole Van's Texture & Urban Action

Michelle Black's Cross Processed Actions

Brenda's Black and White action (pretty much the only action I use on black and white's.. but I rarely do black and white. Lol! But her's is my absolute favorite that I've come across! And there are SO many black and white conversions. This is my fav. Looks like she sells the B&W with 3 other actions now.. for a great price!)

I use some other actions sporadically, but these are the ones I used pretty regularly.

Rounded Corners:

I JUST started doing this and always wondered how to do this in Photoshop. I had found some tutorials on it here and there and never liked the results, but findly found an easy way here and then I just made it into a Photoshop Action! I made a separate action for horizontal and vertical shots. Love rounded corners!

Ok, gotta go to bed. Hope this makes sense and hope it helps!

And of course I have to add some pics! Here are some 365 challenge photos:

26/366

27/366

28/366

30/366

   

Comments

[Shawna]

Thanks so much this helps alot.

[Adalie]

Thanks so much for all the information! I really hope someone knows of that action review site, cus I'd love to check it out.

[Emily S.]

Nicely explained! Links are good, too. I treated myself to Leah's actions for Christmas and I, too, LOVE the vast and varied "tweaking" options. But the MAIN reason I am commenting today is because of your Kewpie doll by your sewing machine. My high school mascot was a Kewpie. Seriously. We're the only Kewpies ever. Isn't that GREAT??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_H._Hickman_High_School

[Silje]

Wow! You are fabulous! THANK you so much for sharing! I will definitly look into some of those actions! :)

Loving your sewing machine! -so cute! :)

<3
Silje

[Dennis]

Wonderful information Danielle.

[Shari]

So nice of you to take time to help everyone out! I use a lot of those same actions, as well as others. I TOTALLY agree that you need ones that leave you layers to adjust after it runs! I have wasted enough $$$ on ones that didn't!!

[Paola Norman]

Thanks for all the info. it is greatly appreciated!

[Denise Levy]

Thanks for all of the great info Danielle! I especially appreciate your lens info/advice, because I'm wanting a new one and can't decide what to get! :)

[Alicia]

me me me pick me http://photogvendors.wordpress.com/category/photoshop-actions/
do I win something:) JK Thanks for the great info today. I shoot with the same exact lenses except I don't have a 100...yet!

[Wendy Stuart]

Thank you so much for the photography information. I'm embarressed to say that I did not know about "actions" and I kept saying to myself there has to be some secret I don't know about when looking at great photos. Now I know the secret. Thanks again.

[eef]

love that last shot!!! super cute and fun :D

[Jana]

Thanks for all the great info, I always love the look of your photos. I SO need to learn how to round my corners too. I've had my Rebel XT for nearly 2 yrs. now and am just NOW getting brave enough to use manual and I'm sure once I get comfortable with it and see the difference in my shots I'll be beating myself up that I didn't do it sooner!

[kelly]

i love your photos so much danielle. thanks for sharing this info :)

[Mara-May*]

You're awesome! Thanks so much!!!

[Marilyn Tan]

Thanks Danielle for the sharing of your photography and actions tips.

[melissa deakin]

thanks so very much for taking the time to do this and for answering all of my questions. you have helped so much!
thanks also for all these resources.
you are so inspirational.
i'm printing this off!
thanks, danielle!
have a happy weekend!

[suetreiber]

tons of great info-thanks ever so much :)
I love the sewing machine/kewpie doll
and all the bowls full of interesting things. yum.

[Christine M.]

Hey Danielle-Noticed this post a few days ago, but failed to mention my favorite action sets..http://www.kubotaimagetools.com/ Their actions are designed for professional photographers. The "vitamin boost" action is by far my fave from these guys. They have a few sharpening actions that are nice too. Definitely worth buying if you haven't already.

[cory]

I love this insight into your artwork! Thanks Danielle. Those hearts at the cafe make me happy. :)

[Ashley]

Wow, thanks so much for sharing this stuff with us. I am getting the full blown version of photoshop (moving up from pse 3) and I'm excited that I can finally play with some of these. I adore your pictures and I'm glad to know how you get the effects you do. :)

[Kath]

thanks for sharing the info. i would love to be able to take great photos and love how yours always turn out. i'm using a Rebel XT now and also love the 50mm 1.8 which is now a permanent fixture on my camera - shots mainly in AV mode. hopefully, i will be brave enough soon to venture to fully manual!!

[lovely cee]

wow! i have just stumbled upon your blog this very morning. there's so much to read, i don't know where to start. i happened to found this post :photography: i am enchanted with your knowledge about pictures. i am also an aspiring photographer: i taught myself to use the manual mode. i'm getting better at it but needs a lot of practise. i have always been fascinated with Actions BUT i don't even have a sligthest clue on how to process or apply actions on a photo! if someday when you are inspired to enable me how to use actions, would you be so kind to teach me? please?
anyhow, i'm so glad i found your blog. have a great one!