Photo editing workflow (1 Viewer)

[MikeInPA]

Well, you are certainly in love with the plugin. For your information, the first sentence in the OP post was: What is your workflow. That is what I started out answering.
Niels

It’s not JUST a plugin. Its also a standalone product.

Yes but you conveniently omitted the second line didn’t you.

If I found a better Noise Reduction product I would use it. I understand that DXO make a comparable Noise Reduction package.

 

[MikeInPA]

Topaz DeNoise is currently $20 off the very latest version and if you use the code DENOISE15 you get a further 15% off.

Topaz DeNoise

I use it on most of my bird photos and I sometimes go to over ISO 10,000 , ridiculously easy to use and does a marvelous job of reducing noise. Stand-alone or Plugin.

BTW I am not associated with Topaz in any way. 😁

 

[Deans Sanctuary]

For all of you primo editorios on 4 computers I have and use Capture One...and on 1 older computer running Windows 7 as the OS I have just 1 program on the machine, that being Microsoft Digital Image 2006.

Now if I posited a not so obvious question of which program do I use over the other the pros I'm guessing would respond with Capture 1 and for that they would be wrong. The why because the lesser of the 2 remains a very effective outcome and is way less cumbersome.

 

[Deans Sanctuary]

And as an aside in the end my digital footprint doesn't get owned by their mandatory cloud service. You should always be aware of the contents of the I AGREE portion of your choice of software.

 

[MikeInPA]

And as an aside in the end my digital footprint doesn't get owned by their mandatory cloud service. You should always be aware of the contents of the I AGREE portion of your choice of software.

What mandatory cloud service are you referring to? I’ve used Capture 1 for several years and the version I use is totally standalone. They have recently released a new product aimed at professionals as described below which does need the cloud.

Capture One has announced a new cloud-based collaboration add-on called Capture One Live. It allows remote teams to view, rate, and tag images or watch a tethered shoot or an edit in real-time.Feb 1, 2022
Capture One Live is a New Cloud-Based Collaboration Add-On

If you like the Microsoft program from the dark ages then keep using it. I’ll keep using Capture One Pro, which doesn’t need any cloud content.

 

[MiddleRiver]

Like binos we all have strong software likes and dislikes. Thanks for sharing ;-)

But yes, what I was most interested in, is the actual workflow. E.g. do you adjust exposure curves first and then (for those of you using Topaz DeN) de-noise or vice-versa? I assume it would vary for the software being used but even if just using one do-it-all, so you adjust exposure then remove noise, then sharpen, etc. or what order do you find works best?

I did purchase Topaz deNoise and SharpenAI. The DeN can sometimes make images a bit 'harsh' and introduce weird artifacts but overall it is actually pretty incredible at saving otherwise difficult images. The sharpen AI I have used with good results when done very selectively (which it does allow). E.g. a photo of bird where eye/face is the one slightly out of focus area due to angle of pose - I've been able to salvage that blurry area and make a nice image overall.

 

[MikeInPA]

My workflow is typically as follows.

Import into Capture One. (Absolutely no ⛅️ involved)

I then typically crop to a 4x3 format either vertically or horizontally. Ideally to place the subject on a 1/3 position in the frame.

I then Auto adjust the levels.

As I often use quite high ISO values I then choose the EDIT WITH Topaz DeNoise option to create a new TIF version of the picture which opens in DeNoise. Which option I use varies but most often I use Standard. On occasion I have created a mask on the bird and then inverted it so noise reduction is only applied to the background. I haven’t used this method for a while but it’s there if needed. I then choose the overwrite option so the TIF gets updated and returned to Capture 1.

I will then typically EDIT WITH Topaz Sharpen AI. Again Capture One creates another TIF which opens in Sharpen AI. I always created a mask on the bird so sharpening is only applied to the bird and not the background. Again I will select whichever sharpening model looks best, normally Too Soft Normal. I then save back to Capture One.

From there I may make minor tweaks to raise shadows or lower highlights.

I often add a barely imperceptible vignette to focus the view onto the bird.

From there I Export as a JPG to 1600 x 1200 pixels for the screen.

I rarely spend more than 2 or 3 minutes on my images.

 

[Mono]

I would be wary of a one-size-fits-all approach to post processing. The amount of post processing will depend on the individual image and on the use intent of the image. Images intended for printing will require different levels of sharpening than those intended for screen display. If you are using a commercial print service then you will need to adopt the appropriate colorspace requirements.

It is usually best to do sharpening after final resize rather than before and with the knowledge of the final intent. Photos for printing will look hideously over-sharpened on screen.

My workflow tends to be : crop
to final intent > correct any gross exposure errors > remove colour cast > do any local edits (eg removing annoying leaves etc) > colorspace conversion > resize > denoise > sharpen (the last four depend on the final use intent).

If you intend to use an image for multiple purposes you will need to do multiple post processing campaigns.

 

[njlarsen]

Using ACDSEE with a raw image and having the intent of using photo online:
In develop mode: Crop, slight sharpen and general denoise, if necessary adjust exposure with dehaze/lightning/vibrance/tone curves and save (I very rarely adjust for color cast). Which order within develop does not matter because the program saves these as parameters and apply them in a fixed order.

Over into edit mode: If needed denoise on background only; resize; sharpen; save as copy into my ready-to-go folder. Usual time used is in the few minute range.
Niels

 

[Deans Sanctuary]

What mandatory cloud service are you referring to? I’ve used Capture 1 for several years and the version I use is totally standalone. They have recently released a new product aimed at professionals as described below which does need the cloud.

Capture One has announced a new cloud-based collaboration add-on called Capture One Live. It allows remote teams to view, rate, and tag images or watch a tethered shoot or an edit in real-time.Feb 1, 2022
Capture One Live is a New Cloud-Based Collaboration Add-On

If you like the Microsoft program from the dark ages then keep using it. I’ll keep using Capture One Pro, which doesn’t need any cloud content.

As for your closing remark I've often seen that...It's low brow and not necessary all that I share on this site is meant to help or edify. As for the Capture one cloud service I've tried to opt out but to no avail...when using at least for me it's always running in the background.

Any image that I've shared on this site was pulled from video as a single frame and I've never professed to be anything other than what has been written by me on past posts. Just a hunch but I would guess that most birders on the forum are like me...non-professional and searching for a reasonable way to get reasonable results on image taking and editing.

RE: a few inadequate images taken within the past year using my completely Microsoft from the dark ages software that will only be published on this site.

 

[Scozmos]

Good morning all, I'm an Adobe user / subscriber so, use Lightroom / Photoshop as required, I also have Topaz DeNoise as a Filter in PS.
I'm really not a heavy user of all the elements of either of the Adobe tools, rather I find what I need, when I need it. This morning I wanted to create a split pano image so, Google, PS and done! Not something I'll want to use very often.
I shoot RAW only.
I import my images to LR (cloud) it's the way forward and keeps my Mac cleaner but, I'm also very aware of concerns over sharing etc. I'm a software trainer and have spent the last few years convincing unbelievers of the benefits of cloud storage and related tools, where applicable but, horse for courses.
I'll have a first sift through in LR, getting rid of the obvious rubbish, even if it's the only record I have, just me being picky maybe? I deleted four shots of a Sparrow hawk this morning, should have been really good, but, through glass and blurry.

When I'm ready to do more with my collection, I then tend to sift once again, looking in more detail before I start any editing. My idea of editing is making the image fit for sharing, in my opinion; in focus, clear but as true to the origin al occurrence as possible. Sorry, but I detest those over-egged images that the media seem to love.

My flow from there is generally a crop, my centring and levelling in camera is terrible, maybe one eye is higher than the other? I check levels for blowout, I tend to underexpose anyway, resize as required, some sites ask for much smaller images but, I tend to work to 3000 x on the long side.

I save my jpegs locally to a 1Tb drive and back up to Flickr as and when.

I've been having a huge clear out of my LR imports recently and one editing foible I seem to have is revisiting older shots, loving them and bringing them to life. I often find todays shots get sifted, deleted and left ........

Having recently semi-retired, I am loving the time to do all this sifting, clearing, editing and sharing. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👋

 

[MikeInPA]

I used Photoshop for years and then as Lightroom improved I got into that and bought some Training videos and there’s always YouTube. I would always rather purchase a product outright but thats just me. Adobe released LR6 for purchase and the equivalent CC version. Adobe claimed at the time that Lightroom would always be available for purchase, they lied. I purchased LR6 standalone rather than the Creative Cloud version. Within a couple of months they released useful features for the CC version but did not add them to the standalone version. Adobe really wanted people to join the subscription model but many like me switched to Capture One. Up yours Adobe. 🖕

Lightroom is pretty damn good but I’ll never buy anything from Adobe again.

I used to save everything from the early 2000’s thinking that in the years to come software would be able to make them better. That has indeed been the case with products like Topaz and DXO. With the size of the 45Meg RAW files and taking as many as 5000 shots in a day I am much more selective in what I actually download from the card. Capture One Import displays the card images full size before you download so it’s possible to quickly omit unwanted files and just download the keepers. The Import routine saves to any location and a backup location at the same time. I download to the SSD on my Mac and a 10TB USD drive. Although its possible to create a huge database with all your files I prefer to save them by year and as the Import reads the embedded Metadata it stores them in Nikon 2022 Month Day Year directories automatically.

This is my filing system. I just have to create a new directory on the 1st of January each year. I find it also works like a diary, if I see a bird for the first time for the year I can go and see when I saw it in previous years. 🤓

 

[Mono]

The whole idea of the Creative Cloud model was that they keep adding features to it. By subscribing you always have the latest version. They only support one version, the latest one. It was always the case that if you paid for a "lump sum" version the feature updates stopped once the new version was out.

The CC model can make sense if you are a professional. If you are a freelance photographer or graphic designer exchanging content with a client or a print shop and you are all using CC then you are all using the same version, you don't have to worry about version compatibly. The main problem is paying for it. If you were a serial updater who always brought the latest version then there isn't much difference, if you skipped a version or two then it cost a lot more. I have used Adobe products professionally for years. Photoshop I started on v3, Indesign on v1.5 but I stopped at CS5.5, they do all I need to do. I'm not interested in all the AI and Smart tools when I can achieve what I want the old fashioned way. I paid good money for it 10 years ago and it still works. All my work goes out as an image file or a pdf I don't exchange working .indd or .psd with people, so it works for me.

 

[MikeInPA]

With Capture One you pay for the latest version but you get regular free updates and new features and some of them are really major. No cloud involved, you can stick with older versions if you wish and purchase or skip the new version.

As for the AI tools available I'll take them ANY day of the week, I can do in seconds what take ages conventionally.

 

[Scozmos]

Really like the Blog @MikeInPA, I dabbled with it but never really got off the ground, must try harder