New Workflow

cuthbert

cuthbert

Pugh Pugh Barney McGrew Me Dibble and Grubb
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1,444
Name
Mark
Edit My Images
Yes
i've always had a bit of a fiddly workflow, doing most corrections in LightRoom and then final spit and polish in Photoshop, usually with some additional manual adjustment layers and so on.

this is really the way i've always processed my images, really from an era when Lightroom was pretty crude but since upgrading to V5, i decided to have a play and see what's possible and to my surprise, i've been able to completely remove the need to dip into Photoshop at all, unless I need to do some complicated cloning or healing the brush in Lightroom can't cope with.

i've gone for a vintage, retro feel. i've not tried to emulate any specific film, but i wanted something which looks 'filmic', sort of how the pictures of me when i was a kid looked.

c+c as always appreciated.

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I always love seeing your images and these are no different. Lovely DOF, and colours. Number 3 here is particularly lovely.
 
Love the processing Mark. I must admit I only take a small percentage of my pictures into photoshop too. I'm only using LR3 but it suits my needs and gets me where I wan to be the vast majority of the time.
 
As ever, lovely images. I too only use lr (v4)

particularly like the silhouette and no 10.

What lighting option are you using at the mo?

S
 
I don't normally really go in for this type of stuff but these impress me Mark

Some really good work re focussing, DOF, composition and lighting

I don't know if you do it for a living but I think a customer would be well pleased with those
 
I'm not a fan of the noise that the processing has introduced to the bokeh. It looks like noise rather than grain, if that was your goal.
 
Quite like these, nice retro feel, reminds me of images from the seventies
 
Thanks for your comments everyone - i tried to make the processing timeless, but something that's 'me'. and i'm glad that none of you hate it. i do agree Dean about the noise - it's actually added grain in LR, in the full sized shots it looks fine (to me), but Flickr seems to have sharpened it and made it look more like over sharpened noise.

you know, i have an of ambivalence about adding grain in post: on one had i think digital looks too clean and clinical (i enjoy going through the show us your film shots thread), i adore the look of film, but lack the patience to shot with it... yet on the other hand, i've got this lovely camera that does pretty much noise free shots and i must be off my rocker making my pictures look worse.... yet i when look at them, and i kind of like the feeling it adds. it combines nicely with the metaphor that every photograph is a memory of the past, the grain sort of fuzzy like our memories.


#1 perhaps looks the noisiest to me, but if you take a look at the larger picture http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5530/10545580645_9f7ff84ed4_o.png it looks ok, but maybe i could tone it down a little.

@Sir SR @theurbanclown @bildo - i shot these with the canon 135/f2 - i used either a reflector or just natural light with these - i would have used my brolly, but it's been so windy in these parts i didn't want to break it!

i've been playing with Lightroom more and more, and it does make processing much less of a chore than my old ways. i tired capture one too, on reading a few recommendations, but even if the raw quality is better than lightroom (there are some reviews and options on line suggesting that it might be better than lightroom, especially for highlight recovery and noise reduction), for the sort of shots i do, which are normally pretty evenly exposed, i found the capture one interface a bit messy and the cataloging in lightroom is miles better.

thanks again guys for taking the time to comment, always appreciated.
 
:clap: Wow! These are all lovely. Great job. A couple have slightly tilted horizons but overall these are shots I wish I could get. Great color, clarity, light, composition.
 
Lovely stuff. I see the noise on studying but I don't think it detracts in the slightest. Perhaps apart from 11, but thats more the fact the grass is a bit 'harsh'.
 
Very nice set as per mate. I'm a fan of adding grain to some of my BNW conversions but never really tried it with colour but I like it :)

Matt
 
love these especially the silhouette , and like the affect adding the grain has done..... it never seems that good when I apply it to my own, but I like it on these (y)
 
First time I think ive seen your work Cuthbert.

Lovely shots indeed.

Plus you've educated me today because I always though Trumpton was Hugh, Pugh.....

Ive been wrong before and Ill be wrong again!
 
So good mate! I really do hope you go full time one day as your ability to shoot this stuff consistantly is amazing! For me the post is spot on but with shots like this it doesn't matter. The emotion and subject matter is all there. Black and white, colour, grain, no grain, it's all suplimenting the image and not at all the thing that makes me smile when I look at your work. BUT saying that your processing is really really good, as far as personal taste goes it's about as good as it gets for me. Lovely!
 
Thank you everyone, and thank you Andy, your processing was really my inspiration - I love the gritty way you do your portraits, it's quite a difficult thing to put my finger on exactly, but i do think the grain and the hazy look is somehow feels like you are looking into the past. i think that's what i love most about photography.

i've been in bed all day today with the man flu so i have had the chance to refine the preset a bit and tried to make it look a bit more 'filmy' because i couldn't go out today i've applied it to some of my older stuff. it isn't perhaps something i'd use on every photo, but i quite like the look.

i have made the grain bigger, it does look better full size, as you know flickr does seem to do some sharpening when you use a smaller image size.

c+c and your thoughts always appreciated.


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All very (very) good but the first shot in this last lot is bloomin brilliant IMO. LOVE the colours, composition, expression. Just everything. You have described the look/processing in a similar way as I would if I could. And yes, I HATE the way Flickr resizes when I post here, so I try to post the same size I link now so I control the resize/sharpen rather than their algorithm.
 
As always I love your images ,the use of DOF and the overall capture's are beautiful.
But I have to go against the grain(literally) with these, as Dean I'm not so keen on the grain. I find the grain distracting and off putting in a few of these.(which is strange as I've started to add it to some of my images:bonk: )
Guess Im just really a fan of you sharp,vivid colours of the old processing. :exit:
 
You always get good distance from your subject/background which gives you great bokeh. Another great set :)

Do you find yourself directing your children to get a nice clean background? as i often do, and they just don't want to know most of the time.

PP wise i'm not normally a fan of grain unless its a gritty mono but i really think they work well here, there is a few that i would maybe reel it in a bit, but this could well be the image hosting site over sharpening. Nice work :)
 
cuthbert said:
Thank you everyone, and thank you Andy, your processing was really my inspiration - I love the gritty way you do your portraits, it's quite a difficult thing to put my finger on exactly, but i do think the grain and the hazy look is somehow feels like you are looking into the past. i think that's what i love most about photography.

i've been in bed all day today with the man flu so i have had the chance to refine the preset a bit and tried to make it look a bit more 'filmy' because i couldn't go out today i've applied it to some of my older stuff. it isn't perhaps something i'd use on every photo, but i quite like the look.

i have made the grain bigger, it does look better full size, as you know flickr does seem to do some sharpening when you use a smaller image size.

c+c and your thoughts always appreciated.


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Great stuff as always and thanks for the kind words, really means a lot coming from such a great photographer as yourself.

I actually had get my own website because so many website services sharpen the hell out of the upload. Which messes the grain up. My favourite grain Ive found in Lightroom is settings 30,40,50 on the three sliders. Also check out Alien Skin Exposure, the grain is really really nice in that. I think the above would really benefit from hosting from your own site as they have that sharpened look from Flickr that is not doing them any favours. Do a test an upload the dropbox and link the same image from dropbox and you will see its going to be much nicer. As far as websites go Square Space is highly highly recommended, incredible service.

Also download some of my presets and have a blast, i release them each Sunday, just dropped another about 5 minutes ago :)

Keep up the great work your pictures are very inspiring on a photography level and emotional as your kids look like they are having the time of there life! :)
 
Keep up the great work your pictures are very inspiring on a photography level and emotional as your kids look like they are having the time of there life! :)[/quote]
:agree:
Fantastic set/s it has given me something to aspire to!
 
There's not one of these i don't like, superb stuff.
 
Fully:agree:with all the comments except the grain:) that doesnt bother me as the subject matter and joy and emotion captured are superb:clap:

As someone who is constantly chasing his 2 young grandsons around with a camera these really inspire me:ty:
 
Everything you shoot and post impresses me and these are no different. I agree you should go pro given you can generate this quality so consistently (though it may take the fun out of photography, I agree). Having said that, I think I liked your old look more. These are fine and I hope you are happy with them which is what matters. But they are less vibrant than your old processing and I think a bit less Cuthbert-like. But we have to evolve so keep experimenting. And start running classes on how to do shots like this...I'll let you play with my fujis....
 
Stunning set. Big thumbs up from me
 
I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the grain but I love everything else about it and the 135mm has produced some great images there.
 
Great set of photos and I like the processing in these.

I'd really love to see what you could do shooting some Kodak Portra 400. :)
 
I didn't really notice the grain until the other guys mentioned it. I think it suits the processing-which I love! Great work cuthbert! Can you go into a bit more detail on the lighting setup and settings that you used?
 
I don't think I can add anything more to the above comments.I love all of the shots.
 
Beautiful set and I agree with the comments about the processing. Its lovely. #1 and #2 in the first set for me are really great shots. You should be very proud of your work :)
 
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