What do you do for post processing? what software and techniques do you use?

[Zephyr]

hi

i am just curious as I want to get involved with landscapes more but I don't know what different functions I should be applying in post processing, what do people do, typically?

I mean, for me, much like my wildlife shots, I will apply unsharp mark, 70% on my 1d mark iv shots typically with maybe 1.5 pixel radias, then maybe some vibrance, curves, and a little bit of shadows/highlights, but i still am not too pleased with my outcome, I see shots on here and really marvel at the quality, besides filters, what else do people use, and how do you post process to achieve the look you're after?

Take a look here, for my landscape shots to see what i mean
http://flickr.com/photos/graemewillettsphotographer

Anyone got any advice?

Thank you so much in advance!!
Graeme

 

[markmullen]

I use Capture One for my raw processing, usually a white balance correction, clarity (+ve and -ve), lens correction and basic metadata which is applied on import. At this stage I geotag my shots in Houdah so that all resulting files are tagged.

From there into CS6 as a 16 bit tiff where I usually start with dust spotting, I use Nik Color Efex for some pro contrast and sometimes detail extractor. A tweak of vibrance and saturation if required and often a linear contrast in the curves panel. I do sharpening and noise reduction locally rather than globally, skies usually get some NR, foregrounds usually some sharpening with USM or smart sharpen. A final check for dust spots and I'm done.

Next back into C1 for titling, key wording etc. From there export as jpegs for web use etc. The final step is to export the finished and tagged tiff to Media Pro for cataloging.

 

[SFTPhotography]

I use Aperature 3.5.

I will do RAW pre sharpening, adjustments noise adjustments.

I'll then use edge sharpening tool. Take a look at the image and histogram and work out what curves, structure, contrast, colour saturation levels need applied.

Then into colour Fx for some pro contrast if the basic Aperature 3 isn't good enough, maybe a faux Skylight effect to top yellow tones out a bit more, faux grads to beef up the sky and you can use this to lighten the front too.

 

[Winkyphoto]

Lightroom 5.3. Takes the raw files direct without any other software. Nearly always adjust exposure, saturation and curves. Little bit of sharpening, crop, maybe some post-crop vignette and export as jpeg for upload to Flickr.

 

[macs]

I only use Photoshop Elements 11. I open the RAW file in ACR tweak the temperature, exposure, contrast, highlights/shadows and the clarity.

Then open in PSE11 and look to adjust the levels and curves, add fake grads over the sky (if needed) then use the sharpen tool to selectively sharpen areas where needed (i find this better than unsharp mask or using a high pass filter as you can use it only on the bits that you want sharpening and without the hassle of erasing out sections of a layer if using HPF or Unsharp mask).

Then any cropping or lens correction and vignette if required

Finally I save a full size jpeg and a low res 72dpi version for web use.

 

[keety]

Lightroom 5.5 here...

Import my shots, add keywords..

Go through the entire shoot flagging everything im interested in and rating at the same time.

5 stars for keeper
1 star for possible keeper, needs more work and thought

start working on the 5 star shots

Will apply lens profile correction first

Straighten the shot so horizons are level
Make sure nothing is clipped (I have high and low clipping turned on)
adjust levels as needed
remove dust spots etc
Reduce noise as subtly as possible
Create sharpening mask
Apply sharpening.
Export if needed to either a niksoft app or photoshop
and finally rename the photo


Or at least that's my best practice, I don;t always tend to follow it that way depending on what the photo is of.