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Do you use custom picture style or in-camera one?

AutumnApple
Enthusiast

Hi everybody,

I have been using Portrait picture style for a while because portrait is what i take most of the time. But I do notice that my pictures come out with much more vibrant colors . It was nice while most thing in photos are plain but say like my kid wearing hot pink color jacket, or standing in front of fall-color trees/green grass, then it's just way too enhanced. It became super duper hot pink or grass would be way too green, leaves would be too orange.

 

I tried other styles but haven't figure out what's best, thinking maybe Neutral... I would love some advice one this to get photos that has color similar to real life color without post processing. 

8 REPLIES 8

ScottyP
Authority

I don't use styles. I shoot in neutral/standard and I shoot in RAW.  It is sometimes extra work, but not too bad and it lets you correct mistakes and improve results like you never could in JPEG. 

 

Scott

Canon 5d mk 4, Canon 6D, EF 70-200mm L f/2.8 IS mk2; EF 16-35 f/2.8 L mk. III; Sigma 35mm f/1.4 "Art" EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro; EF 85mm f/1.8; EF 1.4x extender mk. 3; EF 24-105 f/4 L; EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS; 3x Phottix Mitros+ speedlites

Why do so many people say "FER-tographer"? Do they take "fertographs"?


ScottyP wrote:

I don't use styles. I shoot in neutral/standard and I shoot in RAW.  It is sometimes extra work, but not too bad and it lets you correct mistakes and improve results like you never could in JPEG. 

 


Me too. My feeling is that it's pointless to buy the best equipment if you don't try to get the best results you can out of it.

Bob
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA


@RobertTheFat wrote:

@ScottyP wrote:

I don't use styles. I shoot in neutral/standard and I shoot in RAW.  It is sometimes extra work, but not too bad and it lets you correct mistakes and improve results like you never could in JPEG. 

 


Me too. My feeling is that it's pointless to buy the best equipment if you don't try to get the best results you can out of it.


Still trying. Smiley Wink. I only take serious interest in photography lately, only started shooting raw and doing some editing lately. Just like you said, it popped out of my mind :" why bother having a good camera  if i don't learn to get the best out of it".

 

I am always amazed by how post processing could change/improve a photo. Surely it makes my photos look much better, but since i am not totally used to it yet,  i still like to keep editing at minimal so  things in photos are as close to what i see as possible. 

I look at post processing this way, by comparing DSLRs to film cameras from a few decades ago.

 

Shooting a JPEG is like using a Kodak Instantamatic Camera, one that would eject a print, which develop after a minute.  Notice that no negative is created.  Making corrections and improvements to a bad shot are tricky, if not near impossible.

 

Shooting as RAW is like shooting with actual film, which creates a negative.  The digital negative is then processed in a digital darkroom to produce a JPEG, which you can view and print.  Making corrections to bad shots are easier, and more flexible.

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."

Thank you Scott. I just started shooting raw & got into post processing lately.  It took me so long to get over the thought that post processing is kinda cheating. I like what it can do to improve my photos but still try to keep it to minimum ( probably just laziness Smiley Very Happy)

JonKline
Enthusiast

If you shoot raw and use the Canon software, you can actually see what each picture style will look like applied to the same image. With practice, you can learn which picture style might look best in a certain situation (high contrast, macro, outdoor, studio, etc.) and choose one for your jpeg file. 

Sometimes we have all the time we need to choose a look and tweak settings after the shoot, but sometimes we need to get the look right in camera, or want to share the image immediately without much work.

______________________________
I'm a cinematographer in Chicago using mostly Canon gear. I also founded MKE Production Rental in Milwaukee.

TCampbell
Elite
Elite

Post processing isn't cheating.  Every image that has ever been photographed by a camera has been post-processed (including film).  The question isn't whether or not is is post processed... the question is who (or what) does the post-processing and where does it happen.

 

Even when I shot B&W film, we'd develop the film, then produce a "test strip" (many different exposure timings used in the darkroom) to determine how much time should be optimal for that image (and then take notes that get filed away with the negative).  This is a lot like adjusting the exposure on a digital image using computer software.

 

When you shoot a JPEG image, the camera is post-processing the image.  It takes the "RAW" data... applies white balance corrections, applies color, may apply some de-noising (depending on the ISO), may apply some sharpening, etc. etc.  But all of this happens in the camera and you have very little control over it.  (but it still happens).

 

When you shoot RAW, you get the "RAW" data before any post-processing is performed (which is why RAW images usually don't look as good as JPEG images if you haven't done anything to them.)  You get to control the exposure adjustments, white balance correction, etc. etc.

 

It's actually a pretty fast and easy process and software designed specifically for RAW workflow makes it even easier.  For example, Adobe Lightroom automatically applies certain adjustments as soon as you import the images from the camera.  But the difference is these are non-permanent adjustments (aka "non-destructive" is the term you'll hear... referring to the fact that original data was not destroyed as the changes were made.  You can undo anything at any time.)

 

The reason RAW is heavily preferred is because RAW images are 14-bit and there's are loads of subtle tonal differences from pixel to pixel which are not lost.  JPEG are 8-bit images AND they are also heavily compressed to reduce the amount of space neeced to save them.  This results in similar pixels (with only subtle tonal differences) being "normalized" to the identical values (because they figure your eye would not notice the difference) so that the images compress better.  Unfortunately this results in a loss of original data.  So now when you want to adjust that image and maybe bring down the highlights or boost up the shadows... thinking you'll recover some of that detail... the detail is gone.   In a RAW image... that doesn't happen. 

 

Another way to think about it...

 

There are two broad categories of camera users... one group is just snapping photos to preserve memories.  They don't think of these photos as "art"... so they're not going to fuss over color, lighting, etc.    The other group thinks of the photos as "art"... they want a lot of control over color, lighting, and many other factors.

 

If you're in group 2... then you want to shoot RAW.

 

Pretty much any favorite commercial photograph you've ever loved... you look at those colors and wonder "how did they get those colors?"   The camera didn't get those colors... that was all done in post processing and those photographers shoot RAW.  The camera accurately captured the data ... and the photographer did the rest in post processing.

 

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da

Thank you everybody for great information and tips. I can't believe how much i've learned just by asking couple questions. So glad I found this community. 

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