topic Re: Best Post Processing Software in Camera Software

Best Post Processing Software

PhotoInParadise — Tue, 17 May 2016 13:10:17 GMT

this question has been beat to death, I know but I thought I would state my specific case and see if its worth changing.from Affinity Photo photo editing software.

i have a Canon 70D and a 5D Mark III. I am still in the intermediate stages of learning photography. I mostly take photographs of my two Shih Tzu. Some inside, some outside. Occassionally landscape type photos. I have a nifty fifty lens, a 24-70 f/4 and a 70-200 f/2.8. Unfortunately one of my Shih tzu is solid black and in long coat. Beautiful but very difficult to capture much detail. Oh and I always shoot Raw.

I sometimes manage to get everything right in camera so much post processing is not needed. But when I dont get it right and he is a dark blob, I feel that my PP, Affinity Photo does not help me at all. And just fyi...I have a Mac (El Capitan). I am wondering if other editing software is better for pulling more detail out of dark subjects in post processing than Affinity Photo?

Also there are no tutorials for Affinity Photo and that would help. I know there is a ton for Adobe but I would sure like to avoid monthly fees and I see a stand alone version of Lightroom would not have updates. I also dont know if it plays good with El Capitan. So please let me know if you have suggestions for PP software that does a good job pulling dark detail out of raw photos. If your answer is, just get better with your camera, please be kind.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

ebiggs1 — Tue, 17 May 2016 13:25:14 GMT

You asked what is the "best" post editor? That answer is Photoshop. Period it has no peer. But is it the "best" for you? Now that is a totally different question. My answer is, no. I don't think so. BTW, I hate the monthly rental plan from Adobe, too. So I quit at CS6. I am standing firm there. You can still find it for sale from time to time. But ...........

"I see a stand alone version of Lightroom would not have updates."

Lightroom 6 still updates! Mine does, I just got one. It is up to LR 6.5.1. It would probably do all you want. But Photoshop Elements will do everything you could ever want. It is a baby PS. Does almost as much as the real deal PS does.

PSE allows you to make catalogs so you can find that 'one' photo years from now. Plus it posst to the web where most share their work. It emails, etc. And it does edits that most others don't.

Now whether it plays well with a Mac? I can't say. I know lots of people have issues with a Mac and printing from post editors. But I think the software runs well for edits.

Give Elements a try. You can try it free for 30 days.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

kvbarkley — Tue, 17 May 2016 13:59:21 GMT

Second that. PSE contains Adobe Camera RAW. If that can't get what you want out of the RAW file, nothing can.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

ebiggs1 — Tue, 17 May 2016 14:04:46 GMT

You nailed it to the wall.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

PhotoInParadise — Tue, 17 May 2016 14:22:09 GMT

Thank you all for replying. I will read about PE. I guess since that is what you recommend, it goes without saying, it will help pull the details out of black fur? Attached is a recent and I know he is in the shade but it seems as if PP should be able to help his detail a little better than this.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

ebiggs1 — Tue, 17 May 2016 14:33:01 GMT

If PSE or LR can't help, nothing else will either. They are the best.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

PhotoInParadise — Tue, 17 May 2016 14:38:28 GMT

I was not clear. I was asking, PE compared to Lightroom, if PE was thought to be as good as Lightroom for pulling out the black detail. I went on the internet and read a little and see that PE is definitely for beginners and has limited capabilities. That's ok if it will do that one thing, help improve the lback fur detail in most of my raw photos. I also have a light cream colored shih tzu and her raw photos almost never need any processing other that a small crop maybe Thanks much for your advice, I appreciate your taking the time to answer

Re: Best Post Processing Software

ebiggs1 — Tue, 17 May 2016 14:40:03 GMT

Check out my PM to you.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

Waddizzle — Tue, 17 May 2016 14:48:13 GMT

My Gear: 70D, 24-70mm f/4L, 70-200 f/2.8L, 430 EX III RT Speedlight

--------------------------------------

That shot really could have used a little help from your onboard flash, or your speedlight. Flashes are good for use on a bright sunny day when you are photographing something in the shade.

As far as post-processing goes, I could serously cheat with that shot, and manufacture an HDR shot out of it. I would copy the entire shot to a new layer, mask out everything except the dog, brighten up the exposure on the dog, recombine the layers, and then export the JPEG.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

cicopo — Tue, 17 May 2016 14:58:37 GMT

Unless things have changed you can take lessons from Lynda DOT com by the month & one month can really be a big help when it comes to learning RAW conversion. The lessons are easy to follow & in small enough segments to get a handle on what it's trying to teach you.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

kvbarkley — Tue, 17 May 2016 16:11:15 GMT

And remember, this is not CSI. If there is no detail there, there is no detail there.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

diverhank — Tue, 17 May 2016 18:16:13 GMT

All other posts covered the post processing software very well so I'm going off topic a little bit...Trying to brighten dark objects in post processing has its costs...usually you end up with excessive noise in the brightened areas.

The key is to try to correctly expose the dog. Whenever you are shooting the black Shih Tzu, try getting closer to eliminate the background which tends to fool your camera metering system to underexpose your Shih Tzu.

Also, use your camera exposure compensation to +1 or more so the black dog is not "a black blob". The cost is, of course, your background will be a bit too light which you can darken in post (it's better to darken than brighten in post processing).

Or do what Waddizzle suggested and use the flash to fill in the dark fur coat.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

Waddizzle — Tue, 17 May 2016 18:36:21 GMT

"Or do what Waddizzle suggested and use the flash to fill in the dark fur coat."

I think that would have been the ticket the day that shot was taken. The flash would not need to go at full power, either.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

RobertTheFat — Tue, 17 May 2016 19:27:30 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
"Or do what Waddizzle suggested and use the flash to fill in the dark fur coat."

I think that would have been the ticket the day that shot was taken. The flash would not need to go at full power, either.

Remember that what we're discussing here is fill flash. The probable reason that the dog is underexposed is that the bright highlights in the background fooled the camera into thinking that the subject was brighter than it actually was. Center-weighted metering might have helped. Placing the dog closer to the camera would also have helped, because it would have made the overall scene appear darker, resulting in a stronger flash.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

PhotoInParadise — Tue, 17 May 2016 21:37:10 GMT

Thanks, Robert for those camera tips.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

ebiggs1 — Tue, 17 May 2016 22:15:17 GMT

Unless it is a posed parlor portrait most folks don't want to use or be bothered by fill flash. You might take Robert's suggestion on the metering mode. But I would suggest spot metering. Place the dot on the dog's face and shoot away.

Keep in mind that it will not expose the rest of the photo correctly. You will still have to post edit it. There is just so much DR in a camera. When you exceed that, it's done!

You have your best solution in the PM, I sent.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

kvbarkley — Tue, 17 May 2016 22:20:53 GMT

One point that Nick Kelsh brings out in How to Photograph Your Life is to make sure that a dark pet is photographed against a light background to help him stand out.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

ScottyP — Tue, 17 May 2016 23:04:26 GMT

If you shoot RAW you must process every shot. That is not a bad thing, just a thing.

If you process every shot, it sure is good to have something easy to use, and which does batch processing, like Lightroom.

PSE is not a beginner program, it does everything 99% of amateur photographers will ever use. The stuff PS has that PSE lacks is largely stuff most photogs won't fully use. PSE is a great program, but I would use it as a supplement to Lightroom, not instead of Lightroom.

If you want to sharpen the dog, or correct the dog's exposure, LR is great. If you want to graft your cat's head onto your dog's body, and place the resulting hybrid on Mars, you'd need PS or PSE.

When your subject is white (snow, a bride's dress) or black (a tuxedo, a black animal) metering struggles. It seeks to make both grey. You need to apply positive exposure compensation to the white to avoid grey snow, grey brides. You need to apply negative exposure compensation to the black subjects to avoid grey washed out tuxedos, animals.

Black also benefits fits from good lighting, preferably off camera or bounced off a wall, etc.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

ebiggs1 — Wed, 18 May 2016 12:52:50 GMT

"PSE is not a beginner program, ..."

Yes it is. It is exactly who it is aimed at.

" I would use it as a supplement to Lightroom, ...."

So would I. But PSE duplicates a lot of the features of LR. Enough that most people will get along just fine with solely PSE.

Re: Best Post Processing Software

Waddizzle — Wed, 18 May 2016 12:39:57 GMT

@ebiggs1 wrote:
Unless it is a posed parlor portrait most folks don't want to use or be bothered by fill flash. You might take Robert's suggestion on the metering mode. But I would suggest spot metering. Place the dot on the dog's face and shoot away.
Keep in mind that it will not expose the rest of the photo correctly. You will still have to post edit it. There is just so much DR in a camera. When you exceed that, it's done!

You have your best solution in the PM, I sent.

The flash not affecting the exposure of other parts of the photo is whole idea, because all you want to do in that case is light up the dog just a little bit.

I think the onboard flash might have been perfect because it simply doesn't have the reach to light up much of anything farther away than the dog. I would think the flash needs to be dialed down a bit, so as to not make it obvious that a flash was used. I also use metering at the center of the frame, instead of averaging the entire scene.

Personally, I am not a big fan of extensive post editing, in lieu of taking a better initial shot. I would much rather have a better starting point when I'm doing a post edit, instead of performing a triage on a shot.