Dazed and Confused

[b_va]

I am a recent convert from Leica M to Nikon D200. Image capture is not a

problem but once that image is transferred to the PC my head starts to spin.

Despite reading this forum, and a multitude of others seeking guidance and

insight, I realize I am confused and know nothing about proper digital

photography post production. Can anyone suggest an �ABC guide to digital

workflow� resource?

 

Many thanks

[EricM]

you bet B, first welcome to the new frontier!

 

start by going to the digital darkroom and turning your email alert on. follow every thread and don't be shy asking questions.

 

second, get a coouple of books, I like to reccomend this Scott Kelby's book for beginers;

 

 

http://shop.scottkelbybooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4&zenid=542ae5dec251ffb2a0bc368588ebeb66

[Peter_in_PA]

I don't know about a specific book (hopefully some others will chime in here...), but here's

an idea. Get ahold of Photoshop Elements, learn it a bit, and when you start hitting the

wall with it, and wish it could do more... Upgrade to Photoshop. I'm sure there are some

excellent Photoshop books, but I've been working with the program for so long (since

version 2) that I haven't read any of them in years.

 

Another idea (if you set yourself up with Photoshop) is to subscribe to Outdoor

Photographer Magazine. Every month it seems they have some very useful PS tips, and

they help you avoid some common pitfalls (such as using the Brightness and Contrast

controls, which is a bad thing to do...)

 

Lastly... SAVE YOUR UN-TOUCHED FILES... so that you don't wreck them by making some

of the mistakes that you WILL make with a program like this, especially at the start.

[mawz]

Get a copy of PS Elements and Scott Kelby's The Photoshop Elements Book for Digital Photographers.

 

When you've mastered that it's time to upgrade to Photoshop, shoot RAW and read Bruce Frazer's Real World Camera RAW with Photoshop CS2

[maurik]

I thought that Tom Ang's book: Photoshop CS for Photography: The Art of Pixel Processing, was quite excellent. It does not assume that you know a lot about computers, it assumes you are a photographer and not a computer jock. This book really helped a photographer friend of mine who is not very computer literate and recently started scanner her slides.

On the plus side for this book, you can tell from the photos that it was written by a photographer and not a programmer....

[steve_levine]

I hope you didn't sell the "M"?

[timothy_nelson]

An alternative view: if you're starting out with digital photo management and processing,

skip Photoshop for now and go directly to Adobe Lightroom. It's still in Beta (version 3), but

is a much more natural way to download, catalog, and adjust your photos (shoot RAW!). It has

most of the functionality of Photoshop and Camera RAW with a much more intuitive interface.

I know Photoshop pretty well, but programs like Lightroom are where things are going for

photographers, with Photoshop probably becoming more of a retouching tool for special

problems. There are loads of free Podcasts (some with video) about Lightroom at the iTunes

store, so you can hear and see how it works.

[johnmarkpainter]

YIKES

 

If you mad it down this far...your head hurts.

 

Just go here: http://www.russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html

 

Watch the Videos about Adobe Bridge, Image Processor, RAW images and Sharpening.

[david_h._hartman]

I'll second John Painter's recommendation of Russell Brown.

[giles_king_salter]

<p>I second the recommendation for Peter Krogh's book. Doesn't deal with processing but with managing your digital files. Sounds straightforward but it's a pain if you get it wrong - better to start off using a sensible system rather than finding out several thousand photos later that they're in a right mess. Have a look at his website here:</p>

 

<p><a href="http://thedambook.com/">www.thedambook.com</a></p>

 

<p>Giles</p>