Is there a market for PS technicians?

[fotografz]

Lauren, this is such a subjective subject that it boggles the mind.

 

Each person has differing levels of aesthetic sensitivity. Each person has differing levels of

tolerance concerning post work.

 

Back when I first started shooting B&W film and had yet to master the darkroom, I had

hooked up with a dedicated darkroom printer who did all my B&W prints for me. I was

never satisified, and accelerated the learning curve in the darkroom so I could print them

myself.

 

I've never been happy with any labs interpetation of my digital shots. There weren't at the

wedding, don't know the clients, and they didn't feel what I felt, or saw what I saw.

 

This is not a good attitude for a wedding shooter because it dooms you to processing your

own work forever.

 

I admire those who are able to let go, getting close to what they want in the camera and

being able to batch correct in a purported hour's time. That will NEVER be my lot, and I've

come to accept it ... up to a point.

 

In my case, this is why a return to film remains a viable alternative and one I am exercising

more and more these days.

[laurenm]

Marc, from things you have posted, you seem pretty good with PS. Is it that you want to do the actual printing also why you would contemplate returning to film?

Yes, I can see how once you know how to post process, only YOU can do what YOU want. Its an argument for photography being artwork and a painter wouldn't have someone else finishing up their painting.

 

I have noticed when someone posts a picture, their are often many versions of PS touchups each born out of the individual's tastes and interpretations.

 

Thanks for the offer Gary. It is nice that it is something that can be done from far away locations over the wonderful internet! I'll keep it in mind when I've become a famous high end photographer with little time or patience for petty post process work. Until then, I have to learn how to do it myself.

[chris m., central florida]

I'd easily pay someone to just process my RAW files with a realtively high degree of accuracy, and then send me the adjusted RAW files and converted full resolution JPEGS. Problem is, I can go through 750-1000 images in five hours or so, and then let the computer chug away to do the JPEG conversion at night. I don't think that's worth $300 for someone else to do, and they could probably do it faster with the right tools. RAW file conversions are not rocket science once you get it down. Some people who convert mass quanities of RAW files for a fee simply batch process them.

 

 

I use Nikon Capture, which any true RAW file handler would hate with a passion. But it does such good file conversions. And every release gets faster.

[chris m., central florida]

But I do think good PS retouchers are worth their weight in gold. That's a lot different than adjusting and covnerting RAW files. Two completely different processes.

[laurenm]

Chris, I have the Nikon software. Do you (can you) make any adjustments in RAW before converting? I haven't really gotten familiar with it yet. Why would RAW shooters hate it with a passion? What can't you do with Nikon that should be done?

Thanks

[kiva]

At risk of going slightly off topic yet I think it's relavent.

 

I used to think that when photographers hinted at bragging they are posting their image file "untouched" or "not manipulated" that I was viewing an image that was "untouched" and "not manipulated". Not the case imo. This topic has been drilled time and again but as new people read it's good to review and update the subject from time to time.

 

When I focus my camera and create settings "to my taste" I've manipulated the scene. When I process the photo in RAW I manipulate the scene. Heck a camera can't even capture what the eye sees so the scene is manipulated in some way.

 

Here's a photo I took yesterday. It's "untouched" and "not maniputlated" <insert sniggles and snickers here> ... but, I did adjust the camera for "taste" and I did so "minor tweaks" in a raw file converter ... OTHER THAN THAT, IT'S UNTOUCHED!!! ROFL...

 

I would have to say it took more than a couple of days <insert Wink here> to learn to adjust the camera and make tweaks in a raw convertion tool. That's why there is a market for the PS'ers who can then take the image to another level. yadda yadda<div></div>

[alejandro_fresno]

Yes, there is a market. I 'm fully dedicated to photo retouching and album design as a freelance for the photo pros, also developing software for the photographer.

I try to personalize every work to the photographers style. Most of the labs offer this services but normally are higher rated.

The retouching and design service are ussually offered only to photographers of my area, because of the big size of the album files.

[kelly_flanigan1]

In photo restoration work some shops and firms just scan the print or negative and bulk email/FTP the work to a place with a radically lower labor rate, usually out of the USA. The local shop then has a done FTP inbox, where the print is locally printed. This has been done since before 2000.<BR><BR>This same outsourcing model is done with data entry of trade show business cards lists, bingo cards, magazine renewals, toll telephone operators, help lines for Microsoft and other software, even those pesky rebate offers. The old way was to physically send the bag of cards to say Ireland 10 years ago, today a machine gun speed scanner scans the rebates etc, and somebody on the other side of the globe messes with the data. <BR><BR>You as the photographer knows the true color of aunt Mildreds hair, the wedding dress. When ill mixed lighting is used, the author of the photos can steer PS corrections better than a lab.

[chris m., central florida]

Nikon Capture is slower than ACR/BRidge, no doubt about it. Some people hate using it, but that's because they might have been running older versions and it was a total memory hog. I'm on 4.4 now. Much faster than 4.0 and 4.1.

 

Nikon Capture allows me to adjust nearly every parameter in my RAW files, before converting to JPEG. The only thing I haven't figured out yet is how to custom crop for width and height ratio instead of specifyng an specific image size, like a 4X6. That's ok though, because I'd prefer to crop in PS and keep the NEF RAW file archived in case I need to do something unexpected.

 

Nikon's new Capture update is due out in May, I think. And it's supposed to have even better speed and control features along with NIK plugin capability.

[laurenm]

Thanks Chris. Actually, I am right now trying to delete or move or convert all the images I have taken that are in Nikon Capture software. I have found an easier and quicker method using PS csII and just want to go through what I have in Nikon and either convert it or delete. I notice when I click delete, it does not remove the file from my hard drive? Is this something I want to do if I have already saved it in another format (these are just personal snap shots). Any chance you know how to permanantly delete the file?

[uk]

Lauren,

 

Are they 'Locked' ?

 

if they are you can unlock in Photoshop from the 'Get Info" on the menu and ticking the

'Read & Write' box, rather than just 'Read Only'.

 

Happened to me many times.

 

Gary

[laurenm]

i'll check that, thanks Gary. I'm also trying to delete some pictures in "my pictures" and it keeps making copies. i now have like 25 copies!

[vince_macdonald]

Lauren we have a business that Pro photographers send files by ftp to us and then we color correct both raw and jpgs and send back to them.If you would like more info our email address is

 

info@studioworkroom.com.

 

Vince

[laurenm]

Vince, thanks, wish I heard from you two weeks ago. Nice website! I will keep you in mind.

Lauren MacDonald

[sandra_henderson]

Lauren, another good place to learn photoshop is the Digital Wedding Forum. There are thousands of exceptional wedding photographers there who are very open and willing to help in any way: www.dwf.com.

 

Another great place to learn photoshop skills is through Photoshop Mama http://photoshopmama.net. You can also find tons of videos on photoshop that walks you through how to do batching, color correction and other stuff found here: http://shop.photoshopvideos.com

 

I hope these help :)

 

Sandra