Here is a “before” and “after” look of a beauty shot I did last week. The “before” shot on the left being straight off the camera and the “after” shot post retouch. The interesting thing about this image is that all the retouch was done in LightRoom 3 and so is entirely non-destructive. Yes, I could have done this in PhotoShop too, but on this occasion I chose LightRoom.
One of the things I’ve found with digital photography is that I can spend a lot of time post processing my images if I’m not careful. Retouching is a bit like writing software for a living – no matter what one does there will always be something else that can be done to improve it. I used to believe that this was because it was easy to make a change but having read Pressfield’s book entitled “The War of Art” I’m wondering if sometimes this is also an excuse to never finish an image. Read the book and you’ll understand why I made that statement.
Getting back on topic, I find that sitting at my PC and retouching an image can be quite fun so I’m not complaining but when faced with a deadline and the necessity of getting a body of work out the door to please a client and the fun element can very soon evaporate. This is further exacerbated if there is a large number of images to sort through
So, what canbe done to speed up the workflow?
There is a lot of chatter at the moment about the new noise reduction capabilities of Lightroom 3. I’ve not yet had a look at the Beta 2 version but according to the specs. they’ve added Luminance noise reduction and people are going wild about it, allegedly resurrecting images that would otherwise have been far too noisy to be of usable or marketable quality.
If anyone has some results for the 5DmkII I’d be very interested in hearing. I do a lot of work with natural light and low light in particular so I frequently shoot at ISO 1600. On occasion I have even pushed it to ISO 3200 and ISO 6400 but the images need a lot of TLC or can quickly evaporate in post. If LR3 is really as good as everyone is claiming, my working ISO range has just increased, possibly extending the life of the 5DmkII. If this truly is the case the upgrade would be worth the investment. For me at least.
Now, I wonder if Mrs. LightMatters would see it that way?
I’m listening to the latest podcast 79 by CameraDojo, and they’re doing a grea review of the latest products by Adobe: Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5. Trouble is, they’re making them so appealing I’m now hesitant to check them out. I just know that if I do I’ll want to upgrade. I’ll probably need a new laptop/pc too so if I do upgrade I’ll be looking at probably a £2,500+ investment.
Think Mrs LightMatters might not like that 😉
UPDATE – I caved. I had a quick peek at the upgrade price on the Adobe site. I wish I hadn’t as I’m now working out how many images I need to sell to cover it.
BTW – Great podcast. Keep up the good work.
Found the coolest feature in LightRoom yesterday: virtual images.
Ever wondered what they are and how they can be used, follow the link to fine out more…
Hi, I'm Gavin the photographer.
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