Over the last year I've starting getting into photography in a seriously amateur way. For my own sake, and for those who are interested, I thought I'd detail my experiences and what I've learned. That's kinda the whole point of this blog.
The camera I use is the Canon Powershot SX220HS (I'm looking to upgrade to a DSLR or Compact System / Micro 4/3rds camera in the next year). It has full manual controls which means you can do a lot with it and more importantly, learn how photography actually works and make better photos. I was lucky enough to get it on sale for $200. It's a very well reviewed camera and my experience has been very positive. It's pocketable and takes good quality shots straight out of camera (although, not usually enough contrast for my tastes).
However, there's way more to photography than just the camera.
This, for example, is three photos taken using stitch assist, then imported to my iPad and stitched together using the iPhone app AutoStitch, then retouched (saturation, fill light, contrast, and tilt-shift) in the iOS app (and best photo editor on the iPad IMO) "Snapseed".
I.e. there's taking the photo (composition, lighting etc) and processing photos. My brief experience has taught me it is equally important to post-process photos. I don't have one method, but I've evolved a workflow over the last year. It will change as soon as I upgrade to a DSLR because I imagine I'll start shooting RAW instead of JPEG, and what I currently do only works with JPEG. More importantly, I'm using either very cheap or free software. I.e., I'm nowhere near to doing it how a professional does it. Anyway, here's the brief overview of what I do:
On any one photo I may use just one of these methods, or all. I also sometimes use Photoshop Elements (a version that I got years ago), but not too often. Using Photoshop and other high end software regularly are on my future agenda. I find that for my needs the apps I use on the iPad, combined with Photomatix and Picasa work well. Especially the iPad. I can process a great number of photos on my 40 minute train trip to and from work each day, without having to lug about a laptop.
Here are a couple of before and after examples using Snapseed. The first is only a minor bit of processing.
I straightened it a bit, boosted the contrast and a minimal tilt shit to blur the foreground a little.
This next example is a little more extreme.
A previously dull photo is now, IMHO, quite interesting.
Here's one example of the bracketed photos before and the HDR after.
I went pretty full on with this one - but the roundabout on its own is not that much of an interesting subject...
Here's a sunset, one of the "befores"and the after.
Still looking natural but capturing the full range of light and colour that was actually there.
The images I used in this post are some of the ones I'm most pleased with from this year. I'm only just beginning so no doubt I'll think they look like crap in a year or two...
The camera I use is the Canon Powershot SX220HS (I'm looking to upgrade to a DSLR or Compact System / Micro 4/3rds camera in the next year). It has full manual controls which means you can do a lot with it and more importantly, learn how photography actually works and make better photos. I was lucky enough to get it on sale for $200. It's a very well reviewed camera and my experience has been very positive. It's pocketable and takes good quality shots straight out of camera (although, not usually enough contrast for my tastes).
However, there's way more to photography than just the camera.
This, for example, is three photos taken using stitch assist, then imported to my iPad and stitched together using the iPhone app AutoStitch, then retouched (saturation, fill light, contrast, and tilt-shift) in the iOS app (and best photo editor on the iPad IMO) "Snapseed".
I.e. there's taking the photo (composition, lighting etc) and processing photos. My brief experience has taught me it is equally important to post-process photos. I don't have one method, but I've evolved a workflow over the last year. It will change as soon as I upgrade to a DSLR because I imagine I'll start shooting RAW instead of JPEG, and what I currently do only works with JPEG. More importantly, I'm using either very cheap or free software. I.e., I'm nowhere near to doing it how a professional does it. Anyway, here's the brief overview of what I do:
- Take a bunch of photos - main shooting modes: aperture priority, full manual (especially when bracketing photos to create a HDR), shutter speed priority, full auto, colour accent, stitch assist (to create a panorama).
- Most of the time I transfer photos to my iPad using the camera connection kit. If I'm doing a HDR, I slot the SD card into laptop and copy bracketed images to my "To HDR" folder. Or, if I just want to batch edit a bunch of snapshots without too much editing or effort, I import straight to Picasa (which is where they all end up eventually).
- Ruthlessly triage the photos. Will I really every want to look at this photo again? More importantly, can I be bothered to spend any time processing it?
- Process the photos. On my Windows 7 laptop predominantly using Picasa, Photomatix and Photoshop Elements. On my iPad, the most frequently used apps are Snapseed, AutoStitch, Photoforge2, Photogene, and iPhoto (which I managed to get on my 1st gen iPad this way). I will get to specifics of some of them later.
- Label folders in Picasa by date and subject. Import photos processed on my iPad to my laptop over WiFi using PhotoSync. Much easier than having to go through the horrendous mess that is iTunes.
- Star the good photos.
- Click "sync to web". I've set up Picasa so only the starred photos are synced to the web. If no photos are starred then all the photos in the folder are synced. I am currently grandfathered in to Google's nice and cheap $5 per year for 20 gigabytes of storage for Picasa Web.
On any one photo I may use just one of these methods, or all. I also sometimes use Photoshop Elements (a version that I got years ago), but not too often. Using Photoshop and other high end software regularly are on my future agenda. I find that for my needs the apps I use on the iPad, combined with Photomatix and Picasa work well. Especially the iPad. I can process a great number of photos on my 40 minute train trip to and from work each day, without having to lug about a laptop.
My main method
My most common method is to import photos onto my iPad to process using Snapseed. Snapseed is just a great, great, really great, app. Its autocorrect and tuning features work really well. The touch screen controls are just a pleasure to use. It has some great effects, especially the tilt-shift feature which can be very fine tuned, so you don't need to make photos look like miniatures. I also use some of the other apps mentioned above, but only on occasion. iPhoto, for example, is excellent for re-touching blemishes, dirt on kids faces or camera artifacts.Here are a couple of before and after examples using Snapseed. The first is only a minor bit of processing.
Before Snapseed
After Snapseed
I straightened it a bit, boosted the contrast and a minimal tilt shit to blur the foreground a little.
This next example is a little more extreme.
Before Snapseed
After Snapseed
A previously dull photo is now, IMHO, quite interesting.
Happy snaps
If I've taken a bunch of photos of say a family event and just want to quickly give them a light touch, I simply import all the photos off the camera into Picasa and hit "I'm feeling lucky" in the batch edit option. This does a pretty decent job of correcting exposures, contrast and colour. I'll then go through the photos one by one, deleting the superfluous and crap ones, perhaps crop some, and use some of the other features of Picasa such as fill light, straighten, and so on, to help bring out the subject of the photo. Really does the job with minimal effort.Landscapes and Architecture
When photographing landscapes, sunsets and rises, architecture and night photography, generally I use a tripod and take bracketed photos to create a HDR in Photomatix. I won’t go into detail here, I’ll just be lazy and link to Trey Ratcliff's Stuck In Customs. If you're interested in HDR, his site is a good place to start.Here's one example of the bracketed photos before and the HDR after.
Before Photomatix
After Photomatix
I went pretty full on with this one - but the roundabout on its own is not that much of an interesting subject...
Here's a sunset, one of the "befores"and the after.
Before Photomatix
After Photomatix
Still looking natural but capturing the full range of light and colour that was actually there.
Taking the photos
I'll probably do another post on what I've learned about taking photos in the future. Briefly, I've learned a lot by reading the manual to my camera and trying out nearly every function, finding different subjects to make photos of (e.g. the weekly photo assignment at Digital Photography School), reading some photography books and listening to photography podcasts. I also follow a bunch of photographers on Google+, which can give you plenty of inspiration.The images I used in this post are some of the ones I'm most pleased with from this year. I'm only just beginning so no doubt I'll think they look like crap in a year or two...
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