Watcher Bird

[geoz]

Hello, My first post for C&C. I took this about a month ago at the tip of Sandy Hook, NJ with the lower New York Bay in the background. You can barely make out Manhattan on the right about 16 miles (25km) away. The first is just a unprocessed crop. I applied contrast to the get the second using Picassa. I'm still learning how to use a Sony RX100 and know a little about post processing. Looking for suggestions on processing the image, any recommendations on software and general C&C.

Thanks in advance,
George

Cropped


With Contrast


1/800s, F7.1, ISO 125

[Donald]

George

If I haven't already said hello and welcomed you to CiC then ............ Hello and welcome.

The one suggestion I'd make when we look at the above is to not get too aggressive with the post processing. I think it's something we all did and do when we''re quite new to post-processing. I know I did it.

I think you had something that was close to good in the original, but then, in my view, you pushed it too far with the contrast slider. As I was told on here, which was a good lesson, we need to learn when less is more when it comes to PP.

If you want to really get serious about your photography, then that will mean looking at post-processing options. And to a large extent, what you consider will be dictated by your budget. For example, there is the free to use (although you can make a donation) open-source GIMP package. But because it doesn't have the market penetration of the Adobe suite of products, there is not the same level and range of support in terms of helping you learn it. There are good resources (they helped me), but you have to seek them out.

Adobe is, by far and away, the market leader. With its Elements, Lightroom and, at the top, Photoshop packages, it has the market. You always know when a brand has achieved dominance when the name of the product becomes the generic term. So in the same way as we talk about Hoovers to mean vacuum cleaners, so many people talk about Photoshopping to mean post-processing.

Photoshop will almost wash your shirts, do your ironing and cook your dinner, if you talk to it nicely. But you pay for the privilege. But as others have argued on here, if you're spending big bucks on cameras, lenses etc, why shouldn't you be thinking about spending quite a lot to get the best post processing tools. After all, post processing is as much part of the process of making an image as capturing the photo in the first place.

So, something to think about.

[geoz]

Thanks Donald,

I very much appreciate the advice.

I'll go play with what I have to see what it can do but with minimal effects and go through the tutorials here. I will take a look at the Adobe suite and see what fits best in my budget.