Where did you learn your skills for post processing?

[HenkB]

I use Lightroom (and Photoshop). The glib answer is Google. The two sites I used most heavily were www.luminous-landscape.com and www.earthboundlight.com but my list of bookmarks in the instructional category runs to over 20. Adobe has some very useful video tutorials, as well. I only found CiC much later.
I approach PP as I approach cooking. Read a lot of recipes, try a few out, see what works for me. That's works, as in what process can I remember two weeks later when I need to do it again.

[drjuice]

One observation about learning formally versus informally.

I tend to learn better and faster if I practice something a LOT. So, I generally look up the topic and pick several online resources to use to guide me through the materials. Then, I spend a couple of weeks concentrating on taking pictures using that particular topic until I have command of it.

It's resulted in my knowing nearly zero about some subjects, but I then took a formal course and filled in the holes.

Hope this helps to explain.

virginia

[GiacomoD]

Virginia, I fully agree with you.
Only through continuous practicing I am able to have command of a certain procedure.

What I do often is to apply a certain tutorial step by step on two or more images.
Once I understood the meaning and the effect of each step, I try to summarize the tutorial in a numbered list of actions, adding some comments or recommended settings (ranges of threshold values or of layers opacities, and so on), based on results that I got on my shots.
When the numbered list is complete and clear to me, it usually means that I'm ready to make an independent use of that procedure, and I can even start trying some "variations on a theme".

Giacomo

[rtbaum]

My wife took a class at the local community college in PS6; she is not particularly computer savvy and has a learning disorder. I have always enjoyed photography, so it seemed like good idea for me to tutor her through out the course. The only way was for me to read ahead in her lessons and do the exercises ahead of her. It can be said that the best way to really learn a subject is to turn around and teach!!!

[Ronny]

First when I have a subject I shoot a lot of pictures and most both raw+jpeg. Then I go through the elemenation process. The ones left over is my study working field. I bought the complete package from TopazLabs, including the stand alone PhotoFXlab with 30% discount. Now I am following their free webinars and the free instructions video's. I have 3 webinars coming up, tomorrow from 9 to 10am, wednesday from 1 to 2 pm and thursday from again 9 to 10 am. I find out this works best for me.
You have to find out what best works for you.

[Letrow]

As Donald suggests: look at Gimp tutorials. I am mainly self-taught and have picked up useful ideas from this forum, but also from various blogs or photo sites, where certain things like B&W conversion or sharpening (in various, various ways) are explained.
Lots of new ideas pop up, are tried out and sometimes work. The feedback below such posts is often useful to read, especially if you look at Gimp.
Just try out some methods, see what works best for you and evolve from there.

[BJ Denning]

STRONGLY suggest popping along to www.kelbytraining.com - signup for a (trial?) account - and start working through the instructor-lead tutorials.

un-bloomin-believable resource.

I would second the Kelby resource. For a minimal amount and some dedicated time, you can pick up some great techniques. Oddly enough, you can find many of the same techniques free on YouTube, just not as succinct. I open an account and when I find a good video or interesting technique, I add the video to a "favorites" group on post-processing. This way I have my own collection that I can reference.

[Lon Howard]

Youtube can oftentimes be the fastest route to a solution for a specific issue. I have the Kelby package and it's great but sometimes it's time consuming finding the tutorial containing the answer to my issue. Simply doing a google-type search on the youtube site will often result in a quick hit on a solution, albeit you'll also wade through some pretty ham-handed laughable attempts at instruction.