Post-Processing Thoughts : Part 1

In photography, the term Post-Processing, or Post-Production, is the act of improving photographs by performing a series of alterations and changes. This can happen in traditional or digital photography, where the latter uses digital programs for digital post-processing. In this article, we will be going through a few basic things that you may want to consider if you are just a beginner of post-processing, a seasoned user, or just a person who has never post-processed before.

Why Post-Process?

Well, you may feel that your photographs are lacking a special something. Sometimes, this is because of the actual equipment you own, which may affect the quality of the photographs. Other times, we just need a little boost to give our photographs that power to stand out. While you may improve upon your photography purely on execution alone (and perhaps that is the best), knowing basic post-processing may help you go further, in the sense that it may be the cherry on top of the cake.

Some benefits to post-processing:
You can experiment with photographs and the effects involved. You may have more freedom when experimenting with different effects. By post-processing, you may see and 'feel' more of the potential of a photograph.

You may learn more about photography when post-processing and experimenting with such alterations like saturation, brightness, etc.

You may increase your photography skills during and after the art of taking photos, as well as increase your artistic judgement and artistic knowledge.

Like traditional photography, digital photography may need a bit of processing. However, this is not to say that every photograph should be post-processed. In fact, there are many photographs that are natural and look absolutely stunning, especially if you have shot something in proper light, and with the right camera settings.

All in all, it is up to you whether you would like to post-process or not, as we all have our reasons for post-processing.

Do's and Don't's

Some things that you may want to keep in mind when post-processing involve the following:

Before you begin post-processing, try to have an idea of what you would like your photograph to look like. This means that you would have a clearer path to achieving the desired look of your photograph, and may reduce the time and effort taken.

If a photograph straight from the camera looks awesome to you, perhaps you could spend some time to think about how the photograph could be improved, and in what way. This would mean that you'd open up the possibilities of how your photograph could end up being, and thus allowing you more freedom to experiment.

Sometimes, we need to spend as much time and effort post-processing as we do taking the actual photograph.

Post-Processing may set your photographs apart from others. We all have different artistic tastes and styles. This would influence our post-processing so that it, in itself, is an art that is difficult to be taught or copied.

If you keep in mind the options presented to you during post-processing, you may be able to change your camera settings or shooting techniques to incorporate those options, making the best of both worlds.

However, don't post-process just because you feel it has to be done. Remember, it doesn't have to be post-processed.

Experiment, have fun, and try to get to learn more about yourself when post-processing. Don't try to imitate the style of another person, but develop your own.

If you've taken a bad photograph, sometimes you can save it with post-processing, but usually it is best not to do it at all. If it is bad, then it'll most likely be bad after post-processing.

Post-Process in moderation! Don't post-process so much that you've taken away the essence of your original photograph. Don't overdo it, otherwise you may very well kill the photograph in its entirety, or go into the territory of Digital Art and Photo-Manipulation.

Overall

Post-Processing should only aid you and your photographs to make it more interesting, not the other way around. If you want to be proud of yourself as a photographer, then make sure you focus on the actual execution of the photograph itself rather than rely on your skills at post-processing. You should look at post-processing as a light touch-up, a boost, to a photograph that is already great.

In the next part of this article, we will be taking a look at how you can post-process your photographs and the variety of options there are.

For now, feel free to answer these questions!

Do you post-process, and why?
            How long have you been post-processing?
            How did you get into post-processing?
Do you think post-processing is good or bad? Or is it more complex than that?
When do you think post-processing becomes too much?