Image processing before submission help

[Jill Morgan]

I know you are anxious to get started with Alamy, but it seems you still need some strong education on settings. Why use 1/1000 on an image of something standing still? You penalize yourself with f2.8, giving such a shallow depth of field (unless that is intentional).  I don't like to shoot below 1/320 handheld, so bring your shutter speed down and increase your aperture.

 

I usually shoot aperture priority (unless doing action and sports) using the highest I can without coming under the 1/320. It's a good starting point to work with.

 

Mastering PS, ACR or Lightroom can be critical to making your images stand out and be able to do basic lighting and colour adjustments. Can save a lot of photos.

 

Study up on your version of PS and try to upgrade if you can. Maybe purchase the newest version of Lightroom. PS isn't really that necessary unless you also do graphics. Lightroom and ACR should cover all your bases.

 

Adobe and Youtube are full of helpful videos on using all this software.

 

Jill

 

Jill

[wiskerke]

Use AdobeRGB or sRGB not MonitorRGB.

 

wim

[spacecadet]

You need 4 for your initial sub.

[dustydingo]

 

The cross is marginal, the bird is sharp, the flower has a very shallow DoF on the top stamen.

can you elaborate on the cross?

 

 

I think you missed the focus (on the vertical surface of the cross) by about 4 or 5 feet, and f/8 doesn't give enough depth of focus to compensate. To see where the exact focus is, look closely at the grass in the foreground.

 

In the other two, I think you've got one aspect of your technique the wrong way around:

 

for the bird and bench, you needed the f/8.0, not f/2.8--the bird is sharp, the edges of the bench vary, and the red flowers, which by composition and colour grab the viewer's attention, are out of focus.

 

and for the flower, you needed f/8.0, not f/2.8--the exact focus is on an edge or two of the orange petals, but mainly on the green seed capsules (?) to the left of the flower. The composition strongly suggests that the main aspect of the image is in fact the bit that's mostly out of focus.

 

The cross is simply inaccurately focussed.

 

For my first submission, I'd not submit these exact copies, but each could easily be re-shot (with some careful adjustment and care in focus) and then be suitable for submission.

 

dd

[adinis78]

Ok, from everything i have gathered my main issue is that i need to try and shoot at least at f/11 to get a focused image and lower shutter speeds. I will take all of this into consideration and rethink my next shoot project for submission. I appreciate all the input.

[Phil]

 

OK, maybe we the "in focus" wasnt the right word. I mean, when I look at a pic on the screen, when first imported to lighroom, everything seems in focus, sharp crisp no issues. Even if looking at the picture in "actual pixels" everything looks good. Now when zoomed in at 100% I don't see that section as crisp and clear. Am I making sense? Would anyone like to critique a few of my files? I am Willing to share them.

 

I shoot RAW because that's the proper way to process a file. All the information needed is there.

 

I know I'm new but that does mean I shouldn't give it a try. I sure many members here are not "professionals". There must be some amateurs as well.

 

Any help would be appreciated. If we need to talk outside of the forum as to not brake any rules you can contact me at antoniodinis78@gmail.com. I have a dropbox account and can upload sample images there.

Actual pixels and 100% are the same thing so what you are saying doesn't add up. Are you generating 1:1 previews in Lightroom. My preference is to view images at actual pixels in Photoshop for judging focus in any case as there is no waiting for a preview to build and it is much faster to move around images than Lightroom.

 

 

It's my understanding that Lightroom automatically generates a 1:1 preview anytime an image is zoomed in for close-up inspection.  

 

I don't create 1:1 previews for every image imported into the LR Catalog.  I just use the LR 1:1 preview rendered when I choose to zoom-in to inspect a flagged Develop candidate for sharpness, etc.     LR deletes the 1:1 previews according to LR's Catalog setting.  

 

To inspect an image closeup I pull up LR Library Module's Navigator and use it's 1:1 preview zoom for 100%/actual pixel checks.  I drag the Navigators zoom box around on the image for inspection of any portion of the image at 100%/actual pixels.   Seems to work great to quickly determine if an image is not sharp enough.   YMMV.

[dustydingo]

Ok, from everything i have gathered my main issue is that i need to try and shoot at least at f/11 to get a focused image and lower shutter speeds. I will take all of this into consideration and rethink my next shoot project for submission. I appreciate all the input.

 

Hmmm, I'm not sure you've accurately identified the main issues. But there is some good advice in the preceding posts . . .

 

dd

[adinis78]

ok this is probably a dumb question or request, is there lets say a video tutorial that explains the 100% examination of an image?

[spacecadet]

ok this is probably a dumb question or request, is there lets say a video tutorial that explains the 100% examination of an image?

Not that I know of, it's something you learn. At 100% your point of interest should be pin sharp, unless a particular effect, such as motion blur, is intended-even then that's where you should focus. It's hard to describe but obvious when you see it.

Aperture is a separate issue to focus.  If you're not familiar with the relation to DoF and shutter speed you may need to do a bit more basic reading. This isn't really a forum for that sort of thing. Most of us here have the basic craft skills. Not that we always get it right, but if we don't, we (usually) know why and what to do about it.

 

May I politely ask if there is a language barrier here?

[adinis78]

 

ok this is probably a dumb question or request, is there lets say a video tutorial that explains the 100% examination of an image?

Not that I know of, it's something you learn. At 100% your point of interest should be pin sharp, unless a particular effect, such as motion blur, is intended-even then that's where you should focus. It's hard to describe but obvious when you see it.

Aperture is a separate issue to focus.  If you're not familiar with the relation to DoF and shutter speed you may need to do a bit more basic reading. This isn't really a forum for that sort of thing. Most of us here have the basic craft skills. Not that we always get it right, but if we don't, we (usually) know why and what to do about it.

 

May I politely ask if there is a language barrier here?

 

no, no language barrier. I guess i learn more by seeing than reading and i believe this is a good example where viewing the process of checking an image at 100% would be beneficial to me.

[dustydingo]

With respect, this isn't a camera club. Having said that, many posters have gone out of their way to give their experienced views on your images, but it seems you may be better served at this stage in your journey by seeking some basic digital-photography instruction. And don't take that badly: every single one of us at some stage needed instruction on the basics.

 

Youtube may be just the friend you are looking for.

 

dd

[adinis78]

One last request if i may. When i edit a pic in lightroom, how can i get it back to photoshop to save a jpg ?( before doing the processing in lighroom i did some work in photoshop and i ended up wit a .tiff file) 

 

after i made my desired adjustment via lightroom i exported to dng and it stands at 103mb. Now if i try to change it to a jpg via photoshop i do the following, select picture while in lightroom then edit in>edit in adobe photoshop cs4> i then select edit a copy with lightroom adjustments. i get a pop up and since i dont have camera raw i select open anyway.

 

The picture then opens up in photoshop cs4. when i go to save as, i dont get a jpg option.

 

So the only choice i have to to save it to a jpg via lightroom and while selecting highest quality i end up with 10.7mb. 

 

Now one of the requirements for Alamy if for the pictures to be minimum 17mb high quality jpg.

 

Is this the only option i have?

[dustydingo]

One last request if i may. When i edit a pic in lightroom, how can i get it back to photoshop to save a jpg ?( before doing the processing in lighroom i did some work in photoshop and i ended up wit a .tiff file)

 

after i made my desired adjustment via lightroom i exported to dng and it stands at 103mb. Now if i try to change it to a jpg via photoshop i do the following, select picture while in lightroom then edit in>edit in adobe photoshop cs4> i then select edit a copy with lightroom adjustments. i get a pop up and since i dont have camera raw i select open anyway.

 

The picture then opens up in photoshop cs4. when i go to save as, i dont get a jpg option.

 

So the only choice i have to to save it to a jpg via lightroom and while selecting highest quality i end up with 10.7mb. 

 

Now one of the requirements for Alamy if for the pictures to be minimum 17mb high quality jpg.

 

Is this the only option i have?

 

Come on, you've already asked about 17mb versus 10.7mb jpgs, and spacecadet answered and pointed you in the right direction . . .

 

dd

[adinis78]

With respect, this isn't a camera club. Having said that, many posters have gone out of their way to give their experienced views on your images, but it seems you may be better served at this stage in your journey by seeking some basic digital-photography instruction. And don't take that badly: every single one of us at some stage needed instruction on the basics.

 

Youtube may be just the friend you are looking for.

 

dd

 

I respect everyone's opinions on my situation and i am deeply appreciative. And with that said i guess there is no more for me or anyone else to add.  Thank you once again and will re-read all the posts and try and make sense of everything and looking into other avenues for assistance. Good day.

[dustydingo]

 

With respect, this isn't a camera club. Having said that, many posters have gone out of their way to give their experienced views on your images, but it seems you may be better served at this stage in your journey by seeking some basic digital-photography instruction. And don't take that badly: every single one of us at some stage needed instruction on the basics.

 

Youtube may be just the friend you are looking for.

 

dd

 

I respect everyone's opinions on my situation and i am deeply appreciative. And with that said i guess there is no more for me or anyone else to add.  Thank you once again and will re-read all the posts and try and make sense of everything and looking into other avenues for assistance. Good day.

 

 

Good luck, and we should see you here again in a little while much the wiser

 

dd

[Armstrong]

Ok, from everything i have gathered my main issue is that i need to try and shoot at least at f/11 to get a focused image and lower shutter speeds. I will take all of this into consideration and rethink my next shoot project for submission. I appreciate all the input.

 

That's not the necessarily the correct answer. if you have a cropped sensor DSLR then at F11 and above the image starts to soften again because of diffraction.

 

Michael

[MDM]

 

 

OK, maybe we the "in focus" wasnt the right word. I mean, when I look at a pic on the screen, when first imported to lighroom, everything seems in focus, sharp crisp no issues. Even if looking at the picture in "actual pixels" everything looks good. Now when zoomed in at 100% I don't see that section as crisp and clear. Am I making sense? Would anyone like to critique a few of my files? I am Willing to share them.

 

I shoot RAW because that's the proper way to process a file. All the information needed is there.

 

I know I'm new but that does mean I shouldn't give it a try. I sure many members here are not "professionals". There must be some amateurs as well.

 

Any help would be appreciated. If we need to talk outside of the forum as to not brake any rules you can contact me at antoniodinis78@gmail.com. I have a dropbox account and can upload sample images there.

Actual pixels and 100% are the same thing so what you are saying doesn't add up. Are you generating 1:1 previews in Lightroom. My preference is to view images at actual pixels in Photoshop for judging focus in any case as there is no waiting for a preview to build and it is much faster to move around images than Lightroom.

 

 

It's my understanding that Lightroom automatically generates a 1:1 preview anytime an image is zoomed in for close-up inspection.  

 

I don't create 1:1 previews for every image imported into the LR Catalog.  I just use the LR 1:1 preview rendered when I choose to zoom-in to inspect a flagged Develop candidate for sharpness, etc.     LR deletes the 1:1 previews according to LR's Catalog setting.  

 

To inspect an image closeup I pull up LR Library Module's Navigator and use it's 1:1 preview zoom for 100%/actual pixel checks.  I drag the Navigators zoom box around on the image for inspection of any portion of the image at 100%/actual pixels.   Seems to work great to quickly determine if an image is not sharp enough.   YMMV.

 

 

Yes Lightroom does generate a 1:1 preview but that can be a slow process for a 36MP raw file even with a decent computer and plenty of RAM. I tend to generate full-screen previews for 27 inch monitor after import, use those for a quick scan and then do detailed examination at 1:1 of the images I am interested in keeping. That I generally do in Photoshop, as the graphics, particularly from CS6 and later, are way better than Lightroom. But each to his own.

[MDM]

 

It's a bit unsharp at higher magnification but might pass at 100%. Personally, I'd be disinclined to risk it.

1/80 is a little on the slow side, I wonder if it may be a touch of camera shake.

this was straight out of camera, handheld during a partly cloudy day... but thanks for the info. so i assume you recommend i submit the one with the bird.

 

The Tamron 24-70 f2.8 is an excellent zoom and has image stabilisation (VR) which works very well. I got one of these recently and have been really impressed at the quality and sharpness on my D800 and we are both (me and the camera) really fussy.  You can easily shoot at 1/80 or slower at any focal length hand-held if you use it properly - let it stabilise before you focus and don't use VR if you put it on a tripod. Stop it down to f5.6 or f8 and increase the ISO if necessary.

 

You must judge images at 100% because Photoshop and other graphics programs perform interpolation at lower magnifications so you are not seeing the true image.

 

I recommend you don't submit anything to Alamy until you have mastered the basics of photography and digital imaging. Ask yourself why you want to submit to Alamy (a professional image library).

[MDM]

One last request if i may. When i edit a pic in lightroom, how can i get it back to photoshop to save a jpg ?( before doing the processing in lighroom i did some work in photoshop and i ended up wit a .tiff file)

 

after i made my desired adjustment via lightroom i exported to dng and it stands at 103mb. Now if i try to change it to a jpg via photoshop i do the following, select picture while in lightroom then edit in>edit in adobe photoshop cs4> i then select edit a copy with lightroom adjustments. i get a pop up and since i dont have camera raw i select open anyway.

 

The picture then opens up in photoshop cs4. when i go to save as, i dont get a jpg option.

 

 

 The reason for this is that the file is 16-bit and JPEGS are 8-bit only. You really do need to start with the basics. There are loads of good books out there - I would recommend Martin Evening Lightroom for a start.

[Phil]

 

 

Yes Lightroom does generate a 1:1 preview but that can be a slow process for a 36MP raw file even with a decent computer and plenty of RAM. I tend to generate full-screen previews for 27 inch monitor after import, use those for a quick scan and then do detailed examination at 1:1 of the images I am interested in keeping. That I generally do in Photoshop, as the graphics, particularly from CS6 and later, are way better than Lightroom. But each to his own.

 

 

Interesting - good info.  I assume thats because later versions of PS can utilize a system's GPU graphics card with OpenGL whereas LR doesn't.  Or is there something else at work that PS does better than LR for better preview viewing?

 

My mid-2011 8mb dual-core i5 iMac takes about 3 secs to generate a 1:1 preview when zoomed in on a 25mb DNG converted from a 32 mb .RAF

[Guest]

 

 

Yes Lightroom does generate a 1:1 preview but that can be a slow process for a 36MP raw file even with a decent computer and plenty of RAM. I tend to generate full-screen previews for 27 inch monitor after import, use those for a quick scan and then do detailed examination at 1:1 of the images I am interested in keeping. That I generally do in Photoshop, as the graphics, particularly from CS6 and later, are way better than Lightroom. But each to his own.

 

 

Interesting - good info.  I assume thats because later versions of PS can utilize a system's GPU graphics card with OpenGL whereas LR doesn't.  Or is there something else at work that PS does better than LR for better preview viewing?

 

My mid-2011 8mb dual-core i5 iMac takes about 3 secs to generate a 1:1 preview when zoomed in on a 25mb DNG converted from a 32 mb .RAF

 

 

'Reading data'  from a raw won't work quicker with a GPU - at the moment, there's no benefit in GPU performance in many areas of Lightroom or indeed, Photoshop. In LR CC 2015, the bonus in more instant slider response in dev module is offset by slowing down previews or image swapping. I've turned off GPU performance in LR because of this.

 

Preview time will also be set by the size of monitors, if you have a retina screen or 4k monitor....you are asking the software to render a lot more pixels.

[MDM]

The big change came in PSCS6 with the Mercury Graphics Engine which definitely makes a massive difference in moving and zooming around large files once they are open in PS.  The rate-determining step is the raw conversion - that takes about 9 seconds for a 16-bit 36MP nef on my Mac. Once the file is open, it's incredibly fast for zooming, panning etc.

 

Lightroom graphics are very slow in comparison and have not been improved in LR6 except for the speed of response to moving the sliders but the ability to move around a file rapidly has not been implemented. 

[Guest]

For the OP. These might be of help in learning what LR can do. http://www.jkost.com/lightroom.html

[MircoV]

To many new contributors are asking and lost about this 17 MB uncompressed rule. Maybe Alamy should just change it with the message that images should be at least 6 megapixel. Problem solved.

 

Mirco

[spacecadet]

To many new contributors are asking and lost about this 17 MB uncompressed rule. Maybe Alamy should just change it with the message that images should be at least 6 megapixel. Problem solved.

 

Mirco

They have (my emphasis).

The question is repeatedly asked because beginners have not understood the difference.

Images from digital cameras

Our standard advice for preparing digital camera files for Alamy is as follows:

• Use a pro-level camera with a “true” (non-interpolated) resolution of at least 6 megapixels. This will give an uncompressed file size of at least 17MB at 8 bit.