Welcome to the digital darkroom - our hub for all the details that happen AFTER the picture is taken.
Those of us who've been at it for a while call it post processing - PP for short. It's everything that happens after you connect that cable from your camera to your computer. Transferring your precious picture files, showing them some creative editing love, exporting them for the world to see, and archiving them for safe keeping.
We wouldn't be exaggerating if we told you there were a million and one ways to go about this process, beginning with what kind of computer you have, what kind of software you have, and ending with what kind of file you will create. Is it for email? Facebook? A canvas the size of your living room wall? And in-between here and there, you have a million and two more creative decisions to make. Crop? Cosmetic adjustments? Vivid color? Black & White? Somewhere in between?
Your workflow in your digital darkroom - aka your computer - will depend almost entirely as much on personal preference as it does on cash to invest. It can be very confusing to the beginner as no one way is right or wrong. And there are entirely too many kinds of softwares and freewares for us to cover comprehensively.
Amongst all the options in the post processing wilderness, a few different beaten paths emerge, which all bring you to the same end destination. So rather than try to cover everything under the sun in totality - we're gonna tackle each topic as generally as possible, using some of the more popular softwares as demonstration tools.
But you should know this about The Momtographer's post processing philosophy: To us, post processing is just that - POST what really happens when you're taking the picture. We like to think of it as the final gloss, not the main event! No amount of turd-polishing will turn an out-of focus, ill-composed, dimly-lit, cluttery photo into a masterpiece. Your first goal should be to get it as good as possible in the camera so that you only have to make slight adjustments or fixes in the computer.
It's not because post processing isn't fun, because it can be really REALLY fun. It's because post processing run amuck can be extremely time consuming. The ratio of time spent getting it right on your camera to getting it right on your computer is extremely skewed…an extra minute spent on adjusting your on-camera settings could save you hours on the computer…truly! Unless you've got a super-powerful computer, a nanny, chef and housekeeper, we recommend you lean on your post-processing workflow to sweeten some basic settings, occasionally fix cosmetic blunders, crop, make black & whites, vivid color or somewhere in-between. But do the heavy-lifting on the front end!
That being said, post processing is an extraordinarily cool part of the digital photo realm. The possibilities are endless and will truly bring out the artist in you! So read through our guide to the basics of your digital darkroom, pop over to the tutorials, and watch your photos improve in leaps and bounds!
