Technical

Don't Be Daunted By Processing (aka Photoshop)

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I do not consider myself a photographer, I’m an image maker. I take a photograph with my camera & then process it using software to create an image. I do not put my images forward as reality - they are an idealised, often romanticised interpretation of how I see the subject matter. In short, how it speaks to me.

On the journey from original idea to final image, processing is at least 30% of my workflow - but I realise that for many, processing is a step too far & crosses the line from “true photography”. I fully respect that, but I think there are few who can doubt that processing certain photographs can make a difference in your chances of inciting emotion in your viewer.

Don't be daunted by processing. If you looked at one of my workups, the Photoshop layer stacks might appear complicated with 40+ different things going on - but it's not true - it's probably only 5 things repeated 8 times!  

I have a very logical, repeatable & frankly boring workflow. I do the same thing over & over again - so by practice I get reasonable at it. I would say the first 80% of processing EVERY image is identical. It's only in the last 20% I apply finishing touches specific to that image.

Try this;

1. Pick the photograph from the shoot that strikes YOU as most powerful. Imagine you are a viewer who knows nothing about the subject matter

2. Decide on the story you want to tell to that viewer

3. Look at the photograph for 10 minutes & list (in an ideal world) what would be included, added, removed, to help you tell your story. Don't limit your list to reality, you are going to create an idealised image. For example if (in a sports image) the ball is in the wrong place - well just move it!

4. Write the list down

5. Now, & only now, start to learn in Photoshop how to do the things on your list

That first image might take you a week, even a month to complete - but along the way you'll learn so much you can repeat in future images.  Think of it as your Photoshop tool bag & on each image you learn another tool to put in your bag.

At the end of 10 images (which might take a year) you'll find you'll be very competent at Photoshop.

Here's a few of my YouTube processing videos;

If you want to learn more about my processing workflow, details here of my £40 processing course. It contains 22 videos (5 hours 36 minutes of learning material) giving a full explanation of every part of my workflow, plus processing examples. 

Don’t be daunted by Photoshop… learn to do a few things well & repeat them

Topaz Sharpen AI

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In my last post I explained how I’d begun using Topaz DeNoise AI & been super impressed with the results. Well DeNoise AI has a couple of sister products, one of which is Sharpen AI, so I downloaded the trial version to give it a test. As anyone who's been to one of my lectures or workshops will know, I’m really happy with the sharpening tool in the TK Action panel. I use nothing else because it’s never let me down, so I was not expecting to see any great advantages from the Topaz software. I was right - for the general sharpening of images i.e. the last step of the processing workflow, it gives no advantages I could discern, so I’ll be sticking with the TK sharpener.

But… when I used it directly after using Topaz Denoise I did find it re-emphasised detail that DeNoise had removed. This was really noticeable on skin tones, particularly faces. Any noise reduction software works by smoothing out fine detail (after all that’s all noise in an image is - detail we don’t want) & this can give skin a plastic like appearance. Using Sharpen AI seems to undo that effect - but still remove the noise.

I’ve used it on the two players in the squash image below i.e. DeNoise AI first followed by Sharpen AI & I think I’ve got a better result than my previous techniques would have given. Looks like I’ll be buying the trial version!

This image was shot at 2500 iso & by using the two Topaz products the skin tones are not too bad. Not perfect of course, but acceptable I think.

This image was shot at 2500 iso & by using the two Topaz products the skin tones are not too bad. Not perfect of course, but acceptable I think.

Topaz DeNoise AI

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Over the last 12 months I’ve read lots of reviews extolling the virtues of Topaz DeNoise AI , but you see so many rave reviews of different products that I find I become a bit immune to them. I know this is a mistake because with software you really can sometimes get big leaps forward with a new product that can significantly help your post processing. But all that said, it takes quite a bit for me to try something new. However, it’s different if a colleague you respect says it’s good… & that was the case recently with this product.

Most of my boxing shots have been taken stood alongside my good buddy David Cudworth. We both love the adrenaline rush you get from photographing contact sport, but we also both hate the shooting conditions - it’s virtually dark! I have an unwritten rule of never wanting to go above 1600 iso with my Canon 1Dx Mk2 because I find that anything above that point makes skin tones very difficult to process. But that rule has to go completely out of the window at a boxing match - 5000 iso is the norm :-(

Up until now I’ve used Nik Define as my noise reduction software & been reasonably happy with the results, but David convinced me to try DeNoise AI. I downloaded the trial version & conducted some side by side tests alongside Nik Define. I was very impressed - it is definitely better for images with extreme noise. Less than 2000 iso I couldn’t really see a lot of difference, but up in the 5000 iso range the difference was well, frankly staggering.

It’s not a cheap plugin (£86 before any discounts) but after my tests I didn’t hesitate to buy it. It also motivated me to look through my back catalogue of kick boxing images & I’ve just worked up this one. I’ll be looking through my squash images next to see if I can find one of those I’ve dismissed due to excessive noise. Fingers X’d I’ll find one.

A Knockout Blow

A Knockout Blow