Turkey (Three Photographs) and More on Post-Processing Photographs

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On entering the nature reserve we heard a loud and unusual call, it was not long before people told us to look out for the turkey wandering the path. A long lens made taking head shots irresistible.

Post-processing starts in the camera. All digital cameras apply sharpening, contrast and saturation; you get to choose how much when you select one of the Picture Controls (Nikon) or Photo Styles  for (Canon). The choices range from landscape, standard, portrait, vivid and neutral or flat. Neutral and Flat are for those photographs you intend to process and where you will get the most dynamic range in light. Secondly, most digital cameras are now providing some form of Raw format as opposed to JPG. Again if you plan to process your photographs, Raw is the solution. With JPGs the processing done in camera is largely baked in and few adjustments are possible. Choosing how much your camera processes your photo and into what format is the first step in processing.

With few high-end exceptions, computer monitors are not color calibrated when you buy them, you need a special tool (e.g. one of the solutions from Datacolor). The tool does two things. It ensures the colors you produce will transfer to other monitors and appear as they did on your computer. Secondly, it calibrates the temperature of the monitor (calculated in candles) so that your prints do not come out too dark or too bright. If your photos print or process too dark it is because your monitor is too bright. More on post-processing in my next post.