In coastal Alaska, clearing storm scenarios almost always result in fog and stratus the next morning and that sets the stage for magical backlight.
Canon R5, Canon RF 24-105mm,f/4 lens
ISO: 100, 1/60th second at f/11
Editing and post processing (two different functions) are part of the creative workflow and are essential skills in identifying and showcasing your very best work. You get two chances to capture a great image: in the camera and in the computer. Post processing is just as important as the capture phase is.
Even the most introverted photographer that doesn’t share images with anyone still wants them to look their best. The faster and more skilled you are at editing and processing, the more time you’ll have for shooting. A short term investment in learning post shooting skills pays huge dividends in the long run. Shooters should embrace the time and effort it takes to really learn how to edit and process with efficiency and confidence. The whole idea is to maximize efficiency and thus minimize time in post production.
Editing is the process of choosing which images to keep from a shoot and how to file them so you can easily find them at later dates. This is something you do before processing. Here’s a key point: You don’t have to import images into Lightroom and wait for previews to build just to start editing your latest shoot. Use an outside application like Photo Mechanic or Fast RAW Viewer. This is especially helpful for an initial edit from large volume shoots. The idea here is to use a file browser that quickly shows your RAW files, do an edit, then only import your selects into Lightroom and on to your primary working drive for processing. On large shoots this method can be a time saver. And you can quickly cherry pick a few images for processing without having to import the entire shoot and wait long periods for previews to render.
Post processing begins on location! There were beautiful soft pastel sunrise colors surrounding this bear who’s out at low tide looking for clams. This was a high contrast scene and I knew I needed to make careful note of my histogram. This invaluable tool is your main indicator to what you captured. I didn’t lose any significant detail in the highlights or shadows. Based on prior experience (pattern recognition) I knew I could selectively mask the bear in Lightroom and process it differently than the background.
Also when I’m hand-holding shots I shoot a series at continuous high. This way, I stack the odds in my favor of bringing home a sharp shot. If they are all sharp, I just keep one and ditch the rest.
This is the final image processed in Develop Module in Lightroom. My processing time was maybe 5 minutes max.
1. I made two easy masks – the bear with select subject, and the sky with a linear gradient tool. On the bear mask, I used the brush tool to subtract a few things around the edges and I used the color range tool to add its reflection.
2. I used the global adjustments to process the background.
3. On the bear, I subtracted out texture, dehaze and did a very slight increase in the exposure.
4. I decreased the exposure in the sky to increase richness a bit.
5. Since my file was clean with a full range of detail as verified by the histogram, there was no artifacts or any weird things happening. The scene looks like I remember it looking.
Let’s face it, most creative types, me included, struggle with decision making. As a result, many photographers have trouble letting go of bad images because the experience was great. We keep too many images. As a result, file management and processing become more labor intensive tasks. There is great reward in editing tightly. Yes, with editing your shoots, less is more. Fewer files to process and manage means more time in the field. Edit with confidence by first having a solid back-up plan so you don’t lose any images.
The most important thing to do after a shoot is to back up your files! Immediately! I cannot overemphasize this. Even when traveling with just a laptop you can bring 2 small, high volume (4TB) solid state drives that weigh less than a small lens. You can back up your files from your memory card to two drives simultaneously through Lightroom but there is a quicker and simpler way. I use a file browser called Photo Mechanic. It’s been around for a long time. Every major newspaper that does high volume photo shoots uses Photo Mechanic. I can, and frequently do, copy my cards to two drives simultaneously through Photo Mechanic. The first thing I do is copy everything on my media card to a hard drive called “Card Dump.” ALL FILES, even the accidental out of focus ones up my nostrils get copied. No edits. Select all, copy, paste, done.
1. This is a sample screenshot from Photo Mechanic from Camera Bits. As you can see from the bottom left, this card had 2089 RAW files on it shot on my Canon R5. Photo Mechanic rendered these thumbnails for all 2089 in about 5 seconds.
2. Photo Mechanic along with Fast RAW Viewer are just file browser applications. They point to a folder of images (my camera media card in this case) and displays them quickly.
3. This is a great editing program and it’s NOT for processing.
4. The idea is to edit here first, culling your selection down and then sending ONLY your selects to Lightroom and your primary working hard drive. You can do that right through Photo Mechanic.
1. Just for the sake of example, I selected four images using the 1-5 star rating.
2. In my settings menu, I set up the star rating so it works exactly the same as it does in Lightroom – press the “1” key for one star, “5” key for 5 stars. The star ratings transfer over to Lightroom.
3. I can take these selects and import them directly into Lightroom.
4. On high volume shoots, this method can be a huge overall time saver.
5. It also allows you to quickly process a select few images from a large shoot for a variety of of reasons.
1. Photo Mechanic allows you to copy your media card to 2 drives simultaneously with the “Ingest” process.
2. Ingesting is NOT importing. It is simply their word for copying files from your camera and placing them on a drive or 2 of your choice.
3. You don’t have to use “Ingest” You can also select files by looking at the thumbnails (see slide 1), doing a select all, copy and paste.
4. A great BEST PRACTICE habit to form is to copy your media card to at least one hard drive before you do anything to them-either editing or processing.
The second thing I do depends on my mood and how much time I have. Sometimes I copy all the files from my cards to my primary working drive (current drive is named: Lightroom Library Master Volume 3, 2024-) then edit it down from there deleting rejected files. Other times I edit right off the media card and only copy the selects to my primary working drive while importing into Lightroom. If really pressed for time and if I have plenty of media cards, I will not re-use the memory card I just copied. It becomes my second back-up until I get home. Whenever possible, even on location, get into the habit of copying media cards to two hard drives before any editing begins.
Post processing is simply developing your image(s) so that you bring out the most of what you captured on the sensor. This is the digital darkroom – the place where you get your images to look the way you want them to look. Most people use Lightroom (Develop Module) but there are other choices for processing your RAW files including the software that comes with your camera, in my case, Digital Photo Pro, which is Canon’s RAW file processor. With a smaller number of selects from a shoot, importing and building of previews in Lightroom becomes much faster. I find it much less intimidating to only have to optimize and process a few dozen images instead of hundreds if not more. I can take my edits and import into Lightroom directly from Photo Mechanic to start my processing.
There are some photographers that enjoy spending many hours processing images – more than they spend on location. That’s OK if you enjoy that. I’m the opposite as are many outdoor photographers. I want to maximize time in the field and want to showcase and share my best work.
FOUR WAYS TO MINIMIZE TIME EDITING AND POST PROCESSING YOUR PHOTOS
1. Get as much as you can right on location. Even though I fully embrace the latest and greatest in digital photography tools, including the Topaz suite, I’m still old school. Maximizing image quality on-location absolutely does translate into less time processing. After all the artistic decisions are made, focus on bringing home the most information to work with. Take a few extra minutes on-location checking for any distracting element that doesn’t belong in the image, your histogram to avoid shadow and highlight clipping and excessive noise, checking your depth of field so near and far are in sharp focus, and setting up supplemental lighting if necessary all lead to huge time savings in post. Yes, I am well versed with the masking tools in Lightroom and how to do HDR but they don’t replace good lighting on-location and most landscape images don’t need focus stacking. There’s a huge difference between skillfully processing a good clean file and trying to polish a turd. It takes time to learn this.
2. Become a ruthless editor and know that you don’t have to import images into Lightroom first to do an edit. For large shoots, doing an edit on another program before importing into Lightroom can be a huge time saver. There are two programs I’ve used on a Mac: Fast Raw Viewer (https://www.fastrawviewer.com) ($24) and Photo Mechanic (https://home.camerabits.com). ($149/year). Both are file browser programs that load and display RAW files lightning fast. I prefer Photo Mechanic even though it is more expensive. I think it’s slicker and faster for editing than Fast Raw Viewer. Fast Raw Viewer does give you a few more tools for evaluating RAW files. I just find Photo Mechanic easier to use. For PC you could also try Breeze Browser Pro as an initial editing program. They all allow you to inspect an image for shadow and highlight details at 100% and to quickly zoom in at 100% for focus checking. The goal with these tools is to efficiently narrow down thousands of images on your media card to just a few hundred or even less and only import those selects into Lightroom and onto your primary drive for processing.
Editing is very subjective and some creatives have a real hard time with decision making. The more you learn about what makes impactful design and how to identify decisive moments, peak action and the best gesture and separation, the easier and faster it becomes to edit and to narrow your selection down. My editing mentality is simple: either in or out. Not sharp because of significant camera shake, subject movement or mis-focus? Significant areas with no highlight or shadow detail? Sorry Charlie – you’re outta here. Down into the delete abyss you go. Too many people think Topaz is a miracle worker. It isn’t. Can’t blame them. Their marketing is pretty slick. Topaz can’t save everything. Learn what its limits are.
3. Really learn Adobe Camera Raw, or whatever Raw processor you prefer. I know there are some anti-Adobe folks out there. Fine. Use Capture One, DxO labs or your brand’s own RAW processor like Canon’s Digital Photo Pro. Whatever works. The Develop module in Lightroom is Adobe Camera Raw – the same one you’ll find in Photoshop or Bridge, just with a different interface. Whatever you use, learn to optimize your imagery. Take classes, in person, online, get a book – whatever works for you. Almost all of my best selling images and contest winners had minimal processing. I’m all about artistic expression. I do composites and sky replacements but only on a very select few images. Most often my approach is moving a few sliders around and in 15 seconds the image is where it needs to be. I use collections and smart collections a lot in Lightroom. I create “best of” folders and limit the number of images from a shoot that I process up. This makes it a lot easier and faster for me to share my best images.
4. Get a rockin’ fast computer. Max that puppy out with the fastest processor, max RAM, best graphics card, and biggest internal hard drive. Speed saves time, big time! Look, you’ve invested thousands of dollars in high end camera gear. You have good tools for capturing imagery with amazing detail and dynamic range. Don’t stop there. Don’t skimp on tools that are equally important in showcasing your images. For me, a few thousand dollars every five years is much better than spending 10k every year for just film and processing. So glad those days are over.
“Creative Tips for Us Regular People” is a regular feature to our quarterly newsletters. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the newsletter directly to your inbox.