A camera is a machine for recording light. It sees the world differently than humans do. And the right processing allows you to show the merits of the frame, to reveal the potential of the image, to show the world how you saw that moment. Let us use the analogy of cooking: you can eat any food raw, but after proper processing, you will get something much tastier. It’s the same with an image. A “raw” picture from a camera is not the final product, but the source, the starting point for a finished work. This is why it is important for the photographer to learn not only how to use the camera, but also how to “develop” the resulting material.
Work with pictures only on a computer with a high quality screen
The monitor is the photographer’s eye. Correct, unbiased color reproduction is very important for retouching. Very often on inexpensive monitors (and even more so on TV sets) the manufacturers artificially increase the contrast and color saturation, and the picture looks unnatural because of it. If you choose a laptop to work with the image, the decisive criterion must be the display. Well-proven are the screens based on the matrix IPS.
View the result of retouching on different displays
Not all of your viewers will view your images on a screen with impeccable color reproduction. That’s why I try to look at pictures on other, non-perfect displays before publishing them. I make sure to open the pictures on my smartphone and television so that I can see how others will see my picture. Often I make corrections based on the results of such testing so that the picture looks good on any screen.
Develop your own scenario of working with your photos
The technological process of creating a photo begins with generating an idea, planning and organizing the shooting, making arrangements with the model, or buying airline tickets. The moment you press the shutter button is important, but far from the last. Here’s a sample list of the stages of creating a finished photo, which are done after the shoot, on a PC:
selecting and cataloging the footage;
RAW conversion;
retouching and color correction;
resizing and preparation for publication.
Make a plan of action
Often a photographer, after opening an image in an editor, does not know what he/she wants to get as a result and starts turning over all the settings. This approach is probably a good one at first, when you are exploring the functions of photo editors. But later it will have a negative effect on the result: the processing will turn out unnatural, pictures will look different.
A high-performance computer is comfort and efficiency when working with photos
Of course, the screen is the main detail of the laptop for a photographer. But I know by experience how difficult it is to work (especially with “heavy” RAW files) on a slow, outdated computer. Programs often slow down or even crash on weak PCs, so you have to start processing all over again.
The power of simple office laptops is hardly enough for serious work with graphics. Here it is worth paying attention to specialized models. On the market there are options for content creators: photographers, designers, videographers.