For Sujoy - Photo Processing

[Escher]

Sujoy, you asked me a question on this thread:-

http://www.trekinfo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8332&page=2

Escher
Can you batch process raw files in Adobe lightroom quickly? Recently I have shot more than 600 images in the Angkor temples of Cambodia Nikon D80 and raw and need to process these quickly without going image by image? Is lightroom better for this than photshop?
Sorry this is off topic for this board!
Thks
Sujoy

Sorry Sujoy missed your post when you originally posted it.

You can use Lightroom to batch process by cutting and pasting any tweaks to multiple images. So say for instance you have a bunch you want to adjust the white balance, exposure, sharpen a little, the you can do that to one shot then apply those changes to any you want then output all to resized jpegs, Lightroom can handle that no problem. However if you just want a quick RAW conversion tool that will batch process your RAW into jpeg with minimal tweaking then try and find a free copy on the net somewhere of Pixmantec Raw Shooters Essentials. This will allow you to control quite a few parameters (not as many as Lightroom), apply to selected photos and output to Tiff or Jpeg. (Pixmantec Rawshooter was bought by Adobe and many features were incorporated into Lightroom).

If there is some more processing you want to do you could then set up an action in Photoshop that would carry out any additional image processing and then you can batch run that action against all of your photos.

For instance if I have a pile of photos I want to load onto a website but I don't have time to individually process them all I do this:-

Fix the exposure for all photos in Lightroom/Raw Shooter then batch convert from RAW to TIFF. Then in photoshop I will create an action that calls several sub actions:-

1) Resize to 1600-1200
2) Special tweak I learnt to make photos look like they were taken with Velvia slide film (means colours are more saturated when converting from TIFF (16 bit) to JPEG (8bit) the jpeg looks more like the original- Spaceman you might be interested in how to do this
3) Sharpen (unsharp mask) at 50%

Once I've done that to one photo then I can record what I did and play back those actions on multiple photos. This I find gives reasonable results in majority of cases that I could only improve on with individual processing, and saves a bag load of time. Hope that helps.

[a1jbg]

Sounds great Escher; pity an old technophobe like me with my 35mm compact, can`t understand a word of it!

[Spaceman347]

I'm all for hearing about "special techniques"

I'm not particularly good with photoshop but I do listen well and steal ideas so the steps below are probably what you (Escher) has mentioned to me in the past. ;)

My "default" actions are;

1) add adjustment layer (levels) - I tend to bring both ends in by 10 and then move the middle slider about 5 units to the darker end (I like the look of a slightly darker pic)
2) add adjustment layer (saturation) - up by 8 - 10 units depending on the subject
3) unsharp mask (can't remember the actual setting)
4) I then normally resize to 1000 wide (or high, if portrait)
5) maybe resharpen after the resize depending on the subject of the photo.

I create a batch action that incorporates all of those steps (one set for landscape and one for portrait due to the resize) and bang all of my photos through as a batch automation.

I have noticed that my new camera (or most probably the new lens) captures colours a lot better and it looks like I'll not be adjusting colour sat quite as much as I used to, but still playing with that.

It's also a lot more sensitive to the light (f2.8) and very easy to produce over exposed images, particularly in a mixed lighting scenario (some shadow, some bright sunlight) another thing for me to learn about.

[Sujoy]

Thks very much Escher for your help. I was also thinking of Pixmantec raw shooter essentials but the freeware does not support the Nikon d80 unfortunately. Pxmantec has been bought by Adobe I believe
Also it seems that Lightroom does not have CMYK support so as I do books and stuff like that I need to give the files to the printer as CMYK converted.
Further, to make matters more complex, it seems that Lightroom and Photoshop as well will not retain the Nikon D80 settings other than white balance as all else will be flat.
So I am not sure now which software to go with.
Essentially I need a product which allows me to spend less time in front of the computer and more time behind the camera!
Look forward to your advice
Thks
Sujoy

[Escher]

Hmmm, I use Canon myself so I don't know much about Nikon compatability. It seems from what I have read that you have two options open to you, use the Nikon NX Capture RAW software plus Photoshop to output to CMYK, but that means buying two bits of software as NX isn't bundled with the D80. Or else buying Lightroom and Photoshop together. That would do everything that you need but of course come at a price. The fact that RAW parameters aren't passed through to PS isn't a problem as you get all of those right in the RAW conversion and just do photoshop things in photoshop, I don't know of a cheap and simple solution to your problem. Perhaps Adobe Elements, which is bundled with a lot of peripherals and much cheaper, will output to CMYK so you could combine that with Lightroom and achieve your aims. Lightroom really is a superb editting tool though and the best I have used for RAW processing.

[Escher]

It's also a lot more sensitive to the light (f2.8) and very easy to produce over exposed images, particularly in a mixed lighting scenario (some shadow, some bright sunlight) another thing for me to learn about.

How familiar are you with using an SLR? I don't want to teach you to suck eggs! Do you know about the histogram, the set exposure button, and using aV (aperture priority)?

[Spaceman347]

I'm good with the basic principles, but obviously need to learn a lot more.

The recent problems were just related to outdoor photos at a wedding where I had the bride in white standing in bright sunlight and the groom in black standing in half shadow and the contrast between the 2 was a bit larger than my talent was able to allow for quickly enough (obviously getting them to move wasn't really an option in the middle of the ceremony).

I need to go back to my favourite landscapes and get away from people.

[Escher]

I don't think that it was lack of talent - there are just some situations that can't be catered for, and are always going to be too high contrast. One solution may have been metering for the bride and then using fill flash for the groom. Alternatively never agreeing to take photos at someone's wedding would also work!

Use the * button on the top right hand corner of the back of the camera to fix the exposure to what you want by metering somewhere towards the top (but not the top - I used to be to but discovered a reason not to - more on this below) end of the highlights then shoot and review the picture with the histogram. The picture will flash black if there are any blown out highlights. If so reshoot with the AV +/- dialled down a stop or two or fix the exposure with the * button to a shorter shutter speed.

The histogram should display the graph in the middle or towards the right hand end but not be bunched up on the right (blown out). Tend towards overexposure without blowing out the highlights for best results. The reason for this is know as "expose towards the right."

What I used to do was slightly underexpose so that I could always recover highlights but I discovered you can lose a lot of detail in the shadows too just like the highlights.

Picture the histrogram curve that you get on the camera or in a levels layer in Photoshop. The lefthand side is shadow, midtones in the middle and highlights on the right. The sensor in the camera does not use its pixels in a linear manner. The amount of data that is recorded depends on how the shot is exposed.

So if you say that the first left-most quarter of the histrogram uses 1 part of the data stored, then the next quarter stores twice as much, the next quarter twice again and the next even more. Basically that means if you expose your photograph so that the majority of the light falls in the right hand third of the histogram then you are collecting the most data that you can and getting the most out of your sensor. So during post processing you can draw out the maximum amount of detail from your picture. If you do what I used to and underexpose a little then I was only collecting half the data that my sensor could and when post processing no more detail would appear out of the shadows.

This might sound like a load of overblown technical nonsense (I do try ;)) but obviously it is important to try and expose your pictures correctly. So as you refine your ability to do that then you might as well head in the right direction as you practice, so practice exposing in the right hand third. (Note to self - must take own advice).

L lenses are definitely known for their warmth and saturated colours. I have a much better method for increasing the saturation of pictures much more naturally in photoshop which makes the pictures look like they were taken with Velvia slide film. I can't remember how to do it off the top of my head but I will post again when I get home.

J and I are off to the opening of the Kendal Mountain Film Festival tonight to see a film about a blind guy who goes to Mongolia to learn the Mongolian nose flute and becomes so good that he takes part in a national competition or something! Should be good.

[Spaceman347]

I have a much better method for increasing the saturation of pictures much more naturally in photoshop which makes the pictures look like they were taken with Velvia slide film.

I've noticed that your pics seem to have developed a distinctive characteristic of late. I'd be interested to see whether this is why.

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated.

"Mongolian nose flute" has such a more interesting sound to it than say "guitar", and probably unique cleaning problems too ;)

edit: I just noticed that this is my 347th post, which is a fairly auspicious number for me :D

[Escher]

Off topic again: The film we went to see on Friday was actually about Tuvan throat singing and not Mongolian nose flutes (don't know where that came from!).

The film was called Genghis Blues. Has anyone seen it? It was absolutely remarkable. A blind bluesman from San Francisco called Paul Pena taught himself how to throatsing (they use their throat to emit two tones at once) by listening to recordings of Tuvan singers. Tuva is a tiny state in Mongolia that used to be a separate country with its own culture but has been swallowed up by Russia. Events conspired for a group of Americans to travel to Tuva so Paul could take part in the national singing competition. The most stunning section was when he was about to go on stage only to find out the song he had picked to sing would offend the audience as the song was sung by someone who was now a convict and shamed in the eyes of the people. So he had to go on stage and ad lib, and out of the blue(sman) he winged one of the most amazing performances I have ever seen and brought the house down. Anyway I won't give too much away suffice to say it is a must see (it is available on Amazon) and has to be up there in the top five films I have seen. It was truly extraordinary.

[Spaceman347]

Thanks for the review, I'm up for something with a bit of a positive message. I ended up tracking down that Andy Kirkpatrick/Ian Parnell DVD that you mentioned ages ago and really enjoyed it, he's a very interesting guy.

[Escher]

Have you read this?

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=543 and his site www.psychovertical.com

Interesting read. Andy K was supposed to be doing a lecture on Thursday that I had tickets for but sadly it's been cancelled. Off to see another lecture and film Friday about the heyday of Welsh climbing and then to see Joes Simpsons Beckoning the Silence film - the follow up to Touching the Void about Toni Kurz and Hinterstoisser tragic attempt at the Eiger Nordwand. That's worth looking out for. Another film that has recently come out on DVD and worth searching out is Eric Jones soloing the NF of the Eiger in the early eigthies. Some epic views of the face in that film. Oh and anything you find by Leo Dickinson http://www.adventurearchive.com

[Spaceman347]

I hadn't seen the new UKC article but I'm a big fan of Andy's site, although I had forgotten about it until I wrote the message above so I'm happily catching up on all his latest updates. Bummer about missing his lecture, I'd love to go to one.

I'm an equal fan of Leo's after I saw his documentry about the baloon flight over Everest, also Glenn Singleman who was the Doctor on that expedition and later went on to perform the BASE climb (http://baseclimb.com/) jumps.