{"id":260,"date":"2019-06-07T23:11:15","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T23:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anandagarden.com\/eye\/?p=260"},"modified":"2025-03-13T18:42:54","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T18:42:54","slug":"a-photo-post-processing-workflow-with-tips-for-the-art-impaired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anandagarden.com\/eye\/2019\/06\/a-photo-post-processing-workflow-with-tips-for-the-art-impaired\/","title":{"rendered":"A Photo Post-Processing Workflow for the Art-Impaired"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am not a visual person.<\/strong> I got started in photography in 1966, after a couple of rough years (health-wise and spiritually). I was living at my parents\u2019 apartment which was two blocks from the ocean in Long Beach, California. I carried my Dad\u2019s circa-1938 Zeiss Ikon bellows folding camera on long walks, strolling for hours, praying and alert for things to photograph that would give me joy and lift my heart.<\/p>\n

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Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta 1938<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the advice of Brother Bhaktananda, a senior disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda<\/a>, I took up running for fitness and health. Three years later, by the labyrinthine workings of fate, I found myself working at the fledgling Runner\u2019s World<\/em> magazine in Mountain View, on the San Francisco Peninsula, where I edited a magazine for bicyclists and filled in as staff photographer for the company\u2019s five sports magazines.<\/p>\n

Four years later, when I moved to Ananda Village<\/strong><\/a>, I found that the community\u2019s photographer had left three weeks earlier, and I inherited the role because I owned a camera and had basic skills.<\/p>\n

I was very conscious that this tiny intentional village of Yogananda disciples would have an important role to play in the history of religion. If you\u2019re interested in my reasons for indulging in what must surely seem a rather grandiose train of thought, you can find a pretty good summation in Swami Kriyananda\u2019s wonderful book The New Path \u2014 My Life With Paramhansa Yogananda<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. (You can see three galleries of early Ananda Village photos here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still taking pictures of Ananda, though I\u2019m back in Mountain View now, this time as a resident of the Ananda Community<\/strong><\/a> here. And I\u2019m still not a visual guy \u2014 Photoshop still gives me goose bumps \u2014 but I\u2019m loving photography more than ever.<\/p>\n

To compensate for my lack of artistic skill \u2014 I can\u2019t draw to save my life\u00a0 \u2014 I resort to spiritual trickery. First and foremost, I try to remember to pray before I go out and take pictures. Fifty-three years behind the camera have taught me that God really is in charge. I\u2019ve subjected this theory to comprehensive scientific testing, and I\u2019ve been able to prove to my satisfaction that it is true \u2014 my photos are always better when I pray beforehand.<\/p>\n

A lesser trick that I have adopted is to own really good equipment. I own a modest, older, low-end Canon full-frame camera, the EOS 6D. It is humble, but it is wonderful. I won\u2019t maunder over the technical details, but it is a joy for taking people pics.<\/p>\n

I also own, very happily, the best portrait lens ever made, the Canon EF 135mm F\/2 L USM. I\u2019ve written about it in two previous posts (here<\/a><\/strong> and here<\/a><\/strong>), with links to sample photos.<\/p>\n

A world-class lens is more than worth its price \u2014 it will really help you reach your photographic goals. Camera bodies may come and go, but great lenses are forever.<\/p>\n

Finally, I use sneaky software that lets me avoid having to dive too deeply into Photoshop and Lightroom. For example, I use Canon’s own Digital Photo Professional<\/a><\/strong> raw conversion program because I find it gives me wonderful results straight out of the box. I will further tweak all of the photos, but DPP gives me an excellent starting point.<\/p>\n

I also use EyeQ Perfectly Clear<\/strong><\/a>. No deep discussion here \u2014 I\u2019ll just say that I find it indispensable for shortening my post-production workflow.<\/p>\n

Finally, when I\u2019ve tried everything and a photo just somehow isn\u2019t looking all that great, I will resort to Skylum Luminar<\/a> which has an uncanny way of rescuing photos that defy my poor post-processing skills.<\/p>\n

I may go into more detail at a future date, but my workflow generally follows this pattern:<\/p>\n

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      1. Look at photos in FastStone Image Viewer<\/a> <\/strong>and delete the goofs<\/li>\n
      2. Run the raw photos through Canon Desktop Photo Pro and tweak exposure, white balance, color, etc.<\/li>\n
      3. Save the raw photos and tweak them in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop<\/li>\n
      4. As needed, still in Photoshop, apply the EyeQ Perfectly Clear filter and\/or the Skylum Luminar filter<\/li>\n
      5. Export the photos as jpegs and post them to my photo website<\/a> on SmugMug<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        I generally only use Lightroom for photos that seem they would benefit from a batch export using the EyeQ Perfectly Clear filter. I’ll export them using the Intelligent AI filter, or a user-defined filter that applies no changes except \u201cDepth\u201d and \u201cSkin and Depth Bias.\u201d<\/p>\n

        I subscribe to several superb YouTube Photoshop channels:<\/p>\n

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            • Jesus Ramirez\u2019s Photoshop Training Channel<\/strong><\/a> (749K subscribers)<\/li>\n
            • Unmesh Dinda\u2019s PiXimperfect<\/a><\/strong> (1.2M subscribers)<\/li>\n
            • Aaron Nace\u2019s PHLEARN<\/a><\/strong> (1.7M subscribers)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Above and beyond being wonderful teachers, these guys always seem to have the answers I need when I get stuck in Photoshop. Simply put, they help me make my photos look better.<\/p>\n

              Occasionally, I\u2019ll pick up a trick from Jesus, Unmesh or Aaron that empowers me to fake it as an artist.<\/p>\n

              For example, Jesus recently posted a video<\/strong> <\/a>about a really interesting way to turn photos into line drawings with a little help from the Photoshop Oil Paint filter (Filter > Stylize > Oil Paint). It uses Photoshop features that are way over my head, but thanks to the clear step-by-step tutorial presented by Tony Harmer, Jesus\u2019s guest expert for the day, I was able to reproduce the effect with satisfying results. Note: the Oil Paint filter requires a graphics card that supports OpenCL 1.1 or higher; otherwise it will be grayed-out in Photoshop. (See hardware requirements here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

              Examples. I realize these aren\u2019t anything to write home about \u2014 they\u2019re just practice files. An unexpected benefit of the technique is that once you\u2019ve followed the steps for one photo, you can easily and quickly copy the effect to other photos (the tutorial tells you how) \u2014 and you can adjust the parameters of each filter as may be appropriate for each photo.<\/p>\n

              Here\u2019s an original file (jpeg after applying my usual workflow). It was taken with the Canon 6D body and the 135mm F\/2 lens.:<\/p>\n

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              And here\u2019s the converted version. I knocked out the background and extended the canvas to give designers some white space for text.<\/p>\n

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              Another example (taken with my old Fuji X-T20 and 55-200 lens, both since sold):<\/p>\n

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              Cropped and converted, with background removed:<\/p>\n

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