How do you know if a photo can be saved by PP?

[janeenadamsmartin]

I am just starting to take a lot of photos and culling them is still time consuming.  Mainly because I don't have enough PP experience to know what can be saved.   Are there any tips for figuring this out besides trial and error?

Here are my general guidelines so far:

1.  Throw out blurry, out-of-focus
2.  Throw out animal/people shots if they are subject matter and  eyes aren't visible
3.  Throw out ones that don't "grab me" right away and give me a "ho-hum."
4.  Throw out ones with really distracting backgrounds  (I know I'll never want to be one that does photo design -- I just want to clean up what I shot, not make a new composition.)

Of the remaining, especially burst shots that are similar -- I can't tell which one is best to keep without trying them all.  I thought in those instances maybe looking at the histogram might help?  And if so would I be looking for a full range or higher peaks?  Throw out blown highlights is easy, but if none are blown, how do you decide?

Or, do you guys just run them all through a batch PP process and see what falls out?

jan

[Luiz Muzzi]

I am just starting to take a lot of photos and culling them is still time consuming.  Mainly because I don't have enough PP experience to know what can be saved.   Are there any tips for figuring this out besides trial and error?

Here are my general guidelines so far:

1.  Throw out blurry, out-of-focus
2.  Throw out animal/people shots if they are subject matter and  eyes aren't visible
3.  Throw out ones that don't "grab me" right away and give me a "ho-hum."
4.  Throw out ones with really distracting backgrounds  (I know I'll never want to be one that does photo design -- I just want to clean up what I shot, not make a new composition.)

Of the remaining, especially burst shots that are similar -- I can't tell which one is best to keep without trying them all.  I thought in those instances maybe looking at the histogram might help?  And if so would I be looking for a full range or higher peaks?  Throw out blown highlights is easy, but if none are blown, how do you decide?

Or, do you guys just run them all through a batch PP process and see what falls out?

jan

Jan,
Basically I think I do the same as you do (steps 1-4).
At the same time, I think the trial and error in post processing is important so that you can gain experience. After some time you will get to know what is and what is not possible in PP. Sometimes you think the composition or the subject is great in spite of certain technical deficiencies...this is the right opportunity to use PP to try "saving" the photo...
Just my two cents...
Regards,

-Luiz Muzzi

[janeenadamsmartin]

Hi Luiz -- thank you for your input on experience.   I agree that shooting the couple thousand pictures I have these past two weekends has sure made me much more capable of culling than ever before!  But when I am in burst mode, I cannot always tell the immediate difference in photos - and if they were all about the same, I was hopeful the histogram might give me a technical reason to select one shot over the other and that someone had a trick or guideline.  (rats...)

jan :-)

[Luiz Muzzi]

Hi Luiz -- thank you for your input on experience.   I agree that shooting the couple thousand pictures I have these past two weekends has sure made me much more capable of culling than ever before!  But when I am in burst mode, I cannot always tell the immediate difference in photos - and if they were all about the same, I was hopeful the histogram might give me a technical reason to select one shot over the other and that someone had a trick or guideline.  (rats...)

jan :-)

Jan,
The important fact is that PM helps a lot selecting the right pictures...using the preview window and comparing pictures, side by side, zooming to 100%, etc...
Taking pictures in a burst is especially relevant when photographing sports and birds, for example, when you might find somewhat "different" pictures (very good ones, I mean) among the regular ones...In these cases you will naturally and easily spot the best ones...
regards,

-Luiz Muzzi