difference between post/pre processing

[arijit]

hi all,
i have been in doubt for long on this topic. we have a few controls like exposure etc that we can adjust in our camera before clickng the pic which again can also be adjusted in softwares such as adobe lightroom. does this makes a difference? if yes, then is it better to set the exposure or white balance before clicking?

[KrishnenduKes]

Query Approved

[synn]

Typically, softwares can go upto a stop of light either way before things start to get funny. This is especially true for night shots; but you may be able to coax more out of a day shot.

The recommended practice is to get your metering spot on and if the situation is too tricky for that, underexpose rather than over expose. Blown highlights have lesser chance of being recovered than too-dark shadows.

White balance is a non-factor for RAW images. You can always set it right (Or "Wrong" if you want to be creative) in post.

[Xavier]

Totally agree with Synn here.

And yes, its also important to have a final picture in mind whilst shooting. This comes in real handy for B/W images which look amazing in high contrast scenes. The best way to 'minimise' post processing is to shoot at optimal settings.

[arijit]

Typically, softwares can go upto a stop of light either way before things start to get funny. This is especially true for night shots; but you may be able to coax more out of a day shot.

The recommended practice is to get your metering spot on and if the situation is too tricky for that, underexpose rather than over expose. Blown highlights have lesser chance of being recovered than too-dark shadows.

White balance is a non-factor for RAW images. You can always set it right (Or "Wrong" if you want to be creative) in post.

thanx synn...but somehow i am still not very clear with the concept. actually i dont own a dslr yet...i have a kodak p&s m1093is. i did not find much difference by clicking pic at exposure and then editing the normal foto of same scene in lightroom..! by little zooming it was almost same...though i am not so sure with the capabilities of the dslrs!

[anvancy-(macro analyst)]

pre is before and post is after.happening moment is when you take the shot.

what one can do in pre is visualise what you want.what subject you want,what part of the subject you want..etc

studying the light that is falling on the subject is also crucial.simultaneously runs the angle part.so how the light is falling on the subject,what is your angle as a photographer and how the affected light will highlight what you want..or reversing is what dark things you want.

exposure settings follow..as a safety net underexposing photos(not too much..usually 1/3s or 2/3s. but certain require you to go down to -1 -2 etc.

metering is another aspect.once you have decided that ok ill take the shot of a person who is reading a newspaper and sitting on the bench.
how you meter the subject will again be your own choice.it may happen that you want the whole scene to be adequately shown in your shot.so you may go for average metering which calculates the average of the total light available in that frame and gives you a sort of uniform light.spot lighting can be used where you only want to show the person and newspaper.rest of the things are secondary in the shot.so the cam will meter spot wise where you point the camera.in certain situations it works best for hi-keys.each metering has its own unique features that unlocks different perspectives of a same frame.

shutter speed aperture both again run simultaneously while exposure thinking is going on.you want a frozen shot??or a moving shot??you want bokeh or you want to have the background in focus??or you want everything infinity??that again changes your frame drastically.

use of flash during day-time is another part.while studying or observing light is flash required for my frame??if yes will direct do or slow synchro do??should i underexpose my flash??how will it affect my frame??

this was your pre thinking before a shot which was processing in your mind.

so now you decided that to take a shot in a certain fashion.

you now download the shot on your comp.now is creativity part 2.

what WB you want,do you want to intentionally overexpose some things..where you will like focus,will BW do or a color do?will a glow effect do or normal will be enough??does a particular photo require sharpening??can those dust marks be removed??is there anything un-necessary which is not required??can it be cropped???if cropped will it affect the overall frame??things go beyond this also.

also there are times where you dont have time to think but only time to shoot.but whenever you do have time,think about the frame and how YOU will like it.not HOW OTHERS LIKE IT.your pre and post processing will be YOUR part..so do what satisfies you.dont lose your creativity by trying to satisfy others.

anvancy

[arijit]

pre is before and post is after.happening moment is when you take the shot.

what one can do in pre is visualise what you want.what subject you want,what part of the subject you want..etc

studying the light that is falling on the subject is also crucial.simultaneously runs the angle part.so how the light is falling on the subject,what is your angle as a photographer and how the affected light will highlight what you want..or reversing is what dark things you want.

exposure settings follow..as a safety net underexposing photos(not too much..usually 1/3s or 2/3s. but certain require you to go down to -1 -2 etc.

metering is another aspect.once you have decided that ok ill take the shot of a person who is reading a newspaper and sitting on the bench.
how you meter the subject will again be your own choice.it may happen that you want the whole scene to be adequately shown in your shot.so you may go for average metering which calculates the average of the total light available in that frame and gives you a sort of uniform light.spot lighting can be used where you only want to show the person and newspaper.rest of the things are secondary in the shot.so the cam will meter spot wise where you point the camera.in certain situations it works best for hi-keys.each metering has its own unique features that unlocks different perspectives of a same frame.

shutter speed aperture both again run simultaneously while exposure thinking is going on.you want a frozen shot??or a moving shot??you want bokeh or you want to have the background in focus??or you want everything infinity??that again changes your frame drastically.

use of flash during day-time is another part.while studying or observing light is flash required for my frame??if yes will direct do or slow synchro do??should i underexpose my flash??how will it affect my frame??

this was your pre thinking before a shot which was processing in your mind.

so now you decided that to take a shot in a certain fashion.

you now download the shot on your comp.now is creativity part 2.

what WB you want,do you want to intentionally overexpose some things..where you will like focus,will BW do or a color do?will a glow effect do or normal will be enough??does a particular photo require sharpening??can those dust marks be removed??is there anything un-necessary which is not required??can it be cropped???if cropped will it affect the overall frame??things go beyond this also.

also there are times where you dont have time to think but only time to shoot.but whenever you do have time,think about the frame and how YOU will like it.not HOW OTHERS LIKE IT.your pre and post processing will be YOUR part..so do what satisfies you.dont lose your creativity by trying to satisfy others.

anvancy

nothing more left to ask for i guess...thanx for such great detail.
one more thing i would like to add, another xperiment i performed. learnt about hdri and tried to make by editing the exposure through camera and in lightroom. the result was somewhat similar in tele but when you zoom in digitally, you tend to find a little distortion in the lightroom one..otherwise for normal, not high quality work, the post exposure works well too!