Do you edit your photos before uploading to ZooChat? And how?

[LaughingDove]

So, I had a search through the forums and couldn't seen any discussions about this and I was wondering what people do to their photos before they upload them. I realise of course that different people will do different things so I am interested in what you do.

I don't actually do very much at all with my photos. My camera takes them as jpegs so I just copy them to my computer from an SD card and basically upload just them. Of course I sort through my photos and only upload the best ones. I sometimes watermark them (I really ought to be more consistent in this respect because I sometimes add watermarks and sometimes don't) and if it is necessary then I crop them. I don't do anything else.

So what do you do to your photos?

 

[savethelephant]

I use Picassa.

 

[Chlidonias]

I do nothing, except sometimes I crop them if needed.

 

[Hix]

I take my photos in RAW, although my little IXUS compact only does jpegs, and I only use that for wide/ landscape photos.

I usually tweak exposure and crop the RAW images in Lightroom, save them as jpegs, and then compress them. They load more easily when compressed.



Hix

 

[gentle lemur]

I always shoot RAW (called .nef files by Nikon). Then I download the images with Nikon View NX2, delete the useless ones and backup the rest to separate drive. I now use Nikon Capture NXD for raw conversion on selected images and then save them as uncompressed .tif files. Finally I use Photoshop CS5 to crop, resize and edit the images before saving them as .jpg files for the web.
This might seem complicated, but it gives me full control of my images.

Alan

 

[Arizona Docent]

At the very least I downsize the images quite a bit. For general views of enclosures, that is all. For animal shots I sometimes process them in Photoshop Elements, cropping at least, and sometimes using the filter effects in the Plugin software Nik Color Efex. If it is a "good" animal shot I will watermark it.

 

[Oddernod]

I live and die by Lightroom - cropping, color, anything I can do to save my less than stellar photo-taking skills.

 

[LaughingDove]

Thank you all for replying, it is very interesting with almost opposite extremes for some.

 

[Jackwow]

I do nothing, except sometimes I crop them if needed.

I'm the same, cropping when needed and nothing else.

Of course if I knew how to do something else I might do it!

 

[Moebelle]

As it was just partially revealed about my editing methods on one of my recent photos, I use Google+ to edit all of my photos and not one doesn't go through that process before it is posted. First I'll add both a touch of Brightness and Saturation, then add a great amount of Detail to thicken and reveal each line, then I'll add a Center Focus to not only add a shade to the outlines but it will lighten the center, then depending on the species (tall/large animals, outdoor animals), and if I don't feel that the photo holds enough vibrance I will turn to the HDR scale. Example below.

 

[NigeW]

If shooting with a DSLR, you really have to do a little bit of post processing because it isn't done in camera to the same extent that it is in compacts and bridge cameras.

They don't make too many assumptions on your behalf, which I appreciate.

I don't do a lot. Using Photoshop Elements, I do levels first, usually bringing black and white in therefore increasing contrast and saturation a little, then I'll either crop or resize the image to 1024px x 683px if posting on here, then apply a tad of sharpening using Unsharp Mask. A few very quick steps that make a big difference to the image.