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jenevang

jenevang

Rocking a two-piece under my scrubs
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Apr 20, 2011
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Say that 3 times fast :giggle.

OK, only a few weeks in and one thing I've totally realized is that my photo post-processing must be streamlined. Just choosing my photos takes time, then to edit them as much as I like would be time prohibitive.

When there is just ONE photo on a page, I can afford to tweak the heck out of it, but with PL, it'd be frustrating and I really don't think it's necessary.

So... personally, I've started just using them "as is" if I'm not terribly unhappy with them, or (more often) running them quickly through RadLab (usually just brightening, sharpening or saturating as needed... mainly b/c they are usually iPhone pics).

How about you? How do you keep this from being too extensive and consuming?
 
I am using only 2 Lightroom presets to edit my photos - one color and one B&W. I use the same 2 for every layout. I import the photos directly into Lightroom, quickly choose the preset for each and export into my PL Photos folder. By using just 2 presets it takes all the guesswork out of it for me and stops me from playing with the photos for hours!
 
once I have finished agonizing over which photos for the week, I usually only spend a very few minutes tweaking in lightroom, then print and put them with my organizer page. For me, the photos for PL are "come as you are", and a mix of phone, iPod, and camera pics. I think I will add a PL Photo folder to export them to though, like Tali suggested, to keep track.
 
I've beem using them as is, or straight out of instagram! But I'm super interested in Lightroom Presets...I haven't played in Lightroom much
 
for iPhone pics I use PicTapGo, for dSLR pics I use LR and I don't do much editing... just a quick clean edit fixing the exposure and white balance and little sharpening... if I have a bit more time, I'll play with LR presets
 
I stay simple. White balance, sometimes sharpening. When I add it to the layout I may duplicate and multiply or screen if the picture is too light or dark compared to the rest of the the photos. And that's it. I look at my photos as SOOC overall because they are representing life as it is fuzzy, or dirty or amazing.
 
I use VSCO and PicTapGo for iPhone photos. When I take pictures with my big girl camera though I work on them in ACR first then add actions in Photoshop. Most of my pictures so far have been from the phone but when the weather is brighter and warmer it will be with my good camera more. I use 2 free actions that I picked up at CM for most of my indoor bad light pics. They give them a more creamy film look that I like and then I use the Matte Collection action set from Marissa Gifford.

I am definitely more streamlined when I use my phone but when I am working with my big camera I take lots more time because it's something I enjoy doing. I really need to get LR back. I just haven't upgraded since moving to my MAC but I definitely miss it.
 
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White balance, and then I have a handful of presets I go to when a photo needs just a bit of work. I rarely need to click more than 3 times per photo so it doesn't take a lot of time.
 
I edit them in Gimp while I use them, but I only use sharpening, saturation and contrast when needed. When I'm ambitious, I use this put-it-on-the-photo-and-I-don't-know-how-it-happens-but-it-instantly-looks-a-million-times-better-thingy by Lynn Marie that was part of her January 2014 BYOC elements... because I don't know how it happens, but it instantly makes the pictures look a million times better. But it's colored and gives the photos a pinkish hue, so it might not fit every kit... I don't care. I use it as if there's no tomorrow.
 
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I edit everything through LR for my real camera, basically as soon as I DL them. For phone pics I generally use VSCO.
 
Nixenkind said:
I edit them in Gimp while I use them, but I only use sharpening, saturation and contrast when needed. When I'm ambitious, I use this put-it-on-the-photo-and-I-don't-know-how-it-happens-but-it-instantly-looks-a-million-times-better-thingy by Lynn Marie that was part of her January 2014 BYOC elements... because I don't know how it happens, but it instantly makes the pictures look a million times better. But it's colored and gives the photos a pinkish hue, so it might not fit every kit... I don't care. I use it as if there's no tomorrow.
Click to expand...

LOL. I love this!
 
I've set up LR presets for my photos, so that they come out reasonably harmonious whatever camera I used to take them - mostly DSLR, phone or our waterproof camera which we use a lot in the summer but the photos need SERIOUS work, the SOOC are so fuzzy!

Also, I try to upload as I go and edit them at that point (there's often tweaking that needs doing but the presets get me 90% there) so that I'm not left with a huge pile to deal with when it's time to do my spread. I have a rating system so I flag up the ones that are going to be used in PL (if I'm not sure I include both, though!) and leave the rest. I go back to those later and see if I actually want to keep them.
 
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I just use either Pioneer Woman's Lighten and/or Warmer action(s) and then a defog in PS before I call it good.
 
If a photo is good enough, I resist the urge to edit it for PL. But if it needs work (and with all the indoor shots I take for PL, a lot do) I use a set of Paint the Moon PS actions. Typing it out here it sounds like I do a lot of work, but it's usually just 2-3 actions per photo and then quickly lowering the opacity of certain layers to tweak. It only takes a minute or 2 for each photo. I brighten and lighten, fix contrast, and do any necessary combination of warming/cooling, sharpening, and lightening shadows.
 
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I'm a lot like you Jen - a quick run thru RadLab. I opt for black and white if the colors aren't flowing with rest of the page.
 
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