In general, this is what brightness/gamma adjustment is for. It's been a while since I used NX, but ACR has both an exposure slider and a brightness slider. My typical workflow is to set highlights with exposure and set overall density with brightness. Because brightness is not a linear adjustment, it essentially protects the highlights.
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Thanks for that info. and maybe that also explains why reds tend to blow first.
I also like the D7k Auto WB very much, but I don't have knowledge of other Nikons aside from my little P300 point and shoot.
I use P mode often, but also S, A, M and U1 and U2 modes, all in relation to exposure but also other settings as well as I mainly shoot JPG. It is a very nice touch that the U1 and U2 can remember almost every camera setting you want. PSAM modes are in their own "goup" as far as retaining settings, which is also fine. Maybe I mess around with the camera too much, but I find that it helps me keep inspired as well as to make the camera feel more "at home" in my hands.
I'm also checking the histogram almost always, probably now more out of habit than anything. I used an old Pentax MX for a while, but didn't have the patience for film, and I did everything manually as well without the ability to review or see histograms. I have a pretty good idea of what settings any given scene will require. I don't review every picture I take, so I leave "instant review" turned off, but I do press "Play" often and find the histogram most handy.
That's a fine motto, but I think one can also step back from that idea momentarily and try to defining what "optimal results" signifies to them personally.
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The point is that optimal is not given as an a priori concept. Only when I open an image I really decide where to go with it, if color, b&w, softer in contrast etc. Photography is not about copying nature/reality, it's about interpreting it.
Or not. Creating different things from same raw material (raw here is in common use sense) is a big part and has no limitations ecept your imagination and skills. The D7k is not a limiting factor in that regard, we are.
Raw is not the issue, you can PP from jpeg is exposure is good, except for WB.
Regarding the settings for this image, ISO500 is not necessary and if you were to print it large with best IQ possible the loss of detail in the foliage would show. Other than that, very nice.
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I agree, and also we interpret everything we see anyway. What we see is our interpretation. Photography teaches us to see. I don't think everybody sees things the same way. Or at the very least we make very subtle adjustments in shooting of our own, and we can also do so in processing. And it doesn't have to be such a radical interpretation for it to be our own, even if the camera imposes some of it's own "picture style" or "exposure bias". Also different cameras produce different results, so the decision we make whether to buy one camera or another is also a part of our interpretation.
Yes, it's a constant search. Of course the D7k offers a wide range of possibilities.
True, and I usually do post process my JPG's. I just find that using RAW is overkill for me, most of the time. They each have their place in photography, this is why cameras now give us the option to shoot both or to switch between the two with the press of a button. There are benefits to learning both, and then making "you own" choice.
Thank you very much. I will have to look at this picture again at 100%. My processing steps included resizing, hue/saturation, levels, gaussian blur, unsharp mask, denoise the red channel... all in moderation. I'm not sure that ISO 500 is the culprit of any loss of detail, though I'm sure it must have been to some extent as you've pointed out. I also feel that the 18-105 vr lens just isn't capable of such high resolution when zoomed so far in, to photograph something so far away. A lens with bigger glass would have let the D7k capture more detail. At close focus distances the 18-105 does better, but so do my eyes. I shoot JPG, Large, Fine, with the "quality compression" setting for pictures like this one on my U2 mode. If I wanted to make a 20x30" print of this, I think I could produce a pretty detailed version with what I got. I've done so with my old 6 megapixel Pentax dSLR, although admittedly it has a somewhat "digital" look to it if you get close enough. Most people see pictures on the walls from a bit further away.
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Renato.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhlpedrosa/
OnExposure member
http://www.onexposure.net/
Good shooting and good luck
(after Ed Murrow)
But that's what RAW allows you to do in a very versatile way, you can adjust routine to produce any type of photography you like, w/o having to find a camera for each purpose, or being tied to what the camera maker thought was a "good" jpeg output. For example, some softwares have as options each type of film ever produced. Or you can develop your own style. I have about done that using CNX2 for b&w, I have a routine that produces something very much like what I used to get from b&w film (actually, better IMO). Here are a couple of examples:
I have to check that, I very rarely use brightness sliders, except at b&w conversions. I use CNX2 for PPing (ACR for conversions).
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By the way, I read an earlier discussion up in this thread, and I find I do almost the same with regards to Levels/Curves adjustments: First bring detail out of shadows and highlights to find a "middle" ground for the image, and finally increase contrast. Of course it depends on the picture, and my mood...
Well, not quite right out of camera. Being a D90 owner, I have enjoyed reading the many D7000 threads from a safe distance. Yours here, as I noted on your flickr site, is particularly educational as you describe your shooting and pp process. But, your method seems like a way to outsmart the D7000. For one thing, you are shooting RAW. Your approach cannot solve the portrait problems for people who shoot jpegs and want to use in camera settings. You are underexposing to avoid clipping the red channel and fixing in pp (not out of camera). Those who shoot jpegs cannot fix the exposure so readily. Second, will this approach work for more fully lit portraits (i.e. outdoors) or those who use flash? I think it is a great technique that I and others can apply. But, I'm not sure it fully answers those who think the D7000 lacks in out of camera skin tones. You are so good at pp, you shoot knowing what you are going to do to an image later making the exact equipment you are using less important. Does the camera more readily clip the red channel than other cameras? Can adjusting the hue setting in camera balance that as another member proposed? I don't know. It is interesting even for someone who is not even a potential buyer at this time. Thanks again for this practical and informative thread.
