How important is post processing? - Part 1

I am not telling you whether you have to process your photographs or not. I am just trying to explain the importance of post processing in our photography workflow. Like most of the beginners, with my half-baked knowledge, I argued with every other that post processing is not good and ethical. May be post processing was something too heavy for me to pick it up right away as a beginner and I covered that by arguing around, only to realize later that post processing is an integral part of the photography workflow. Now every other photograph I post, I post process them except for those pouting ugly selfies which I pose for.

Post processing isn't bad at all if it is done the right way and the right amount. A  photojournalist has to present the real photograph from the scene and so he might do minimum to no post processing on his photographs where as a product photographer who is working for an ad agency might have to rely more on that post processing to enhance and showcase it as the best product in the market, which is not the same most of the times. The general term 'editing' is a controversial word to be used here, rather we can call it as 'post processing' and 'manipulation' depending upon what we intend to do it on the photograph. The process of enhancing the visual appeal of the photograph to make it more presentable is post processing and changing something in the photograph completely is manipulating.
If you are still the SOOC (straight out of camera) guy, you might have to understand couple of things here. The JPEG image which comes out of your camera is still a post processed image to some extent. Post processing is basically any change in the photograph after the exposure is made. During the process of converting the recorded sensor information into an image, your camera would have processed the information available at each pixel to produce a viewable image. Now if you tell me that you are ok with the camera’s JPEG file and you do not want to process it further, it is totally your call but just read this article till the end, you might change your mind!

One of the photographs by Ansel Adams.

The iconic landscape photographer Ansel Adams quotes –

“Dodging and burning are steps
to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.”

Post processing exists from the age of films and even beyond but we are very less aware of it since we never had enough chances to know what they did in the gloomy dark rooms. Post processing is a  tool to present the image in the way you have pre-visualized the scene. Getting the images right in the scene is always good thing to do but there is still some amount of post processing to be done on your images. The camera, no matter how good it is cannot recreate the exact scene we saw in the field due to a lot of its limitations and so we bank on post processing to get most of the exposure we have in hand. There are some aspects that we need to understand to know what our camera lack in  producing the exact scene we saw. We shall discuss this further in the next part of this article.

Sunset at Hemakoota group of temples, Hampi

In the 2 photographs above, you can clearly see the difference between a processed and a unprocessed image. The first one is a direct JPEG from the RAW file. The second one is a processed RAW file converted into a JPEG. You can see how a flat photograph turns into an interesting frame. You may also notice that the processing is done with different aspects in photograph. 

To be continued in part 2 with the below topics…
● Perspective correction/lens correction
● Dynamic range
● Contrast
● Highlights and shadows
● Sharpness
● Colors

A short note on Red-Whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)

One of the parents. The other sex.

One of the parents

In my last blog about the Indian Silver Bill I had just mentioned about these lovely bulbul birds. They are around for about 8 months now, hovering around in the backyard garden and near the balcony. This week the young ones of fourth family of these birds left the nest. All the four families have given me a great opportunity of watching them, making notes of their activities and observing their behavior. It was quite an amazing sight. In this blog I put down my observation made so far. These are my discrete notes made when ever I could get time to observe them. I wish I had more time to spend with them :)

A fully grown Red-Whiskered Bulbul may measure about 20 to 25cm. This one is easy to identify with its tall pointed black crest, the prominent red patch on it's cheek just below the eyes, from which it gets its name; Red-Whiskered Bulbul. Short pointed beak, black round eyes, white throat and under parts. It has a brownish spur from the shoulder level onto the breasts. Light brownish back, long tail, black and white under wings and a red vent. The flights of these birds are short and they dip and rise with flapping wings. These birds are very audible; you can easily hear their calls early morning. They have few patterns of call. They usually perch on the tree tops. 

These birds feed on small fruits, small wild berries, twigs, flowers, insects and bugs. I have noticed them feeding on the sapota fruit (commonly known as the 'chikku') and catching flies and caterpillars. Both the sex are identical, but seeing their behavior, the male seems to be bigger than the female, I am still not able to differentiate them properly though. They seem to be very comfortable around the human habitat. They were very comfortable in allowing me to sit just about a feet distance from them and they still seemed to be not caring about my presence.

One of the parent spotted on the chikku tree.

The Beginning....

These birds mate outside their nests. Both male and female gather small fibers, twigs, strands of grass and soft dried leaves for the inner nest. The nests are built about 9 to 10 feet above the ground level and it is cup shaped. All the families which I have noticed have built the nest in our grill-glass enclosed balcony, between the grills and the glass. One of the families reused the nest of the older bird. I observed that they do the nest inspection before occupying the previous nest. Only one family reused the built nest and the other 3 built their own. Not sure if all the 4 families were the same birds. The birds seem to be learning about the environment and from other birds, since all the birds have built the nest at the same place. The nest are probably built only after the parents are sure about the embryo development or during the mating process, since the birds lay eggs within just 3 to 4 days after the nest building is complete. The nest building takes about a week and once the nest is complete the female stays at the nest to lay the eggs. The first family I noticed was in December-2013 and the last family was in September-2014, this indicates that these birds lay eggs throughout the year.

Eggs and nesting....

They usually lay one or two eggs, which are dotted pale pink in color. Both the parents take part in incubating the eggs. While one parent is incubating the other one sits near the nest like a watchman. One of the parents will be at the nest incubating just after the sunset and till early mornings. In the day time the birds occasionally sit on the egg to incubate but they are always around safe guarding the nest. At night they seem to cover the entire nest by putting their heads inside the nest, spreading out their wings, puffed up and making a nice woolly blanket over the nest. The eggs hatch in 12 to 15 days. The chicks are born naked with closed eyes and so the parents still continue to incubate them till the features are grown. The new born are voracious eaters, so both the parents are engaged in gathering food for the just born. The celebration of the parents after the young ones birth is quite a sight :)   

Raising the Young Ones....

About a week, the young ones get their features and they would chirp!  The young ones are constantly fed through out the day. The parents are very protective and they defend the intruders. They tend to beat the intruders with their flapping wings; I experienced this with the second family. They tend to scare the intruders by making themselves look big, puffed up, crest back and the heads forward as if they will poke you with their beaks. 7 to 10 days the young ones would have feathers and wings. 

The grumpy little guy in defending mode.

The First Flight...

The parents teach the young ones to fly near the nest. This is the high time for the kids. They probably get just 2 to 3 days to learn to fly. The kids were hopping, jumping and trying to flap their wings on the floor. And some day they are suppose to leave their nests and fly independently. The first 3 families had given me a rough idea on duration of each phase. This time I was very sure when they will actually fly out of their nest. My guess was correct and I was able to spot them on the tree with their parents. And the parents were still busy feeding the young one. This time it was just one egg which hatched out of the two eggs. I can still spot the young one flying around the garden and learning the perfect fly! I was very fortunate to see some amazing moments this time. Here are some glimpses…..

The little guy. On the same day he ventured out of the nest.

Looking out for his parents.

Feeding time

And the second round!

And now the birds flew away, I will have to wait for the next one to come! It was total happiness observing these little winged creatures. Many a times I just forgot to click some photographs and kept starring at them!

My photographs may not do justice to these beautiful creatures and amazing moments. These photographs are just a small attempt to portray their life.

All the above mentioned points are out of my own observations. I have refereed few sites for some information. The birds, the nests and the young ones were not harmed in anyway in the process of observing and photographing them.

I have also tried to record their calls. These birds have few patterns of calls, I have just recorded two patterns here. The one is just the usual call you get to hear around. The second one is 'Search Call' for the young ones or for the other partner. 

Here is the link for the calls : http://arunsphotographyjournal.blogspot.in/2014/08/the-natures-sound-strips.html

References :

Text references : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-whiskered_bulbul

Better Photographs of the young ones : http://www.drkrishi.com/tag/red-whiskered-bulbul

The natures sound strips!

The nature's sound strips!

This blog post contains list of nature sounds I have recorded so far. I look forward to record many more melodious musics of nature. These are the sound strips recorded from my mobile. Headphones are recommended while you enjoy these sounds!

The purple rumped sunbird

Indian silver bill

Indian palm Squirrel 

The Red-Whiskered Bulbul. This is the usual call of this bird.

The Red-Whiskered Bulbul. This is the search call the parent makes looking for its young one / for its partner.

Turn to full manual!

Turn to full manual.....

I have always struggled to switch on to full manual mode on my DSLR!  And even now, at times, I am just afraid to use the manual mode. I thought of putting things together what I have learned so far and see if that helps someone :) I believe this would be an easy guide to the beginner since I have been through the same phase ans still perfecting it. I have tried to sum up my learning and experience.

While many of us, including me, are still struggling with the automatic mode (Aperture priority / shutter priority / program mode), turning the dial on to the manual mode has a lot of advantage. The DSLRs are actually made to be controlled by the user and not the camera limiting the user! The auto modes are built in the beginners DSLRs, probably to just ease in the transition from auto to fully manual mode. For a good photograph, the technical details might not be important. A simple and humble mobile phone camera can produce a better image. But controlling the DSLRs manually is a vital thing to recreate what we visualize at the back of the brain.

But why???

The two main cost contributing factors of DSLRs are the sensor and the heavy algorithm which gets hardwired into every camera! The DSLRs comparatively have a less software, assuming the user will control many factors. That might be the reason you see less auto modes on a DSLR compared to an advanced compact digital camera!

When we are using the automatic mode, we are giving the camera algorithm an upper hand to decide on the other several factors. For example, when we are on the aperture mode, the algorithm has a control on the shutter speed. Though the camera decides the best shutter speed for the scene, it somewhere fails to exactly replicate the exposure of the photograph which we have visualized. (The camera averages out the light depending on the metering mode and calculates the shutter speed. The camera might have calculated a little faster shutter speed, averaging the light, which under exposes some parts. Or a slower shutter speed which over exposes!). A fractional change in the exposure can completely change the overall look of the photograph. Similarly in shutter priority mode, the aperture (in turn the DOF) is in camera’s control. (In the program mode and auto mode, the camera controls almost everything!).

While in manual mode, we have the supreme control over the exposure triangle! Hence, giving a total control over the photographs. To conclude, dialing to the manual mode has its own advantage; it gives you complete control on the exposure (Shutter speed, aperture and the ISO). Switching to it might be difficult, but once you are handy with it, photographs come out creative and spectacular :)

How do I????

Step 1: Very important, turn your dial to Manual mode and believe in your self that you are going to click better than any other modes :)

Turn the dial to 'M' mode.

Step 2: I would probably set an appropriate aperture first depending on the DOF I would need! Say a shallow DOF for a portrait or a deep DOF for a landscape. You can still set the shutter speed first.

To adjust the aperture, hold on to the (+/-) button and rotate the wheel. The light meter is towards the negative side, indicating it is under exposed.

Step 3: Set the appropriate shutter speed for the scene. Higher shutter speed for freezing motion or lower shutter speed to have movement in the photograph. If you have set the shutter speed at the first step, set the aperture now.

To adjust the shutter speed, rotate the wheel left / right. Adjusting the shutter speed gradually brings the light meter indicator towards the middle. Finally, over expose it a little.

Step 4: Adjust the ISO to properly expose the photograph. But remember, higher the ISO more the noise! It is always safer to be at your camera’s lowest ISO possible. It is always good to know what would be the highest comfortable ISO of your camera at different situation.

Press the 'i' and adjust the ISO. ISO increased from 100 to 400, tweaked the shutter for proper exposure.

Step 5: Having said to adjust the aperture, shutter and the ISO, we only get to know whether the frame is correctly exposed or not by looking at the light meter. To correctly do this, press the shutter button half way till the scene is in focus and see the light meter, proper exposure is when the indicator points to the middle (“0”). If the indicator is away from the middle, either left or right, you will have to start tweaking the settings. Follow step 2 to 4 and again check at the meter. The indicator should be at the middle to have a good exposure. And of course, it is your image; you need not always expose the frame having the light meter at the middle! You have all authority to make what you want!

This seems to be very easy or may be very tough, but you will understand only when you try it out. These setting are to be changed on the fly to suit your requirements. You will have to click a lot of images and try a lot of combinations to get what you want :)

Cheat codes!

• Setting aperture must be an easy play, once you are sure about what DOF you are going for. You will have to tweak it only when it is limiting the other parameter (Shutter and ISO). Aperture also plays a role in letting the amount of light on the sensor! Mind it :)
• Setting the shutter speed might be little tricky. Firstly, deciding the speed of moving object would be difficult. A flying bird and a water droplet have different speed. You can predict it to an extant! 1/60^th of a second and below would give a slow shutter (hand holding would be difficult), starting with somewhere around 1/250^th of a second would be a good start, 1/500^th of a second and above can freeze most of the things around. Secondly, deciding the amount of light you would like to allow to fall on the sensor. Slower the shutter, higher the amount of light and faster the shutter, lower the amount of light!
• It is all about playing with the 3 components of the exposure triangle, compensating stops from each component to satisfy the other and get the best exposure! The light meter is the guide :)
• Expose towards the right! Always try to over expose (little) the photograph by couple of stops! That is the light meter should be one or two points towards the positive side. This will ensure the scene is well exposed, but again it depends on the scene and the photograph. A little bit about too much over exposure and its a problem again! Keep watch of the clipped highlights on the camera display screen. Tweak and click again!
• The EV (Exposure Compensation)! Feel free to use the exposure compensation to deliberately over ride the light meter and tell the camera to strictly over expose or under expose the photograph depending on the need!

Adjusting the Exposure Compensation, setting it to +0.7

• Keep in mind to change the parameters every time when the light / the scene changes, when you have shifted to manual mode. Unlike the automatic mode, the parameters are not automatically adjusted by the camera!

These photos are with reference to Nikon D5100 camera and it should be similar with most of the Nikon family cameras. Refer your camera's manual to map the buttons on your camera.

I would love hear any correction on any of the above mentioned statements. Open to learning :)
Please post your comments down here to discuss on any of the statements!

Some useful links :

Basics of Digital photography : http://berniesumption.com/photography/beginners-guide-for-geeks/
This site explains the basic terminologies of digital photography.

Everything from camera to printing : www.cambridgeincolour.com/
A detailed explanation about everything you want to know.

Some interesting photographs and tutorials : 121clicks.com