The mantra "Get it right in camera"

[andy]

I like it when I can't make a shot better in photoslop.

Cropping due to physical limitations like running out of magnification or obstructions that prevent getting closer is one thing but cropping due to lack of technique is not something I aspire to.

In macro it is a lot easier to crop than fill the frame but that doesn't capture the same level of detail. With action shots cropping is often easier than keeping up with the action. Better technique gives better results.

[petrochemist]

Jan 25, 2023 9:27:55 GMT squeamishossifrage said:

Jan 25, 2023 8:47:21 GMT geoffr said:

Interesting view. Cropping isn't "throwing away data", it is selective use of data to show a specific subject. In the IT world, you might use all the data to see that there was a problem but select sections from that data to determine when and where it occurred.

Ha! There speaks a man who has never seen what happens to a subaltern who fails to deliver a complete intelligence report to a dyspeptic major! 

Regarding your IT parallel, you still need all the good data to demonstrate the anomaly in the bad data.

Surely a complete intelligence report doesn't include the entire recordings of phone tappings etc. 1/2 an hour of someone ranting about the traffic on the way in is unlikely to be relevant. 4 weeks of listening might end up with 30 seconds of critical data like a car bomb being left on the presidents route...

Intelligence is the operation of filtering the data to separate the wheat from the chaff & cropping can be just the same.

[stevewmh]

I might be one of the few here that doesn't use lightroom, photoshop or any of the "for rent" software. I like the challenge of getting as much as possible SOOC and then use simple techniques as and when the pic needs. Possibly a habit that's clung on after film
One of the things I like about the Fuji system is the flexibility of processing raw in camera

Or maybe im just to lazy to learn all the new stuffs that's about

[geoffr]

Jan 25, 2023 12:47:28 GMT petrochemist said:

Jan 25, 2023 9:27:55 GMT squeamishossifrage said:

Ha! There speaks a man who has never seen what happens to a subaltern who fails to deliver a complete intelligence report to a dyspeptic major! 

Regarding your IT parallel, you still need all the good data to demonstrate the anomaly in the bad data.

Surely a complete intelligence report doesn't include the entire recordings of phone tappings etc. 1/2 an hour of someone ranting about the traffic on the way in is unlikely to be relevant. 4 weeks of listening might end up with 30 seconds of critical data like a car bomb being left on the presidents route...

Intelligence is the operation of filtering the data to separate the wheat from the chaff & cropping can be just the same.

Thank you, that is what I would like to have said had it not been far too early for coherent thought.

[squeamishossifrage]

Jan 25, 2023 16:25:09 GMT geoffr said:

Jan 25, 2023 12:47:28 GMT petrochemist said:

Surely a complete intelligence report doesn't include the entire recordings of phone tappings etc. 1/2 an hour of someone ranting about the traffic on the way in is unlikely to be relevant. 4 weeks of listening might end up with 30 seconds of critical data like a car bomb being left on the presidents route...

Intelligence is the operation of filtering the data to separate the wheat from the chaff & cropping can be just the same.

Thank you, that is what I would like to have said had it not been far too early for coherent thought.

Well, back in my day in the BAOR if you did not submit full supporting information with the report for senior analyst review, you really were for the high jump.

[petrochemist]

Jan 25, 2023 16:40:58 GMT squeamishossifrage said:

Jan 25, 2023 16:25:09 GMT geoffr said:

Thank you, that is what I would like to have said had it not been far too early for coherent thought.

Well, back in my day in the BAOR if you did not submit full supporting information with the report for senior analyst review, you really were for the high jump.

Full supporting information is the crop, the dross around that information is the bit that's cropped off.

[JohnY]

I normally Shoot raw + jpeg fine*. If jpeg fine* gives the right result then the raw is ignored. Also if I do use the raw I process it initially in Nikon NX studio which takes account of camera settings. Only then do I do further tweaks in Affinity photo, via a 16bit tiff. It is good to get as close to the required output in camera as feasible.

[Deleted]

I am not quite as fussy as some others given what can be achieved from raw files in post, albeit within reason.

[pixelpuffin]

Very good question

This is basically what made my buy into the canon M system. The fact that I could see exactly what I was getting before pressing the shutter. Often it’s not the correct exposure, but a certain look I’m trying to create. With EVF’s it’s simple. My flappers rarely if ever see use these days except my trusty 6d/5diii. I adore the M stuff, god knows why canon stopped production. I have no desire whatsoever to go R.
So basically canon has lost a very loyal customer.
I’m staying put with what I own.

[daves]

90+% of what I do is done in post. If you saw an unstretched image chances are you would ask where the subject was. Having said that, the fundamentals are just as important, getting the focus spot on (Possibly even more critical than for daytime photography), and making sure all the optical corrections are taken care of.

[dans]

I like the options that post processing gives, I find it enjoyable and therapeutic to mess around in lightroom. I see it as an extension of photography, much like developing in a darkroom would have been, it's just that there are more options digitally, so I see no reason to exclude them.

With regards to cropping, I see that as one of the greatest tools in the post processing tool kit, so simple to zoom in when I was too far away, but saw a good shot. I like the effect of zooming in using cropping, it often softens the image and introduces a bit of digital noise that I quite like. I can straighten my dodgy levels and remove things from the corners or edges. More importantly, I don't have to make the decision there and then, I can take my time and try different compositions using the crop tool. I get what I need in camera and then I can tweak later. Its especially helpful with street photography.

[dreampolice]

I'll be honest. I'd be buggered without photoshop for most of my stuff. When I take a lot of photo's I have the post processing in mind. Not every time though but certainly when I am trying to be arty or just creative beyond a record or memory type shot.
Like Zou said above, framing and focus are very important in camera. I tend to crop out a fair bit. I have often missed bits at the edges of my photos, so I try to take a wider shot than what I need.

[Chester PB]

Sometimes when using a wide angle lens it is impossible to 'get it right in the camera' because of the inevitable image distortion towards the corners of the image (most obvious with heads and faces). When I see shots like this in magazines where no attempt has been made to 'correct', or at least reduce, the distortion I assume the photographer was lazy or didn't care. I have learned to shoot 'wider' on shots like this to allow for 'shrinkage' when I adjust for the distortion. I believe that some new cameras have this process installed and automatically applied, so some users may have no idea what I'm talking about.

Otherwise I always try to 'get it right in the camera', probably as a result of learning when using Kodachrome. When I had my first 'real' camera, I was earning £2 a day assembling transformers in a school holiday job, which was about the cost of one roll of 36 exposure paid Kodachrome. This was a great incentive not to waste shots, and also explains why I passed my driving test first time after only 10 lessons.

[peterba]

Feb 21, 2023 13:07:54 GMT dans said:

I like the effect of zooming in using cropping, it often softens the image and introduces a bit of digital noise that I quite like.

I agree, Dan..... likewise (when using digital), I often capture a considerably wider field of view than I actually require, expressly in order to crop the image down to the view that I do want. This is to get the effect you describe, and add a bit of 'tooth'.

[petrochemist]

I always try to get it right in camera, but as my first attempt at large format shows I am quite capable of completely messing up a shot after the camera too!