MODULE 6

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Workflow and Photo Editing

 Subtopic 1

Workflow
Digital Workflow
Workflow
Workflow is the sequence of step-by-step
procedures necessary to achieve consistent reliable
results.

Digital Photography Workflow can be described as a

way of orchestrating the events that begin with
planning and capture
Digital Photography Workflow
Careful planning based on project goals and parameters is a
necessary first step to proceed through various options within a
digital photography workflow:
• Planning
• Capture
• Ingestion
• Editing
• Optimization
• Proof
• Output/delivery
• Archiving
Digital Photography Workflow
PLANNING

ARCHIVING CAPTURE

OUTPUT/
INGESTION
DELIVERY

PROOF EDITING

OPTIMIZATION
Digital Photography Workflow
Planning
Starting work on a project can be very exciting and
invigorating. Sometimes, however, this excitement
change to anxiety when we realize that maybe we should
have though about the process in more details before we
started.
Digital Photography Workflow
Planning Things to
consider in
Planning:
- Planning gives ample time to see the
possible dilemmas and do the • Color
necessary preparation for the shoot. Management
• File Formats
- The goal of planning is to determine • Resolution
what questions to ask and how to • Sharpening
proceed with the decision making. • Metadata
• File Delivery
• Archiving
Digital Photography Workflow
Planning
Collect
Gather all pertinent information on the project.
Organize
Fix schedules, equipment and files necessary for the
project.
Review
review your work process
Document
keep track of the activities
Digital Photography Workflow
Capturing

The process of acquiring/ recoding data in a

digital format. This could be in the form of a
photographic, moving image or an audio
recording.
Digital Photography Workflow
Ingestion
The process of downloading digital camera
image from media cards that can include
renaming, applying metadata, handling image-
processing presets, effecting DNG conversion
and performing initial backups
Digital Photography Workflow
Ingestion
Metadata
Commonly defined as “data about data”. It is embedded
or associated information describing a file’s content,
both technically and conceptually.
As far as photos are concerned,metadata describes how
the photo was taken (camera, shutter speed, aperture,
lens, etc.), who took the photo (copyright) and
descriptive data about the content of the photo
(keywords, captions).
Digital Photography Workflow
Editing
The process of selecting, ranking, and organizing
images. It is also the process of applying image-
processing steps.
Digital Photography Workflow
Editing
Editing Checklist
• Choose the best images
• Trash the losers (be careful, there images worth keeping)
• Rate the images
• Organize the keepers using criteria consistent with the
needs of the assignments.
•Make sure the images are identified with copyright and
contact information.
Digital Photography Workflow
Optimization
It is the process of correcting tone and color,
sharpening, retouching, and other output specific
adjustments.

It can be take place at individual file level or batch

processing.
Digital Photography Workflow
Proof
The term proof was reserved for the output or the
finishing stage of desktop publishing project,
But now, the term is used to describe image viewing,
most commonly on monitors.
Digital Photography Workflow
Proofing
Stages of Proofing:
a. Contact sheets- thumb-nail size photos to view and select photos.
b. Mark-up Proofs- Usually any proof that has been “marked ” for
further optimization
c. Work Proofs -Ensures that the elements and characteristics are inherit
in the image.
d. Contact Proof- Reference match point for subsequent reproduction.
e. Final Proof/ Press proofs- Signed proof for printing
Digital Photography Workflow
Proofing

Capture Ingestion Edit Optimization

Further
Proof More Proofing Output/Delivery
Optimization

The diagram shows where proofing fits into the overall workflow.
Digital Photography Workflow
Output/ Delivery

It where the digital image is send or handed out to its

destination or end user. This could be a print or
screen-based for use on the web, multimedia and
interactive applications, or video.
Digital Photography Workflow
Archiving

The process of collecting images that is kept in secure,

long-term storage. It can take place on the workflow,
either after the capture or the optimization.
 Subtopic 2

Photo
Editing/Manipulation
Photo Manipulation
Photo Manipulation
It is the application of image editing techniques to
photographs in order to create
an illusion or deception (in contrast to
mere enhancement or correction) after the original
photographing took place.
It is also called photoshopping or—before the rise
of Photoshop software—airbrushing)
Early Photo Manipulation

William H. Mumler's spirit

photos, 1860s-1880
Early Photo Manipulation

Left: "Master Herrod (a young medium) in a trance. His Spiritual Body Withdrawn and Appears
Behind.", ca. 1868 Center: "Mrs. French of Boston with Spirit Son", ca. 1868 Right: Moses A. Dow,
Editor of Waverley Magazine, with the Spirit of Mabel Warren", ca. 1871
Early Photo Manipulation

Headless gentlemen from the Victorian era

Early Photo Manipulation

Double-exposure portraits
from the late 1800s
Early Photo Manipulation

Man Juggling His Own

Head by a French artist,
around 1880
Early Photo Manipulation
• Around the 1910s,
photographic composites
of different images were
created by commercial
photographic studios to
bring family members
together into one picture
when they were not
together in reality for the
portrait session.
Early Photo Manipulation

Skiing in Egypt, 1938

Early Photo Manipulation

The equator –
photographed for
the first time in
history, 1930s
Early Photo Manipulation

Man On Rooftop With

Eleven Man In
Formation On His
Shoulders, from an
unidentified American
artist, around 1930.
Early Photo Manipulation

Cottingley Fairies (1917-1920)

Early Photo Manipulation

The series of five photographs were taken by two young cousins, Elsie Wright and Frances
Griffiths between 1917 and 1920. These were used by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to illustrate
his article about fairies. This made the pictures world-famous. In the early 1980s, the old
women confessed they've used cardboard figures.
Early Photo Manipulation
Early Photo Manipulation

The most heroic portrait of Benito Mussolini, 1942

The handler was removed to create a more heroic look.
Early Photo Manipulation
The Commissar
Vanishes, 1940
Nikolai Yezhov was one of
Stalin's most powerful officials,
but in 1939 he was arrested and
executed in 1940. The top photo
is from the mid 1930s, and the
other is from 1940. It's the best-
known example of the Stalin-era
image manipulation.
Retouching
Subtypes of Digital image-
retouching
There are several subtypes of digital
image-retouching:
Technical retouching -Manipulation for photo
restoration or enhancement (adjusting colors /
contrast / white balance (i.e. gradational
retouching), sharpness, removing elements or
visible flaws on skin or materials, ...)
Technical Retouching
Post-Processing for Exposure
There are a few ways you can adjust exposure in post-
processing.
• Levels/ Histogram
• Lighten Shadows/ Darken Shadows
• Dodge/ Burn
Post-processing for Exposure
Histogram Adjustments
Assuming that an image is not
completely under- or overexposed,
you can adjust your image
histogram in photo editing software
to balance out the overall image for
light and dark areas. In Adobe
Photoshop, to adjust the overall
exposure, look for a “Levels” tool or
“Brightness/Contrast” tool.
Post-processing for Exposure
Lighten Shadows/ Darken Highlights
Many different photo editing software programs will allow selection
of shadows, highlights or midtones and adjust only those areas. The
more advanced the editing software, the finer the range of
adjustments available. Lightening shadows or darkening highlights
works well in images with strong contrast, where you don’t
necessarily want to adjust the entire exposure.
Post-processing for Exposure
Lighten Shadows/ Darken Highlights
Post-processing for Exposure
Burn/Dodge
Another set of tools for selectively adjusting exposure is to “burn”
(darken) or “dodge” (lighten) a specific part of the image. This
terminology goes back to film processing techniques, but the effect is the
same in either film or digital. These tools are helpful if you want to adjust
the exposure of a very specific area of an image. Burning can de-
emphasize a distracting element in the background by making it darker to
blend.

As with any edits, it is possible to overdo exposure adjustments. When

you go to extremes in editing, the adjustment can look unnatural.
Technical Retouching
Post-Processing for Composition and
Focus
There are a number of simple edits you can do with post-
processing in software that can improve your
composition.
• Straighten
• Sharpen
• Crop
Post-processing for Composition and Focus
Straighten
If you often have crooked
photos coming straight out of
the camera, you are not
alone. It’s easy to focus on
everything else as you create
an image, so you may not
notice until you review your
images that the horizon is not
quite level, or the vertical
lines are slightly askew.
Post-processing for Composition and Focus
Straighten

The “straighten” tool can be

used in post-processing to
resolve this issue. It can also
be used to intentionally
make the lines even more
askew, if desired.
Post-processing for Composition and Focus
Crop
Cropping is a tool that
changes how a photograph is
framed. Choosing what
elements are in the final
frame can be done in the
camera at the time the
photograph is taken, or in
post-processing.
Post-processing for Composition and Focus
Straighten
Cropping in post-processing can
also be a helpful tool when you
are using a fixed focal length
lens, or cannot get close enough
to your subject at the maximum
zoom of a zoom lens. In the
example below, the original
image was taken at maximum
zoom. Cropping the image in
post-processing enabled a
tighter composition.
Post-processing for Composition and Focus
Sharpen

Sharpness is related to focus and refers to how clean the edges

of the in-focus part of a photograph are. Initial image sharpness
will highly depend on your camera, lens and chosen file type.
(JPG images are sharpened by the camera, while RAW images
are not.) If your images are not as sharp as you would like them,
you can do some adjustments in post-processing to increase the
sharpness. Sharpening may also help you recover a photo if the
focus is slightly off or “soft,” but it can’t recover an image if it is
completely out of focus. of a zoom lens.
Post-processing for Composition and Focus
Sharpen
Post-processing for Composition and Focus
Saturation/ Vibrancy
Color saturation refers to how vivid and
intense a color is. For example, a display
with poor color saturation will look washed
out or faded. When a color's saturation level
is reduced to 0, it becomes a shade of gray.
Subtypes of Digital image-retouching
There are several subtypes of digital image-
retouching:

Creative retouching- used as an art form

or for commercial use to create more
sleek and interesting images for
advertisements. Creative retouching
could be manipulation for fashion,
beauty or advertising photography such
as pack-shots.
Subtypes of Digital image-retouching
• Today, 3D computer graphics are used more
and more to add extra elements or even
locations and backgrounds. This kind of
image composition is widely used when
conventional photography would be
technically too difficult or impossible to
shoot on location or in studio.
Subtypes of Digital image-retouching
Composite pictures are usually presented as one final picture,
with added elements from some other images, thus changing
the meaning of the original. These types is quite unwelcome
in journalistic or other documentary type of photography,
since any added element change the document by removing
its credibility.
Composite Photo
Composite Photo
Composite Photo
Composite Photo
Composite Photo
Composite Photo
Photo Editing Software

Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed

and published by Adobe Systems for Windows and OS
X.
Photo Editing Software
Lightroom is an image management and
editing program designed especially for
photographers. It guides you through your
workflow, including organizing, editing, and
sharing your digital images and videos.
Photo Editing Software
It’s designed around a database, rather than a file
browser, so it keeps a record of the files even when the original
photos are offline. That also makes it quick to search and find
photos.
Lightroom’s Develop module is a non-destructive,
parametric editor. That simply means that your edits are saved
as text instructions, rather than being applied to the pixels
themselves, so it doesn’t degrade the original image data. You
can experiment without fear.
Adobe Lightroom
Lightroom is designed to manage all of your photos in a single
catalog. It can’t search across multiple catalogs or open multiple catalogs at
the same time. Unless you have a really good reason for using multiple
catalogs (for example, personal vs. work photos), try to stick to just one,
and use folders and collections to separate different types of photography.

It always creates a catalog, but you can add the files at their
existing location, so it doesn’t have to turn your existing workflow upside-
down. It’s also possible to write some of the settings into the files
themselves, or sidecar files for proprietary raw files, using a metadata
format called XMP.
‘Ethics’ vs. ‘Aesthetics’
What is right and what is wrong?
Doctoring photos has quite literally, whether the average
person knows it or not, been around since the advent
of the camera.
It becomes not a question of if a photo has been
manipulated (because most of them will be in
someway) but of how much and does it change the
original image so that the photo is no longer
portraying the ‘truth.’
‘Ethics’ vs. ‘Aesthetics’
Use in Journalism
• Photo manipulation alters the content of the images
in a devious manner. It becomes difficult for the
audience to differentiate between a manipulated
image and reality.
• Manipulated images are created to deceive the
audiences and form their understanding on how the
media presents everything with perfection.
Ethical Issues
 Ethical Issues

Use in Journalism
Ethical Issues
Use in Journalism
Ethical Issues
Use in Journalism
Ethical Issues
Use in Journalism
Ethical Issues
Some organizations set their own boundaries when
it comes to photo editing:
Webster University Journal , Policy for the Ethical Use of Photographs

Generally Allowed: Never Allowed:

Brightness/contrast control Adding, moving, or removing objects
Burning & dodging to control tonal range within the frame
Color correction Color change other than to restore what
Cropping a frame to fit the layout the subject looked like
Retouching of dust & scratches Cropping a frame in order to alter its
meaning
Flopping a photograph (left/right reversal)
Printing a photograph in other than "true"
orientation
Ethical Issues
Use in Glamour Photography
• The photo manipulation industry has often been accused
of promoting or inciting a distorted and unrealistic image
of self; most specifically in younger people.
• The world of glamour photography is one specific industry
which has been heavily involved with the use of photo
manipulation (an obviously concerning element as many
people look up to celebrities in search of embodying the
'ideal figure
Ethical Issues
Use in Glamour Photography
Ethical Issues
Use in Glamour Photography
Ethical Issues
Use of Image Development
• Cropping and Rotation
• Levels
• Burning-in and dodging
• Dust and Noise
• Sharpening
• Blurring
• White Balance
• Color Adjustments
• Saturation and Vibrancy
RESOURCES:
• Russotti, Patricia, & Anderson, Richard.
2010. Digital Photography Best
Practices and workflow handbook.
Canada.
• [Link]
al_ethics.htm
• [Link]
 LABORATORY EXERCISE 1
Photo Manipulation

1. OPTIMIZE 3 PHOTOS FROM DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 1 CLASS.

FOCUSING & COMPOSITION EXPOSURE COLOR

• Cropping and Rotation • Levels • White Balance
• Straightening • Burning • Color Adjustments
• Sharpening • Dodging • Saturation and Vibrancy
• Blurring • Curves

2. CREATE/ COMPOSE A PHOTO MANIPULATION.

Final Output will be printed will the raw photos.
EXPOSURE

CROPPING

COLOR