How much "photoshopping" do you do?

[Jess and Pippin]

Hi all.  I have a panasonic lumix (hybrid, not a DSLR but a step up from a point and shoot).  I'm having to "tweak" 90% or more of my images (usually to sharpen or play with color).  I'm just curious which camera people have and how much "tweaking" folks are doing to get the pix they really want.  Do point and shoots require more tweaking because of the lens quality?  (I do realize that the skill of the photographer is important as well!)  Thanks!!

[Camilla and Darwin]

I have a point and shoot and I do a lot of tweaking. I LOVE beautiful photos and my ultimate dream is to own a nice SLR. Unfortunately that is not in the budget so I use my cheap camera (Olympus fe) , and edit photos until they look... well, better. :-) Usually I focus on boosting color, contrast, etc. But I also add a gaussian blur to backgrounds sometimes, to try and mimic depth of field that an SLR would have. It's not perfect but I like it. I edit 100% of my photos, and I think almost all pictures, even ones taken with a nice camera, can benefit from photo editing. 

 

I realize this isn't exactly the same photo, but I forgot to save the original. Still, you get a good idea of what the before and after looked like.

and here are some more before and afters.

 

[Jess and Pippin]

Thanks for sharing the examples Camilla.  Looks very similar to the tweaking that I do. 

[Linda and "Toby"]

Hi Jess, I have a nice DSLR (Canon EOS 5D), and I tweak 100% of my photos using Photoshop CS5. For me personally, "capturing the moment" with a camera is just the beginning.... post-processing (adjusting the colors, contrast, sharpness, etc) is what brings it to life and makes photography fun!  :) 

[Jess and Pippin]

Good to know.  I've been wondering how much of the post processing has been required due to the lower quality camera.  Up until now, I've been thinking of the post processing as a necessary evil.  I'll have to adjust my mindset.  I really do like the pix better once they've been processed.

[Ann Kendig]

Camera Olympus E620.  I post process nearly 100%.  Saturation, vibrancy, exposure, levels done on about all photos on a macro level and then sharpening done on what I want to be the focal point.  Often some burn and dodging are done and I crop almost every image.  I typically shoot with the subject centered (easier to focus on image for me which is often moving doodles) and then crop keeping in mind rule of thirds.  Also use repair and clone tools to remove unwanted objects.  This is all done in Aperture 3.  Occasionally go into PSE to edit and sometimes uses NIK plug-ins.  Somewhere I read taking the photo is 50% of the equation and 50% in the darkroom (post process in digital age). I may of read that here on DK. I used to think my images should come our of the camera looking great occasionally they do but I do not know enough to nail the exposure, lighting, focus and composition every time.  The few times when I have gotten things right in the camera then post processing only made subtle improvements.

Mike

[Jess and Pippin]

Thanks Mike.  Love the pix that you and Ann post.  Duke and Sheba are beautiful and your pix really highlight their personalities!  I appreciate your comments!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I also tweak all of my photos, even though I have a pretty good SLR.  I seem to always find things that I want to change or enhance.  Once I started down the "editing" path I just couldn't seem to stop.

[Jess and Pippin]

Thanks Jane.  I'm becoming resolved to the fact that tweaking photos is the way to go.  And here I was thinking that a good camera meant great shots straight from the camera.  Thanks for joining in.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I do some post processing on some pictures. But I much prefer to try to get the right shot. I don't mind cropping but sometimes I feel people over saturate colors so that the photos don't look real.

[Jess and Pippin]

It is easy to get carried away on the post processing.  I often have to "back up".  It's challenging to know where to stop sometimes.  I do go crazy sometimes because I like the "pop art" effect that I create and use 1 picture as a contrast for an album page