Looking for some help, work flow, Lightroom to Photoshop CC

[Fred Woodman]

Trying to wrap my mind around editing my pictures Via Lightroom 5 then exporting to Photoshop CC. For most part I am editing for Web Output. I am not clear as to how much editing I should be doing in Lightroom 5? I will be resizing in PS. Now I am sharpening for example up to 80 in LR. Clarity 25-30. For example.Is this too much ? The pictures seem to come out ok, ( nothing like what I see here ) but I seem to be creating too much noise.

Could someone give me what a typical work flow might look like for a good image out of camera. I am not clear on the Out of Camera Sharpening / Output Sharpening to Web workflow should entail..I am photographing in Raw with 18- 20 mp files. 1D mark iv and 5D Mark 111.

Thx Again..

[Doug Schurman]

Hi Fred,

Lightroom has gotten so advanced and you can do so much in that program. For myself 99% of my photographs never leave Lightroom. Of course many people are very experienced with Photoshop and layers and do amazing things there which I'm quite envious about.

One thing that helped me learn Lightroom and all the adjustments was watching Youtube tutorials. Unfortunately I've never seen any good ones specifically for birds and other wildlife. However there are a quite a few that deal with landscapes and you can get a lot from those that carry over to wildlife.

Here's one that I think does decent job of going step by step through all the sliders in the Develop module. This could help you get a good idea of the raw editing you can do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wazTQ8YDyWs

I find I don't want to spend that much time editing so Lightroom works great for me. Also, you can set up presets to use so that all the adjustments you would generally make get set in an instant and then you can make small tweeks from there. In my preset I pull down highlights, push up shadows, brighten whites, darken blacks, add clarity, add vibrance, increase sharpening and increase noise reduction. After this prest is applied I can make smaller adjustments to get the photo the way I like it.

Lightroom 5 has some nice new options for local adjustments too that paint on a mask. Of course it is not a sophisticated as layers in Photoshop but it works for many needs for me.

[Diane Miller]

Always do as much as you can with the raw file, in LR. You are working with all the tonal overhead and color gamut the camera captured. Then when that isn't enough, you open the file in PS (you don't export -- just Ctrl-E to Edit. The adjustment amounts very with each image -- don't look for rules or even guidelines. Viewing the image at 1:1 is your guideline. Then when you save in PS the image will be back in the LR filmstrip. From there Export to get your web JPEG. You specify size etc in the export dialog and can save presets for common situations, such as BPN's size limit.

You can do very judicious sharpening in LR (VERY judicious) and then export with 3 possible levels of sharpening. If that isn't enough, you can sharpen the JPEG further in PS using Smart Sharpen or other programs. An exported file doesn't come back into LR -- it's off on its way to the wide world, via an export folder on your computer The master file is in LR,either as an adjusted raw file or a PS file. Never resize it. Both raw and PS files export the same -- LR does all the work and never forgets to tag the profile.

[Don Lacy]

Fred my Raw workflow can be found here just scroll down to see my response to another members question along the same line as yours http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ost-processing
You can find my sharpening workflow here http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ening-Workflow
I want to echo Diane's statement that there is no universal numbers to processing while there are guidelines that get you in the ball park each image is unique and will require different adjustments depending on the subject manner and your vision. The best advice I can give you is to do as much as possiable during the Raw conversion and use a good quality monitor made for photo editing and graphic design (that means no laptops)

[Fred Woodman]

Thanks everyone, I realize there are no set ways to adjust the sliders, and I am slowly learning that certain adjustments increase noise, I right click then edit in Photoshop in drop down and when done I just click the top left in PS and then save, which brings me back to light room. Doug I am reaching the same conclusions as you in that for the most part I can get where I am ok in LR only. Often I think I am just looking for more to do and go to PS, but a few things are easier done in PS if needed. But I still seem to be creating more noise than most pics I see here. I have a couple of bigger lenses ( 300 2.8 and 500 f4) so I seem to be always at ISO 800 , wide open with depth of field issues, or its sunny and Im blowing out highlights.

[Fred Woodman]

Thanks Don I have read your Workflow posting quite a few times and its been a great help. Its geared more towards a PS weighted workflow, which is fine, but in that case I would wonder how much LR I ought to be doing doing pre PS. I prefer LR to ACR due largely to the better organizational ability. ( I had LR before PS and am fairly new to PS.

[Fred Woodman]

Although sliders may vary here would be a typical workflow for me, Import to LR, Eye Dropper to check white balance ( I shoot AWB), then I crop, Adjust blacks , whites using option and slide til I see some black , no white., Shadows up but it often boosts noise and takes away detail in white, then highlights, usually some contrast.I find Clarity is always 25-30 , Vibrance 10- 20, Saturation sometimes at 5-10.Detail 60-80, Radius .7 or .8. Detail 40 -50. Luminance 26-40. Calibration then PS, in PS Ill create a background copy, Brightness, Levels, Curves ( if needed) then I Smart sharpen on the back ground copy and send back to LR for maybe a Vignette..

[Diane Miller]

No need to make a BG copy unless you want an out for cloning. Do adjustment layers (not adjustments directly on a layer copy) above the BG. All nondestructive that way.

And no need to do both Levels and Curves. Curves is Levels with much more control.

[Don Lacy]

Thanks Don I have read your Workflow posting quite a few times and its been a great help. Its geared more towards a PS weighted workflow, which is fine, but in that case I would wonder how much LR I ought to be doing doing pre PS. I prefer LR to ACR due largely to the better organizational ability. ( I had LR before PS and am fairly new to PS.

The Raw converter in LR is basically the same as ACR their might be some difference but they are more cosmetic then anything else.

But I still seem to be creating more noise than most pics I see here. I have a couple of bigger lenses ( 300 2.8 and 500 f4) so I seem to be always at ISO 80

You really should not be creating noise even at ISO 800 from either camera unless you're trying to correct for underexposure, I mean you really have to push the shadow slider into the +50 range and or the exposure slider pass +2. Also you should not globally sharpen your images even during Raw conversion use the masking slider while holding down the option key( on a Mac) and pull it to the right until you see all the solid and OOF areas turn black you might also get some masking on the subject thats fine do not worry about it. If you want PM me and I will give you my email and you can send me a Raw image you are having problems with I will convert it will work you through it to see if it is indeed a processing issue.

[Diane Miller]

Thanks Don I have read your Workflow posting quite a few times and its been a great help. Its geared more towards a PS weighted workflow, which is fine, but in that case I would wonder how much LR I ought to be doing doing pre PS. I prefer LR to ACR due largely to the better organizational ability. ( I had LR before PS and am fairly new to PS.

Do what you can do well in LR -- exposure, tonal adjustments, especially for shadow and highlight detail, and color. Then go to PS for what it does that LR/ACR can't do -- distortions, cloning, detailed masking and adjustment layers, compositing images or exposures, to name a few. See the sticky in ETL on The Power and Ease of Layers in PS.

Totally agree with what Don said.