On Wed, 2008-06-25 at 20:28 +0200, Laurent Meunier wrote:

> Hi Bob,
> 
> Yes, this helps me ! Thanks for trying with the S-curve. I never used
> this tools before, and I will now try to use it more :)

It really is pretty simple to use with some practice. I'm sure there are
some tutorials on the web on using curves. Here is one I found from a
quick search:

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/photoshop-curves.htm

It is for Photoshop but the concepts apply to Rawstudio the same.

Here is one that explains the about the RAW file format and what
post-shooting processing and/or enhancements may be required.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/RAW-file-format.htm

> But my problem is not isolated to this photo, I must set the black &
> white points (or bump contrast) for each photos. Maybe I am doing
> something wrong with my camera settings. Or maybe it is normal to set
> the black & white points for each photos. I'm a bit lost, photography is
> new to me.

Using RAW I am going to say, yes, adjusting the black/white points (as
the articles above noted) may be a necessary processing step.

Some RAW tools have an option called AutoLevel that (I think) sets the
black/white points automatically. Thus you never see the actual
flat-looking image. I would have to look at the Rawstudio Bugzilla to
see if a Feature Request for this functionality has been requested.
Perhaps it is already on the roadmap(?).

> This is certainly off-topic, but do you know if my camera settings are
> wrong for this photo? The photo seems under-exposed, could this be the
> reason of my problem?

No, I do not think you are doing anything particularly wrong. I am
continually learning to make better use of the tools these cameras
offer. Maybe a different metering setting would have made a better
image. But with the image you have, by shooting it in RAW you can adjust
the exposure AFTER the image has been shot, without any quality loss.
Try moving the 'Exposure' slider up to 0.50 and see how the image
changes.

This is just how RAW works....it requires post processing of the image,
just like to good old days of film if you developed your own film. But
so much more flexible. And it is generally faster and smells a whole
bunch better. :)

Here is a link to a blogger who has some good information on the concept
of 'workflow' (and other topics) for digital photography using Linux
tools:

http://jcornuz.wordpress.com/table-of-contents/

(He happens to be a user of Rawstudio to boot!)

Rawstudio is designed (thanks Rawstudio team!) around this very idea.
That is why you can set "priorities for images and you see the different
tabs in the upper left of the window. You can set an images priority for
processing or marked it for deletion from the 'Photo' drop down menu.

* = all images Rawstudio can read in the folder
1 = images marked as priority 1 - the best shots (composition, lighting,
subject, etc.)
2 = ones not quite as good or compelling as Priority 1 images, require a
lot of work, etc.
3 = least good but usable images
U = all images Rawstudio can read in the folder that have not had a
priority set (Unmarked)
D = RAW (generally) images that are not worth saving (Delete)

This sorting of RAW images prior to processing really helps move the
process along. No sense processing images that are throw aways, right? I
shot several hundred images recently with some friends at a party. Going
through them I threw away maybe a third to half of the shots...these
were snapshots, so I saved way more than I normally would. Threw away
obvious bad shots, ones with bad composition, shots that were
essentially duplicates, etc.

Anyway, read the workflow info at the link above. He does a nice job of
discussing and walking you the process he uses.

Hope this is of some help Laurent.

Bob
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