RAW tutorial?

[TigerLily]

Hi, im shooting in RAW, and processing in ACR (CS3 via Bridge), and I know im not getting the most out of it. Most of my learning has been trial & error, and watched a few people process their photos, but all I do in ACR is change the settings on the 1st tab (exposure, blacks, contrast, brightness, etc), then the sharpening ones on the 3rd tab (all set to 0 as i use kubota magic sharp), and then if landscapes change the blues on the 2nd last tab.

So, I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get my hands on a really good 'fool-proof' tutorial, with general rule of thumb type things for processing their RAW photos.

I also have lightroom 2.0 on my computer, and have opened it about 3 times, and been very, very confused by it, and closed it down again! So, if anyone has a quick / basic tutorial on what the heck to do in lightroom, that would be great!

Thanks in advance!

lauren.

[Kym]

Think more about the whole workflow. What do you want either LR or ACR to do in that process?

Consider this WF... (more or less what I've been doing)
1. Take picture
2. Copy RAW picture to computer (directly or Bridge or LR)
3. Compose (crop)
4. Color / light / effects etc (levels, curves, filters) - in PS or GIMP or whatever
5. Sharpen
6. Save full size
7. Final adjustments - more sharpening, and optionally: watermark , framing etc
8. Publishing options
- Export for printing
- Reduce size for web publishing, add watermark (optional)

I don't do a lot in LR, just use it as a catalog manager. Other people have different ways of doing things.

EDIT: What Rick said. Use google - lots of online stuff on LR, Bridge, PS and Workflow.

[ricktas]

get hold of Scott Kelby's Adobbe photoshop lightroom for digital photographers, great for learning how to process RAW in Lightroom.

If you want to continue with ACR, look for his books on photoshop, he has a great writting style (quirky), but makes instructions easy to follow.

His books are well worth the money.

[TigerLily]

Thanks guys - and Rick, I just saw your post on http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?t=15590 will read that in further detail, and try and get my hands on one of the Scott Kelby books.
Thanks again for your help!

[dannDingo]

Thanks, to all, especially for the link to the tut. Being a new member, I have wondered why some images stood out and now I know the reason. I have just experimented with my first raw and I can see it’s the way to go but it looks like an upgrade for my computer storage system. Thanks again :th3:

[tailstrike]

yeah cheers for the help to guys

[DzRbenson]

I cant believe I once shot in Jpeg. I think practice is best and also experiment for yourself, just remember create things you like. Not what everyone else would like.