Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

wallraff

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 5, 2009
19
0
Hi. I wonder if someone have a good general workflow or tips for editing iPhone images in Aperture. I wNt them to look as good as possible. Are there any general settings for cromatic abberation, sharpening, and such? Tips would be appreciated.
 

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,541
1,653
Redondo Beach, California
Hi. I wonder if someone have a good general workflow or tips for editing iPhone images in Aperture. I wNt them to look as good as possible. Are there any general settings for cromatic abberation, sharpening, and such? Tips would be appreciated.

iPhone is no different from other jpg-only cameras Here is what I do, mostly in this order

1) delete the junk
2) light cropping, as this might effect the next step
3) exposure correct, possible "recovry" (use histogram to help judge)
4) white balance, using eyedroper tool

5) Now find the "best" images.
6) any kind of "editing" to change the best ones image, if required. Retouch, dodge, burn or whatever
7) Deleted more images (deleting improves the average quality of the library and save work in the next step.)
8) meta data and tags get added

You can not sharpen a photo until you have resized it for export. It is always bad to sharpen before re-sizing, it just adds noise.
 
Last edited:

flynz4

macrumors 68040
Aug 9, 2009
3,242
126
Portland, OR
iPhone is no different from other jpg-only cameras Here is what I do, mostly in this order

1) delete the junk
2) light cropping, as this might effect the next step
3) exposure correct, possible "recovry" (use histogram to help judge)
4) white balance, using eyedroper tool

5) Now find the "best" images.
6) any kind of "editing" to change the best ones image, if required. Retouch, dodge, burn or whatever
7) Deleted more images (deleting improves the average quality of the library and save work in the next step.)
8) meta data and tags get added

You can not sharpen a photo until you have resized it for export. It is always bad to sharpen before re-sizing, it just adds noise.

I would re-word #5 to: "Rate images". This gives long lasting benefits.

BTW: I never rate anything at 5 stars during the initial rating. For me... 5 stars is reserved for after editing... for very few photos.

/Jim
 

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,541
1,653
Redondo Beach, California
I would re-word #5 to: "Rate images". This gives long lasting benefits.

BTW: I never rate anything at 5 stars during the initial rating. For me... 5 stars is reserved for after editing... for very few photos.

/Jim

Yes, that might be a better description of what I do.

I think it is best to write down your star system. Make it simple.

I reserve 5 for publishable images that people would like even if there were not familiar with the subject.

4 can be good just because it is my kid in the picture of some place I went or whatever.

most of what I take at 3 stars

2 stars are good enough to maybe tell a story, they might be used in a slide show. Like to say "here is what happened in the parking lot after the hike. The image would not stand alone by itself

1 means it is a poor image but is being kept because it provides a record of some person or event or place and I don't have a better record.
 

glenthompson

macrumors demi-god
Apr 27, 2011
2,982
842
Virginia
I reserve 5 for publishable images that people would like even if there were not familiar with the subject.

4 can be good just because it is my kid in the picture of some place I went or whatever.

most of what I take at 3 stars

2 stars are good enough to maybe tell a story, they might be used in a slide show. Like to say "here is what happened in the parking lot after the hike. The image would not stand alone by itself

1 means it is a poor image but is being kept because it provides a record of some person or event or place and I don't have a better record.

Good description of your rating system. Another criteria might be where you're willing to display the pix. I'll put low rated images on my iPad or iPhone to be able to show people stuff that happened. My background image on the computer requires a 4 or 5 star image.
 

flynz4

macrumors 68040
Aug 9, 2009
3,242
126
Portland, OR
Chris,

I think our ratings are mostly the same... but I might compress my ratings a bit.

My initial rating is as follows:

  • 5 star - Never in the initial rating - my selects go there eventually, typically after edits
  • 4 star - Good enough to go into a published book
  • 3 star - Good enough for a slideshow
  • 2 star - Possibly of use - maybe a picture of a certain person, or maybe a certain activity... but does not stand on its own
  • 1 star - Something that made it through the original accept/reject pass... but is a candidate for deletion

Per my plan... for a big trip (ex: 2 weeks in Hawaii)... I might have 2000 photos. Of those... I might start with 200 4* and 400 3*... clearly too many... but it is sometimes hard for me to give lower ratings.

I would expect 150 (4* - 5* ) to be in a book... 300 (3* - 5*) to be in a slideshow. Generally, if something gets published in a book... it probably is also in a slideshow.

/Jim
 

acearchie

macrumors 68040
Jan 15, 2006
3,264
104
Per my plan... for a big trip (ex: 2 weeks in Hawaii)... I might have 2000 photos. Of those... I might start with 200 4* and 400 3*... clearly too many... but it is sometimes hard for me to give lower ratings.

I would expect 150 (4* - 5* ) to be in a book... 300 (3* - 5*) to be in a slideshow. Generally, if something gets published in a book... it probably is also in a slideshow.

/Jim

As a digital shooter who shoots a lot of film these are the sort of figures that I find crazy!

2000 images! I recently took two film cameras on my holiday to france and took 5 rolls of 35mm, 10 120 and didn’t even use them all.

I have finally scanned them in and I would say at least 50% I am really happy with.

In total I probably took just over 250shots over 19 days. If you are taking 2000 over a fortnight that’s over 140 shots a day!

Just out of curiosity do you shoot and think later or start shooting trying to find “that” shot? I ask because since moving to film I have started to think more and more about why I am taking the shot and whether it is worth it. It almost seems to me like 2000 is more hassle than it’s worth?
 

flynz4

macrumors 68040
Aug 9, 2009
3,242
126
Portland, OR
As a digital shooter who shoots a lot of film these are the sort of figures that I find crazy!

2000 images! I recently took two film cameras on my holiday to france and took 5 rolls of 35mm, 10 120 and didn’t even use them all.

I have finally scanned them in and I would say at least 50% I am really happy with.

In total I probably took just over 250shots over 19 days. If you are taking 2000 over a fortnight that’s over 140 shots a day!

Just out of curiosity do you shoot and think later or start shooting trying to find “that” shot? I ask because since moving to film I have started to think more and more about why I am taking the shot and whether it is worth it. It almost seems to me like 2000 is more hassle than it’s worth?

For the Hawaii trip that I was mentioning... we were vacationing with another couple... so we had four people each with a camera... plus two underwater cameras for snorkeling. Every night, we would consolidate the pictures into a single Aperture project... with 6 smart albums in the project, one for each camera.

However... your general point about digital imaging increasing the size of photo libraries is certainly accurate.

/Jim
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.