"Outsourcing" Photoshop work

[Marko]

Rick,

For the record, it was me who asked why outsource the B&W processing. It was someone else who posted the bit about "useless photographers".

The prevalent attitude on this board is one of the ownership of the entire process, along with the primacy of the print. Many would also put forward the superiority of traditional process.

Personally, as someone who engages in photography as a hobby, I tend to subscribe to the first notion, but not to the other two. I do consider image-taking the most important part of the photographic process, but I also feel my enjoyment of the entire process would be diminished by delegating portions of it to others. That's why I tend to use film for b&w only and digital for both color and b&w.

But I firmly believe - and say so loudly, if you look into the archives - that whatever workflow and whatever technology you choose, it is your business and therefore your choice. I maintain that nobody has any business telling me what to do nor how, save perhaps for my clients who pay for my work and even then only to an extent.

I also try hard to extend the same courtesy to others, as a matter of principle. Having said that, I also think that disagreeing with an opinion is very different from disparaging the opinion or attacking the person behind it.

[darr]

Now you just send out anyone who can point a camera and then let someone else waste their time fixing bad photography.

I started doing post-processing digital retouching last year for a few "pros". You would not believe the crap I clean up. I think digital photography has brought on a whole new batch of incompetents that call themselves professional. When they question me about their exposure mistakes and I ask them what exactly were they shooting for, I usually advise them to incorporate the Zone System into their shooting style for certain photos. They look at me like I invented the words "Zone System."

[jetcode]

I started doing post-processing digital retouching last year for a few "pros". You would not believe the crap I clean up. I think digital photography has brought on a whole new batch of incompetents that call themselves professional. When they question me about their exposure mistakes and I ask them what exactly were they shooting for, I usually advise them to incorporate the Zone System into their shooting style for certain photos. They look at me like I invented the words "Zone System."

those incompetants pay your bills ... never piss in the well you drink from ...

[darr]

those incompetants pay your bills ... never piss in the well you drink from ...

Oh Joe! I never piss in the well that I drink from! I make the majority of my income from other sources. If I had to depend on this alone, I would be depressed!

[jetcode]

Oh Joe! I never piss in the well that I drink from! I make the majority of my income from other sources. If I had to depend on this alone, I would be depressed!

darr ... I knew this and felt a little odd after writing that ... it is my own medicine from my own medicine bottle

[darr]

I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome on Thursday (OUCH -- painful indeed) in my right wrist/arm. This is definitely putting a damper on my post-processing work flow. Looks like it'll be only my own work for the future unless this painful syndrome can actually be controlled. I have been processing more than my normal work flow since I started taking on weddings from a few area photographers last year. The work generally encompass 400-500 additional images every week or two. I take their portable hard drives, upload their images to my external drives and begin hacking away at them usually through Lightroom and the occasional retouching in CS3.

Anyone else have to deal with this? I have a wrist brace I am to wear when sleeping and I have been told to invest into ergonomically designed computer furniture that will hopefully aid my physical needs better. Oh yeah, I am to cut down on my computer time.

Suggestions would be appreciated -- not meaning to hi-jack the thread, but maybe this applies to others that do post-processing work for other photographers or those that may be considering putting a lot more time into it.

Thanks,
Darr

[Ralph Barker]

Darr - frozen gel packs (20 min on with a thin cloth buffer, 20 min off), and Ibuprofen also help reduce the swelling. It may take several weeks of wearing the brace, along with remediation of the swelling and pain, before you're back to normal function in the wrist.

[darr]

Darr - frozen gel packs (20 min on with a thin cloth buffer, 20 min off), and Ibuprofen also help reduce the swelling. It may take several weeks of wearing the brace, along with remediation of the swelling and pain, before you're back to normal function in the wrist.

Will do!! Thanks Ralph!

[Eric Leppanen]

I am in much the same boat as Rick. I "outsource" the processing, scanning and printing of my images (both color and B&W). But for an amateur like me, who is still learning despite actively shooting as a hobby for fifteen years (and shooting LF for eight years), outsourcing these tasks has benefits that in some ways outweigh the detriments.

Over the years I have assembled a "team" of lab professionals (including separate labs dedicated to color and B&W, and individuals dedicated to processing, scanning, and both traditional and digital printing) which not only perform their various tasks but also give me valuable feedback along the way. As a regular customer I discuss with them not only the technical aspects of the various processes but also the aesthetic and compositional aspects of my work (most of the folks have worked with successful/famous photographers and double as working photographers in addition to their lab work). Their "value-add" to me goes well beyond the nominal tasks that they are performing.

Also, inkjet printing technology in particular has been evolving rapidly and it would be very expensive for me to continually upgrade to the latest technology every eighteen months or so (I like to make big prints so the smaller format printers would not do).

Of course, at some point I'll probably decide to take on the creative printing process myself rather than articulating what I want done to others. Admittedly there will be a freeing aspect to this, and I'll be better able to experiment and take more creative risks. But scanning, Photoshop and printing each have substantial learning curves, and for now I have preferred to spend my limited photography time taking pictures rather than sitting in front of a computer and learning these technologies.

[David_Senesac]

There was a time a dozen years ago when almost all photographers only sent in original film that lab service pros using early digital printers like Evercolor and then early Cymbolic Sciences Lightjet 5000 and the Durst Lambda then scanned, processed with early Photoshop or Scitex aps, and then printed out results for. The change began to occur when Kodak PhotoCDs came out that we early implementers then processed with Photoshop 3.0 of that day. And just a half dozen years ago most labs with professional printers still received original media they would have to process themselves instead of print files. Thus the current workflow where photograhers actually do the post processing does not go back many years. Before that time printing large prints was an enlargement lens process without any digital flow.
...David