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Originally Posted by borninquisitive /img/forum/go_quote.gif
What I have found is that with my dslr, it doesn't over process my photographs and I am happy for that. That said, I do find myself having to make some minor adjustment in photoshop on account of it.
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Most of the time, DSLR's are designed (or at least configured by the user) to capture as much information as possible. This usually means that lower contrast, sharpness, duller colors, and blander tones are required to squeeze all the possible information onto one image without losing anything due to artifacts, clipping, etc. Point-and-shoot cameras, on the other hand, are designed to make the photo look as good as possible straight from the camera, which caters more toward the average consumer. I can take a photo with a point-and-shoot and it will probably look better than one I take with a DSLR at first glance, until I put the image through Photoshop. Photoshop is a much more powerful processing tool than any in-camera operations, thus it's best to save any and all processing for Photoshop to handle. Only then should you make decisions like which colors to bring out, what you want the contrast to be, how sharp the image should look, etc.
Purists tend to preach the minimalist-processing approach, which means getting every aspect of the image into the image right when you take it and not to rely on post-processing too much. This is fine, but as you continue to take more and more photos, you'll learn that post-processing is an essential part of any type of photography, and learning how to do it properly to get
exactly what you want out of the photo is a crucial step in mastering digital photography.
Bottom line is: Don't be afraid of post-processing. Ansel Adams was a master behind the lens, but an absolute pioneer in the darkroom. He developed many of the post-processing techniques that we continue to use, and without the critical routine of post-processing, he wouldn't be the photographer he is known as today.