by Bruce M. Herman

Are you the same person today that you were several years ago? What about 5-10 years ago? And how does this relate to photography? Well, hopefully you’ve continued to learn, not just about how to make photographs (composition and the technical aspects of using your camera), but also how to develop those photographs in your digital darkroom. Cameras and processing software have certainly changed. Perhaps your tastes have changed, too. The marketplace for photography has certainly changed, which is relevant if you’re making photographs that you intend to offer for sale. I think our increasing capabilities to conduct post-processing and our personal changes are more than ample reasons to spend some bad weather days looking through your old photographs to explore the possibility of “updating” them. Here’s my approach.

I may start on the computer by looking at my early digital camera files. I may even look through my library of transparencies for those not yet scanned. If I already have a digital file the next step is always to make a copy of the file, which I’ll then use to explore new processing, regardless of whether I used Photoshop or Lightroom to do the original processing. If using Lightroom, I’ll hit “reset.” All layers can be deleted if I’m working in Photoshop. In some cases, I may have to look for unedited version of the photograph. For example, noise removal and sharpening programs have improved dramatically over the last few years, so it would be advantageous to use the most recent versions. I may have cropped the photograph. That’s something that can be undone in Lightroom, but not in Photoshop. So again, I’ll be looking for an unedited version of the photograph.

Now that I have an essentially unedited version of the photograph, I run it through Topaz Denoise AI (you can use the denoising algorithm of your choice). Programs to remove noise from digital files have evolved dramatically of the last couple of years to the point where it is worth running every photograph through one as the first step in your processing workflow. By the way, Adobe’s standard issue noise removal tools in Lightroom or Camera RAW do not begin to compare to the specialized tools. I usually allow Topaz Denoise AI to pick the level of sharpening and noise removal. However, I use the low light algorithm instead of the standard algorithm because I find the latter often generates artifacts. You may be interested to know that Topaz’ newest product, Photo AI, has the low light algorithm set as its default. Before exiting Denoise, I examine the result in several parts of the photograph and may add some “preserve original details” and lower the sharpening slightly. Remember, this is pre-sharpening, i.e., it is supposed to offset the inherent softening that arises in analog (the real world) to digital (the image that results from the sensor) conversion. This file is then saved as something to which I can return should I really mess up my subsequent processing. It is invariably a better starting point than what I had when I first processed the image several years ago.

The next step is to address the light in the image. I might use a traditional workflow or try some of the tools that didn’t exist when I first processed the image. These include luminosity masks and DxO’s Nik collection of tools, such as Color Efex Pro or even HDR Efex Pro for single photographs. I also consider cropping the photograph. I generally don’t randomly try things. I have an idea of why the original version of the image doesn’t meet my current expectations. Whether the original processing was inadequate because of my lack of abilities at the time, the available technologies weren’t adequate or just my changing tastes isn’t important. The point is to make a photograph that expresses my vision now.

After I save this file, I may work on a new copy in which I convert the photograph to black and white. Until a few years ago, I didn’t do much work with black and white, even though I enjoyed looking at black and white photographs. Now, I may prefer a composition in black and white over color. I use various means of converting color digital files to black and white: Adobe’s black and white layer tool in Photoshop or the equivalent settings in Lightroom, DxO’s Nik Silver Efex Pro, or one of the many presets I’ve discovered for Lightroom. Note that the conversions in Silver Efex Pro or the Lightroom presets are merely starting points. I make changes within the application, being sure to save the result as a new preset, and then after exiting the conversion tool, I will likely make additional changes with brushes or curves.

I now have a color and perhaps a black and white version of the photograph that incorporates everything I now know and am. Sometimes the changes are incremental, sometimes they are like night and day. Either way, I find it to be a very satisfying experience and highly recommend it to you.

The photograph was made on Kodak Ektachrome 100 sheet film, specifically EPR. This was a slightly warm version of the original Ektachrome 100 sheet film, which was on the cool side of being neutral. Even EPR was a bit cool and lacked saturation when compared to films like Velvia and even Provia. When I originally processed the file, I wanted to come as close as possible to the appearance of the actual transparency. I then moved to a slightly warmer interpretation, which is shown here. This is still somewhat cooler and less saturated than my memory of the scene.

My most recent interpretation of the photograph is in the second photograph. It’s important to remember that NO camera nor film capture reality. A photographer interprets the camera’s output, be it film or digital file. As such, this is not necessarily how someone else who had made a photograph at the same place and time, would interpret their photograph. If I revisit this same photograph in 3-5 years, I may change my interpretation yet again!