Ask Dave, June 11th - Raw Conversion

Ask Dave, June 11th
I get tons of questions each week, I respond as quickly as possible, and I might just answer them here too. If you have questions you can email me at Learn@DaveShumway.com.

Question:
From... Justin and Todd
How do you convert your RAW images?
What do you use to be sure your camera/monitor/printer all look the same?
What are your RAW conversion settings?

Answer:
Well first off I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, on Apple computers, with color calibrated monitors.
Now to what you want... my settings.
The easiest way is for me to just publish a version that folks can download and use at will (if you like it, remember where you got it). The file is .zip, so you will need to uncompress it and then import the file, "toShare.lrtemplate," into Lightroom. I did not include "White Balance" or "Calibration;" because they vary greatly depending on camera/ISO/the actual scene/etc.

Often I need to warm an image from what the camera gives me, and I also choose the appropriate calibration (weather that is eyeballing it or using a ColorChecker Passport).

Almost every image gets a few tweak from those basic settings, and at this point I can almost edit by numbers when I first look at a RAW image, and even in the field as I am shooting the shot. I have sharpening and noise reduction presets for different cameras/subjects/ISOs; but the included settings are good (ish) for something like a 7D @ISO400 for wildlife.

Occasionally I will adjust individual color saturation and luminance to mimic certain films; but that is not the "norm."

I have posted it on my LiveBooks Site FTP:
Please click on the link below to have it download through a web browser window.
(If clicking on it doesn't launch a browser window, then you must select the URL, copy and paste it into a web browser address bar, and tap the Enter or Return key on your keyboard. The file should then begin to load.)
http://www.daveshumway.com/toShare_lrtemplate.zip

Enjoy