darktable ep 148 - I'm new to photo editing... where do I start?

[@tingol10]

Thanks for all your work and using open source software to do it! Helped me out a lot.

[@audio2u]

Thank you so much for the kind words, and for the tip! Much appreciated!

[@miltonfromcanberra6092]

HI, I am having trouble with retouch (I have looked at earlier videos). I see at 7:45 in this video that you are in Retouch, using brush to drag over people and then they just disappear with the background being left behind. How do I do that? I am enjoying your videos very much. Thanks.

[@audio2u]

Definitely have another watch of the Retouch Module episode (ep #27). You've got the choice between cloning/healing/fill/blur. I generally only use cloning and healing.

[@Zuzzt]

When I started using DARKTABLE almost two years ago, I naturally sought help on KZbin. What made it a bit difficult was that some modules I thought seemed good, in the next video it was recommended not to use. Same with Scene referred or display referred. I think you got my point now. So I think you could make a series of videos for BEGINNERS on Darktable. You are very good at explaining things in an easy-to-understand manner. So go for it! Best regards.

[@audio2u]

Yeah, cool. And thanks for the kind words.

[@christianfandel6963]

Hi Wally, great the 5k6 job. It works either with a genuine camera or with a dumbphone. The results with a dumbphone were dramitic; a tungsten lit object was shot with the colours you saw. In mode auto - the colours turned to white. I tried some blue hour shots too - gorgeous if taken with 5k6

[@audio2u]

Good to know! 😃

[@einzwei3364]

Very nice for absolute noobs. I'm really looking Forward to the Episode: raw Image Processing in Darktable for noobs.

[@audio2u]

Many thanks!

[@mar-mj9vb]

As an underwater photographer I always use auto WB. I've tried manual WB, but you have to continually set the WB as you descend or ascend. That constant adjustment gets in the way of taking pictures.

[@audio2u]

Makes sense. Shooting underwater is a whole different kettle of.... well, fish! 😃

[@peteramdisen2334]

Hi Bruce I have for years ago a Macbook with apertures installed. Now I want to import these pictures in darktable, with all the image information. Pictures are i RAW Have you ever made an instruction movie about this topic. Thanks for very usefull instruction videos

[@audio2u]

As long as aperture writes to xmp sidecar files, you'll be able to import all your files into darktable without any issues.

[@sbarronmd]

thanks

[@audio2u]

No problem.

[@specialed2u]

A couple of comments: 1) the white balance video makes a lot of sense - think I will try it. 2) I am returning to the art of photography after many years (at one time i developed and printed my own B&W photos) - a lot of the terminology is new to me. I do shoot RAW - and attempt to edit my photos in Darktable, however, I frequently don't know what modules I shouild use in a specific instance. (By the way - I suspect the HDR video is due for update). Thanks for leading me so far on this journey!

[@audio2u]

Thanks for the kind words. I'll have to investigate the HDR thing. It's not something I do on a regular basis, so I'll need to brush up on my skills! :)

[@Foche_T._Schitt]

I agree with leaving the white balance alone. I leave mine on daylight. You should use a grey card or color checker every time you change location. Inside, outside, flash, morning, evening, dusk. You should also do it when you swap lenses or add filters. When you edit you're usually applying settings from one image to batches thus negating the auto white balance.

[@audio2u]

That has generally been my approach in the past, too.

[@billkossmann9246]

Very good explanation, Bruce! I watched Sean Tucker's "odd approach" video soon after it was released and I set my Sony A7iii's default colour temperature to 5500K. It's not perfect in all situations but it's close in most of them and in any case, with Darktable it's easy to correct.

[@audio2u]

Yeah, I've been shooting with wb set to 5600 for a couple of weeks now, and for the most part, as you said, it works well!

[@nicokremers7150]

@@audio2ulol. So did I. (5500 K for me now)

[@Photovintageguy]

If you shoot concert video and there are lots none white color you find out you have to pick a WB typically daylight. In video you generally don’t have raw and also you don’t want WB to changing constantly. And even if you shoot raw photos, the daylight WB in camera is a good starting place.

[@audio2u]

Yep, been there, done that too! :)

[@mak-j2o]

Exactly what I needed

[@audio2u]

Glad to hear it.

[@mak-j2o]

@audio2u I appreciate uv done 140 odd vids already but any chance u could to like a crash on 4.8 modules and what they do/how to use.

[@FernandoPerez-tc5ry]

I did saw Sean Tucker's video and he's a gem for photographers.

[@jasondotj]

I took some family pictures a couple years ago. I was only shooting JPEG at the time and I just started doing RAW + JPEG earlier this year. The portraits were indoors with bad lighting and at the time I couldn't figure out what was wrong and I know now it was the white balance. I wish I had a RAW file so I could fix it, but that is okay. Live and learn. Also, I started shooting in 5600k a couple months ago per the Sean Tucker video and love the results. And if not, I know how to balance the color if it doesn't look good.

[@Photovintageguy]

You can still fix the white balance in jpgs, it will not be as nice as the raw but generally speaking you can get improvement. Especially if the WB isn’t super way off.

[@audio2u]

Absolutely. Small changes in jpegs are ok, but big shifts completely destroy what little data you had.

[@conradc9298]

Thanks Bruce. Like Sean, my cameras are set to fixed WB (I use 5000K), and for much the same reason although I hadn't seen his video before. I like a consistent starting point for my images. I shoot raw, so I can always adjust it if I need to, and regularly do, to tweak the effect that I want. I know it is critical if you shoot JPG, but does it make much difference when you shoot raw? By forcing the camera to 5000K, am I permanently losing (not capturing) some colour details - even if shooting raw - if the scene is particularly warm or particularly cool? My understanding was that with a raw it made no difference, but Sean's comment about tungsten light muddying the blues when he clearly does shoot raw made me wonder if that was true? I appreciate this may not be something you want to get into (and this video definitely wasn't the place!).

[@audio2u]

To the best of my knowledge, with RAW, it doesn't matter. Happy to be proven wrong.

[@burnedmozzarella]

10:26 what camera is it from? the grain artifacts looks so nice

[@audio2u]

That was a Konika Mintola Dynax 7D, circa 2005.

[@GaryParris]

I have also set my Wb to 5600K for a year or so now and it works well, but then i shoot both Jpg & raw.

[@audio2u]

Nice. I think I'm going to continue with it, too.

[@cosmo0080]

after 30 years of photographing and making money at it i am still learning

[@audio2u]

That's the sign of an open mind. I congratulate you for always seeking to improve your skillset. I'm the same, both with photography AND audio. Been a professional audio engineer since '87, but still look for opportunities to learn new stuff!

[@cosmo0080]

@@audio2u thank you, learning is part of growth, blessing

[@rajeevdudhalkar7470]

How to take darktable image back up on external hard disk?

[@audio2u]

You want to back up your images, or you want to back up your darktable database?

[@penultimatename6677]

The problem with darktable. It takes too many months for a camera’s RAW file to be supported. The R5 Mark II is clearly a very popular camera. Most open source photo editors still do not support this camera.

[@audio2u]

What other pieces of open source software do is not a darktable problem, though. As for dt not supporting a camera, I THINK that comes down to the 3rd party database that darktable uses for that sort of info. I was going to say LensFun, but that might be only to do with lenses and not cameras. I'm not entirely sure. But I'm fairly certain there IS a 3rd party database that is responsible for that kind of info, and if THEY drag their heels, then software like dt pays the price. :(

[@andymcgarty3099]

Great video, but please remove the annoying scraping noise that you are using when swiping images. Too loud / very annoying.

[@audio2u]

Understood!

[@93Logen]

Where to start? If you need real practical knowledge start with Bruce.

[@audio2u]

Haha... you're too kind. Thanks!