"Post" Processing.. why?

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Soldato
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I've always wondered why people call it this? I always refer to it simply as "processing" my photos. Afterall it's the same term if you were processing negatives.. using Photoshop in my mind is simply the digital method.

Eg. I capture my photos, and then i process them in PS. If i were using a film camera i'd capture them and process the film. That process encompasses all the dodging/burning/fixing etc.. that people do in Photoshop with their digital files. "Post" indicates it's a procedure that comes after your "processing". Since "processing" (in my mind) encompasses everything you do from getting the shot off the camera to saving the finished piece, it seems like a silly thing to say!

I dont know about anyone else but i cringe whenever people say "post processing"? :confused:
 
"After processing" implies an action taken after processing, and yes I also consider it an incorrect term when used in reference to the majority of what people do as standard to every shot they take.
Post processing to me implies further effects such as borders, watermarks... things that you do to a picture after you've processed it into a final photographic piece.
 
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Well the camera is always doing some processing; whether it's translating sensor data from the 2 green, red and blue pixels into a one pixel reading for a RAW image, or the heavily processed JPEGs which get contrast, sharpening, saturation and compression.

So there is the first instance of processing. Then we just take it a step or two further!
 
It's not "after the processing", it's just an easier way of saying "processing done after the shot has been taken"—i.e. processing done in post the taking of the shot. It's hardly cringeworthy.
 
robmiller said:
It's not "after the processing", it's just an easier way of saying "processing done after the shot has been taken"—i.e. processing done in post the taking of the shot. It's hardly cringeworthy.
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How are you going to do any processing before the shot is taken? It's stating the obvious, that's why i find it cringeworthy.
 
Well you could argue that the camera processes to a certain degree, and anything you do after taking the shot is processing after the fact, hence post processing.

:p
 
Scam said:
How are you going to do any processing before the shot is taken? It's stating the obvious, that's why i find it cringeworthy.
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Filters, grads, things like that? Things that you set up before you take the shot and the processing the camera does as you take the shot don't qualify as post-processing in my book.
 
ElDude said:
Well you could argue that the camera processes to a certain degree, and anything you do after taking the shot is processing after the fact, hence post processing.
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But in film photography, 'processing negatives' doesnt refer to anything the camera does, does it?

I'll agree that the camera obviously does 'process' stuff itself.. but if you use a sentence like "..shots i've processed" or something, it' pretty clear what you mean.

Meh i'm sure we can argue this round and round forever. I'll still cringe when people say 'post processing' and i'll continue to 'process' my photos after taking them ;)
 
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