It's a fairly common attitude in both photo and video work to just assume that a mistake during a shoot can and will be fixed in post, but that can be quite detrimental in a few ways. Here are five reasons to avoid fixing your work in post.
Coming to you from Aputure, this great video talks about five reasons to avoid fixing video work in post (though it applies equally well to photos). I'll admit that for a long time, I would frequently do this for the silliest reason: I didn't want to feel embarrassed in front of a client that I had screwed something up like leaving my bag in the shot. Of course, the truth is that we all make mistakes, and walking over and moving my bag would have taken a lot less time than cloning it out of a bunch of shots in post. Since I got over that fear of embarrassment, I've never had an issue when I've made a mistake in the middle of a shoot and corrected it, and it sure beats spending unnecessary hours at the computer fixing something that would have taken mere seconds to fix had I done it when I recognized the mistake. Check out the video above for more reasons to avoid fixing it after the fact.
It’s a waste of time. I’m not a pro, if I screw it up in camera, it goes into the trash, and it is a lesson for me to do better next time.
So what happens when you are out in a situation where you have no choice but to fix it in post?
I don't know about video but for photos that's not possible many times.
1. Leaving stuff around: Stuff is around. Period. Try to do 'getting ready' with a bride and see how many times unwanted stuff is around. Many times you just can't touch and remove stuff, you need to keep shooting. Sometimes you can just leave it and sometimes you need to remove it in post. Weddings, either at home or outdoors, are a great example of stuff just being in the frame because that's life. Don't be lazy, edit whatever is needed.
Same goes for on-location family shots. Kids run, you capture amazing photos and stuff needs to be removed. Bummer but that's reality. You cannot control the environment
2. White balance: I want to see you doing a wedding or a family portrait with exact WB, good luck :-). Moving fast from indoors to outdoors, shade to sun or even different places in the shade and sun will need different WB.
Besides, 8 out 10 even when I do WB preset, I don't like the results. Depending on background or skin tone, it is not always flattering. We shoot RAW so we can adjust later to our liking.
I agree. I can't comment on video stuff since I don't do it, but unless I have complete control over the environment, making the scene correct can't always happen. We do our best, but in the end, sometimes post is the only place to make things right.
Right on.
1. Exactly. There are limits. If I am shooting a couple outside in a park or field, my bag might get in the shot. Usually an easy fix. If you are getting the whole group of bridesmaids getting ready/doing makeup, good luck. You are not going to get it looking like a clean room at a computer plant. It is part of the story.
2. Auto white balance and batch processing in post is really the only way to do it. On occasion, if I am shooting a corporate gig, and its that fantastic hotel conference room lighting, I might WB it to what the lighting is just to save a step in post.
Exactly.
I hear you on the WB. You shoot in one part of a room with a lot of natural exterior light from a window; meanwhile you run across the room to catch something else and you find that you have 75% incandescent light with about 25% natural light sneaking in. You can't even use gels on your flash because in 15 seconds you'll be in yet a different part of the room with a 50/50 mix. I don't know that there is a way to get this without PP.
Yes, exactly! It is SO much more important to capture the moment, that's why we are there for. Much of our work is done afterwards, it's an essential part of our profession.
I think every situation is different. Sometimes you can control what will be in the frame, sometimes not. Especially when working with a team. Years back I took a filmaking course where everyone else in the class wound up being totally green. Needless to say, many of the raw captures had mic booms and production personal in the scenes. One camera had it's audio recording turned off.
At the time I was pretty prolific with autodesk combustion and a few other apps, and between combustion, a DAW, a 3D modeling program, and the Avid Xpress DV editor I was working with at the time, I wound up turning the entire project into a cleaned up and coherent narrative.
For best way to minimize stuff like this, when the particular project allows for it, I will paraphrase the old real estate saying, pre-production, pre-production, pre-production...