Too often I see requests on how to salvage a photo in various forums.  In my opinion, it is simply not possible to salvage a photo.  It is possible to improve a photo, but if you feel the need to salvage it the truth is your photo simply sucks.

One of the key differences between true pros and amateurs is pros understand that some of their photos suck, and live with it.  Rather than trying to bring back a photo from the dead, they focus on improving their skills so they don’t need to worry about it the next time.

Another difference is pro photographers will not waste their time taking a photo of something with the hope that they will be able to salvage the photo later.  Sure, a stray pole or piece of garbage is easy to clone out.  However, if the lighting isn’t right or the view just not that interesting, they won’t bother with the shot.  One thing I have found out is understanding when not to take a picture is just as important as understanding when to take one.

So the next time you look at a picture and are hoping that you can ‘save’ it, just give up and let it go.  Instead, consider why the picture sucks.  What could you have done better?  That way, the next time you will be able to improve.  In this way, you will find yourself slowly getting better as a photographer, rather than spending hours in vain rescuing a photo and remaining in mediocrity.

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Always account for camera shake either by using a tripod together with a remote release and mirror lock, or use a high enough shutterspeed.  The rule of thumb is to use the reverse of the camera lens – so a 400mm lens should have a shutter speed of 1/400, but with today’s lenses that contain IS and various optical tricks there are often exceptions to this rule.  Still, keep your shutterspeed high if you are not using a tripod.

I always try to stay at ISO 100, even on the Canon 5D.  With some of the newer cameras capable of better high ISO handling, you may be able to go higher without risking the possibility of requiring noise reduction.

Finally, always check for blowouts when taking shots.  These will almost always cause your image to be rejected.  Proper exposure will often fix this but sometimes you may need a diffuser or need to create an HDR.

Now on to the workflow

The workflow for microstock pictures is quite different from traditional workflow.  While there are a lot of pages and books about different tricks you can do with Photoshop, the reality is you don’t have time for many of them.  You are not getting paid a small fortune for each shot – so spend the appropriate amount of time.  The workflow you go through for a fine art print is completely different from that for a microstock photo.  When post processing photos for microstock, speed is of essence.  This is not a work of art and you have a lot to do.

The following are the top priorities when post processing pictures for microstock.

• Remove noise.  Microstock sites hate noise.
• Remove dust spots, which will always cause your photo to be rejected.  The healing brush and spot healing brush are your friends.
• Crop the shot if necessary, though I always try to get it right the first time.
• Remove logos and other things that I don’t want, such as tree branches leaning into the picture.
• High contrast and high saturation sells, so I always increase these

For those interested in my workflow, the following is the procedure I follow for all shots.

1. Every picture is taken with RAW+large JPG – even snapshots of the kids
2. I only post process the pictures I want to submit or display.  For other shots I have the original JPG.
3. I change the contrast, shadows, and saturation in the RAW converter.  Photoshop has the ability to suggest values for these and I often click ‘auto’, then go back and do it myself if I am not happy with the results.
4. I try not to change the exposure too much as it introduces noise
5. I remove all dust spots.  These are especially common in macro shots – particularly in the corners of the image.  Pictures with sky also show dust spots very well.
6. If I want to remove something on the side of the photo, I occasionally crop.  However I pay particular attention to this when taking the shot and thus crops are rare.
7. Sometimes I clone things out of the shot, though I rarely do this.  This is for the ‘killer’ shot that is being ruined by one thing.  Other times it is to remove logos.
8. If the shot was taken above ISO 100 and I can detect noise, I remove it with Noise Ninja.  I do this knowing it will kill the photo’s chances on IStockPhoto though.
9. The final step is to add keywords.

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