contrast, sharpen, saturation question

[Polar Bear]

I'm very impressed with the knowledge expressed here. Here's a question from a newbie to digital photography: I read on another thread that most digital shots would benefit from tweaking the contrast, saturation and sharpness. In what order should I use these tools to get the best results?

[Steve Foss]

Polar Bear, most cameras do some level of these three tasks automatically in-camera. In some cameras, you can adjust how much the camera does these things.

So some images from some cameras don't need any of these things done in post processing, depending on how much has been done in-camera.

Look at the image itself. If it doesn't look as colorful, contrasty or sharp as it did to your eye as you took the image, then adjust these things. It really doesn't have to be done in any particular order, but it should be done gently, in increments.

Contrast in particular can ruin a photo quickly, by turning shadow areas black and blowing out highlight areas. Oversharpening can produce distinct darker or lighter halos around the edges of elements in the image, so take care with that, too. And saturation can turn a nice photo into garbage, one that looks like someone gave it steroids.

I shoot in RAW mode, which doesn't process the image in-camera, so I add these things all the time in post-processing. If you shoot jpeg mode, likely your camera is doing some of that processing for you already, especially if it's an all-in-one. If you're happy with your images, nuff said. If not, check your owner's manual to see whether your camera allows you to adjust those things and what your internal settings are now, and lower or raise them accordingly.

As a photographer who makes a lot of my living through the lens, I can tell you I favor less in-camera processing over more, because too much can ruin an image before one even gets it downloaded, and I'd rather have total control of things than giving that control to a camera.

For more casual users, however, setting a camera to achieve what they want without having to do a lot of pp is usually the way to go.