[Dave]

With more people using the likes of PhotoShop to tweak their shots, & RAW becoming more accpetable to Joe Public, I just wondered how long people spend on average processing per shot on the PC / MAC ?

For me I reckon about 10-15 minutes on average to get a decent Mono conversion

[Markulous]

Hours if it's one of yours, Dave!

Anywhere from 0 - 120 minutes. Tho' law of diminishing returns usually applies (and I've spent a couple of hours on a pic, trashed the result and left it at a 5 minute process as it's better!)

[Les Meehan]

How long is the inevitable piece of digital string? When you say 'average processing' do you simply mean getting it from RAW into PS ready for action or do you mean 'diddling wiv'it?'.

One factor in this is what your 'acceptable' level of quality is for your images. For example, I would happily spend an hour just perfecting a complex selection (usually drawing it by hand either as a layer mask or using Quick Mask) if the technique/image demanded it because I want my images/post-processing to be the best I can produce.

For a 'simple' (whatever that is in this digital minefield) RAW to PSD takes only a couple of minutes but the image inevitably then needs far more time to make it express something.

[Angela]

As little as possible.

[fionaB]

as much time as is necessary til it gets to where i want it to go........... could be anything from a few minutes to a couple hours. tho i rarely leave an image half done ilike to finish it and thats when the problems start when u are up to yon time of the night! lol

Fi

[mag-jr]

depends on the need of the client. On average for my own portfolio, 20minutes max.

[P-E]

I can't put an approx time on how long I spend on an image.

[j sotelo]

thats a hard one..it really does depend on the client, but on average I spend about 20 to 30 min.

[sillyconguru]

Most of my images don't go through any post-processing at all, I can spend hours on the ones that do though (on the computer or in the darkroom).

[inventory]

95% of my images only receive a quick and dirty white-balance and contrast adjustment. I spend about 20 seconds maximum on these.

The other 5% can take me up to 5 or 10 minutes if needs be.

My workflow probablly differs from most because I'm forced to do it in a hurry to get it sent off as quick as possible.

[Soupdragon]

I'll often return to a picture on seperate occasions before I am happy with it.
If I spend too long on any one shot I'll either lose interest or realise it's not a keeper anyway.

[bob]

as short a time as possible,

[Dave Canon]

If few adjustments are needed, I may get away with 10-15 mins but I suspect my average time is about 30 mins. I have spent a lot longer on a few pictures with the record being 100 hours. This particular image was produced using Painter which produces a picture which looks like and is produced like a painting. It is doubtful that it could still be called a photograph but does meet the criteria for photographic competitions.

[j sotelo]

finally someone who also uses PAINTER , its a great software, I will post some pictures later..

[skipper954]

Since I shoot RAW, I can "batch" process several hundred images for WB, exposure, etc in a short time, perhaps 30-60 minutes.

I do an initial rating as I go along, then the final rating process takes about 30 minutes.

Finally, when I get the "5 star" images to locally process, each image can take from 2 to 10 minutes, depending on the complexity.

However, if there is a killer image I can spend hours on it, and like others, end up going back to an earlier version. Just like painting, where do you stop??

Sorry, long answer to complex question.

skip