Post Processing help with Capture NX2

Hello everyone
After using my trusted and still working F601QD for nearly 14 years, I have just received my first D-SLR NIKON D90 and bought the NIKON AF-D 18-55G DX VR lens separately.
Now as till now all my processing requirements were in the hands of the Lab technicians, I had no need to worry and devoted all my energy behind getting the photo right in the camera. I know very well that now the Darkroom is replaced by the PC and I am the technician who needs to toil in front of the monitor to get the result right.
Now here starts my trouble. I need a little help regarding which things I need to fix and in what order. Please note that I still try to get the result right in the first time (which I humbly admit being an impossible task- almost at least), and by this statement I mean that I do not want to completely change a photo of a pig to an elephant and vice-versa.
There is one more thing that I need to know, and that is how can I achieve/apply the graduated filter effect (in CNX2) that we film shooters use very often. But alas, I am not really sure how to do it to get the desired result in PP.
Please note that I am using NIKON's Capture NX2 and would be of great help to me if the answers/helps are offered in the relation to this program.
(I've already searched Google , but I felt quite lost in so many info and frankly speaking being a PP novice I need a more structured guidance to this whole matter).
Hope that members here would be kind enough to help me out.
Thank you.

Alokchitri

With NX2 there a lots of different ways of using the program that basically anything goes.
I always shoot NEF so my work list would be:
Check the white balance settings
Remove any in camera sharpening, contrast etc.
Check for lost highlights and shadows, make adjustments in quick fix
Use automatic lens adjustment
Then I come down to the main area and
Straighten horizon
Crop if need be
Erase anything that should not be there
Adjust brightness / contrast
Adjust colours
Add a small amount of USM sharpening
Save the file under a new name as a NEF
If I need to convert to JPG I now do it, resize, and add more sharpening as the resize and conversion softens the photograph.
You now have a photograph.

You can achieve a Grad filter by using (???), now I do not have NX on this computer, using the gradient button?

You can achieve a Polarizing effect as well but that is complicated.

Also use View NX, it is free from Nikon to browse all the files.
You searched in the wrong place. Go to YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. and search on there. There are hundreds of videos showing how to master the program, some even by Nikon and their employees.

Thank you for your reply...it's really very helpful. Could you please clarify the following points a little bit more?
1. Why turn off the in-camera sharpening?
2. Why should USM be used? Is it better than the camera sharpening? And if you are using USM, what should be the values of intensity, radius, etc. that is most suitable for D90?

Thanks again...

BTW, I searched the YT and found some videos but on treatments to photos they are quite differing from each other and hence causing me confusion

Why turn off in camera sharpening?
Simply because sharpening should be the last item that is carried out.
I only shoot RAW so everything is set at zero and the software sorts everything out. The settings are what you find best. I normally sharpen twice and my first setting is 50,5,4.
I will have to come back with a few names from YT, so that you follow the right ways of doing things but they all give you valuable information. Please be patient my Internet has been off all day and has only just burst into life.

Ok, now I am back on line there are two people to watch what they do.
Jason P Odell, he has written the book on NX2
tcambell711, he works for Nikon.
What you have to realize is that there is no wrong way or right way do edit in NX2 apart from always sharpen last.
Experiment, play with it, once you get into NX2 you will be amazed at what the program can do.
NX" is different to all other software, it is made for Nikon files and understands what the camera has captured, you can even remove the "in camera" settings and then add them back in while you edit.

Thank you very much for your excellent help.

Doddery said:

I normally sharpen twice and my first setting is 50,5,4.

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Could you please explain this "sharpening twice" part? Moreover, according to your post Sharpening is the last thing to be done, and I think that you are recommending that Noise Removal should also be done before applying sharpening. But I thought Sharpening can enhance noise even if it is done in a controlled manner.

Thanks for the book recommendations, the first one seems to be very popular. And I agree with you that NEF RAW files are better processed with Nikon's own SW. Its the sole reason why I chose it over LR3, though NIKON should try to make the sw faster and more user friendly.

Noise in photographs.
Depending on your camera, if your exposure is correct there will not be any noise. If there is noise, remove it and then sharpen

Sharpening twice
I do send photographs to stock agencies, for these photographs they need minimal sharpening. When I work on these I sharpen them, if I then want to post a photograph to the web, I work on them again and convert them to sRGB I then sharpen again.

Speed of NX2
Yes, I do realize some computers do have problems with speed and nobody has found the reason for it. You can try turning of all caches in NXView and NX2. Make sure you have the latest .NET updates from Microsoft, make sure you have plenty of memory fitted to your computer but that sometimes does not cure the problem. I have not heard of anybody who has found out why.

User friendly?
I have no problems with it, I think it is easier than Lightroom or Photoshop but I have been using NX since the very first release and I have just got used to the program.

Thanks again...
Which color profile do you use? I found that there are two in D90, sRGB and Adobe RGB. For stock agencies is it better to shoot in Adobe RGB? Please understand that I also have the inclination towards submitting photos to Stock Agencies, so could you please help me on this a little bit more? (I mean Stock Photography and PP required for that).

Regards...

I found tcampbell's videos at YouTube, they are really great...thanks

RGB has more colour gambit than sRGB so set the colour to RGB.
Some stock agencies want RGB, some sRGB and some TIFF that is why I always shoot in NEF and then convert to whatever is required..

Doddery said:

RGB has more colour gambit than sRGB so set the colour to RGB.
Some stock agencies want RGB, some sRGB and some TIFF that is why I always shoot in NEF and then convert to whatever is required..

Click to expand...

Thanks very much....
May I bother you a little more? Could you please help me help me on Stock Photography? I mean how to start, where to submit and what type of PP is required. Please understand I am not much of a PP guy, I would prefer to keep it to minimum. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not asking you to divulge any of your trade secrets, but I hope you would not mind to give me a little head start on this.

Thanks again for all your extensive help.

Carry out a search for stock Agencies there are lots of them. Look at what the pictures of what is selling at the moment, go out and take your versions and submit them to the agency. Look at the terms and conditions of each agency, they all want something different apart from 1st class submissions, if they are not they will be rejected.
Oh, Getty Images, easiest way to find them is on Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing

Alokchitri said:

Which color profile do you use?

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Color profiles do not matter if you shoot in RAW.
After you have processed your image, first save all your edits in a form that preserves as much information as possible. (In Photoshop, this would be Photoshop format.)
Then convert it to whatever is required.
You save it first in case you need to send it to a different destination.