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I'm an advanced amateur when it comes to photography and post-processing and was looking for additional tutorials and resources to improve my craft. Specifically, I'm looking for any sites that have examples of professional photography with the original RAW file. The reason for this is that I want to try the post-processing myself and also to see the difference in the original vs the post-processed file (done by the professional).

Does anyone know of such sites? The other questions I've seen have answers pointing to sites that have RAW examples, but none that have good before & after shots with the source files.

Imre
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RussellZ
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    Relevant: http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/25413/where-can-i-get-free-raw-files-online-for-practicing-with-lightroom – Saaru Lindestøkke Apr 02 '13 at 23:02
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    So, serious question: what do you think "professional" will be better at than an advanced amateur? Like, doing things with as little effort as possible in order to maximize money per job? – mattdm Apr 03 '13 at 01:41
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    i'm not looking to make money, only to better myself. i very often see amazing professional pictures and wonder how much of it was done with good post-production work, and how much is just their talent with the camera. – RussellZ Apr 03 '13 at 02:03
  • Zman, go check out the answers in that other thread and give them a bunch of upvotes (if you haven't already); there's some good resources there. – thomasrutter Apr 03 '13 at 05:04
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    The other questions I've seen have answers pointing to sites that have RAW examples, but none that have good before & after shots with the source files. Did I miss something? – RussellZ Apr 03 '13 at 16:03
  • I'm still a little hung up on the word "professional" here. I think you're using it as a shorthand for skilled in a particular way. Because it's hard to make money in photography as a profession these days, I think it's actually more likely that many more advanced amateurs have the skills you're looking for; the vast majority of working professionals literally don't have time for it, outside of a lucky handful. – mattdm Apr 03 '13 at 16:12
  • Additionally, we (users of this site) are a little hesitant about "find me a site where..." type of questions.Ssuch sites come and go, so keeping an answer updated and relevant is hard. – mattdm Apr 03 '13 at 16:13
  • And all that said, check out this suggestion for doing something that might be useful to you on this site — http://meta.photo.stackexchange.com/questions/3853/idea-photo-of-the-week-activity-editing. Details aren't worked out, though. – mattdm Apr 03 '13 at 16:15
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    Any of the Scott Kelby books have step-by-step instructions and always include the original files so you can follow along. His "7 steps" book or the CSx photoshop and lightroom books all very good for starting out – MikeW Apr 03 '13 at 17:21
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    @mattdm I just interpreted his use of the word "professional" to mean "not crap"/"not a typical facebook/instagram snapshot". Ie a decently focused, composed image of an interesting subject with someone who knows their equipment. I didn't interpret as drawing a line between people who earn a primary income from photography and those who don't. – thomasrutter Apr 04 '13 at 04:41

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I don't know that there are many places where you can find what you are looking for. Every so often, BirdPhotographers.net has a thread where someone uploads a RAW file of a bird, and everyone can download it, apply their own edits, and have their version critiqued by the members. I am not sure if that is what you are looking for, or whether bird photography fits the kind of photography you are looking for...but it might be one of very few sources for exactly what you are looking for.

jrista
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