RAW WAR1
Crop square and reveal maximum detail
In Camera Raw, I ticked the two boxes in the Lens Corrections tab to minimise fringing and
distortion. Next, I picked the Crop Tool, and set it to the 1:1 aspect ratio to make a square crop. Dragging this over the image gave a more
compact frame. I normally try to avoid placing horizons centrally, as they can cut a frame in half, but in this instance, the curve of the pier and the
glow in the sky lend themselves well to it. Back in the Basic tab, I compressed Highlights by moving the slider to -100, then expanded Shadows to 65.
This released the detail across the tonal range of the picture. To make sure there was a decent amount of contrast, I then set Blacks to -25 and
Whites to +7. I chose these values by holding the Alt key while moving the sliders. This gives a mask view that shows where clipping occurs.J
etties, piers and sea defences serve up great
opportunities for coastal landscapes, but a great
sky is usually needed to capture a compelling shot.
In this image, the sweeping curve of the pier’s
structure and the bright yellow-orange strip of
sunlight offer lots of potential for exploration in a raw converter.
What’s more, the relatively quick shutter speed used has frozen
the sea’s movement into a textured finish with lots of detail,
so there’s plenty for the eye the latch on to about one third
of the way up the frame. At the very bottom and top, though,
the scene is a little devoid of detail.
After cropping it down to pack in the interest, the main correction
work is in bringing out the detail in the highlights and shadows, then
enhancing the blue and orange colour palette to emphasise those
hues and boost the atmosphere in this tranquil scene.82 DIGITAL CAMERA^ DECEMBER 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
Warrior 1
Jon Adams
Brighten foreground
& enhance blue hues
Darken sky, restore
de tail & boost
orange hues
Crop out top & bottom to
give a square image