Digital SLR Photography - UK (2019-07)

Adobe Lightroom CC

Rescue rapeseed

CAROLINESCHMIDTSHOWSYOUHOWTOMAKEBLAND

SKIES BLUEWITHA FEWTWEAKS INLIGHTROOMCC

F

IELDSOFYELLOWflowershavefilledthehillsacrossEnglandfor

thelastfewweeks.Photographersflocktophotographtheannual

flourishbutit’snearlyalwaysbestcapturedundera brilliantblue

sky– thoughtheUKweatherdoesn’talwayscomply.If you’veheaded

outtophotographthevibrantoilseedrapetohaveyourattempts

thwartedbyanovercastskyorthelackofa polarisingfilter,theremay

bea waytorecoverthecolourimpactyouwereafterusingLightroom.

You’llhavefarbetterresultsif youapplythisrecoveryandcolouring

processtoa Rawfileratherthana JPEG,astherewillbea lotmore

detailtomanipulatebeforequality-degradingnoisegetsintroduced,

butyoucanstillusethesestepsona JPEG – just avoid being overly

heavy-handed with the adjustments.

ORIGINAL

2

ADJUSTBRIGHTNESSIncreasetheShadowsandWhitesslidersto

revealdetailin denselydarkareasandtobrightenthewholeimage.

Stopbeforeyouseepartsof thesky‘blowout’oryourexpanded

dynamicrangebeginstolooklikea HDR image.If you push the

Shadows slider too high noise will be introduced.

4

REPEATFOROTHERCOLOURSCarefullyadjusttheothercoloursin your

sceneusingtheColorMixer.Greenusuallyaffectsyellowsubjects

toosoworkwithit in unisonwithyellow.Tackleblueandcyantotarget

thesky.IncreasetheSaturationslidertogivetheskyextrapunch,

decrease theLuminance slider to reveal more tonal range and mood.

1

OPENYOURIMAGEWithyourimageimportedintoLightroomCC,

clicktheLighttab.DecreasetheExposureandHighlightsslidersto

darkentheoverallimageandrecovertonaldetailthat’shiddenwithin

anoverexposedsky.You’llseethebiggesteffectin the tonal range of

any clouds and as the depth of the blue increases.

3

CHANGETHECOLOURUndertheColortab,movetheTe m psliderto

thelefttocoolanywarmthin theimage– lessis moreheresoapply

it carefully.SelecttheColorMixerandyellow– adjusttheHueslightly

tocounteractthebluetemperature,increaseSaturation and adjust

Luminance to improve the impact of the rapeseed.

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42 DigitalSLR PhotographyJuly 2019