Digital Camera World - UK (2019-08)

RAW WAR

1

Crop to

square,

and expand

the shadows

In Adobe Camera Raw, I select

the Crop Tool (shortcut C). After

setting the dropdown preset to

1:1, I drag it over the image to

get a square format with the

horizon two thirds of the way up.

In the Basic tab, I increase

Shadows to +100 to reveal detail

in the darker tones, then pull

Highlights to -100 to do the same

to the brighter areas. Because

this makes the pic look a little

washed out, I reduce Blacks

to -50 to restore the contrast.

To make the sky more dramatic,

I add a warm, contrasty Graduated

Filter to the top half of the

photograph, with Dehaze set to

+60, Temperature to +10, Whites

to +40 and Blacks to -50.

C

oastal landscapes are always inspiring

• and this one has been captured in an
  interesting way, with the point of focus
  on the middle distance, and a fairly
  shallow depth of field. As a result, the
  detail in the foreground has been thrown out of focus,
  so that tells me I should be using it as a framing element
  for the picture, rather than the heart of the image.
  I want to try a square crop with this shot, as that will
  allow me to position the horizon around two thirds up.
  Rather than look to accentuate detail, I want to boost
  the overall mood, with a more dramatic sky and some
  pools of sunlight in key places. To further push the
  atmosphere, I’ll also add some old-school grain
  and finish it off with a bold, dark border.

Warrior 2

Jon

Adams

JON’S PLAN FOR THE RAW IMAGE

88 DIGITAL CAMERA^ AUGUST 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

Crop off excess to get

square composit ion

Crop off excess to get

square composit ion

Add pools of light

Add p oo l

of light

Add grain

& dark

bord er