Digital Camera World - UK (2019-10)

RAW WAR

1

Crop for a stronger

composition

The first thing I would like to do is to crop

the image down, to create a tighter and more balanced

composition. I click on the Crop Tool icon and hold down

the mouse button to open the dropdown menu, ensuring

that Normal was selected. I then drag the guide over the

entire image so all is selected, before holding down the

Shift key to constrain proportions. I place the model’s

left eye on the top third with more space to her right.

O

ne of the most exciting aspects of

processing a portrait shot is that

there’s a multitude of ways to process

the image without making it look unreal

• unlike landscape photography, for
  instance, where some effects simply look wrong.
  There are many ways to inject creativity into
  landscape processing, of course, but portraits
  really do allow you to unleash your creative vision.
  For this image, my approach will be to create
  a subdued look, which uses controlled desaturation
  of the colour channels for a more refined effect
  than simply reducing saturation.

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

2

Basic image adjustments

Next it’s time to apply some basic editing

adjustments. The first thing that needs

attention is White Balance, where Temperature is set

to 5500 and Tint to +10 to warm the image slightly.

Exposure is then set to +0.15 and Contrast to +50

before Highlights and Shadows are set to -50 and +50

respectively. Finally, Whites are set to +12 and Blacks

to -12, to counter the washed-out look that occurs

when you apply Shadows and Highlights.

Warrior 2

James

Abbott

Crop

Desatur

ate

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Lighten^

face^ and^

increase^

contras

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Extra jumper

d esa tura t ion

(bl ue)

Cr

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