3636 20 July 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
Technique LIGHTROOM
Skin smoothing with Texture
As the name suggests, the new Texture slider in Lightroom is useful for pulling detail
out of surfaces. However, it was originally conceived as a tool for smoothing out fi ne
details, a task at which it’s equally adept. Set to a negative value, it de-emphasises
mid-frequency details, resulting in a subtle smoothing effect that is especially useful
for skin. Just as the Texture control doesn’t emphasise image noise, it also leaves the
fi ne detail in skin unaffected. This means that you don’t get the horrid, plastic-looking
skin that some skin-smoothing techniques can cause. Instead, you’re able to soften
the skin while still retaining that all-important detail in the pores. You can apply
negative Texture universally to your portrait, but it’s usually more successful as a skin
smoother when combined with either the Adjustment Brush or Radial Filter. Here I’ve
dragged a circular radial fi lter over the face, lowered Texture, then used the brush to
erase the eyes and lips from the effect. Of course, you could also use the command in
combination with Range Masking, then sample the skin colours to zero in on them.
Enhancing hair
As well as being useful for skin
smoothing, the Texture command can
also be highly effective for enhancing hair
in your portraits, or fur in animal photos.
As with the skin smoothing technique,
it’s best to use the Texture command
in combination with one of the local
adjustment tools. This time, I’ve used the
Adjustment Brush, which allowed me to
paint an adjustment over the hair.
Loaded with positive Texture, the
Adjustment Brush allowed me to isolate
and enhance details in the hair, adding
punch and contrast to the shape of the
hair without overly crunching fi ne details.
This is a good example where Texture
has the edge over both Clarity and
Sharpening. Clarity would make the hair
look too grungy, while sharpening would
crispen up the fi ne strands of hair too
much, resulting in halos.The Texture command is highly effective for enhancing hair, and fur in animal portraits
The new Texture slider is great for smoothing out skin, leaving fine detail unaffected
Calibration frames for
fl at-fi eld correction
The easiest way to shoot a calibration frame to use
with the new Flat-Field Correction command is to
photograph a plain white or grey wall, or use a diffuser
card in front of the lens (this doesn’t necessarily need
to be done at the time of shooting). Once you have
your images open in Lightroom Classic, you can use the
calibration frame to correct other images taken with
the same lens and camera. To use this feature, fi rst
select all of the photographs you want to correct
(either with the calibration frame at the beginning or
end of the set), then choose Library>Flat-Field
Correction. This opens the ‘Flat-Field Correct and
Convert Photos to DNG’ dialog, with practical and
fi le-handling options. Once you hit OK, Lightroom
automatically detects the calibration frames and applies
the fl at-fi eld correction to the corresponding photos
before converting them to the DNG fi le format.