Digital Camera World - UK (2019-08)

98 DIGITAL CAMERA^ http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

Before

4

This lone tree was shot on a day lacking

in contrast, and the resulting image is flat

and uninspiring. However, the ingredients

are there for a moody monochrome.

Working in Lightroom, I can start on the

sky area^1 , which is currently much too

light. Taking Highlights and Whites back

to -100 will restore the detail hidden

within the raw file. I can further darken

this detail^2 by burning it in with an

Adjustment Brush painted over the

top of the sky and Dehaze pushed to 20.

The image is still lacking in contrast,

so I add impact to it by going to the

Tone Curve Panel and changing the

Point Curve dropdown from Linear

to Strong Contrast^3. Finally, I paint

a second Adjustment Brush over

the foreground^4 and take the Blacks

Slider to -60 to darken this area too.

As seen on screen

Q

Is looking at

the LCD screen

a reliable way

to judge exposure?

Chris Ball

A

No. You can use it to interpret

how the exposure has worked

out – but for an accurate

assessment, you always

need to refer to your histogram.

When you’re using Live View, you can

see the screen and histogram at the same

time, but in very bright conditions, it may

not be that easy for your eyes to pick out

all the detail you need. Conversely, in a

dark interior, your eyes might see the

image as brighter than it actually is.

Remember, on most cameras you can alter

the brightness of the screen to make life

easier for you when you assess images.

Add or copy

Q

I am confused about

importing images

into Lightroom, as

there are several options.

Which one should I use?

Lucy Rendall

A

The simplest way to import is

to tell Lightroom to reference

where you have stored the

folder of raw images. I always

save my images onto external hard disks

in named folders; on import I tick Add so

the images are brought into my Catalog but

the original raw files remain on that original

hard disk. If you want to make a copy of

your images in a different location, tick

Copy but if your destination folder is on your

computer’s hard disk, it will eventually fill up

and affect your computer’s performance.

Bounce flash

Q

What does bounce

flash mean, and can

I use it with my

camera’s built-in flashgun?

Jon Lee

A

Bounce flash is simply the

technique of directing the flash

off a secondary surface such as

a wall, ceiling or reflector. It can

help to spread the light and give a more

flattering result than direct flash. It’s

not really possible to do it with a

fixed built-in flashgun, but easy

with an external flashgun with a

tilting head. Light bounced off

a surface might pick up some

of the colour of that surface,

so it’s a technique best used

where there is a neutral

surface to fire the flash on to.

Image Rescue

A flat and dreary tree

becomes the focal point for

a moody monochrome image

1

Before After

3

2

4

(^) AUGUST 2019