Digital SLR Photography - UK (2019-10)

Adobe Lightroom CC

Add powerto thepalette

LEARNHOWTOWIELD POWEROVERYOURIMAGES’ COLOURCAREFULLYAND

CONTROLLEDSOYOUCANCREATEVIBRANTBUTNATURAL-LOOKINGRESULTS

L

IGHTROOMIS AN all-in-oneediting

solutionthat’spowerfulandpackedwith

toolstomakeprocessingpictureseasy

andefficient.However,withsomany

featuresandfiltersat yourdisposal,it canbe

justaseasytoover-processyourpicturesand

losesightoftheauthenticscene.

Beginnerphotographersareproneto

gettingtemptedoroverwhelmedbythe

immeseeditingoptionsonoffer andasa

resultapplytoomuchsaturation,contrastor

'creative' colouring presets when a more

sensitive,selectiveapproachis calledfor.

If yourgoalis towincompetitions,toget

featuredin magazinesorbenefitfrom

organicpublicityonline,it’simportantthat

thefirstthingviewers‘see’is thebeautyof

animageandnotitsoverpoweringpost-

productiontechniques.Herewe'llshowyou

a fewapproachesforstrikingthisfinebalance

andsharewithyoutheskillstocorrectand

isolatecoloursorproblemareas– it'san

approachtoeditingthatdoesn'tonlyapply

to colour but it's a great place to start.

ORIGINAL

1

DON’TIGNORETHEHISTOGRAMToomany

photographersapplyeditsusingtheireye

ratherthanthehistogramasa guide,butthe

riskof thisapproachis if yourscreenisn't

calibratedwhatyouseemaynotbetruefor

theactualimage.Thehistogramonthetop

righttellsyouif yourimageis under-orover-

exposedsostartbyadjustingyourexposure

andcontrast,whilereferringbacktoyour

histogramtoseehowit moveswithyouredits

to create a solid base for your colours.

4

ADJUSTSATURATIONSELECTIVELYIf there’sone

colourin particularyouwanttotarget,

clickHSL/ColorandSaturationthentweak

thatcolourslider.Here,astheblueskylooks

a littlewashed-out,anincreasein theBlue

andAquaslidersbringit closertowhat'sseen

in person.If theglobalimpactof Vibrance

causessomeareastolookover-saturated,

youcanreducethesaturationusingthesame

butreversemethod.Reducethe Luminance

slider too to deepen tones.

2

CORRECTWHITEBALANCEBeforeyoubegin

addingcolour,makesureyourstarting

colourbaseis withoutunwantedcastsby

adjustingtheWhiteBalancesetting.Most

newphotographersshootingin Rawwill

settheircameratoAutoWBknowingthat

theycanadjusttheTemperatureduringRaw

processing,butif you’veseta deliberate

CustomWBin-camerayoumaywanttoskip

thisstep.UnderWB, selecttheappropriate

White Balance to neutralise any cast.

5

USETHEADJUSTMENTBRUSHTo targetspecific

areasit'sbesttousetheAdjustmentBrush.

ClickNewandEffect:Saturation, adjustthe

brush’sSizedependingonthetargetarea,

Feathertoblendtheedgesof theadjustment

andFlowtocontrolhowfasttheeffectis

applied.Eachtimeyouwanttoadjusta new

areadifferentlyfromthelast,clickNew. To

deleteanadjustment,simplyclickonthe

anchorpointcreatedonyourimagerelating

to the adjustment and pressDelete.

3

ADJUSTTHEVIBRANCEAsa Rawfilelacksany

colouradjustments,itstonescanlook

mutedandin desperateneedof a boost,

soyoucanbeforgivenforcrankingupthe

Saturationslider.However,thiscaneasily

becomea caseof overprocessingasnotall

coloursneedanincrease.Startbyincreasing

theVibranceslidertoboostunder-saturated

colours– thisalonecanmakea huge

differencesouseit modestly– somewhere

between +10 and +30 is more than enough.

6

ADDSOMECLARITYTheClarityslideris

anothertemptingsettingthat'sfartooeasy

tooverdo– it increasescontrastaswellas

edgesharpnessprovidingimageswithextra

‘pop’,detailandtexture.Theinstantcrispness

it givesanimageis irresistibleandcranking

uptheslideris impressive,butuseit sparingly

in conjunctionwiththeAdjustmentBrushso

astoavoidnaturallysmoothelements,such

aswater,skyandbokeh;in fact,reduce the

Clarity slider on these areas.

CR

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44 DigitalSLR PhotographyOctober 2019