Using the Histogram to Aid Processing

Inspired by a question during a recent judging session for a local camera club, I have written a new article on my website Learning Page. I try to explain how to use the histogram in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw to help you decide how to process a raw image.

The article outlines the tonal representation of the histogram relative to your raw capture and how to use it to manage black points and white points and avoid clipping and excessive contrast. The histogram is a simple graphical display of the distribution of tones in your raw file. It is different than the histogram of the jpg you saw on the camera preview screen which was processed by the camera software.

The various sliders in the processor modify the tones, not only in their brightness range, but in the overall contrast of the image. Different sliders modify tones differently and often in ways you might not expect. Initially, it might appear that more than one slider has a similar affect on the image, but closer examination reveals the reason why each slider needs to be understood to best process the raw capture.

An increase in contrast can be made overall, affecting both highlights and shadows, or an increase can be made by darkening the shadows without changing the highlights. Knowing which tool to use to get the desired result is the intent of the article.

I also added a short piece explaining keyboard shortcuts for navigating Photoshop layers. These are particularly valuable for creating actions as they can avoid certain changes from happening on the wrong active layer. Making sure that the correct layer is active before initializing a modification will help you avoid unwanted results. This is also important in the event that you want to share an action with someone. Something you may do by default may not be what the other person does before using the action.

I always encourage feedback on these articles. It is especially important for me to hear from you if there is a piece of information missing or unclear that I might improve upon.

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Photoshop Zoom Seminar

Zoom Seminar – Photoshop Tone Control and Black and White Conversion

The Zoom seminar on Tone Control and Black and White conversion is this Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. There is a good group at this time, but this is a reminder if you intended to sign up and haven’t done so. I usually need to know you are coming by Thursday noon so I can notify the Hershey Library and they can begin sending out the invitations to the meeting.

If this is news to you – let me catch you up. The seminar on Saturday is on tone control using Photoshop. The primary intent is to show you several methods for controlling image colors and densities to improve your initial camera capture once you have moved beyond Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw.

Then we will look at Black and White conversion and how control over color influences the results we get in our monochromatic images. Simply eliminating color is easy, but knowing how controlling the color in the image translates to monochrome will get you to better final results.

The Zoom class meets this Saturday morning, February 6th at 9:30 a.m. The class will last about 90 minutes. The techniques do not depend on the version of Photoshop or Elements you may be using. The intention is to manipulate the image in as many ways as possible without using selections or masking.

Sign up for the Zoom class by using my email to send $20 to me at PayPal. Be sure to make note of the class you are signing up for. If you prefer you can send a check to me at 7644 Patterson Circle, Harrisburg, PA 17112. Email me as well to let me know you are signing up.

My thanks to Derry Township and the Hershey Library for hosting these Zoom meetings.

The Website

I just uploaded a major update to the website including fixes to image rollovers. Some articles have been updated, and there are always more updates in the works. As always, if you notice something that doesn’t work properly, or a missing image, please email me referencing the page. There are over 80 pages on my website that need to be massaged as time goes by.

Last week I also uploaded all new image portfolios. The image galleries have been suffering for a while. I write this stuff myself and sometimes it takes me a while to fully understand how certain aspects of the code function. The galleries are created in Lightroom, but then the code is modified to make the portfolios fit the appearance of the website. I think the latest update is a good one. Quite a few new images as well.

Photoshop Tone Control and Black and White Conversion – Zoom Seminar 2/6/2021

The tools for managing tone and color in Photoshop are more intensive and elaborate than what is available in Lightroom. The seminar in Photoshop will explore fine tuning of image color and how it can influence Black and White conversion. This is a Zoom seminar and will occur on Saturday, February 6th at 9:30 a.m.

In Photoshop you should start with a well processed image, including good white balance and removal of any unwanted color casts. This is usually done in either ACR or Lightroom, not simply by choosing the light source but using the white balance tool. This removes tint issues and neutralizes the image colors. Even if you want a color shift such as warming the overall image, you should start with a neutral image and then impose whatever look or feel you want to the image. This is called Color Grading. Once this is done it is easier to move to a black and white rendering of the image and additional color shifts can be employed if needed to get the black and white rendering you desire. If you do not understand how color affects a B&W image, this seminar is for you.

Rainstorm over Angel’s Peak, NM.

Modifications to the original image color can now be imposed as desired using a number of different tools in Photoshop. In ACR and Lightroom there is Color Grading which lays a color tint over the image or modifies the color in a specific range of the image. Other methods of modifying the color involve mapping colors to different hues and/or levels of saturation. This can be used to modify the mood of an image, but also can be used to influence how an image gets rendered in B&W conversion.

Registration is now open. You can register for the class by email if you plan to attend. Cost for this class is only $20. Payment should be made using PayPal to my email address, or email me for an address to send a check. If you sign up with PayPal be sure to leave a note as to which seminar you are signing up for and your email address for notification.

My thanks to Derry Township and the Hershey Library for hosting these Zoom meetings.

Lightroom Black and White Processing Methods – Zoom class

If you are reading this in an email, please click on the title to read the full blog entry online.

Registration is now open for the January 9^th, 2021 Zoom class on tone control and B&W conversion in Lightroom Classic.

There are a number of ways to convert your images to B&W. The trick to controlling how your images look in those conversions is control over the image colors. Different methods map those colors to different shades of gray in the B&W conversion. I will illustrate a variety of methods for controlling image color and B&W conversion.

The conversions below were made without changes to the B&W panel sliders which is a typical conversion method. We will look at some more advanced tone control methods.

Compare two versions of a B&W conversion done in Lightroom. Which do you prefer?

This meeting will focus on using Lightroom as the conversion tool. It will also serve as the basis for more in depth control over B&W conversion for those who use Photoshop. A follow up seminar is planned for that purpose.

The cost for the Zoom meeting is $20. The meeting will last between 60-90 minutes. The meeting will start at 9:30 a.m. On Saturday January 9^th, 2021. Payment should be made using PayPal to my email address, or email me for an address to send a check. Note in PayPal that you are signing up for the January 9th Zoom class. Use my email address for any questions.

Website Articles Update

WEBSITE UPDATED – NEW ARTICLES!

I have updated my website with all new articles in the Learning section. Most obvious is a replacement for the Lightroom overview pdf with a full set of eight articles. This is aimed at users of the Lightroom Classic desktop program. The Lightroom CC cloud based program has fewer features and uses cloud based image storage for remote access. I don’t address the functionality of the CC version. Other than that, the articles will apply to you regardless of the version you own.

October 26 Class Cancelled

The Bad News – The class on basic photography (II) has been cancelled. We just did not get a sufficient number of signups to make the class worth the use of the space at the library. Perhaps we will try again.

The Good News – The updated website and new portfolios have been published. The site is now tablet friendly and will even work on your phone if you are into that kind of pain.

Plans for a class in the spring include an intermediate to advanced Lightroom class and an intermediate to advanced Photoshop class. On the Learning Page at the bottom right is a red box for emailing me.  Please let me know if you think you might be interested in one of those classes. The library promotions go out well in advance.

A challenge to all is to learn to see like the camera sees. The camera does not respond to light the way the human eye does. Learning the limitations of the camera as well as the possibilities will help you move your photography to greater success.

While capture is one aspect of photography, post processing is another, and control over the final image is what you should strive for. Letting the camera decide how your pictures will look is not the road to good images.  You can’t buy great images, you need to learn how to see them, and then how to process them to get what you want from the capture.

“The eye should learn to listen before it looks.”
― Robert Frank

Essentials – Photography and Processing

The Hershey Library program on Digital Photography and Processing Essentials is this coming Saturday, April 6th starting at 9:30 a.m. You can sign up at the library or simply come to the door.

Essentials includes setting up your camera for the best capture, setting up Lightroom and ACR for best processing, and more.

Digital Photography and Processing Essentials

If you are reading this in an email, please click on the title to read the full blog entry online.

Two weeks remain for you to sign up for the April 6^th program on “Digital Photography and Processing Essentials” at the Hershey Library. The program will start at 9:30 a.m. Please sign up at the library if you can, but you will be welcome at the door as well.

The program will take you through fundamental photography information such as camera settings and understanding how digital photography captures images. We will look at differences in shooting in raw vs jpg, Adobe vs sRGB color spaces, determining exposure, reading the histogram and other essential first steps to good captures.

Post Processing in Photoshop

Intermediate to Advanced Post processing in Photoshop

“Great artists don’t just happen, any more than writers, or singers, or other creators,” … “They have to be trained, and in the hard school of experience.” – Georgia O’Keeffe

Digital photography has made making a decent image pretty easy. Using ACR or especially Lightroom allows you to render the basic color and contrast of an image very well. But, the primary purpose for which they were created was preliminary global adjustments. Global adjustments are those which address the overall image in terms of color and contrast, but do nothing to address specific issues in smaller local areas. Yes, many of the tools added to ACR and Lightroom were put there to make some of these modifications possible, but the real tool for image polishing is still Photoshop.

Many photographers are satisfied with what they can accomplish with basic raw processing. In some cases it is all that is needed. But the refinements to an image that can push it over the top still require more work. What we are finding when we shoot is the “raw” material (pun intentional) needed to produce a good photograph.

The good news is that Photoshop post processing is really not complicated. The bad news is that Photoshop post processing is really complicated. It is not complicated in terms of the mechanics, but it is complicated in that many of the processes are simply not intuitive. They need to be learned, and that learning is a curve that can be rather steep. That is experience. Like any craft, it requires time to get to know what can be done.

Like anything worth the effort you first need to learn to think in Photoshop. If you take piano lessons you learn scales first, you do not sit down and learn to play a complicated piece of music. In Photoshop you need to learn the scales too. Layers and masks are really not that difficult – the second time. Blend modes and other more exotic tools require more time, just like playing the piano with both hands. Some of the ways to use Photoshop tools, like making selections, are a never ending learning process.

The advantage of knowing how to use the tools and options in Photoshop is the ability to mold an image into something better than what the camera handed you. Some of the techniques are actually pretty simple to use, but first you need to know they are there. Blend modes are like that, and I guarantee you that I can show you in a very short time – like 15 minutes – ways to use them that you will love and use immediately in your processing workflow. Others require deeper thought to apply to your work, but you have to start somewhere. If you don’t know it is out there, you can’t use it.

I will give a presentation to the Hershey Camera Club on May 3rd. The primary topic will be selections, but any presentation in Photoshop always covers larger ground. No technique stands alone. The program is open to the public.

I will present a workshop/seminar on Intermediate to Advanced Photoshop Post Processing on Saturday, May 19th from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Hershey Library. Cost for the program is just $45. The program will include Layers and Masks, Curves, Selections, Blend Modes and much more. I will address controlling the image while avoiding bad practices. There are tools in Photoshop (eraser, burn, dodge) which are simply not worth using as they are not modifiable. Imagine being able to get better results without the pain of backing up in history.

Please email me if you wish to attend so I can inform the library and make appropriate plans for the seminar. Locals can sign up and pay in advance at the library. Learning Photoshop is an adventure, and I hope you will join the experience.

Layers, Masks, Blend Modes …

Click the title, or the read more prompt below to see the full blog entry. Modification of your images is better, easier, more controllable, and more elegantly done using layers, masks and blend modes. Obviously, selections are important, but you can’t modify a selection after a correction is made if you cannot access the way it was applied.

This is where masking comes into play. What surprises most people is how easy it is once you understand the process. Even more surprising to most people is how easy it is to learn. If you really want to be able to make your images the way you want them to be, and not what the camera hands you, have I got a class for you.