Should be thinking about work but need to sort out my RAW processing
When I process my RAW images, I generally do white balance, whites so they're not clipped and blacks the same. I then probably lighten mid-tones aboove necessary and then do most of the contrast bit on the .tif in PS.
I can see the logic in doing the whites and blacks so they're not clipped, but what on earth do you do with mid-tones? Is this where experience comes into it or are there some kind of guidelines or tips?
Perhaps a stupid question, but I was just wondering
Graeme
Posted by Graham Bailey on April 11, 2007 at 10:05 AM
Hi Graeme,
I do all my exposure adjustmenst at the raw stage (using lightroom) - I only use photoshop for dust spotting and anything creative.
I start off, like you check the white balance - but very rarely actually change. Then i use exposure compensation and highlight recovery to make sure I don't have anything blown out and then blackpoint to make sure i've not lost anything in the shadows. In lightroom holding down alt shows just what is being clipped - i'm sure there are simialr features in most raw processors.
Up to this point i havn't worried too much about whether the picture is looking over or under exposed - just trying to get as much info out of the file as possible. I then use the curves box to make things look right exposure wise and finally tweak the contrast and saturation - as these are often affected by the other adjustments you will have made.
Hope that makes sense and is useful. by no means a definitive way of doing things - just my personal workflow. I'd be interrested to see how it compares to other peoples.
First White Balance as this can affect S/H clipping....
With show S/H clipping activated adjust exposure, I try to get it right in camera so any more than +or-1/3 EV I consider to wrongly exposed, note that a small amount of clipping is acceptable i.e. specular highlights,
Then using levels I will set the white/black points and adjust the contrast using a curve, I then return to the exposure slider as at this point you usually find that you can fine tune it, I normally apply a slight S curve thus boosting mid tone contrast but leaving the whites and blacks relatively untouched.
My aim is to get the image looking as good as I can out of C1 reserving PS for final cleaning if needed and sharpening (PK sharpener)....
Discussion
3 repliesShould be thinking about work but need to sort out my RAW processing
When I process my RAW images, I generally do white balance, whites so they're not clipped and blacks the same. I then probably lighten mid-tones aboove necessary and then do most of the contrast bit on the .tif in PS.
I can see the logic in doing the whites and blacks so they're not clipped, but what on earth do you do with mid-tones? Is this where experience comes into it or are there some kind of guidelines or tips?
Perhaps a stupid question, but I was just wondering
Graeme
I do all my exposure adjustmenst at the raw stage (using lightroom) - I only use photoshop for dust spotting and anything creative.
I start off, like you check the white balance - but very rarely actually change. Then i use exposure compensation and highlight recovery to make sure I don't have anything blown out and then blackpoint to make sure i've not lost anything in the shadows. In lightroom holding down alt shows just what is being clipped - i'm sure there are simialr features in most raw processors.
Up to this point i havn't worried too much about whether the picture is looking over or under exposed - just trying to get as much info out of the file as possible. I then use the curves box to make things look right exposure wise and finally tweak the contrast and saturation - as these are often affected by the other adjustments you will have made.
Hope that makes sense and is useful. by no means a definitive way of doing things - just my personal workflow. I'd be interrested to see how it compares to other peoples.
Graham
My way (not saying the right way)... in C1
First White Balance as this can affect S/H clipping....
With show S/H clipping activated adjust exposure, I try to get it right in camera so any more than +or-1/3 EV I consider to wrongly exposed, note that a small amount of clipping is acceptable i.e. specular highlights,
Then using levels I will set the white/black points and adjust the contrast using a curve, I then return to the exposure slider as at this point you usually find that you can fine tune it, I normally apply a slight S curve thus boosting mid tone contrast but leaving the whites and blacks relatively untouched.
My aim is to get the image looking as good as I can out of C1 reserving PS for final cleaning if needed and sharpening (PK sharpener)....
HTH
Phil
I'll have a look as soon as I get some more time