Not long ago, I wrote an article about how your photography can benefit from the advantages of local adjustments. I called it, “Think Globally, Act Locally.” The focus of that piece, however, was on which edits should be made using masks — not on how to actually create the masks in the first place. In today’s article, I’d like to fill that gap. So if you’re not completely confident on how to create masks in Capture One, this article is for you.
Mastering your camera’s Exposure (EV) Compensation feature is truly essential for capturing properly balanced photos in difficult light like when your scene includes prominent areas with both light and dark tones. Selecting a positive value brightens the shot while negative settings accomplishes the opposite in varying degrees.
This simple technique is most frequently applied when shooting in one of the semi-automatic modes like aperture priority, shutter-priority, or even programmed auto. But did you know that you can also take advantage of this transformative tool when your camera’s Mode dial is set to Manual?
Today’s interesting tutorial from the Hamed Photography YouTube channel describes the benefits of EV Compensation, how they work, and why this powerful feature is typically disabled in Manual mode. Then you’ll see how to turn in back on and get the light right with precision.
Hamed is an experienced photographer, gear specialist, and top-notch educator whose popular channel is full of camera tips, shooting techniques, and great advice for boosting your visual storytelling skills. Here’s how he summarizes today’s episode: “This video is designed to help beginners and intermediate photographers master EV compensation with ease.”
Along the way you’ll also gain a more thorough understanding of exposure in general and how a few simple tweaks will get the job done regardless of conditions in the field. He covers its all, from the Exposure Triangle, appropriate camera settings, and a few pro tricks—driving his points home with clear explanations and examples that will boost your confidence in a hurry.
As Hamad says, “Whether you’re shooting with a DSLR or mirrorless camera this tutorial will help take your photography skills to the next level.” And he does so less than 11 minutes. Be sure to visit the instructional Hamad Photography YouTube channel where there’s much more to learn.
When an 800mm lens appeared on Nikon’s lens roadmap in October 2021, I was immediately hooked. From the shape and size of the silhouette, it was pretty clear that it would be a PF lens prioritizing portability.
Adobe just released their fall update with a host of powerful features that we’ll cover extensively in the coming days. Today’s video from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel takes a deep dive into Lightroom’s new Variance tool that one expert says, “easily fixes a BIG problem in seconds.”
Instructor Christian Mohrle is a highly acclaimed German landscape photographer and someone we often rely upon to evaluate new post-processing tools and techniques. Be sure to download his demonstration Raw file with a link beneath the video so you can follow along and make the adjustments yourself as the simple steps are explained.
The Variance tool can be found by navigating to Lightroom’s Color Mixer panel, and then choosing the Point Color menu where you’ll find the new slider. Mohrle’s overview begins by using the eyedropper to pick a color—in this case, a blue spot in the sky. Now you can use the familiar sliders to modify hue, saturation, and luminance as always.
But there’s also a Variance slider that works like this: “If I push it up the different blue tones in the sky become a little more separated. On the hand, all of the blue colors appear closer together as I move the slider in the opposite direction.” As you’ll see, the simple Variance slider can be particularly helpful useful when there’s a polarizing filter on your lens.
Mohrle is a firm believer in applying a few basic adjustments to prepare the original shot as much as possible to prepare it for the masking magic that follows. He starts this edit by changing the profile to Adobe Landscape for an immediate boost in overall saturation. Mohrle then carefully increases exposure, being mindful of retaining details in the highlights. He separately deals with some shadow clipping in the darkest areas within the frame.
Other preliminary enhancements include warming up the shot, increasing texture and clarity, and boosting midtone contrast. He then turns his attention to Lightroom’s Details panel and eliminates a bit of unwanted noise.
The reminder of this eye-opening workflow is devoted to selectively using the Variance slider to refine the sky and applying other masks to fix problem areas that still exist. The impressive transformation concludes with final color grading, sharpening, and cleanup. There’s much more to learn on the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel for beginners and experienced Lightroom users alike.
