Light is the basis of all photography, and the quality of light in your photo can make or break the image. Understanding the characteristics of light and how it interacts with your subject is essential for capturing captivating photographs. In this article, I will delve into the realm of soft and hard light, both for flash photography and natural light. I’ll also explore various light modifiers that can be used to create specific effects and discuss when one type of lighting may be preferable to the other, depending on the context and mood of the shot.
Today we’re taking a look at a Lightroom tool that many users overlook or find intimidating. Instructor Jalen Oban puts it like this: “While it may seem complex at first glance, the Calibration panel is incredibly powerful and can significantly enhance your photo-editing process once you know how it works.”
First think about the Lightroom Development panel you use least frequently or know the least about. Oban’s guess is that “the majority of you will name the Calibration panel that resides at the very bottom of the Development module.” His view is that this oft-ignored feature is the most powerful, or at least one of the most powerful, color-grading tools within Lightroom.
Oban’s goal for this episode is to demystify the process, simplify any perceived complications, and explain why you should include Lightroom’s Calibration to your everyday workflow. He does an admirable job in barely 11 minutes, and our guess is that you’ll begin following his advice the next time you pull up a photograph on your computer.
The video begins with a brief overview of this “essential” tool, how it works, and what it was designed for in the first place. In basic terms, it’s used to calibrate your colors based upon the brand of camera you own. Or as Oban says, “every time you take a photo the camera has to go through each pixel and determine what color it’s going to assign for that pixel.” He notes further that every camera has a slightly different threshold for making this determination.
In essence, the Calibration panel enables you fine-tune colors so you can consistently achieve predictable and realistic tones for the specific situation at hand. Oban uses a rainbow gradient to illustrate an interesting point; namely, that one photographer may identify the color green at a specific spot on the graphic, while another may point somewhere else—either a bit to the left or to the right.
With all the theoretical stuff out of the way, Oban turns to what all this means in practical terms. Then he demonstrates how to employ the Calibration Panel to achieve precise results with different types of scenes. It’s not difficult to accomplish and once you get the hang of it the colors in your images will appear better than ever before.
And if the photos you capture are often too dark, check out the tutorial we featured earlier with another accomplished pro who demonstrates an effective method for restoring underexposed images in Lightroom.
Here’s an interesting discussion to help you differentiate between what you want and what you really need when it comes to purchasing a new camera—specifically with regard to camera sensor size. Full-frame models are all the rage, but some photographers regret their decision to “step up” from a full-frame camera.
The decision is not as straightforward as you may think, because a wise purchasing choice greatly depends upon the type of images you shoot most. Landscape photographers prefer optimum resolution, sports shooters are more concerned with processing speed and maximum burst rates, while others pay close attention to density range, low-light capability, and other important variables.
So here’s the conundrum according to instructor Peter Bredahl Dam: “There is a major downside to full-frame cameras, yet many pro photographers choose full-frame over crop.” All you have to do to find out why is watch today’s five-minute video. Then you’ll be better prepared to choose the camera that best suits your needs.
Your budget is also an important consideration because crop-sensor cameras and appropriate lenses are typically less expensive than their full-frame counterparts. In that regard it can make more sense to spend less on a new camera and use the savings to purchases better glass.
Dam prefers shooting with a full-frame camera for his style of photography. He says “I love the handling and how it gives me many more opportunities when shooting at high-ISO values—particularly for wildlife photography.” But he acknowledges that there’s a big compromise to be made as compared to crop-sensor models.
He puts it like this: “The downside of full-frame is when it comes to the reach you get because the larger sensor results in a wider view with any lens you use.” In other words, crop-sensor cameras “help you get closer to the subject” by 1.5 or 1.6X with the same focal length—depending on the camera and it’s crop factor.
The foregoing is just a small taste of what you’ll learn in Dam’s comparison of camera sensor size and the pros and cons of both formats. By the time you’re done watching you’ll have a much better idea of which choice will best meet your needs, and you may even save some cash as a result.
We suggest paying a visit to Dam’s popular YouTube channel, where you’ll find more interesting gear discussions as well as how-to articles that will help elevate your skills.
The Histogram is one of those tools that many Lightroom users ignore because they don’t fully understand everything it can do. This tutorial from the Photo Feaver YouTube channel will bring you up to speed in a hurry and convince you to include the Histogram in your post-processing workflow.
Instructor James Feaver is a passionate landscape pro and image-editing expert who posts weekly lessons for photographers of all skills levels. He introduces today’s six-minute episode like this: “You shouldn’t ignore the Histogram because it will get you better colors, and more realistic contrast. In can even fix your white balance with precision.”
Here’s a quick overview for those who are unfamiliar with the basics: The Histogram is a simple graph that illustrates how many pixels of a specific exposure value are in an image. This handy visual aid is split into five sections for evaluating whites, midtones, highlights, shadows, and blacks. In essence, it’s a very convenient way to determine of an image is underexposed, overexposed, or just right.
With the basics out of the way Feaver moves on to other powerful capabilities of the Histogram, like refining White Balance in every image you edit. His first example is a shot he made in Zion National Park that is overly dark because it was exposed for the sky. This is immediately evident with a quick glance at the Histogram because most of the tones are bunched up on the left side of the graph.
Feaver quickly corrects this initial problem by moving the Exposure and HSL sliders while explaining the concept of “clipping” so that you don’t go too far in either direction. You’ll also see how targeting Whites and Blacks can add even more detail to the photo. He then explains how to improve Contrast and slightly “stretch out” the Histogram to further improve the image.
But the Histogram is useful for much more than adjusting exposure, which is where Feaver’s second sample photo comes into play. This shot is a bit too warm for Feaver’s taste and you’ll see how easy it is to cool it off.
At this point he turns his attention to the Histogram’s three color channels (red, green, and blue) and demonstrates a straightforward trick for “matching up the peaks” to quickly fix or enhance these tones for perfect color throughout the frame. Here’s when the Temperature and Tint sliders prove very helpful.
Feaver also explains why sometimes a “correct” Histogram may not be exactly what you want, especially with regard to White Balance enhancements. Once you’re done watching the video head over to Feaver’s instructional YouTube channel where there are many more shooting and editing tips to be found.
