Megan,
Great question and just the right size! First step is to shoot a RAW file! And also, and if possible a jpeg to compare the two. You'll see generally that the jpeg looks good, almost just right,while the RAW file is flat and dull. This is good! The camera adjusts the jpeg, in camera, to a set of adjustments that the camera thinks should be done, by it,the camera and not bother you with doing any of this later,yourself. The RAW capture is just the opposite and does nothing to the image, but captures everything it sees and will make NO adjustments. This is the best possible scenario for the photographer,because any adjustments that the camera makes to the jpeg,sharpening,contrast,saturation,etc. is done and you really can't go back with a jpeg and unsaturate or unsharpen it with out doing something detructive to the image/file. All jpeg are 8 bit, while RAW files will be 12,14 or 16 bit files, with a million times more color depth and image information in the file.
When you open the RAW file for the first time, you will see in Photoshop and Elements that you have a series of sliders and boxes that all can make adjustments, but not all are really needed,at least to start learning.
I'm planning on doing a short video soon, maybe this week on the Adobe Camera Raw functions and what I generally use to get the image into Photoshop or Elements, but here's a few basics to get you started.
When you first double click on a RAW file, it will automatically open up ACR. There are tools all over the place, but for now, we'll just start with the basic few that I always use. First, if you have a known "white space" in your image or a true neutral grey, you can go over to the top and left and you will see 2 eye droppers, but click on the first one and then hover over the known "white space" and click and like magic, ACR has just corrected the color of you image! This is great for painters,since there are always some caste in a copy of the artwork and this will clean it up. I don't use this tool very much,because sometimes, I want an image to be slightly warmer than true color,so I go over to the other box on the top of the right hand,where it says"White Balance" and in the box, the first one says "as shot", if you click on the drop down box, you will see 8 more choices, Auto,Daylight,Cloudy,shade,Tungsten,Fluorescent,Flash and finally Custom. Just click on through these and see how the image gets warmer or even cooler and just select you one you want and that's done!
Further down, you will see the sliders and the first is temperature, which allows you to further adjust the image warmer or cooler. I don't often touch this or the one under it either,tint,but play with them so you see what's happening with the image.
I do adjust the next one,which is exposure and will move back and forth,watching the histogram up in the top right corner, to make sure I'm not creating hot spots or dark areas that I need to fix later.
Next is recovery, or if you have a new version of Photoshop, shadows and highlights. This one I always do too. Usually with the "recovery" slider, I have someplace in the image, where it's a bit blown out and this "recovers" those pixels!
Fill light is next and acts just as it sounds, it's almost like having a small flash unit in the computer and will fill in the dark shadows.
"Blacks" is the next one and I usually tweak that just a few points,which helps the blacks in the image,get nice and black, if they were a bit over-exposed.
Brightness is next and I always adjust that a bit too.
Then "clarity" which is a type of sharpening, but also can soften the image. slide it towards the left and you'll get a nice soft glow in the image, which works with people,portraits,etc. and then slide it to the right and you'll see the image getting "sharper". I usually go almost all the way to the right and then pull it back a bit.
Vibrance is almost another type of saturation and I usually bump that maybe 10 points and leave it.
Finally, saturation, which I don't use very much here, because I take the image into Photoshop and then into "Selective colors" and adjust each color individually there.
Click on open and you're now in Photoshop/Elements and ready to go!
Great question and just the right size! First step is to shoot a RAW file! And also, and if possible a jpeg to compare the two. You'll see generally that the jpeg looks good, almost just right,while the RAW file is flat and dull. This is good! The camera adjusts the jpeg, in camera, to a set of adjustments that the camera thinks should be done, by it,the camera and not bother you with doing any of this later,yourself. The RAW capture is just the opposite and does nothing to the image, but captures everything it sees and will make NO adjustments. This is the best possible scenario for the photographer,because any adjustments that the camera makes to the jpeg,sharpening,contrast,saturation,etc. is done and you really can't go back with a jpeg and unsaturate or unsharpen it with out doing something detructive to the image/file. All jpeg are 8 bit, while RAW files will be 12,14 or 16 bit files, with a million times more color depth and image information in the file.
When you open the RAW file for the first time, you will see in Photoshop and Elements that you have a series of sliders and boxes that all can make adjustments, but not all are really needed,at least to start learning.
I'm planning on doing a short video soon, maybe this week on the Adobe Camera Raw functions and what I generally use to get the image into Photoshop or Elements, but here's a few basics to get you started.
When you first double click on a RAW file, it will automatically open up ACR. There are tools all over the place, but for now, we'll just start with the basic few that I always use. First, if you have a known "white space" in your image or a true neutral grey, you can go over to the top and left and you will see 2 eye droppers, but click on the first one and then hover over the known "white space" and click and like magic, ACR has just corrected the color of you image! This is great for painters,since there are always some caste in a copy of the artwork and this will clean it up. I don't use this tool very much,because sometimes, I want an image to be slightly warmer than true color,so I go over to the other box on the top of the right hand,where it says"White Balance" and in the box, the first one says "as shot", if you click on the drop down box, you will see 8 more choices, Auto,Daylight,Cloudy,shade,Tungsten,Fluorescent,Flash and finally Custom. Just click on through these and see how the image gets warmer or even cooler and just select you one you want and that's done!
Further down, you will see the sliders and the first is temperature, which allows you to further adjust the image warmer or cooler. I don't often touch this or the one under it either,tint,but play with them so you see what's happening with the image.
I do adjust the next one,which is exposure and will move back and forth,watching the histogram up in the top right corner, to make sure I'm not creating hot spots or dark areas that I need to fix later.
Next is recovery, or if you have a new version of Photoshop, shadows and highlights. This one I always do too. Usually with the "recovery" slider, I have someplace in the image, where it's a bit blown out and this "recovers" those pixels!
Fill light is next and acts just as it sounds, it's almost like having a small flash unit in the computer and will fill in the dark shadows.
"Blacks" is the next one and I usually tweak that just a few points,which helps the blacks in the image,get nice and black, if they were a bit over-exposed.
Brightness is next and I always adjust that a bit too.
Then "clarity" which is a type of sharpening, but also can soften the image. slide it towards the left and you'll get a nice soft glow in the image, which works with people,portraits,etc. and then slide it to the right and you'll see the image getting "sharper". I usually go almost all the way to the right and then pull it back a bit.
Vibrance is almost another type of saturation and I usually bump that maybe 10 points and leave it.
Finally, saturation, which I don't use very much here, because I take the image into Photoshop and then into "Selective colors" and adjust each color individually there.
Click on open and you're now in Photoshop/Elements and ready to go!
Rich
Megan, we can try and do this over the phone if you like, just email me and we can set up a time. Ideally, I should have a RAW file sent to me,so we both are looking at the same image.as it gets adjusted. The RAW file doesn't need to be anything special, just a RAW
Megan, we can try and do this over the phone if you like, just email me and we can set up a time. Ideally, I should have a RAW file sent to me,so we both are looking at the same image.as it gets adjusted. The RAW file doesn't need to be anything special, just a RAW
file of anything.
No comments:
Post a Comment