light land
TRANSCRIPT
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LANDSCAPES IN THE DIG ITAL DARKROOM
MICHAEL FRY
LIGHT& LAND
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The digital darkroom gives us tremendous control over our images. We can make them
lighter, darker, add contrast, change the colour balance, increase saturation, turn a colour
photograph into black and white, remove telephone poles, blend exposures with HDR,
combine ten images to capture innite depth of eld, or put a winged elephant in the sky.
But what do we do with all these choices? I think the guiding force should be your original
vision. What inspired you to press the shutter? What were you trying to convey? Every
decision you make should be guided by that primary idea, and by the feeling you’re trying
to convey. Communicating the drama of a stormy sky requires a different approach, and
different settings, than portraying the delicate beauty of a ower. Or, as Ansel said, your
“performance” in the digital darkroom should convey your “emotional and aesthetic ideas”
at the time you made the exposure.
A good musical performance needs the right tempo—not too fast, not too slow. It has to
have contrast—high notes and low ones, quiet interludes and boisterous passages—but
with smooth transitions. When the musician nds the right balance the audience feels it.
Photographs also need balance—enough saturation to bring an image to life, but not make
it harsh or garish; dodging and burning that draws the eyes to the right places, but not in
an obvious way; a colour temperature that enhances both warm and cool hues. When thephotographer nds the right balance, the viewer senses it.
INTRODUCTIONPERFORMING THE SCORE
“ I t h i n k o f t h e n e g at i ve a s t h e ‘ s co r e , ’ a n d t h ep r i n t a s a ‘ p e r f o r m a n c e’ o f t h a t s co r e , w h i c h
conveys the emot i ona l and aes thet i c i deas o f thephotographer a t the t ime o f mak ing the exposure . ”
– Ansel Adams, 1983
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In this book I’ll take you step-by-step through each decision as I process ve different
images in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. You’ll see my workow in action, and I’ll explain
why I use particular techniques in a particular order. But more importantly, you’ll come
to understand the aesthetic judgements behind each decision—how a certain amount of
contrast conveyed my vision, or why too much saturation muddied the colour rather than
enhanced it. As you look over my shoulder you’ll gain insights about how to convey your
own unique vision, and how to squeeze every ounce of beauty, emotion, and inspiratio
out of your photographs.
While I use Lightroom for these examples, the basic principles apply to any softwar
Learning how to make good decisions and nd the right balance is more important t
learning any particular tool or technique.
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A photograph is a photograph. Most of the techniques and aesthetic principles that ap
to other subjects apply to landscape photographs as well. But in some other photograpgenres the photographer is often concerned with only one subject. Landscape
photography frequently requires blending many different ingredients in a harmonious w
HIGHLIGHT & SHADOW DETAIL
In attempting to meld those elements together, landscape photographers often want to
show both highlight and shadow detail, even in scenes with extreme contrast. HDR an
other methods of blending exposures have made it possible to capture both highlight a
shadow detail in almost any situation.
These blending techniques are sometimes essential, but remember that contrast is go
Without contrast, photographs look at. Just because you can keep detail in the darkes
shadows doesn’t mean you should. Lightening something draws attention to it. Before
going to great lengths to preserve shadow detail, ask yourself whether those dark area
really deserve more notice. Are there more interesting things that viewers should be
looking at? Maybe those dark areas should stay black, or show just a hint of detail.
Or maybe only key areas should be lightened. Instead of automatically launching your
favourite exposure-blending software, try directing the viewer’s eyes by selectively
lightening and or darkening specic areas. I have yet to meet a photograph that couldn
benet from some dodging and burning.
LANDSCAPECONSIDERATION
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BLACK POINTS
& WHITE POINTS
How much of an image should be pure
black? How much pure white? This is a key
aesthetic decision for every photograph.
First, remember that every image is
different. You shouldn’t automatically make
ve percent of every photograph pure blackany more than you would automatically
place every horizon a third of the way from
the top of the frame.
Second, ask yourself whether anything in
the image would look black or white in real
life. If not, then we shouldn’t see black or
white in your photograph.
Third, and foremost, consider the feeling
you’re trying to convey. Landscape
photography is all about communicating
the mood of a particular place at a particulartime. Deep blacks and bright whites give
an image power and drama. A more limited
range of tones, with no pure blacks or
whites, may help convey serenity and calm.
Be careful, however, about creating large
regions of blank white in your photographs.
You never see washed-out highlights in
nature except when looking at the sun, or
the sun reecting off water, and it looks
unnatural to see them in a photograph.
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Should you process each image the same way, following the same steps in the same
order, or should you approach every photograph differently?
Yes. In other words, I think it’s helpful to apply a similar sequence of steps with most
images—that way you don’t forget something important, and you develop a certainefciency. But remember that every image is different, and you may need to change yo
approach to t a particular photograph’s unique aesthetic demands.
With Lightroom, or other non-destructive editors like Adobe Camera Raw, Aperture, or
Nikon Capture, the sequence of steps isn’t critical. When you make a change, you’re ju
writing a set of instructions about how you want the image to look, and those instructio
are only applied when and if you export the photograph. So you can start anywhere, ju
back and forth between different tools, and still end up in the right place.
But I think you’ll get to the right place faster, with less frustration, if you do some things
before others. It seems logical, for example, to make adjustments that affect the whole
image before worrying about small, local areas. I prefer to start with basic cleanup, like
cropping and removing dust spots; move to overall decisions about white balance, ton
(brightness, contrast) and saturation; then nish with local changes like dodging, burni
and tweaking individual colours. Here’s my typical workow in Lightroom:
- Crop
- Clone dust spots
- Set the prole
- Set white balance
- Optional: convert to black and white
- Recover highlight or shadow detail, if necessary, with the Recovery and Fill Light tool
- Make overall tonal adjustments with the Point Curve
- Adjust overall clarity, vibrance, and saturation with the Presence panel
- Tweak individual colours with the HSL panel
- Make local corrections (mostly dodging and burning) with the Adjustment Brush
- If necessary, ne-tune settings in the Detail and Vignettes panels
WORKFLOW
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TOOLS
In a book this size it’s impossible to describe every nuance and keyboard shortcut in
Lightroom. For more detail about Lightroom’s Develop Module, I recommend reading David
duChemin’s Vision & Voice: Rening Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom . For a
comprehensive look at all of Lightroom’s features I’d suggest looking at Martin Evening’s
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book , or D65’s Lightroom Workbook by Seth Resnick
and Jamie Spritzer.
This book has a different focus: to help you use the most important tools well, learn to
make good decisions about how your photographs should look, and produce a nished
image that captures the emotion and beauty that you envisioned
CURVES
There is one essential tool that needs some discussion here: Curves. Curves are the
single most powerful tool in the digital darkroom. Now that Lightroom 3 has a real point
curve, I use it for all global tonal adjustments: setting a black point and white point as well
as controlling contrast and brightness. There’s nothing wrong with the Exposure, Blacks,
Brightness, or Contrast sliders, but Curves can duplicate all their functions and more, in
one place, without switching back and forth between tools, and without the risk of one tool
working at cross-purposes with another.
Curves intimidate or confuse many people, but they’re actually quite simple to use. We’ll
start with some basics:
First, in the Tone Curve panel in Lightroom 3, click on the Point
Curve icon in the lower right corner (A). The lower-left end of
the curve is the black point: pushing it to the right increases
blacks (B). Make sure you keep the black point anchored to
the bottom of the Curves box; it shouldn’t be along the side of
the box or oating out in space, as this will change the output
levels and turn blacks to grey. Click on the left-hand triangle
in the histogram to see exactly what parts of the image have
become pure black.
The upper-right end of the curve sets the white point: pushing
it to the left increases whites (C). Again, make sure you keep
this point anchored to the top of the Curves box so you don’t
change the output levels. Click on the right-hand triangle in the
histogram to see exactly what parts of the image have become pure white.
Click anywhere al
the curve to add y
own point. Pushin
point up or to the
lightens that area
while moving it do
or to the right dark
it (E - following p
To remove a poin
drag it off the left
right edge of the b
The steeper the li
of the curve, the m
contrast; the shall
the line of the curv
the less contrast.
Moving the black
to the right, the w
point to the left, o
both, increases ov
contrast by makin
whole line steepe
(F - following page
After setting the b
point and white po
for 95 percent of m
images I make an
S-curve. This mea
placing two more
points: one about
of the way up, the
other about 3/4 of
way up. Then I mo
the 1/4 point down
and to the right, a
the 3/4 point up ato the left. This ma
the middle part of
curve steeper, but
the top and bottom
shallower, increas
the contrast in the
A
B
D
C
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midtones, while decreasing
it in the highlights and
shadows.
This resembles lm
curves. Film manufacturers
discovered long ago that
most images look better
with more contrast in the
middle values and less in
the extremes. The sameidea works for digital
images—except that we
have more control, as we
can tailor the shape of the
curve to t each individual
photograph.
You can adjust contrast
with the shape of the curve:
a shallow S-curve adds
a little contrast (G), while
a sharp S-curve adds a
lot of contrast (H). If you
move both the 1/4 point
and the 3/4 point about the
same distance from the
centre line, you’ll increase
contrast while keeping
the overall brightness the
same. To lighten the image
while also adding contrast,
use a lightening S-curve:
anchor the 1/4 point near its
original location, but push
the 3/4 point up and to the
left (I). To darken the image
while also adding contrast,use a darkening S-curve:
anchor the 3/4 point near its
original location, but pull the
1/4 point down and to the
right (J).
With just four points on a
curve—the black point, the
white point, a point about
1/4 of the way up, and a
point about 3/4 of the way
up—you can control how
much of the image is pure
black, how much is pure
white, the overall contrast,
and the overall brightness.
The most importantimage adjustments can
be accomplished with this
one tool, and with a little
practice, using Curves
becomes easy
and intuitive.
Some books advocate
placing many points
on a curve to lighten or
darken specic areas of
the image. I think these
local adjustments are
better suited to dodging
and burning tools like
Lightroom’s Adjustment
Brush, and a simple
S-curve is preferable for
controlling the overall
tonality.
If you’re using Lightroom
2, you can set a black
point with the Blacks
slider, a white point with
the Exposure slider (it’s
not exactly the same,but close), and make an
S-curve by moving the
Lights and Darks sliders
underneath the Parametric
Curve.
H
J
I
E
G
F
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DEFAULT SETTINGS
The default settings in Lightroom and Camera Raw include
+50 Brightness, +25 Contrast, and what Adobe calls a
“Medium Contrast” point curve (other Raw processors also
usually add contrast and brightness by default). The Medium
Contrast point curve makes a darkening S-curve, which, as
we’ve already seen, increases contrast and darkens the
image (A).
The default Brightness and Contrast settings also add curves.
These may not show up in the Tone Curves panel, but they
affect the image just as a curve would. Setting the Brightness
at +50 is like taking a point in the middle of the curve and
pushing it up and to the left (B). This lightens the midtones and
boosts contrast in the darker areas, but reduces contrast in the
mid-to-upper ranges of the image—something I’d rather avoid.
Putting Contrast at +25 makes an S-curve (C)—not a bad
thing, but something that’s easily duplicated, with ner control,
by using the Point Curve .
Aside from the specic effects of these default settings, I’d
rather not use multiple curves and risk one counteracting
another with potentially adverse effects on the image. I need just one curve to do everything necessary for most images,
so I begin processing each photograph with both Brightness
and Contrast set to zero, and the Point Curve set to Linear.
For good measure, I set Blacks at zero too, since this slider
duplicates the black point in the curve.
Here are three different versions of a photograph made along
the Merced River west of Yosemite National Park. The rst
shows the image with Lightroom’s default settings (D); the
second, my typical starting point, with Blacks, Brightness, and
Contrast at zero and the Point Curve set to Linear (E - following
page); the third, the photograph after adding my own curve
(F - following page).
With this image, the default settings—especially the Brightness
at +50—create washed-out colours. Keeping everything
“zeroed” makes a better starting point from which to add my
own S-curve and show the colour and contrast the image
needs.
A
B
C
D
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FE
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FINDING DIRECTION
Ultimately it doesn’t matter whether you prefer using Curves or some other tool, what
default settings you start with, or even what software you use. The goal is to make the
image communicate something, and there are many ways to accomplish that. Knowing
what you want to say is more important than using a particular procedure.
In the following examples you’ll see the unprocessed Raw le rst, and the nishedimage only at the end of that section. Rather than seeing my interpretation for that
photograph initially, you’ll learn more if you look at the at, lifeless original, evaluate
potential, and nd a direction. How would you process it? Would you make it lighter,
darker, add contrast? What feeling would you try to convey, and what tools would allo
you to do that? Trying to answer these questions at the beginning will increase your
understanding of the whole process.
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EVALUATION
This was the most incredible display of owers I had ever seen. Yellow hillside daisies,
orange San Joaquin blazing stars, and purple phacelia grew in pure stands, often an acreor more in size. It looked like someone had dumped buckets of paint over the hills. I only
had one afternoon and morning to photograph this amazing place, but as I was reluctantly
walking back to my car, headed to an unbreakable commitment, I found this composition
and made my favourite photographs of the trip.
Of course, this image may not look like much here. You’re seeing the unprocessed Raw le
with my default settings in Lightroom, including Contrast and Brightness set at 0, and the
Tone Curve straight (A). With no added contrast the image looks rather
at. I’ve become used to evaluating photographs with these settings,
and I can see the possibilities in sometimes dull-looking les. Before we
go any further, look at this image and see if you can nd its potential.
How would you process it? More importantly, what kind of feeling would
you try to convey, and what tools would you use to do that?
For me, I want to show the incredible colours, and convey something
about the wonder and awe that I felt in this place. Highlighting these
colours will require increasing the contrast and saturation, but not
beyond believability. I want viewers to marvel at the abundance of
owers, not conduct an internal debate about the photograph’s realism.
PHOTOSHOP OR LIGHTROOM?
Before going any further I need to decide whether this image will
require Photoshop, or whether I can do everything in Lightroom.
Lightroom has become a powerful tool (as have other Raw processors
like Adobe Camera Raw, Aperture, and Nikon Capture), more thancapable of handling everything that most images need. But I still use
Photoshop for a few things, like:
- Perspective cropping
- Serious retouching
- Complex selections
ONE PAINTED HILLS IN
THE TEMBLOR RANGE,CALIFORNIA
- Combining two or more images
(composites, expanding contrast range,
expanding depth of eld, panoramas)A
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The only item on the list that might apply to this image is “serious retouching.” When
composing this photograph I left a little extra room at the bottom and top. I knew I didn’t
want the sky in the frame—it was too bright and distracting—but cropping it out in the
camera might also have sliced off some of the yellow owers near the top. Keeping that
extra space left me the option of cloning out the sky if necessary. So before deciding
whether to use Photoshop I need to see if the top can be trimmed without losing anything
vital.
With the Crop Overlay tool (press the R key) in
Lightroom I bring down the top edge just enough to
eliminate the sky, and pull up the bottom edge to getrid of the dirt patch in the lower-left corner, then hit
Enter to see the result (B). Much better—no more
distractions along the edges, and the yellow patch
near the top is still intact. I won’t need Photoshop
after all.
Having made that decision, I can now use my
typical Lightroom workow that I outlined on page 6.
Since I’ve already cropped, the next step is cloning
dust spots, a routine matter with Lightroom’s Spot
Removal tool (I discuss this tool in more depth with
Example 4, page 26).
PROFILE & WHITE BALANCE
Now it’s time to look at the big picture. Before increasing contrast and saturation I rst
need to choose a prole in the Camera Calibration panel. In this case I decide to keep my
standard prole for this camera (Canon 1Ds Mark II), ACR 4.4. The other choices either
create undesirable colour shifts or make little difference. (I discuss proles in more detail
with the fourth example, on pages 26 and 27.)
Next, I evaluate the white balance. This is a vital aesthetic decision; a small change can
make a profound difference in the look and feeling of an image.
To make my eld workow easier I usually leave the camera set to automatic white
balance. But this means that I always need to look at the white balance later, in software.Here the camera chose 5000K. Just looking at this number tells me that the white balance
is probably close, as there’s a small patch of sun in the photo, and any image with sunlight,
or even sunset colours, should usually be around 5000K to 5500K—just like slide lm.
But I’m still going to move the Temp slider in Lightroom to see if a different white balance
might look better. In this case pushing that slider left to 4474K makes the image too blue
(C): it feels cool and aloof, and this photograph needs to be warm and happy. Pushing
slider to the right, to 5505K, certainly makes the image warmer, but to my eye, too war
turning the greens and purples muddy (D). Part of this photograph’s power comes from
colour contrast; the juxtaposition of the cool greens and purples against the warm yello
and oranges creates a visual vibration. If the greens and purples become yellowish, th
everything is warm, and there’s no contrast. So I decide to leave the white balance at
5000K (E).
POINT CURVE
Next comes the overall tonality. Before getting to the Point Curve I’ll look at the Recovery
and Fill Light tools. These actually do things that the Point Curve can’t, so it’s worth chec
to see if they might help. But in this case neither tool is necessary; the histogram shows
clipping, and viewing the image itself I nd no problems with highlight or shadow detail.
So on to the curve. As I explained earlier, I start with Brightness, Contrast, and Blacks
0, and the Point Curve set to Linear. Then I click on the Point Curve icon on the lower
corner of the Tone Curve panel. The rst decision is about black and white points. Sinc
there’s nothing pushed up against either end of the histogram—nothing already pure wor black—I have room to move the black and white points without washing out highligh
blackening shadows.
But I don’t want to go too far. Looking at this image, there’s nothing that I would perceiv
as black or white in real life. And while I want more contrast, a ower photograph shou
feel harsh.
B
C D E
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So I slide the black point (the lower-left end of the curve) to the right, making sure to keep it
along the bottom edge of the box, and push it far enough to give the shadows some depth,
but not enough to make them pure black.
For this image, a similar procedure works for the white point—sliding it to the left, but not
too much, being sure to keep the point along the top edge of the box to avoid changing the
output levels.
Here’s the resulting image, curve, and histogram (F). The steeper the line of the curve,
the more contrast. Moving the end points has made the whole line steeper, increasing
contrast.
The image already look livelier, but it’s not there yet. I press J to show highlight and
shadow clipping, and push both the black and white points as far as they can go without
actually losing detail at either end. This creates more contrast, but even though there’s
nothing pure white or black, the image seems rather harsh, and the brightest yellows, just
left of centre, look hot (G).
So I’ll try another approach. Instead of moving the black and white points closer together,
I’ll make an S-curve.
With this photograph I make a lightening S-curve—that is, I move the 1/4 point only slightly
down and to the right, but push the 3/4 point up and to the left quite a bit, so the whole
middle part of the curve is shifted upward. This makes the midtones lighter overall as well
as increasing the contrast. The result is brighter and livelier than what could be achieved
by only moving the black and white points; there’s good contrast, but the shadows are
more open. This ts the mood of the image better (H).
When adjusting contrast it can be difcult to nd the right balance. You want enough to
give the image snap and punch, but not so much that it starts to look harsh or garish. F
comparison, here are two more versions, the rst with a gentler S-curve and less contr
(I), the second with a sharper S-curve and more contrast (J). To me the middle version
is about right, but these things are always subjective.
CLARITY & SATURATION
There’s one more control for tweaking the overall contrast: Clarity. This tool boosts the
midtone contrast, and can add a lot of snap to a photograph. But I use it sparingly, as
make an image look too crispy. This is a ower photograph—it should feel a bit soft. B
add a little Clarity, going from my default starting point of +10 to +22.
H I J
F G
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You might have noticed that the S-curve increased saturation as well as contrast. That’s
one reason why I usually adjust tonality—brightness and contrast—before saturation. In
this case I think the overall saturation now looks about right, so I leave the Saturation and
Vibrance sliders at 0. As a comparison, here are three versions with the Saturation at 0 (K),
-15 (L), and +15 (M).
While the overall saturation looks good,I’d like to make the oranges and purples a
little stronger. In the HSL panel I push the
Orange saturation slider up to +24, and
the Purple slider up to +22. The change
is slight, but enough to help those colours
hold up against the bright yellows (N).
The last two adjustments—a slight increase
in Clarity, plus boosting the orange and
purple saturation—make only subtle
differences. But the cumulative effects of
such small changes can add to the beauty
of the nal print.
DODGING & BURNING
The image is nearing completion. The main task left is dodging and burning. At this po
I ask myself two questions. First, do any bright spots draw too much attention? Second
does something dark need to pull the eyes more?
To answer the rst question, the sun was striking a spot just left of centre. This bright
triangle bleeds off the left side of the photograph, pulling the eyes out of the frame.
I click on the Adjustment Brush tool and move the Exposure slider to the left. The amo
doesn’t matter, as it can be tweaked later, but I’ll start with -0.51—about half a stop. Usfairly large, soft-edged brush (Size 7.0, Feather 100, Flow 100, Auto Mask off, Density
I paint over the triangle. The result is a little too dark, so I push the Exposure slider bac
to -0.34 (O).
To answer the second question, the other two yellow patches near the top and bottom
didn’t receive any sunlight, and deserve to draw a little more attention. So with the
Adjustment Brush still activated I click on New, push the Exposure slider to the right, a
paint over the bottom yellow patch (P), then repeat the procedure with the top patch (Q
K L M
N
O P Q
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FINAL STEPS
The image is essentially done. I don’ttypically add much vignetting—if there are
bright spots that draw the eyes out of the
frame, I usually use the Adjustment Brush
to darken those specic areas rather than
use an overall vignette. Since I already did
that with the triangle
on the left edge, I
keep the vignetting
at my standard
settings (S).
There is little noise
(this was capturedat 100 ISO) so I
leave Lightroom’s noise reduction
tools at their default settings.
Every digital image needs sharpening.
The ne detail in landscape images is best
preserved by keeping the Amount high and
the Radius low. With my Canon 1Ds Mark
II, I usually start
with an Amount
of 60 and the
lowest Radius
possible, 0.5 (T).
The Detail and Masking sliders control
what parts of the image get sharpened. The
idea is to sharpen edges, but not sharpensmooth areas like sky or water, where the
sharpening would only emphasize noise.
Unfortunately using either of these controls
can leave textured areas like rocks or tree
bark unsharpened and soft, so I usually
leave these tools off—that is, I keep Detail
at 100 and Masking a 0. This sharpens
everything evenly.
(Note: sharpening settings can vary greatly
with different camera models. Also, I nd
that images processed with the new engine
in Lightroom 3 need more sharpening than
in Lightroom 2.)
With this image I’ll keep my standard
settings and adjust them later when I know
the size and resolution of the nal print.
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the
original Raw le and the nal image (U)
(V). Quite a difference! The hardest part
of processing this photograph was simply
nding the right balance—adding enough
contrast and saturation to bring it to life and
capture the wonder of this place, without
going too far and making the image lookharsh, fake, or garish.
Of course some people might think
I’ve gone too far, or not far enough.
Photography is always subjective. But
to me this captures what I saw and felt.
The three yellow focal points are now in
better balance, and draw the eyes nicely
through the photograph from bottom to
top (R).
R
T
S
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EVALUATION
Again, this rst image shows the rather at-looking, unprocessed
Raw le (A). Before reading further, take a moment to think about the
direction you would take. How would you process this image? What
feeling would you try to convey?
This is one of my favourite sunrise spots in the Sierra Nevada high
country. On this morning a raft of speckled clouds drifted in, a great
addition to the scene. Every time I looked up from my camera I was
surprised by just how gorgeous the view was. I want the nished image
to convey some of the serene majesty and beauty I saw that morning.
TWO SUNRISE,
GREENSTONE LAKE, SIERRA NEVADA
The histogram is nicely balanced, with nothing pushed up against either edge, showing
that there’s detail in the highlights and shadows. Certainly the photograph will need mo
contrast, but not too much. The feeling should be uplifting rather than dramatic. Also, w
a reection like this it helps to either darken the sky or lighten the water to bring them i
better balance and emphasize the symmetry.
CROPPING & CLONING
The horizon looks straight, but the main centres of interest—clouds, sunlit peaks, and
reections—reside in the middle of the frame, so there might be excess space on the s
that could be cropped.
With the Crop Overlay tool I bring in both the left and right sides and simply play aroun
with those edges until I’m satised. I don’t want to crop too tightly, as the image needs
feel expansive (B).
A few dust spots need to be removed; the Spot Removal tool in Heal mode takes care
these quickly. No other retouching seems necessary.
B
A
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The camera’s automatic white balance chose 7500K, which seems like a high number for
a sunrise photograph. Usually images with sunlight, including sunrises and sunsets, lookbest around at 5000 to 5500K, equivalent to slide lm. But to my eye 7500K looks about
right. I try pushing the Temp slider to the left, but going too far immediately makes the
image seem too cold. I settle on a slight move, to 7238K (D).
C
D
E
DARKENING THE SKY
You have to be willing to alter your workow when the image calls for it. Usually my ne
step is to adjust the overall tonality with the Point Curve, but here I’d like to darken the
and bring it into better balance with the water before increasing the global contrast.
The Adjustment Brush seems better suited to following the crooked contours of the
ridgeline than the Graduated Filter tool. I set the Exposure to -0.51 as a starting point,
then use a big, soft-edged brush (Size 18.1, Feather 100, Flow 100, Density 100) and p
over most of the sky. As I get near the ridgeline I use the left bracket key ([) to make th
brush smaller. I keep Auto Mask off, as it sometimes creates halos around edges like tridgeline. By letting part of the brush spill over onto the ridge I can hide the transition a
avoid a tell-tale halo in the sky.
The Exposure setting of -0.51 is a bit too strong; I don’t want the sky to look darker tha
its reection in the water, something you’d never see in real life, so I back the Exposur
off to -0.34. Also, I push the Contrast slider up to +21 to bring out more denition in the
clouds (E).
PROFILE & WHITE BALANCE
In the Camera Calibration panel I look at alternatives to my standard ACR 4.4 prole. All
the other choices—Adobe Standard, for example (C)— make the sky too blue or cyan; I like
the slight magenta tint that ACR 4.4 gives the image, so I leave it at that.
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I
POINT
CURVE
Now that the sky and
water are in better
balance, it’s time to adjust
the overall tonality. First
I press J to activate the
clipping triangles in the
histogram, then push the
lower-left end of the Point
Curve (the black point) to
the right, keeping it along
the bottom of the box,
until some small areas
underneath the trees go
black (F). Even though
these spots are small, the
image already feels too
heavy, so I pull the black
point back to the left,
leaving the shadows more
open (G).
Next, I push the white
point (the upper-right
end of the curve) to
the left. A slight move
activates the clipping
warning in the brightest
snow patch, indicating
washed-out highlights.
This is something I usually
avoid—I don’t want blank
highlight areas with no
detail, as they usually look
splotchy and unnatural. SoI leave the white point in
its original position.
Next, as usual, I make an S-curve. A sharp bend makes this image look too contrasty
harsh (H), so I end up with a more gentle curve. It’s a slight lightening S-curve, bringin
the midtones up a little (I).
G
F
H
When adjusting contrast or saturation, it’s often helpful to deliberately go too far, then
off. Think of it as a pendulum. Increase the contrast or saturation until it’s obviously to
much, then decrease it until it’s obviously too little. Keep repeating this process, but s
a little less at each pass, until you nd a happy medium. If in doubt, think about the fe
you want to convey.
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CLARITY & SATURATION
Next, I push the Clarity slider up from my default setting of +10 to +18—a subtle change,
but too much makes the photograph look hard and heavy.
The gentle S-curve didn’t increase the saturation very much, so I push the Vibrance and
Saturation sliders to the right. Saturation boosts already-saturated colours while leaving
less-saturated colours almost untouched. Vibrance boosts those less-saturated colours
more. In this image Vibrance makes the blues too intense. I’m really more interested in
bringing out the warm tones. Since these are already somewhat saturated, the Saturation
slider does this well. So I end up with +7 Vibrance and +22 Saturation (J). The image isreally coming to life now.
DODGING & BURNING
Although I already used the Adjustment Brush to darken the sky, it’s worth looking at the
image again to see if there are other areas that need lightening or darkening. The sunlit
snow patches below the right-hand peak jump out at me—they’re a bit hot, and draw
attention away from more interesting things. So I click on the Adjustment Brush tool, set
the Exposure to -0.51, and choose a small, soft-edged brush. This time I select the Auto
Mask check box to conne my brush strokes to the white snow. This works perfectly, but
the Exposure setting is too much, so I back it off to -0.34 ( K).
Anything else? Yes, there are some bright areas along the edges that I’d like to darken to
help hold the viewer’s eyes in the frame (L).
THE FINAL IMAGE
Here’s a before-and-after comparison (M) (N - following page). Does the nal image
succeed in capturing the feeling I was after? I think so, but it always helps to let a
photograph sit for a week or two, then look at it again with fresh eyes. The beauty of
Lightroom’s non-destructive editing is that it’s easy to go back and change any aspect
the image at any time.
K L
J
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EVALUATION
What potential does this image have? Take a moment to think about how you might
process it, and what you would try to convey (A).
In May, Vernal Fall is a thundering, roaring cataract, and you would get soaked by spra
if you were standing at this spot. But when I made this photograph in late July, the ow
had dwindled and the waterfall was lapping quietly against the rocks. The blurred motio
created by the slow shutter speed seemed to t this calm mood, creating a contrast in
textures between the hard rock and the soft, silky water. To me the nished photograp
needs to convey that quiet feeling, and emphasize the ethereal look of the waterfall.
The histogram is narrow and pushed to the left, indicating a low-contrast, underexpose
image. I’ll need to lighten it and increase the contrast.
But the big question is whether to leave this in colour or change it to black and white.
Sometimes I know before I press the shutter that I want the nal photograph to be in
black and white; other times I’m certain I’ll leave it in colour. But this is one of thoseimages that could work either way. There are some interesting subtle hues, but the
photograph’s effectiveness depends less on colour than on the contrast between the
light water and darker surrounding rocks. For now I’ll defer that decision and start with
some basic steps.
CROPPING
& CLONING
Although the overall framing looks
ne, I decide that I could trim the
top and left sides. There’s just a
little too much space at the top,and I want the viewer’s attention
focused on the more interesting
bottom part of the frame (B).
Cloning is a routine matter of
cleaning up a few dust spots.
THREE VERNAL FALL IN SUMMER
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
A
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PROFILE & WHITE BALANCE
My standard ACR 4.4 prole looks ne, and this choice
won’t matter as much if I convert the image to black and
white, so I stick with that.
Even if I do convert this to black and white, the white
balance can affect how the colours convert to shades
of grey. I’d like to start with a fairly neutral colour
temperature. The camera chose 6600K, which looks
a bit cool. I select the Eyedropper tool and click on thewhite water, but this changes the Tint slider from +15 to -3
and makes the image too green. So I press Command-Z
(Control-Z with Windows) to undo, then simply push the
Temp slider to the right, and settle on 7532K (C).
CONVERTING
TO BLACK & WHITE
I can’t put off the decision any longer. The black and white conversion can have a dramatic
effect on contrast, so it’s better to do this before adjusting the curve.
Underneath the Tone Curve is the HSL/Color/B&W panel. I’ve created several Presets forthe Black & White mix. I start with one I call “Straight,” which leaves all the sliders for the
Black & White mix at zero. This looks pretty good, and convinces me that the photograph
should be in black and white (D).
My other Black & White Presets mimic the effect of coloured lters with black-and-white
lm: the “Red Filter” Preset lightens reds while darkening greens and blues, the “Blue
Filter” Preset lightens blues while darkening oranges and yellows, and so on. I usually
them all. In this case the warmer lters lighten the tan-coloured rocks, making them too
prominent. Here’s the image with the yellow (E) and red (F) “lters” for comparison. I s
on the “Straight” mix as a starting point.
But it’s only a starting point. In the B&W panel I push the Red and Orange sliders to th
left to darken the tan-coloured rocks. I want the cliff to recede visually so that the water
stands out cleanly against a dark background (G).
POINT CURVE
I move the black point far enough to make the deepest shadows dark grey, but not pur
black. I’m mindful of the soft look and feeling that I’m after, and real blacks will make
the image feel too hard. I slide the white point to the left, but not too far—I’m planning t
selectively lighten the waterfall further with the Adjustment Brush, so I need to leave so
head room (H - following page).
Next I add a slight S-curve to lighten the image and further increase the contrast. The
result leaves nothing pure white or pure black, but gives the image a rich set of charco
greys to contrast with the nearly-white water, a look that seems appropriate for this
photograph (I - following page).
C
D
F
E
G
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CLARITY
After some experimenting I decide to set the Clarity at 0; with this image too much Clarity
counteracts the soft, ethereal feeling that I’m after.
DODGING & BURNING
As I mentioned, I’d like to selectively lighten the waterfall so that it stands out further
against the darker surrounding rocks. After clicking on the Adjustment Brush tool I set the
Exposure slider to +0.33, choose a medium-sized, soft-edged brush (Size 8.0, Feather
100, Flow 100, Density 100), and select the Auto Mask check box.
I keep the centre of the brush over the water so that the Auto Mask connes the brush
strokes to the light areas. The result was just what I was after—the waterfall really glows
(J). But now it feels like my eyes are being drawn out of the top of the frame. So I click on
Erase, make the brush size much bigger (to get a softer edge), and erase away the effect
from the top of the waterfall (K).
Now it’s time to look for distractions. Is there anything that’s too bright, that pulls my
attention away from the waterfall? Yes—the whole upper-left corner, and a small,
underwater rock at the bottom centre of the frame. In the Adjustment Brush panel, I clic
on New to add a pin, and, using a small brush, darken the underwater rock with the
Exposure set to -0.33. Next, I click on New again, and with a larger brush paint over th
upper left part of the image. I prefer a subtle effect here, so I nudge the Exposure valu
-0.17 (L - following page).
H I
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TONING
There’s one more detail: I’d like to add a slight warm tone to the image.
In the Split Toning panel I set both Highlights and Shadows to the same values: Hue 45,
Saturation 3 (M). I’m not after a real split-tone effect here, just an overall warm tint.
THE FINAL IMAGE
I can’t say that I envisioned the nal result from the
start. In this case I had to dive in and experiment to
nd the right path, but the nal version has the quiet
luminosity I was seeking (N) (O).
L
M N
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EVALUATION
Once again, take a look at the at, unprocessed Raw le and think
about the direction you might take. How would you process it? What
feeling would you try to convey? (A)
This is the only time I’ve seen a magenta reection in nature. Thecolour comes from a pink-owered redbud bush sitting in the sun on
the opposite bank of the river. I used a slow shutter speed, and there’s
actually nothing sharp in the photograph—the whole image consists of
blurred water. To me the photograph needs to feel soft, yet brilliant. I
think of the colour in the middle of the frame as a jewel set in the water.
FOUR REDBUD REFLECTION
ALONG THE MERCED RIVER, CALIFORNIA
The histogram is fairly narrow, so the contrast will need to be increased. There’s nothin
in the image that should be black, but some areas could be white, or close to white. I
denitely want vibrant colours.
CROPPING & CLONING
The photograph was framed carefully, and I don’t see anything that needs to be cropp
but there are lots of dust spots. Retouching images like this has made me more diligen
about cleaning my sensor!
I zoom in to 1:1, select the Spot Removal tool, and set it to Heal. Starting at the upper-left corner, I work my way systematically through the image using the Page Down key.
The trick to effective retouching, whether using the Spot Removal tool in Lightroom and
Camera Raw, or the Clone Stamp or Healing Brush tools in Photoshop, is to align your
clone-from and clone-to spots with the texture of image.
Here’s an example: I clicked on a dust spot, and Lightroom automatically chose to hea
from an area above and to the right. There’s an obvious circle caused by the mismatch
between the tones and colours of the clone-from and clone-to locations ( B). By moving
clone-from circle to the left, so that it lines up with the horizontal stripes in the water, th
retouching becomes seamless and unnoticeable (C).
PROFILE
The proles in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw can subtly or dramatically change the
colours of an image. Some proles create more saturated colours, some less, and the
overall colour temperature or individual hues can be altered, so I want select a prole
before making other decisions, especially about white balance and saturation. There is
A
B C
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necessarily a “correct” prole for
any camera or any image. Rather,
each prole can be thought of as
a different colour avour, and you
can choose the avour you like
best for a particular photograph.
In the Camera Calibration panel
of Lightroom and Camera Raw
you’ll nd a pull-down menu with
different proles. For my camera
(Canon 1Ds Mark II), and most
Canons, Lightroom and Camera
Raw come with eight choices.
Other camera brands will have
different proles, although with
some you may nd no choices
at all. You can also create your
own proles—I use the X-Rite
ColorChecker Passport to make
custom proles for special lighting
conditions.
My default prole, the one that
usually gives me the mostnatural, realistic colours with my
camera, is ACR 4.4 (D). But I
always check to see if another
prole might be better suited to a
particular image.
With this photograph the
differences are mostly subtle.
The “Camera Landscape” prole,
however, dramatically increases
the saturation, and shifts some
of the colours (E). As usual, this
prole exaggerates the colours
too much for my taste. But the“Camera Standard” prole adds
more contrast and denition to
the image compared to ACR 4.4,
without exaggerating the colours,
so I choose that (F).
WHITE BALANCE
I try clicking on the white water with the Eyedropper tool to see if this will improve the co
balance. This shifts the colour temperature to 7650K, which looks too warm (G). Again,
want to retain the warm-cool colour contrast. When the colour temperature gets too yel
some of the blue notes in the water become muddy, and the image loses its vibrance. S
after a bit more experimenting I decide to leave the white balance “As Shot,” at 6300K.
POINT CURVE
As I said at the beginning of this section, there’s nothing that should be black in this
photograph. Parts of the water could be close to white, but I don’t want blank, washed-
out areas.
I start by pressing J to see highlight and shadow clipping. Next I slide the upper-right en
of the Point Curve to the left to set the white point, moving it until I start to see clipping, t
backing off slightly. Then I slide the lower-left end of the curve to the right to set the blac
point, moving it just far enough to give the shadows some weight (H - following page).
Then I make a sharp lightening S-curve. This looks better, but the image still seems a bdark and heavy (I - following page). I push the 3/4 point even more to the left, making th
midtone line of the curve almost vertical, but that clips, or washes out, some highlights
(J - following page). So I end up adding another point to the curve near the top to bring
detail back into the whites. This is a radical curve, but it creates the luminosity I’m lookin
for (K - following page).
D
E
F
G
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RECOVERY
Even though nothing is technically washed out, some areas lack denition. So I push the
Recovery slider to the right until I see more texture in the whites (L).
SATURATION
The sharp S-curve has boosted the contrast, and with it the saturation, so I don’t think
more is necessary. I might even consider taking some out, but to me this looks about r
DODGING & BURNING
Some whites still seem too bright and lacking in texture. I select the Adjustment Brush
and start with the Exposure set to -0.51. With a moderately large, soft-edged brush I p
over the brightest patches of white, then readjust the Exposure to -0.43 (M).
H
J
I L
M
K
O
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MORE DUST REMOVAL
The radical curve has brought out some dust spots that weren’t visible before. This oftenhappens—increasing contrast makes dust spots more apparent. For this reason it might
make more sense to leave cloning until the end of the workow, but I prefer to do it early
because I nd it annoying and distracting to see those dust spots while trying to make the
image look beautiful. If more dust spots become apparent later, I just make another pass
with the Spot Removal tool to clean those up—which I do here.
THE
FINAL IMAGE
Again, this is a big change from the original, unprocessed Raw le (N). But to me the
image conveys that bright, jewel-like appearance I was seeking (O).
shutter that I wanted the nal image to be in black and white I visualized a dramatic
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EVALUATION
This image cries out for a strong interpretation. What would you do with
it? What mood would you try to convey? (A)
I’ve spent many hours at Tunnel View in Yosemite waiting for storms
to clear. Usually I go home with nothing except memories of shivering,stamping my feet, and getting wet. But sometimes perseverance is
rewarded, as on this February afternoon when the sun broke through
and illuminated Cathedral Rocks.
Unlike the photograph of Vernal Fall, I knew before I pressed the
FIVE YOSEMITE VALLEY
AFTER A SNOWSTORM
shutter that I wanted the nal image to be in black and white. I visualized a dramatic
rendition with strong contrast, reminiscent of some of Ansel Adams’ photographs mad
from this very spot.
The histogram shows plenty of room on the left edge, but a small spike on the right,
indicating overexposed highlights. Pressing the J key shows clipping in the bright, sun
snow on top of Cathedral Rocks. These areas are small, so I should be able to rescue
them with the Recovery tool.
I envision a full range of tones in the nal image, with small areas of black and white, and
every shade of grey in between. The key word in that previous sentence is small; only tin
areas of pure black and white are necessary to create impact. Ansel Adams is known fo
high-contrast prints, but his photographs usually show only tiny areas of pure black or w
and many images have no real blacks or whites at all. His prints get their richness from t
variety and subtlety of greys, rather than heavy-handed masses of black and white.
RECOVERY
Before doing anything else I need to make sure that I can bring back detail in those
washed-out highlights. If not, there’s no point in proceeding further. Pushing the Recov
slider up to 20 easily pulls in the highlight detail (B).
A
B
CROPPING & CLONING
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POINT CURVE & CLARITY
After pressing the J key to show highlight and shadow clipping, I move the black point
enough to the right to make some tiny areas near Bridalveil Fall pure black (F). I leave
white point where it is—there’s no reason to throw away the highlight detail that I recove
Moving the black point has darkened the image too much overall, so I’ll need a to crea
a curve that lightens the mid-to-upper tones, while leaving the black and white points
unchanged. That means making a steep, straight line from the black point upward, the
bending the top of the curve over to meet the white point (G - following page).
The image now has small areas of black, tiny spots of white, and a balanced range of
greys in between. There’s plenty of contrast, so I only nudge the Clarity up to +22.
CROPPING & CLONING
Next, I consider cropping the image. There’s a small sunlit patch of snow along the right
edge near the top, something that could pull viewer’s attention out of the frame, but
trimming the right edge seems to truncate the rounded line on top of the Leaning Tower
(the tall, dark cliff near the right edge). So I leave that edge alone and trust that I can
darken that snow patch later with the Adjustment Brush if necessary.
A dark triangle of rock intrudes into the left edge of the frame, another potential distraction,
but cropping that out doesn’t seem to work either. This triangle acts as a visual bumper,
preventing the viewer’s eyes from bleeding off the left side of the image. In the end I decide
not to crop anything. After removing a few dust spots I’m ready for the next step.
PROFILE & WHITE BALANCE
Even though I’m planning to convert this image to black and white, proles can alter the
contrast, and the underlying colour balance can affect the black and white conversion. But
after some experimentation I decide to stick with the ACR 4.4 prole, and the “As Shot”
white balance, 5500K.
CONVERTING TO BLACK & WHITE
Before adjusting the Point Curve I need to convert the image to black and white, as thistranslation has a big effect on the overall contrast. I try each of my Presets that adjust the
Black & White Mix to imitate the effects of coloured lters with black and white lm. With
this image there’s a neat progression, with the blue “lter” providing the least contrast (C),
green a little more, yellow producing moderate contrast (D), orange a bit more than that,
and nally red creating the most contrast. Since I envision a dramatic, high-contrast nal
image, I go with the red “lter” mix (E).
C D
E
F
(J) Lightening and adding contrast to Bridalveil Fall and the surrounding area
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DODGING & BURNING
While the overall contrast now looks about right, this image needs extensive dodging and
burning to direct the viewer’s attention. The snow-covered trees along the bottom of the
frame are too bright. Bridalveil Fall is too dark—it needs to draw the eyes more. The sky
needs to be burned down to keep the viewer’s attention on more interesting things below. I
use six different pins with the Adjustment Brush, as the illustrations show:
(H) Darkening and adding contrast to the trees along the bottom(I) Bringing down the lower edge even further
(J) Lightening and adding contrast to Bridalveil Fall and the surrounding area
(K) Darkening and adding contrast to the sky and sunlit snow
(L) Lightening Half Dome
(M) Darkening some bright spots along the edges
G
H I
J
L
K
M
The cumulative effect is dramatic (N). In particular, I’ve created the illusion of a faint
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e cu u at e e ect s d a at c ( ) pa t cu a , e c eated t e us o o a a t
beam of sunlight striking Bridalveil Fall. Nature doesn’t always provide perfect lighting, so
sometimes you have to help it along!
I couldn’t get away with this much dodging and burning in colour. With colour there’s an
expectation of realism, but converting to black and white takes the image further from
reality, so we’re willing to accept tonalities we wouldn’t see in real life. To demonstrate
this, I’ve clicked on the HSL panel to change this image back to colour (O). Now the area
around Bridalveil Fall looks fake—like someone did some heavy-handed dodging. In black
and white this region seems believable.
FINAL TOUCHES
As with the image of Vernal Fall, I use the Split Toning panel
to add a slight warm tint to the image (P).
Is there anything else that needs to be xed? Yes—the
increased contrast has emphasized some small bright areas
in the sky along the right and left edges. These can easily be
trimmed, which I do with the Crop Overlay tool.
(Q) (R) This is certainly a large departure from the original Raw le, but to me the nished
photograph captures the dramatic potential of this scene. Is it realistic? Probably not. Does
it convey my “emotional and aesthetic ideas ... at the time of making the exposure?” Yes.
N O
P
Q
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Learning to express your vision with software requires trial,
error, and experience. But there is one small shortcut. While
digital tools keep changing, the aesthetics of photography
remain the same. One of the best ways to improve your digital
darkroom skills is to simply look at good prints. Galleries and
museums are full of photographs made by masters of the
craft, and they have a lot to teach us.
When viewing prints, look at the contrast. How much of the
photograph is pure white? How much pure black? Is the
print dramatic or understated? Notice the colour balance
and saturation. With black-and-white images, check for slight
colour tints.
Ansel Adams, one of the greatest landscape printmakers,
said “The difference between a very good print and a ne
print is quite subtle and difcult, if not impossible, to describe
in words. There is a feeling of satisfaction in the presence
of a ne print—and uneasiness with a print that falls short of
optimum quality.”
Learning software tools is relatively easy. Mastering the artand craft of the digital darkroom is another matter. Trust your
instincts. Find balance. Let your original inspiration guide you.
CONCLUSION
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Frye is a professional photograpspecializing in landscapes and nature. H
author and photographer of The PhotogrGuide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations
Digital Landscape Photography: In the Fo
of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters . His also featured in the book Landscape: T
World’s Top Photographers . He has writt
numerous magazine articles on the art atechnique of photography, and his image
been published in over thirty countries ar
the world, including the magazines NatioWildlife, Outdoor Photographer, American
Sunset, Texas Highways, Britain’s ProfesPhotographer , and Russia’s Foto & Video
Michael has lived either in or near Yosem
National Park since 1983, currently residoutside the park in Mariposa, California.
Michael is passionate about sharing hisknowledge of photography and helping o
express their photographic vision. Visit w
michaelfrye.com for free photo tips, tutorand photo critiques.
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Craft&Vision
Pixelated Image Communications Inc29115 RPO South Granville Post
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6J [email protected]
CraftAndVision.com
Copyright © 2010 by Michael Frye
Editor & Publisher, David duChemin
Production Editor & Manager, Corwin Hi
Copy Editor, Susannah RohloffDesign & Layout, Justin Keitch
Notice of Rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in anyform by any means without the prior writ
permission of the publisher.
SPEND $5IMPROVE YOUR CRAFT
Craft & Vision aims to do one thing: create the best value in photographiceducation through ridiculously low-priced eBooks, available as both PDFformat or as apps for the Apple iPad. With titles by David duChemin, thebest-selling author of Within Te Frame, and photographers like DaveDelnea and Andrew S. Gibson. Always $5. Or less.
*Gear Is Good. Vision is Better. But hey, who are we kidding, y’all are still going to lust after the latest lens, so at only $5 each these bookswill allow you to have the best of both worlds. So if you like, feel free to change that to Improve Your Craft, Buy MORE Gear. Whatever.
Get the whole collection at www.CraftAndVision.com
CRAFT& VISIOGREAT PHOTOGRAPHY HAPPENS WHERE CRAFT AND VISION CON
(BUY LESS GEAR)*
LIGHT& LANDLANDSCAPES IN THE DIGITAL DARKROOM
MICHAEL FRYE