All of the Adjustment brushes, radial filters and graduated filters have the ability to introduce color into the effect. This can be extremely handy in helping the adjustment blend into the environment a bit better. Let me show you.

Here is a picture of my wife and son… it is cropped like this because my wife doesn’t like her smile in this one…tip is focusing on the top part of the picture, so I am just showing you the parts that won’t get me in trouble.

Notice there are three areas that are pretty light and are drawing the eye away from the kid. I could paint in the areas with the adjustment brush, but I like the speed at which I can use the graduated filter and the radial filter… but the choice is up to you. When you apply the filter such as on the left corner… it works pretty well, but it has a little bit darker contrast.

So let’s add a little color to help it blend. Go to the bottom of the adjustment panel and click on the little box next to Color… it will bring up the color picker panel.

That is great if you know what color you want… simply click inside the box and dial up or down the amount of saturation. Which is the S slider at the bottom of the panel.

However, if you are like me and not really sure what is the best color to choose… use this tip.

Click inside the color panel with the eye dropper, and while holding the click… move it to anywhere on the image to sample a color.

For this instance I grabbed the color of the leaves around the area. (Actually for this screen shot I think I hit the branch. :D)

Now you can apply a color that come right from the scene.

Compare the before and after.

Don’t forget… if you decide afterwards that it is a little too strong or too saturated, you can always go back and tweak it as many times as you like.

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But after the fact, you can do a little bit to help your cause by cleaning up the images. It will not turn every image into a work of art… and that is not your goal, but it can make you rest a little easier when you look at the images, if you can cut out some distractions.

This is where the Spot Removal tool comes into play and the question of whether to set it for Clone or Healing.

Let’s look at an example.

Here is a birthday party with my sons and their uncle… (if you know my brother in-law Jeff, don’t tell him that I am using this picture… since I don’t have a model release. :D)

Now this photo is not going to win any awards, but since I have been talking to you guys about how the eye reacts to different distractions in the image… I dare you to not pay attention to the blue blob behind Daniels head. It hurts my soul to look at it… and even though I am not going to spend a long time editing this image… that blob has to go.

So what is my best approach?

Start with the Spot removal brush set to Clone and do the main part of the blob… going near the edge, but not hitting the hair.

Now switch to Healing and work the edge of the hair and the remaining blue.

you may have to move the sample target to get the right blend

The healing brush gives just the right amount of blending so the hair doesn’t look chopped

after a ten second clone and heal

Think of it this way… Cloning does a lot of the heavy lifting as far as removing large chunks, but healing is what you want to use to blend the edges. Most of us are impatient and we try to do everything in one shot… so we usually use one type of brush on that section, but if you will think like Photoshop does and do a quick two step, you may find you have better luck.

ps. who in here wants me to tackle the weird animal thingy behind Jeff’s head? Yep, that is next on the list.

The post To clone or heal? appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.

If you feel like your adjustment brush is a little clunky, then you may want to take a look at adjusting your Flow and Density settings.

Here is an image I took of my friend David Carr playing drums for his band Third Day. I want to be able to lighten up his face just a bit and tone down the background to focus more on him.

First step we usually take is to zoom in on his face and pick the adjustment brush. Set the exposure up to a reasonable setting and start painting. It will brighten him up, but it looks a tad over-edited especially on the shoulder and cheek.

My default reaction would be to jump over into Photoshop and make a mask and use my brushes to sculpt the light with much more precision. However if you can understand Flow and Density, there really isn’t much need to jump over to Photoshop.

Think of Flow as the setting of the nozzle on a water hose. 100% is going to give you a full blast of water in one shot; where as a lower setting will cause it to come out more slowly. Density determines the strength of the effect that you are applying with the brush. It sets the limit of how much of the effect is applied. For instance if you are applying a lightening of the exposure by 4 stops and you have the Density at 75, that would mean that you are only applying the effect at 75% strength.

I have created an illustration to show you how the two work in conjunction. The first two groups are made by a single stroke straight down, while the third group is made by brushing back and forth with more strokes down at the bottom to show the build-up.

Using only one adjustment setting for this example:Exposure… just changing the Density on its own will only affect the Opacity (apparent strength) of the stroke. When only changing the Flow setting and only making a single stroke in one direction, it has the appearance of effecting the opacity, but when you look at the last set of three strokes, you see that Flow will let you keep painting over that stroke until it reaches the Density ceiling.

Now I know that isn’t the most exciting chart, and the bottom line is that if you will just experiment with adjusting both of those sliders first by themselves and then together, you will begin to get a feel for how well you can set your brush to act exactly the way you want to.

Why would you want to use these settings? Perhaps you are wanting to add subtle lighting to a face; you could set a low Flow and a low Density to paint a light base without having to worry about over-painting or doing too much at one time. Next you can increase the density slider and just paint over the areas that need to be built up with even more exposure. You have full control of how fast and how strong the effect is. This also eliminates the need to keep going over and creating a new adjustment brush, to build up an effect in an area.

Here you can compare the difference in the two results of lightening his face; the first is without changing Flow or Density and the second is using the build up method. (I have made it a little over the top so that you can see the effects; but you will be able to be more subtle on your own.)

At the end of the day it comes down to being comfortable and competent with our tools… understanding Flow and Density will make the Adjustment Brush that much better for you and your work.

Original image with the background lighter and more distracting and his face too dark

Darkened the background and lightened the face using adjustment brush

The post Annual reminder appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.

Here is a shot I took of one of my sons… and granted it is not the greatest picture… but that is what you get when trying not to drop your camera or yourself in the water.

Especially since you can’t interact with his face… the text becomes one of the main areas of focus… great for the kayak company, but probably not what you are intending for the scene.

The image itself isn’t what is important here, but what is is the impact that text has. You probably don’t even notice it until it is gone. Compare the visual impact of the image above with the one below. There is a peacefulness that comes from removing the text, since the eye isn’t bouncing around trying to read all the words.

After just a bit of work with the Spot removal tool, the text is gone and the scene is more about a boy on the water, instead of an ad for the kayak.

So one of the question you should always ask yourself with in the develop module is… “Is there any text in the image that can be removed in order to help the overall impact of the scene?”

The post Remove distracting text appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.

Last time we discussed how your eye responds to lines. Since we know that your eye would rather follow a line then cross it, a photographer has some control on where a viewer looks in a photograph. Lines can guide a viewer to a specific subject or act as a divider in the frame of a photograph.

Knowing someone’s eye will follow the path of a line gives insight into why the shape of a line has an emotional impact on a person. The eye moves in a rhythm as it travels along the line and this rhythm is what stimulates the emotion. Just like rhythm in music, eye movement has the ability to  produce an emotional response. Long notes that are held for several beats gently transitioning  into the next, will have the same soothing effect of a slow curving line. Notes that are sharp and quickly change in rapid succession will cause tension and excitement in the same way as jagged or crossing lines.

Notice the different emotional value of the lines… I probably should have made the top one bend the other way to make a smile.

Notice in the lines below that the frequency and amplitude of the wave changes the feeling.

The style of line and the amount can have an impact.

This feeling change is due to the eye movement along the path of the line. The less frequent and shorter the amplitude the more calm the line feels.

In the image below the eye tries to follow the line but must then drop down at each sharp angle. It picks up the line again only to be interrupted again. This constant interruption cause a feeling of tension in the mind of the viewer.

interruptions create stress… just like the missing r in the word interruptions.

Once we understand the feeling derived from lines, we are able to create or enhance meaning in the frame of a photograph. The image below was rendered B&W placing more emphasis on the lines created by the flower petals. These lines communicate a gentle or calm emotion in the mind due to their long curves and intersections that flow into each other. The lines reinforce the gentleness of a flower.

In this image the angular lines reinforce the tension in the rowing team. The angles are sharp and the lines are constantly interrupted by the men in the boat. Darkening the background in post processing cause the white lines to stand out which added meaning to the image.  

There are lines of some kind in almost every photograph. Some are obvious while others are subtle like the line created by a horizon. A good understanding of the emotional impact of lines  will enable you to create or enhance meaning in a photograph. Adding meaning to a photograph provides perception in the mind of a viewer and “perception is like water to a parched throat”.

(George Santayana)

The post The emotional impact of lines appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.

We have talked at length about photography being a form of visual communication. In the same way we learn parts of speech for verbal communication, it is also helpful to understand parts of “visual speech”. Lines are a very powerful means of communication and aid in controlling the viewer’s perception. Understanding what the human eye does when presented with a line will help us use lines in a way that helps tell the story in our photographs.

When you perceive a line in an image, your eye lands somewhere on that line and then follows it in one direction or the other. This natural tendency for the eye to follow a line gives a photographer the ability to influence the movement of a viewer’s eye as you will often hear folks talk about “leading lines”. In short, we have some control over where the viewer looks in the image. Once you understand this principle you will have a tool to aid in visual communication. In the same way voice inflections influence verbal communication, lines are able to guide a viewer’s perceptions in a photograph.  

In the image below, notice that the lines in the image are constantly directing your eye back to the number 8. This creates a static position constantly drawing you back to a certain point in the frame of the image. Your eye goes to the subject and then wanders away to perceive other elements such as color and texture. However the presence of the bright chrome lines keeps drawing you back to the main subject.

Your eye naturally desires to travel along a line however, it is uncomfortable for your eye to cross a line. This uncomfortable feeling of visually crossing a line causes tension in the mind of a viewer and and they will resist it. The viewer will tend to see lines as a division of the image into sections. This can work for the photograph as in the image below. The line allows the image to remain cohesive yet defining two parts of the whole.

However, in this next image, the pole holding up the tent divides the image causing an uncomfortable feeling. It seems to have created two groups of people.

The expression and communication of the image would be much clearer by cropping it or cloning out the pole and rope. By cropping the image the pole and rope act as a frame rather than a dividing line.

This ability of lines to separate must be watched for while composing image. Things like trees and poles or even wall edges, will divide an image into halves or sections. Once you understand how lines affect an image you may find that repositioning yourself will save hours of cloning in Photoshop. In a positive way you begin to notice sidewalks or fences that actually lead the eye of the viewer to clearly define the subject of your visual conversation.

The post Lines and Composition appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.

Steve Gustafson:

Writer/poet Maya Angelou said, “Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.” A rhythm found in one discipline will soon reveal itself inside another. For example when we listen to music we often refer to it as being “heavy” or light. Compare, for example, the music of Ozzy Osbourne to someone like Enya. Ozzy plays his songs loud, pounding out bold notes and chords that induce tension and excitement. Enya plays each note softly, allowing them to flow into each other producing melodic tones that are light and soothing.

In the visual arts like photography, we describe this lightness or heaviness as “visual weight”. This visual weight has the same ability to create a feeling in the mind of the viewer as music does to a listener.

In the first image we have produced a light and airy feeling by overexposing the image. This is often referred to as “high key”. Notice that it is the tonality and softening of the lines that creates a delicate feeling.

In the second image the same flower is used but with darker tones and sharp lines that define each petal. These dark tones and sharp lines create a feeling of heaviness. Even though the subject is the same in each picture, the mood or feeling is opposite.  

Visual weight is an important tool in creating a desired feeling in a photograph. The process begins with the exposure. As you can see in the images above, overexposing or underexposing the image is the first step in creating visual weight. However, this visual weight can be created in post processing. Sharpening, increasing contrast, blacks and saturation add visual weight while soft focus, reducing contrast and brightening images lightens visual weight. These post processing techniques help a viewer feel an intended emotion.

Whether it is a flowers weight succumbing to gravity as it dies

or the light feeling from the delicate petals of a spring flower

Visual weight changes a photograph from a snapshot to an image that evokes a feeling in the mind of the viewer.

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Yes I am stealing the title from the “Got Milk?” campaign, but it is a great question to ask, especially when our propensity as photographers is to often be more mindful of settings and gear than of passion and soul. Steve Gustafson gives us a great reminder that soul should be the goal.

My son told me that he was leaving a big box gym and joining one less than half the size with limited equipment. I asked if it was due to affordability and his answer interesting. “No dad, the big box gym has no soul”. That statement has stuck with me and now it pops in my head when I look at my camera gear. I won’t tell you which two camera brands I own because you will automatically get focused on the brand and miss my point.

I have found that I am shooting one particular camera all the time and the other is petrifying in the bag. Don’t get me wrong. The one in the bag is a great camera and in many ways superior to the other. The other has terrible auto focus, awful shutter lag, and knobs that turn when you don’t want them to. However, it is the camera that I’m always choosing to use. I’m hearing my son’s voice again. This little camera has soul!

Wait! There’s more! The little camera that was less than a third the cost of my other “big name” camera, received a firmware upgrade and now my soulful little camera, has focus peaking. Focus peaking makes it easier for an old guy with poor eyesight like me to use manual focus. My favorite lens ever is a manual focus 105mm, f2.5. With an adapter I can mate it to my little camera even though it is a different brand? Yes!! I am actually using an inferior camera with a manual focus lens and having a great time!

I had the privilege of meeting and talking with Bill Fortney last week. (Don’t waste your time asking him if he knows me. He will respond…Steve WHO?) One thing that rings clear with Bill is that he has more fun than anyone else while he is out shooting images. I now know what he means. The fun of photography is returning for me and that is causing me to see things that I would have previously passed over.

This is a shot of my patio. Rather uninspiring to say the least. As a matter of fact it is proof that I have to get busy with yard work. Notice though that I have circled the a little box of flowers in the bottom right corner. This became my playground while my dear wife was preparing dinner.

Armed with my favorite lens and my “inferior” camera, I was able to take time to experiment and “see”.

This is one result of my playing with different points of focus and angles. This image won’t win any competitions but my wife loved it and I cannot think of a better way to unwind after work. I had fun!

A final thought. Please don’t be reductionistic and think that this is a technique for shooting better images or even suggesting that you have to have a certain type camera to have be inspired as a photographer. My intent is to encourage you to see what moves you. Science tries to reduce you to a collection of atoms and molecules. Rebel against that. You are human and you have passion. Fulfill those passions within proper boundaries. In the same way,cameras are more than a machine designed for reproducing a likeness. Find what camera, lens, or combination actually encourages that passion. You may actually find you have soul!

The post Got soul? appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.

Here is another way to think about imagination and creativity as proposed by my colleague Steve Gustafson. (Steve thinks of the deep important concepts and I make them a little more understandable and add funny pictures. It is a good combination.) Most everything you read in this article comes from Steve unless it is really good, then I wrote it all… Steve who?

In the last post we stated that imagination asks the question, “what could be… if”. A good example of this could be the Centaur found in mythical stories.

centaur

The Centaur’s head, arms, and chest are from a human while the rest its body and legs are from a horse. Two “real” creatures, human and horse, are combined in such a way as to express a meaning. While the knight and his horse are synonymous with good and nobility, the centaur often represents wild aggression and potential danger. In this way it became an expression… 

Before we move on I want to make it clear that I am not saying that something has to be unreal to be imaginative. Imaginative people create real inventions and ideas every day. I am simply saying that imagination is not limited to things that are real. Imagination is willing to accept whatever change is necessary in order to express or create a given thing.

If we take a close look at the centaur, we gain a clue into the composition of imagination and creativity. The centaur was created by dividing and combining. The desired expression included raw animalistic power combined with intelligent thought. The body and legs of a horse are of much greater power than that of a human so that portion of the horse is required. The intelligence of the man and use of his arms required the torso and head of a human. The strongest parts are combined to create a unique expression.

It is this dividing and combining of different elements that makes up imagination resulting in  creativity. The ideal is to take a feature, or value, from one thing (dividing) and combine that value with something totally different so that the two work together in unison to form a new expression. The thought process of dividing and unifying elements is the fundamental base for imagination.

Pete’s summary wrap up…

So what does this mean for photography? How do you divide and combine? One main way is in the post processing… you divide the best features of the image you captured and combine them with the best features from another area/image. In a way HDR is a great example of doing this. Dividing the scene into multiple shots and then combining the best of each shot together to get to the ideal. The thing that is easy to overlook is that in order to achieve the best results, you have to engage the imagination and creativity. That is why two people can take the same shot and process it completely differently. Both of them are saying “What if?” and then editing according to their vision of the ideal for that image.

Another way might be trying to incorporate two photography techniques together to achieve a new look. Or perhaps, you take the analogue nature of film and combine it with digital. In each of these endeavors the underlying question that keeps us going is… “What if….?”.

The post Imagination: part two appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.

Today I wanted to share another part of my discussion with Steve Gustafson about the idea of imagination and the part it plays in what we do as photographers and artists. Here is an excerpt from Steve talking about the need for imagination. I have changed some of the wording for clarity’s sake or to add a comment and added some photos for illustration, but most of this is taken directly from Steve’s thoughts.

Everyone wants to be more creative… but to be creative you must use your imagination. Unfortunately imagination tends to be as elusive as bigfoot… and like bigfoot only a few actually pursue it. Most people give up and complain that they simply don’t have a good imagination while others declare that imagination fails with age. While both of these statements are partially true, the real answer is somewhat surprising. You may not have a good imagination at present, but I would suggest that it can be developed. Or perhaps your imagination has faded as you grew older, but the loss is not the result of age as much as from lack of practice.

First let’s take a look at what constitutes imagination. George Santayana describes imagination as “Spontaneous syntheses that arise in the mind.” I describe one aspect of it as “a personal (unique) expression of a global ideal.” (Pete’s translation: trying to see with our own special perspective) Notice I use the term expression and that is the key… it is a personal endeavor to express/communicate what it going on inside of the individual. It does not try to create an ideal that should be globally accepted or adopted or even try to define reality. As a matter of fact imagination often finds itself at odds with that which is real. However reality or “the ideal” is not the enemy of imagination. It can certainly hinder or stifle imagination, but the truth is imagination must use reality as a base. Imagination acknowledges “what is” (what is real) but then goes farther and asks “what could be…”. In this way imagination seeks a way to express its new idea by taking something real and adapting it or changing it even to the point that it becomes unreal. Imagination uses reality to be the springboard into the possible or the fanciful… the goal is not more reality, but rather the conveyance of a feeling or emotion that may not look like the reality you started with.

Example 1 is an image of “what is”.

This is a documentation of the scene.

Example 2 is an image of “what could be if”

Imagination is needed to change reality into an image that expresses the feeling/emotion of the scene that caused you to take the picture.

Example 2 has gone past a documentation of what is real. It was not the intention of Pete to document an actuality. He saw the scene and it caused an emotional sensation. This sensation caused him to capture the image. The “real” image that the camera produced did not completely communicate that same emotional experience so Pete asked “what if”. This desire to communicate a felt emotion, to a viewer, created a need for imagination. Imagination changed the image to create an expression.

I often use the term “intent precedes content”. It is this intent that drives imagination. Imagination is fueled by a hunger to express something in a new and unique way so that a perception can be shared with someone else. Reality is a base for imagination but it can easily become a barricade that stops all imaginative thought if we think that our role is to simply document. This happens when we give in and only accept reality as the most important thing that we can express. Age has a way of wearing us down because so many possibilities in life have fallen short. Society and our peers have helped us to set aside imagination… how many times have you heard, “that sounds good but the reality is…” or “stop dreaming and come back to reality”. The first step to growing imagination is to realize the daily thoughts we have that hinders the flourishing of imagination. Once we start to hear our own voices of doubt and our propensity to fall into the rut of simply documenting reality… we can start to resist them and by doing so begin to rekindle imaginative thought.*

*In our next post we will look at some things that actually fuel our imagination.

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