HDR Photography: A Step-By-Step Guide

The post HDR Photography: A Step-By-Step Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Barry J Brady.

a guide to HDR photography (step by step)

The HDR technique is a great way to capture well-exposed images of high dynamic range scenes. In fact, it’s an approach used by many professionals, including landscape, travel, real-estate, and architectural photographers.

But the technique can be a bit tricky, and that’s where this article comes in handy. Below, I explain everything you need to know to get started with HDR imaging, including:

  • What HDR photography is
  • Step-by-step instructions for taking HDR photos in the field
  • The best HDR software (both free and paid)
  • Tips and tricks for top-notch results

So if you’re ready to unlock the full potential of this powerful approach, let’s dive right in!

What is HDR photography?

HDR photography is a technique where multiple bracketed images are blended together to create a single beautifully exposed photo.

HDR photography

In other words, you capture several photos with different exposures, then combine them – in a program like Lightroom or Photoshop – to create a highly detailed file.

Why is this necessary?

Your camera can only capture a limited range of lights and darks (i.e., it has a limited dynamic range). If you point your camera at a dark mountain in front of a bright sunset, no matter how much you tweak the image exposure, your camera will generally fail to capture detail in the mountain and the sky; you’ll either capture an image with a beautiful sky but a dark, detailless mountain, or you’ll capture an image with a detailed mountain but a bright, blown-out sky.

High dynamic range photography aims to address this issue. Instead of relying on the camera’s limited dynamic range capabilities, you take multiple photos that cover the entire tonal range of the scene.

HDR photography

Then you combine the detailed sections of each photo and finish with a file full of well-exposed shadows, midtones, and highlights.

HDR photography

In the case of the mountain at sunset, you could take three images:

  • A darker image to capture detail in the sky
  • A brighter image to capture detail in the mountain
  • A “standard” image to capture detail in the midtones

Then you could blend the three files, using the sky from dark image, the mountain from the bright image, and the midtones from the middle image.

When should you use the HDR approach?

Most scenes don’t require HDR techniques. Cameras have limited dynamic range capabilities, sure, but they’re still capable of handling most standard situations; in other words, you don’t need to do high-dynamic range photography all the time.

And HDR techniques come with significant limitations. To use the HDR process, you need to take at least two “starter” images, and neither the scene nor the camera can shift from shot to shot. You should (almost) always use a tripod, and you should aim to capture stationary scenes with little-to-no movement.

Therefore, I don’t recommend HDR photography when shooting action, such as sports, wildlife, birds, or even portraits; your subjects will move frequently, and you’ll struggle to get two bracketed images that can be effectively blended together.

On the other hand, HDR techniques are great for landscape photography, real estate photography, architectural photography, and cityscape photography. These genres allow for slow, tripod-based shooting, and the scenes feature limited movement, too.

HDR photography

More specifically, you should use HDR photography when you encounter stationary scenes with very light and very dark tones. Here are a few common scenarios where HDR techniques can be a big help:

  • Sunrise and sunset landscape and cityscape scenes (with a bright sky and a dark foreground)
  • Real-estate and architectural interior scenes (with bright windows and/or artificial lighting)
  • Twilight and night scenes (with artificial lighting and deep shadows)
  • Landscape scenes with a mix of bright light and shade
HDR photography

Of course, it’s impossible to say for sure whether a scene will benefit from an HDR treatment, and camera sensors are steadily getting better at handling high dynamic range scenes. But when in doubt, you can always shoot a few bracketed exposures; that way, when you arrive home, you can decide whether you captured enough detail in one of your shots or whether you need to blend the files together.

A key problem: avoiding the HDR look

While HDR photography is a perfectly legitimate technique frequently used by professionals, it has unfortunately gained a negative reputation in many photography circles. When HDR first became popular, photographers often utilized the technique in an obvious and over-the-top manner. The resulting images appeared extremely unnatural, with grungy tones, excessive contrast, and an abundance of detail in the highlights and shadows. To make matters worse, these photos sometimes featured unpleasant artifacts such as halos and noise.

This tarnished the reputation of HDR photography as a whole. However, it’s crucial to recognize that there are many flavors of HDR editing, and it is very possible to use HDR processes to create images that accurately reflect what your eyes saw when you originally captured the shot.

Yes, it’s important not to take your HDR editing too far, but the good news is that modern post-processing programs excel at producing natural and realistic-looking results. Keep this in mind as you embark on your HDR editing journey, and you can easily avoid the pitfalls of the “bad HDR” look.

How to do HDR photography: step by step

In this section, I offer clear, step-by-step instructions for creating an HDR image, including both file capture and processing.

Step 1: Set up your camera

As I emphasized above, it’s important to keep your camera steady when shooting HDR, so if you’re planning to use HDR techniques, make sure you own a decent tripod.

Once you find a scene that could benefit from a high dynamic range treatment, mount your camera on your tripod and determine your composition (the way you would when capturing a normal, non-HDR shot).

Then select your camera settings. First, adjust your camera mode to Manual; you don’t want the exposure changing from shot to shot.

Set your ISO at its lowest value to prevent noise, and choose an aperture that gets you your desired depth of field (I often shoot at f/8 to f/11, but you can go wider or narrower depending on your goals). Choose a shutter speed that gives you a balanced exposure (that is, make sure you expose for the midtones, not the highlights or the shadows). Here, it can help to look at your camera’s exposure bar, which is generally visible at the bottom of the viewfinder.

Switch your lens over to manual focus – you don’t want the point of focus changing between shots! – and adjust the focus ring until you get the result that you’re after.

Step 2: Take a “correctly” exposed image

Once you’ve set up your shot, take one last look at your camera settings. If your shutter speed is below 1/60s or so, make sure you use your camera’s two-second timer or a remote release to prevent camera shake.

Finally, take your first shot. Review the results on the back of your LCD. The midtones should be well exposed, while the highlights and shadows are much less important.

If your image is very dark or very bright (i.e., exposed for the highlights or the shadows, respectively), I’d recommend adjusting your shutter speed and reshooting. Once you’ve successfully captured a file with detailed midtones, move on to the next step:

Step 3: Take an overexposed and an underexposed image

Keep your ISO, aperture, and point of focus consistent. Then reduce your shutter speed by a stop or two and take a photo.

The result should look overexposed, but the darker portions of the scene should feature plenty of detail. (You can check this on your LCD or your camera’s histogram.)

Next, raise your shutter speed several stops, then take a photo. This time, you should get an underexposed image, one that is missing lots of shadow detail but that accurately exposes the brightest parts of the scene.

Step 4: Consider the results (and take more photos if necessary)

At this point, you should have three photos: a standard (midtone) image, an overexposed image, and an underexposed image.

In many cases, this will be enough for a nice HDR blend, but if your scene features an extremely high dynamic range, you may want to shoot five photos, seven photos, or even nine photos. Simply keep adjusting the shutter speed for increasingly lighter and darker photos until you’re satisfied with your results.

Over time, you’ll get a sense of the number of shots you need to create a good HDR file, but I always recommend you review your images – and their corresponding histograms – on your LCD. If you find that you’ve captured sufficient detail across your sequence of photos, you can move on to the next step:

Step 5: Blend the files together

After an HDR shoot, you’ll need to blend the files together for a well-exposed composite image. The specifics will depend on your choice of post-processing software, but most programs make it pretty easy to create good-looking HDRs. Here’s how to create an HDR blend in Lightroom:

First, import your photos. Select all the files you need to blend together, then right-click and choose Photo>Photo Merge>HDR.

HDR photography

An HDR window will appear. I’d recommend checking the Auto Align box, especially if you shot handheld or your tripod moved from shot to shot. You can also check the Auto Settings box.

HDR photography

If your scene had moving elements (such as blowing branches or people walking), select the Medium or High deghosting option.

Finally, hit Merge, and wait while Lightroom processes your image! It might take a few seconds (or minutes, depending on your computer and the number of images you tried to blend), but you should soon see an HDR file appear.

Step 6: Enhance your HDR file

At this point, you have a high dynamic range file, but what should you do with it?

One option is to simply export it as a JPEG for sharing online, but I’d really recommend you first apply some additional post-processing. Tweak the exposure, the shadows, and the highlights; add (or subtract) contrast; add saturation and play around with color grading; and sharpen the shot as required. Then export it as a JPEG for viewing.

HDR photography

The best HDR software

If you’re serious about bringing out the full potential of your HDR images, using the right processing program is crucial. While I’ve explained how to process bracketed files in Lightroom as an example, there are several other fantastic options to consider.

For instance, Capture One, ON1 Photo RAW, and Photoshop are all comprehensive editing programs that include HDR blending capabilities alongside their normal features. The advantage of these programs is that you can incorporate the HDR merge into your standard workflow without needing to rely on a second editor, but the disadvantage is that they offer somewhat limited control over the blending process.

If you want more control, consider downloading a dedicated HDR program. Photomatix and HDR Efex are two prominent examples that offer advanced features specifically for HDR editing. With these programs, you can dive deeper into adjusting tones, merging exposures, and achieving the look you’re after.

While most HDR software comes at a cost, there are a few free options available, as well. Luminance HDR offers a range of features and is a great option for those who want to explore HDR photography without committing to a paid program.

At the end of the day, selecting the right HDR program largely depends on your personal preferences, workflow, editing goals, and budget. Experimenting with different options can help you find the one that resonates with your style and allows you to unleash your creative vision.

HDR camera modes

Some cameras offer dedicated HDR shooting modes. That way, you don’t have to do any manual bracketing or blending – you can set your camera to its HDR mode, press the shutter button, and end up with a fully merged HDR shot.

But before you jump on board, let me explain the pros and cons of relying on your camera’s HDR mode.

First, let’s talk about convenience. HDR camera modes can save you time and effort by automating the entire process. Gone are the days of meticulously capturing multiple shots and spending extra time blending them together during post-processing. With a simple click, you can capture a bracketed sequence, and the camera does the rest.

However, convenience often comes at a price, and HDR camera modes are no exception. One of the major drawbacks is the limited control over the process. While this varies depending on your camera model, you may find yourself unable to choose the number of bracketed shots, modify the bracketing intervals, or determine how the images are blended. This lack of control can be frustrating, especially for photographers who prefer a hands-on approach.

Another potential downside is the file format. Many cameras that offer HDR modes only create JPEG HDR files. While JPEGs are convenient and widely compatible, they lack the editing flexibility of RAW files. If you want to create the best possible results, I highly recommend working in RAW.

Considering these limitations, I generally advocate for manual HDR photography. Although it requires more effort, it grants you unparalleled control over the outcome. By manually capturing and blending your bracketed shots, you can carefully adjust each step of the process to achieve the desired result. The extra work is well worth the artistic freedom and control it provides!

Tips for creating breathtaking HDR images

Now that you’re familiar with the basics, let’s explore a few tips and tricks to elevate your HDR photos:

1. Choose your compositions carefully

As you may have already realized, creating an HDR image requires more effort than capturing a standard photo. It involves capturing multiple files and blending them together during post-processing. To make the most of your time and energy, it’s crucial to be deliberate in your shooting approach.

While it may be tempting to go trigger-happy and capture dozens of bracketed shots from every angle, I urge you to exercise restraint. Overloading yourself with excessive files will only lead to a daunting and time-consuming post-processing phase. Quality over quantity is the mantra here!

So instead of capturing HDR shots left and right, take a moment to pause and think about each scene. Work on identifying a single good composition, refining it, then capturing one sequence of bracketed files that you then blend together.

Of course, there may be instances when you find yourself torn between two slightly different compositions. In such cases, capturing multiple versions can be a good idea. However, strike a balance and avoid going overboard. The key is to maintain restraint in your shooting so that each shot is purposeful and intentional.

2. Explore manual exposure blending

If you merge together your HDR shots using an automated process (like I did in my Lightroom example), the result is usually good. But it’ll occasionally look disappointing, or it’ll be decent but not up to your standards. That’s when you should consider delving into the world of manual exposure blending – a technique that allows you to craft stunning HDR images through careful fine-tuning and adjustment.

Manual exposure blending may sound intimidating, but it opens up a realm of possibilities and gives you the power to create truly exceptional results. By utilizing a process known as luminosity masking, you can blend different parts of each image based on their unique light and dark values. This level of precision empowers you to elevate your results like never before.

Now, I’ll say it upfront: Manual exposure blending isn’t a walk in the park. It requires some effort and has a real learning curve. However, if you do a lot of HDR shooting, it’s worth the effort. You probably won’t need it all the time, but it’s great to have in your back pocket for those times when your editing program struggles to create a nice blend.

3. Don’t be afraid of handheld HDR

While I’ve stressed the importance of using a tripod for capturing bracketed shots, I want to let you in on a little secret: It’s possible to achieve stunning handheld HDR images.

You simply need to capture your bracketed shots while keeping your camera as steady as possible. It helps to brace yourself against a solid object, like the ground, a car, or a tree, to minimize any camera movement.

Once you’ve captured your handheld photos, it’s time to bring them into your processing program. The good news is that most modern software is equipped with powerful algorithms that can align and merge the elements in each image, compensating for any slight movements you might have made.

However, it’s important to be aware that there are some trade-offs to consider. The more your camera moves between shots, the greater the chance of losing pixels around the edges of the frame because the program may need to crop in for alignment purposes. So it’s best to be as stable as possible during the handheld shooting process.

While shooting HDR images with a tripod is generally the superior option, there are times when circumstances prevent you from using one. In those situations, don’t hesitate to try the handheld approach. You might be surprised by the results!

HDR photography: final words

Congratulations – you’ve made it to the end of our ultimate guide to HDR photography! Now that you know how to use this powerful technique, it’s time to unleash your creativity and take your images to a whole new level.

Remember, HDR photography isn’t just about merging exposures and adjusting sliders. It’s an art form that requires careful composition, thoughtful shooting, and skillful post-processing. Make sure you work hard, push the boundaries, and see what you can produce.

So head out with your camera. Practice your bracketing. And create some HDR magic!

Now over to you:

Do you have any HDR tips or techniques that we missed? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

HDR Imaging FAQ

What does “HDR” stand for in photography?

“HDR” stands for “high dynamic range.” It’s a technique that involves capturing and blending multiple exposures of the same scene to achieve a wider range of tonal details, from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights. The result is an image that more closely resembles what the human eye can perceive in terms of dynamic range.

Should you always use HDR imaging?

While HDR imaging can produce stunning results, it’s not necessary to use it for every photograph. HDR is particularly beneficial in high-contrast scenes where the camera struggles to capture details in both the shadows and highlights. So it’s best to assess each scene individually and decide if HDR is the right technique to achieve your desired outcome.

Do professional photographers use HDR?

Absolutely! Professional photographers often utilize HDR techniques to capture and convey the full dynamic range of a scene in their images. However, it’s important to note that professionals use HDR judiciously and generally aim for natural-looking results, avoiding the exaggerated and over-processed look that has given HDR a bad reputation in some circles.

Is RAW or JPEG better for HDR?

RAW files provide greater flexibility and control during post-processing. For instance, RAW files retain more tonal data, allowing you to recover details in both the shadows and highlights more effectively. However, some cameras offer HDR modes that create JPEG HDR photos. While this can be convenient, shooting in RAW gives you more latitude for adjustments and enhancements in the editing process.

Is HDR good for portraits?

HDR isn’t typically the go-to technique for portraiture. However, there can be exceptions to this, such as when shooting environmental portraits with a wide dynamic range or when incorporating HDR as a creative choice for a specific portrait style.

What software is best for processing HDR files?

There are several excellent software options for processing HDR files, each with its own strengths. Popular choices among photographers include Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, ON1 Photo RAW, and Photoshop. These comprehensive editing programs offer powerful tools and flexibility for merging and fine-tuning HDR images. Additionally, dedicated HDR programs such as Photomatix and HDR Efex provide specialized features and advanced control over the HDR process. Ultimately, the choice depends on your specific needs and preferences.

The post HDR Photography: A Step-By-Step Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Barry J Brady.

How to Mirror an Image in Photoshop (Step By Step)

The post How to Mirror an Image in Photoshop (Step By Step) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

How to mirror an image in Photoshop (quick guide)

Photographers and photo editors often need to mirror an image in Photoshop. Perhaps they’re doing a photo composite or a pattern. Or maybe it fits with the graphic needs of a magazine or a poster.

Whatever the reason, if you need to flip an image, simply follow the step-by-step guide I share below! I also show how you can create a pattern using the mirror effect. Sounds good? Then keep on reading.

What is a Photoshop mirror effect?

Mirroring an image in Photoshop involves flipping it horizontally or vertically to create a reflection.

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

But the mirror effect takes this further; it’s when you use a mirror technique to create patterns or kaleidoscopic images, like this:

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

A mirror effect is very artistic, and it can be a great way to have plenty of creative fun in Photoshop!

When should you mirror an image in Photoshop?

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

You might mirror an image in Photoshop for many reasons. The first and most practical one is to correct an image that you may have done through a mirror (e.g., a selfie).

But there are also more creative reasons for mirroring an image. If you simply flip your photo – without creating any doubling or kaleidoscopic effect – you can create a sense of unease in the viewer. Try flipping a portrait, and you’ll instantly notice how swapping the sides of the face will make your subject look very different. You can also mirror images that feature reflections, flipping the “real” object and its reflection.

If you want to make your images look more surreal, you can create a mirror, but then combine the mirrored and original versions in the same file to produce interesting patterns.

Finally, you can multiply your flipped images to create a kaleidoscopic effect. This is great if you’re after abstract art, patterns, or graphic work.

How to create a mirror image in Photoshop

It’s very easy to mirror an image in Photoshop. Here are two easy techniques:

1. Flip Canvas

This feature works when you want to mirror a single-layer document, such as a JPEG. It’s also useful if you want to flip all the layers of a document at once.

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

Simply go select Image>Image Rotation>Flip Canvas Horizontal or Flip Canvas Vertical. (The axis that you choose depends on the effect you’re trying to achieve.)

How to mirror an image in Photoshop
Notice how both the image and the text layer were mirrored.

If you want to mirror a layer separately from the rest, see the next technique:

2. Flip

This technique is different from the Flip Canvas option shared above because it allows you to mirror individual layers.

First, click on the layer you wish to flip, then select its contents using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl/Cmd+A. Alternatively, click Select>Select All.

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

Then choose Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical.

Alternatively, tap Ctrl/Cmd+T. The marching ants from the selection will disappear, and a border with handles on each side will appear in their place (indicating that the Transform tool is active).

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

Right-click inside the image to open the menu. Choose Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical. To save the effect, click the checkmark at the top of the window.

How to mirror an image in Photoshop
Notice how the image layer flipped but the text layer remained the same.

Note that you can also do this with a single-layer document. When you first open your image in Photoshop, the Transform tool won’t be available because the layer will be locked. But you can unlock it by clicking (or double-clicking) on the lock icon on the right side. This will open a dialog box where you can rename the layer. Click OK, then follow the rest of the steps as if you were working with more than one layer.

(It’s worth noting that on single-layer documents, Flip and Flip Canvas offer the same result.)

Mirror reflections: A step-by-step example

Now that you know how to mirror an image, it’s time to create an artistic pattern.

Start by opening your image in Photoshop. You can choose any photo, but if it already has a clear pattern, you’ll often get better results. Abstract images work very well, too. For this example, I’m using a photo of a palm tree that was captured from below:

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

When you first open your image, it’ll appear as a locked layer called “Background” (see the example above). To create interesting mirroring effects, however, you need to unlock it. Double-click the image layer in the Layers panel; this will open a dialog box where you can rename the layer:

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

I’d suggest calling it Layer 1 because, in a moment, you’ll create another layer to go underneath. Alternatively, you could name it “Original” or choose another name that makes sense to you.

Then click OK. You’ll see that the layer is now unlocked and has your chosen name.

Next, create a new empty layer by clicking on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel or by selecting Layer>New>Layer in the Photoshop menu. Name the new layer “Background” or “Layer 0” – whichever you prefer. Drag this new layer beneath your original layer.

You’ll need to increase the size of the canvas so that it has room for mirrored images. Click on Image>Canvas Size:

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

The most traditional way to create a mirroring pattern is with four versions of the original photo. (You flip it on one axis, then you flip it on the other.) To do this effectively, you’ll need to double the size of your canvas both vertically and horizontally.

So change the Canvas Size units to Percent. Then type “200%” in the Width and Height boxes. Click OK.

Now click on your foreground layer, then drag the image to one of the canvas corners. (Pick the best corner based on how you want your pattern to look.) I want the palm tree trunks to converge in the center while covering the border with leaves, so I’ll drag the photo to the top right corner:

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

Now you have to duplicate and flip the layer. Duplicate it by dragging the layer to the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layer panel or by selecting Layer>Duplicate Layer.

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

Now, select the duplicate layer by tapping Ctrl/Cmd+A. Then select Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal.

You’ll now have a mirrored layer, which you can drag to the corner opposite the first layer:

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

Next, head to the Layers panel and select both image layers. (To select multiple layers, hold Ctrl/Cmd as you click.)

Click on Layer>Duplicate Layers. Your Layer panel should now be populated with four separate images. With the two newest layers selected, choose Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical. The layers will flip, and you can drag them to cover the rest of the canvas:

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

That’s it! You’ve made a pattern with mirrored images. To create a bigger pattern, simply increase the canvas size and repeat the process. You can also scale the pattern and use the Rotate tool to make a more complex image. Experiment with different blending modes, too!

How to mirror an image in Photoshop

Pro tip: The more layers you use, the more important it is to keep a tidy Layers panel. Therefore, it’s useful to name layers as you create them. You can also group or merge the layers as you go along.

How to mirror an image in Photoshop: final words

As you can see, mirroring an image in Photoshop is pretty easy; it only requires a few clicks.

So have fun. Try creating different mirror patterns, and see what you can come up with.

Now over to you:

How do you plan to use the mirror effect? Share your thoughts (and images!) in the comments below.

The post How to Mirror an Image in Photoshop (Step By Step) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

How to Remove Glare in Photoshop: A Step-By-Step Guide

The post How to Remove Glare in Photoshop: A Step-By-Step Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

how to remove glare in Photoshop

Are you looking to understand how to remove glare in Photoshop? While glare does have its creative uses, when it’s just distracting from the main subject, it’ll only harm your images – and that’s where this article comes in handy.

Glare presents in many ways, so it can be removed with different techniques. Below, I’ll share the most popular methods to reduce or remove glare in Photoshop – as well as some tips to prevent it in the first place!

Let’s get started.

What is glare?

Glare is when light impairs visibility. For example, if you’re driving and the sun bounces off the metallic surface of the car in front of you so you can’t see, that’s glare.

Sometimes, glare occurs when the light reflects off a subject in the frame, such as water, glasses, or a metal object. That’s why you often encounter a glare effect when you’re photographing people wearing eyeglasses.

glare on glasses

Other times, glare is caused by light bouncing around inside the lens. This usually happens when you photograph toward the light source (e.g., the sun). In such cases, you’ll often hear the term “lens flare” – but from a retouching perspective, it’s really all the same thing and can be fixed with some of the techniques mentioned throughout this article.

Glare on a photograph can be a single bright spot, a number of circles and shapes in different colors, or a light haze. Sometimes, glare can be used as a creative effect; other times, glare can ruin your picture.

So let’s see how to remove glare in Photoshop!

How to remove glare in Photoshop: 4 methods

Let me start with a quick clarification: Completely removing glare from a photo is very difficult. Most of the time, you can just reduce the glare, though it all depends on the amount of detail you have to work with.

Each photo will require a slightly different approach, so I recommend you learn all of these methods. Then, with each new image, you can apply different techniques or even combine them as needed.

Method 1: Adobe Camera Raw

Adobe Camera Raw is a digital darkroom where you can develop all the unprocessed data from a photograph taken in RAW format. It offers the best chance to recover glared-out detail because you still have plenty of information available from the shot.

How to remove glare in Photoshop using ACR

By default, if you open a RAW file in Photoshop, ACR launches automatically. Here, you can develop the picture before moving on to Photoshop. Of course, while ACR is designed for standard post-processing, there are a couple of tools that are particularly helpful when dealing with glare.

Dehaze: Sometimes, glare presents as a glow in the overall image, like there’s a fog (haze) over the shot. Here, Dehaze is your best friend. Simply move the Dehaze slider, and watch how the contrast increases (and the glare disappears!).

Move the Whites slider to reduce glare

Whites: In the Basic panel, you’ll find the Whites slider. It adjusts the whitest whites in your image (also known as the white point). So by working with this slider, you can darken the brightest areas of your shot to regain some of the details.

By the way, if you’re not working on a RAW file, you can still launch ACR from within Photoshop. Just go to Filters and choose Camera Raw Filter. This will give you access to the same tools as ACR, but keep in mind that your photo’s information will be reduced compared to an original RAW file.

Method 2: Adjust Shadows and Highlights

How to remove glare using shadows/highlights

Shadows and Highlights is a tool that allows you to fix images with high contrast or restore details in overexposed and underexposed areas.

You can find this option in the menu Edit>Adjustments>Shadows/Highlights. I recommend you duplicate the background first; that way, you keep the original image intact, plus you can mask out different areas.

When you choose Shadows/Highlights, a pop-up window appears, which lets you control your adjustments. For further control, select Show More Options.

Then simply move the sliders to eliminate the glare in your image. Remember to check the Preview option to see the effects of your adjustments in real-time.

The Amount sliders control how much correction you’re applying. To remove glare, you’ll want to work on the Highlights. Of course, you’re welcome to change the Shadows as well, to decrease the contrast and make the glare less noticeable.

The Tonal Width controls the range of tones that will be affected by your adjustments. To fix glare, set a small value in the Highlights Tonal Width to restrict the changes to the brightest parts of the image.

The Radius changes the size of the area considered around each pixel when Photoshop considers whether it belongs to the highlights or the shadows.

Pro tip: If you want the adjustments to be applied to the glare and nothing else, add a Layer Mask. Then, fill it with black and paint white over the glare. That way, you’ll see the original image – but the layer with the Shadows/Highlights adjustment will be visible only on top of the glare.

Method 3: Dodge and burn

There are different techniques for dodging and burning in Photoshop. In fact, there is a Dodge and a Burn tool, but I prefer to use layers.

Here, I’ll show you a couple of ways to do this. You can use these dodging and burning methods on their own, but for my example image, I use both for a better result.

How to remove glare in Photoshop using dodge and burn

Dodging and burning with Curves

The goal is to darken areas where glare is present, so you’ll need to do some burning.

Add a Curves adjustment layer on top of the original photo. Pull the center of the Curve down to darken the glare. It doesn’t matter if the rest of the image becomes too dark – you’ll fix that in the next step.

When you have sufficiently dark glare, select the Curves mask, go to Edit>Fill and choose Black. That way, the Curves adjustment will be hidden. Then grab the Brush tool, with white as the foreground color, and paint over the glare. This will reveal the burning effect in select places.

Before/after of glare removal in Photoshop

Dodging and burning with Soft Light

Add a new layer on top of the original and change the blending mode to Soft Light. Now, everything you paint with white will get lighter and everything you paint with black will get darker – so paint over the glare with a black brush!

Remember: If you make adjustments and you don’t love the results, you can reduce the opacity to make the effect less evident.

Method 4: Clone and Heal

How to remove glare in Photoshop using the clone tool

If the glare completely overexposes certain pixels, leaving you without any information at all, or if you’re having a hard time matching the colors and level of luminosity, you can try the Clone Stamp and Healing tools. These take information from surrounding areas and either blend or replace the information for each given pixel.

The Clone tool copies the information from an area that you select and pastes it on top. There’s no blending, so you need to be careful about visible borders or creating patterns.

The Healing tools grab information from a different area and blend it with the existing information. If you use the Spot Healing Brush, Photoshop gathers the information for you, though the Healing Brush allows you to choose the source point.

Usually, a combination of both tools gives you the best results, though it really depends on the situation.

How to prevent glare in your photos

Now that you’ve learned how to remove glare in Photoshop, I’d like to go back to the beginning. Because the best way to improve glare? Knowing how to avoid it right from the start.

So here are a few quick ways to prevent glare in-camera!

Canon camera on a tripod with a lens hood

Use a lens hood

You can attach a hood to the front of your lens to block the light coming in from the sides. There are plenty of great options: cylindrical and petal hoods, rigid and rubber hoods with collapsible segments, and more. The specifics don’t matter much; no matter which hood type you choose, it’ll help you prevent glare in your images.

Position yourself in the shade

If you don’t have a lens hood, consider adjusting your position so you can shoot from the shade. If the glare is coming from a reflection of an object in the scene, this won’t help you. However, it will prevent light from coming into the lens from an angle.

Change your angle of view

Don’t be afraid to move your camera from side to side or even up or down. Try different positions that won’t majorly affect the framing of your shot but will change the angle at which the light is hitting your lens. This usually helps to prevent glare!

Use a polarizing filter

A circular polarizing filter helps reduce or remove glare. Just attach it to the lens and turn it until you see the glare disappear. Keep in mind that you will need to adjust the camera settings to let in more light.

How to remove glare in Photoshop: final words

Learning how to remove glare is a useful skill – after all, even if you’re highly vigilant, it tends to find a way into your photos!

So I hope this article was helpful, and that you can now confidently deal with glare in your own images.

Now over to you:

Which of these glare-removal methods do you plan to try? Do you have any tips of your own? Share them in the comments below!

The post How to Remove Glare in Photoshop: A Step-By-Step Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Multiply Blend Mode: A Comprehensive Guide

The post Multiply Blend Mode: A Comprehensive Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Multiply Blend Mode: A Comprehensive Guide

Multiply is one of Photoshop’s most popular blend modes. If you’ve ever followed the steps in a Photoshop editing tutorial, you’ve probably used it yourself, and if you’ve ever watched a Photoshop expert apply edits to their work, you’ve probably seen it in action.

But why is Multiply so common? What makes it such a popular choice among Photoshop artists and photographers? It’s because the Multiply blend mode is very versatile; it can be used to create all sorts of interesting effects.

In this article, I offer a comprehensive overview of Photoshop’s Multiply blend mode. I discuss what it is and how you can use it, plus I offer a step-by-step tutorial so you can see it in action.

Let’s dive right in.

What is Multiply blend mode?

Multiply blend mode

As you probably know, Photoshop allows you to work with layers. And on each layer, you can put different elements: text, an image, an adjustment, and so on.

Now, Photoshop’s blending modes allow you to change how a layer interacts with the layers underneath. The blending modes are divided into categories (you’ll see a line dividing each category in the blending mode menu).

One of these blending mode categories is Darken, which includes the mode featured in this article, Multiply. As the name of the category suggests, by applying a Darken blend mode, you darken the overall file.

In the case of Multiply, the image is darkened by multiplying (hence the name) the color values from one layer by the layers underneath.

Don’t worry about the math, though. Photoshop takes care of that! What you need to know is that multiplying any layer by a black layer will create a black image, and that multiplying any layer by a white layer will cause the white layer to disappear. However, if you multiply a midtone layer by another midtone layer, you’ll end up with a combination of the two layers – but as darker versions of themselves.

When should you use Multiply blend mode?

The answer to this question is very straightforward: You should use Multiply blend mode when you want to darken your image.

What does this mean in practical terms? Here are a few common cases in which you might apply Multiply:

  • When you want to recover faded color from vintage photographs
  • When you’re fixing an overexposed image
  • When you want to include a shadow on a cutout
  • When you want to color under a traced drawing so that the lines remain black

Of course, there are plenty of other uses for Multiply, so don’t feel restricted by my list; these are just some scenarios to keep in mind.

How to use Multiply blend mode

The Multiply blend mode is very easy to use! Here’s how it works:

First, open any image in Photoshop. It’ll become the base layer (by default, it’ll appear as a locked layer called “Background”).

Multiply blend mode

Next, add a second layer. The layer type doesn’t matter; just do what works for your file. It can be a text layer, an adjustment layer, etc. I’ve used a raster layer that contains this image:

Multiply blend mode

By default, the layer will completely cover the original layer beneath it.

Next, go to the Layers panel. (If you can’t see this, you’ll need to open it. To do so, simply choose Window>Layers or press the F7 key on your keyboard.)

Toward the top of the Layers panel, you’ll find the blending options. You should see the blend mode on the left and the opacity on the right. By default, any layer will be set to Normal blend mode at 100% – but to use the Multiply blend mode, just click on the arrow next to the word “Normal” to open the drop-down menu:

Multiply blend mode

Find “Multiply” on the list. (Remember, you’ll always find it in the Darken section of the menu.) If you’re using Photoshop CC, you’ll see a preview as you hover over the Multiply option – but in Photoshop CS6, you’ll need to actually click to apply the mode before you can see the effect.

Now click on the arrow next to the percentage value to open the Opacity slider. Simply drag the handle of the slider to adjust the layer opacity. You can also input a value directly:

Multiply blend mode

Note: If these options aren’t enabled, it might be because your layer is blocked. Make sure your layer is selected and visible!

Do keep in mind that you need a layer underneath for the Multiply blend mode to have an effect. If you have a single layer and you change the blend mode from Normal to Multiply, you won’t see any difference. (The same is true if the layer underneath is a pure white background!)

Multiply blend mode: a step-by-step example

As I mentioned above, one of the common uses of Multiply blend mode is to fix an overexposed photograph. That’s what I’ll do for my example image:

Multiply blend mode

I’ve already opened my image on a new layer, so I’ll start by adding a Curves adjustment layer. You can do this by clicking on the “Create a new fill or adjustment layer” button at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Multiply blend mode

Without making any adjustments in the Curves properties panel, I’ll simply change the blending mode to Multiply, and the image will immediately darken:

Multiply blend mode

You can already see the difference, but if you want, you can also make some adjustments to the Curves layer:

Multiply blend mode

After adjusting the curve, it’s clear that the darker areas have become too dark. So I’ll lower the opacity a bit:

Multiply blend mode

In my opinion, the brightest areas are too bright, so I’ll duplicate the Curves layer. (Duplicating a layer preserves its blending mode settings; in this case, my duplicate Curves layer is still in Multiply mode at 90% opacity.)

But I don’t want to darken the entire shot – just the too-bright areas – so I’ll fill the layer mask with black so that the second multiply effect isn’t visible. Then, using a white brush, I’ll paint over the brightest areas to reveal the darkening effect.

Here’s a before and after comparison:

Multiply blend mode

Multiply blend mode tips

Here are a few quick tips so you can fine-tune the Multiply effect according to your needs:

1. Try using Blend If

Multiply blend mode

The Blend If feature allows you to adjust how layers blend according to their content.

For example, let’s say that the shadows of my image turn out too dark due to the Multiply mode. I can use Blend If to tell Photoshop to blend my top layer only with the brightest parts of the base layer. That way, I can darken the highlights without losing details in the shadows.

You can find the Blend If feature inside the Layer Style dialog box. To reach this, go to the Layers panel. Then double-click on the layer that you want to adjust. (Make sure you click in the blank space next to the layer’s name. Otherwise, you’ll open a different menu or feature!)

The Layer Style box will pop up, and you should then find the Blend If section. Here, you’ll see two gradients; the top one refers to the layer on which you’re working, and the bottom one refers to the layer underneath.

Simply click and drag the handles along these gradients to modify the blending effect. Note that each handle has a line in the middle, which allows you to split the handle and create a smoother transition. To do this, simply hold the Alt/Opt key and drag along the handle!

2. Use Multiply with brushes

The Multiply blend mode is not only available for layers; it can also be used with brushes. All you need to do is select the Brush tool, then head to the Options bar at the top of the screen.

Then open the Blend drop-down menu (next to the word “Mode”). Scroll down and click on Multiply:

Multiply blend mode

Then go ahead and paint with your brush! Whatever you paint will interact with the layer underneath by following the Multiply blend mode rules.

Multiply blend mode: final words

Now that you’ve finished this article, you know all about using the Multiply blend mode, so go ahead and try it out! See what you can create, and have some fun experimenting with different effects.

Note that, while I talked about using the Multiply blend mode in Photoshop, you’ll also find this effect in other editing programs that work with layers. And in most cases, it’ll behave in the exact same way!

How do you plan to use Multiply? Do you have any tips or tricks that I didn’t discuss in the article? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Multiply Blend Mode: A Comprehensive Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

White Balance in Photography: The Essential Guide

The post White Balance in Photography: The Essential Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.

The essential guide to white balance in photography

White balance. It’s a term that’s thrown around a lot in the world of photography, yet it’s unfortunate how many photographers are left scratching their heads when trying to explain or understand it.

Because here’s the thing: if you want to capture a scene as the human eye perceives it, then white balance should be on your radar. Mastering white balance, both during your shoot and in post-processing, can be the key to more natural-looking photos.

Therefore, in this article, I’m going to share everything you ever wanted to know about white balance, including:

  • The white balance camera settings you should use for consistently good results
  • How white balance can instantly improve your shots
  • How you can use white balance for gorgeous creative effects in your photos

I’m also going to explain key related terms, such as color temperature, white balance presets, and more.

And I promise you: by the time you’ve finished this article, you’ll be an absolute WB expert! Let’s get started.

What is white balance in photography?

White balance refers to the process of removing or neutralizing color casts in your images – because at its core, white balance is about ensuring the colors in your photograph appear as they do in real life.

You see, different light sources emit light with various temperatures and/or tints. Ever noticed how a photo taken under fluorescent lighting sometimes has a blueish hue? Or how shots by candlelight can seem overly warm or yellow? That’s the effect of these different light sources on your images.

Since photographers often want to produce images that look natural, white balancing involves carefully adjusting your camera settings or editing tools to counteract these color casts. It’s about taking an image like this, full of distorted, too-blue colors:

blue pear without white balancing

And adding warm colors until you balance out the color cast, so you get a final result like this:

pear with proper white balancing

You might be wondering: If lights have such strong color casts, how come I never notice them?

It’s a good question with a simple answer: human eyes are pretty good at correcting for color casts in real time, but a camera captures the subject as it looks in life. Sometimes, the subject will have neutral tones, but other times it’ll be very blue (as in the pear photo above) and sometimes very yellow (as in the pear photo below). In both the blue and the yellow cases, white balancing is necessary to create a neutral image.

Here’s a too-yellow pear photo, which requires significant cooling during the white balancing process:

pear with a warm color cast

Note that, during white balancing, you’re adjusting the colors along two spectrums:

  • The blue-yellow spectrum, also known as the color temperature
  • The green-magenta spectrum, also known as the color tint

In general, natural light only requires correction along the blue-yellow spectrum, but certain types of artificial lighting may produce a noticeable color tint, in which case you’ll need to correct for that, too.

Color temperature explained

The bulk of white balancing in photography consists of color temperature correction. You’re correcting for a cast produced by the color temperature of the light, which lies along the blue-yellow spectrum.

Think of it this way: some light sources exude a more yellowish glow, while others lean towards a bluish hue. When we encounter the former, it’s termed a “warm” color temperature. Conversely, the bluish tint signals a “cool” color temperature.

Photographers refer to different color temperatures using the Kelvin scale. Warmer color temperatures, such as those produced by a candle flame or a setting sun, have a low Kelvin value, such as 3000 K. Neutral color temperatures, such as midday sunlight, have a medium Kelvin value – around 5000 K. And cooler color temperatures, produced by clouds or shade, have a high Kelvin value of 6000 K and beyond.

Cooler light has a high Kelvin value? Warmer light has a low Kelvin value?

Yes, you read that right, and it can be confusing, especially if you’ve never encountered the color temperature scale before. But you’ll get used to it over time (and it can help to think of the color temperatures as simply the opposite of what you’d expect).

Why is white balance important?

Color casts cause a couple of problems in photography.

First, they prevent you from capturing accurate, true colors in a scene. If you want to photograph a beautiful red sunset exactly as it appears to your eye, you’ll need to neutralize any color casts; otherwise, your image won’t match the real-life conditions you experienced.

This can also be an issue if you’re doing product photography or real-estate photography, where the goal is to portray the subject as true to life as possible.

Second, color casts tend to look bad. They can mess with portrait skin tones, they can create muddy shadows and sickly highlights, and they can create unwanted moods in your photos.

As I explain later in this article, you can use a color cast for creative effect – but it’s important that you do this carefully and deliberately, rather than as a failure to properly white balance a scene. Make sense?

The two white balancing methods

You can adjust the white balance of your images in two broad ways:

  1. In camera, before taking a shot
  2. Afterward, in post-processing

Both approaches can work, but there are some important caveats to keep in mind:

In-camera white balancing

Most cameras allow you to adjust your white balance settings before ever taking a photo.

For instance, you can select a white balance preset (such as Tungsten, Flash, Cloudy, etc.), which allows your camera to roughly understand and compensate for the lighting conditions.

Some cameras also allow for a custom white balance. Here, you simply dial in a Kelvin value (remember the color temperature scale I shared above?). A high Kelvin value will balance out cooler light and a low Kelvin value will balance out warmer light.

Your camera may even be capable of white balancing off a gray card. Put the gray card in front of your camera, select the right function in the menu, take a picture, and – voila! – your camera will create an accurate color temperature profile of the scene.

But while these white balance options allow you to handle color casts in the field, they come with some drawbacks:

  1. Unless you’re in an enclosed environment, the light will likely change over the course of your shoot. You’ll need to periodically update your white balance preset or redo the gray card process as the sun goes behind clouds, as it sets, etc.
  2. White balance presets, while easy to use, are only approximate. They often won’t produce a perfect result.
  3. If you’re shooting action from a distance, taking a gray card reading is impossible.

That’s why some photographers prefer a different method of white balancing:

White balancing while editing

White balancing in post-processing is pretty simple:

Just set your camera to its Auto White Balance function when out shooting.

Then, when you get back home, open your photos in your editing program of choice.

Most editors offer a similar process, which involves using the white balance eyedropper to identify a neutral tone and fine-tuning via the Temperature and Tint sliders. (Below, I give a step-by-step process for white balancing photos in Lightroom.)

You can white balance each photo individually, or you can create a white balance adjustment for one (or a handful) of photos, then sync the adjustment across the entire set.

After-the-fact white balancing is nice, but like in-camera white balancing, there are a few points you need to keep in mind.

  1. You’ll need to set aside extra time in post-processing to do your white balancing. And while you can save time with batch processing and presets, if you’re capturing lots of images under different lighting conditions, you may prefer the relative ease of in-camera white balancing.
  2. Unless you take photos with a gray card in the frame, you may struggle to get a perfect white balance result with editing. In many cases, that’s fine – the color cast may be barely perceptible – but if you’re photographing products, your client may require literally perfect colors.
  3. For complete white balancing flexibility in editing, you must shoot in RAW. While JPEGs allow for some white balance adjustments, you’ll be limited an often-unacceptable amount – whereas RAW files let you completely set and reset the white balance.

So while post-processing and in-camera white balancing are both serviceable, you’ll ultimately need to choose the option that works best for you.

How to white balance using in-camera presets

While white balance presets aren’t the most accurate way to color correct, they’re an easy way to get started (and if you’re simply capturing photos to share on social media, they may be all you require).

Simply pull up your in-camera white balance menu. You should see several presets, such as:

  • Sunny, which works for mid-morning and mid-afternoon sun
  • Shade, which works for scenarios with heavy shade (e.g., portraits under a tree)
  • Cloudy, which works for outdoor scenes featuring overcast lighting
  • Flash, which works for scenes lit by standard off-camera speedlights and pop-up flashes
  • Incandescent, which works for indoor scenes lit by standard warm bulbs
  • Fluorescent, which works for indoor scenes lit by fluorescent bulbs

Then pick the preset that most closely matches the lighting conditions you’re experiencing and start taking photos! You will need to pay close attention to the light as you continue shooting; if it changes significantly, you should switch presets to reflect the new conditions.

How to white balance your photos in Lightroom

Lightroom color correction is a quick and painless process.

First, open an image in the Develop module, then find the WB section on the right-hand side:

adjusting the white balance in Lightroom

Next, select the Eyedropper icon:

the Eyedropper tool in Lightroom

Then click on a part of your image that should look a neutral gray or white. (Don’t be afraid to click in a few different places, especially if you’re not sure what counts as “neutral.”)

hoving the Eyedropper tool over the subject

If you can’t find a neutral area to sample, or you don’t like the results, you can always head over to the Temp and Tint sliders:

white balance temperature and tint

You probably won’t need to adjust the Tint slider much, but feel free to drag the Temp slider back and forth until you get a neutral image.

A white-balanced photo of a pear in Lightroom

How to creatively use white balance for different effects

While it’s always important to start by color correcting your photos, you can sometimes enhance images by deliberately pushing the white balance in the wrong direction. This generally works best when applied in a post-processing program, not in camera (though you can technically do it either way).

The idea here is simple:

By applying a too-cold white balance to your photos, you can create a somber, moody effect.

And by applying a too-warm white balance to your photos, you can create a welcoming, inviting, even nostalgic effect.

I don’t recommend you push the white balance too far – at some point, your photos may look unnatural – but a bit of cool or warm color is often nice when added carefully.

Note that you can also use an “incorrect” white balance to exaggerate the conditions of the scene. Adding cool hues will give images a shady or night effect, while adding warm hues will give images a sunrise or sunset effect. Again, use this technique with care. It’s easy to go overboard and end up with garish, unpleasant results.

White balance in photography: final words

Now that you’ve finished this article, you’re ready to start adjusting the white balance in your photos so you can capture truly lifelike, authentic images.

Remember, however: don’t be confined by the idea of “correctness.” As with many elements in photography, white balance can also be a tool for artistic expression. Explore, experiment, and embrace the power of white balance to transform the mood and atmosphere of your shots.

So go out with your camera. Practice working with white balance. And make your images shine!

Now over to you:

What do you think about white balance in photography? Do you have any tips for improving your results? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

White balance FAQ

Why is white balance important in photography?

White balance ensures that the colors in your images are accurate and natural. Incorrect white balance can lead to color casts, detracting from the image’s overall quality and authenticity.

What is the difference between white balance and color temperature?

White balance compensates for the color casts produced by either color temperature or color tint shifts. On the other hand, color temperature specifically refers to where the light falls on the blue-yellow spectrum.

How do I know if my white balance is correct?

The simplest indication is when the colors in your image appear natural and true to the scene!

Can you adjust the white balance in post-processing?

Yes, you can. Many editing software options allow for white balance adjustments, giving photographers the flexibility to refine the white balance even after a shot has been taken.

The post White Balance in Photography: The Essential Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darren Rowse.

Lightroom Star Ratings: A Quick Guide

The post Lightroom Star Ratings: A Quick Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ian Johnson.

Lightroom Star Ratings: A Quick Guide

Let’s face it: Sorting and culling your pictures after a shoot can feel like a never-ending task. Whether you’ve spent a wild weekend capturing wildlife or a bustling day capturing a wedding, sifting through hundreds or even thousands of photos to figure out which ones to keep, edit, and store can drive you crazy.

Fortunately, Adobe Lightroom’s star-rating system is a superhero tool that helps you efficiently organize and store your precious images. If you’ve been struggling to keep your photos well-managed, then it’ll be an absolute game-changer – as long as you know the right approach.

In this article, I’ll explain everything you need to know about using star ratings in Lightroom, including what star ratings are and how they work, plus some handy tips and tricks to keep your workflow fast and efficient.

Ready to get your photos organized? Let’s dive right in!

What are Lightroom star ratings?

Star ratings refer to one of Lightroom’s handiest image organizational features: the ability to apply a rating (from 0-5) to each and every image in your catalog.

The star rating option will appear underneath your photos in the Library module:

Lightroom star ratings

You can click to apply a rating (and if you choose a rating by mistake, you can always click on the stars again to remove it).

You can also apply star ratings in Grid View. Simply click the dots at the bottom of a photo:

Lightroom star ratings

And you’re done! Note that you can always use the Lightroom Sort option to sort photos by rating:

Lightroom star ratings

Or you can filter based on specific ratings (e.g., 3 stars and above):

Lightroom star ratings

How to improve your workflow with Lightroom star ratings: 4 tips

Star ratings have the power to revolutionize your editing process. In this section, I’ll share a handful of valuable tips to supercharge your workflow, starting with:

1. Embrace the magic of hotkey stars

Earlier, I talked about assigning ratings by clicking on the corresponding stars underneath your images. And sure, it’s an effective approach – but did you know that you know you can assign star ratings from 0 to 5 using your keyboard? These awesome hotkeys are what make the star rating system incredibly convenient.

In fact, if you have hundreds of photos to edit, this can dramatically cut down your time spent in Lightroom. Simply open an image in the Loupe View, press a hotkey to assign a star rating, then press the right arrow key to advance to the next file. You can blow through entire batches of images in seconds!

And if you want to go even faster, enable Lightroom’s Auto Advance feature by selecting Photo>Auto Advance. That way, once you rate an image, you won’t even need to press an arrow key; the program will automatically advance to the next photo.

2. Use star ratings to prioritize your photos

So you’ve just imported a bunch of photos, whether they’re wildlife shots, wedding moments, sports highlights, or captivating portraits. Now comes the burning question: Which ones are worth keeping? When you’re out in the field, you may capture multiple shots of similar subjects in slightly different settings or poses. At a wedding, for instance, you’ll have tons of dance photos, but only a select few will make the final cut.

This is where the star rating system swoops in to save the day. By assigning different ratings depending on the quality of each image, you can quickly categorize your shots and make sure that the best photos get shared and edited and the worst end up in the “delete” pile.

Lightroom, Stars, Workflow, Help
There’s a lot going on during a wedding. And when the day is over, you need to import the photos, then choose which you’ll keep, which you’ll develop, and which you’ll delete. Lightroom’s star ratings can help you out!

(By the way, here’s why I prefer the ratings system over the flag system: With star ratings, you get to be far more granular. Not only do you select the images to edit and delete, but you can also identify which images to edit first and which to edit down the line. You’re not limited to the binary “yes” and “no” of the flags.)

Now, you can assign rating values that align with your personal preferences, but here’s a suggestion: Let “0” (no rating) be your delete category. Then, designate “1” as the keep-but-low-priority-for-editing category—these could be your b-roll shots for applying general presets. Then, when you set an image to “2,” you’re saying it deserves immediate development, and when you assign a “4,” you’re signaling that it’s one of your absolute best shots. This tiered rating system ensures you only have to go through your images once – and ideally not more than twice. Trust me, it’s a massive time-saver, especially when you’re dealing with a large volume of files!

Quick note: I strongly advise against using “5” in your workflow. Reserve that rating exclusively for your top-notch, highest-quality images.

Once you’ve rated your shots, go ahead and sort them by rating. Then dive into the editing process as needed!

3. Use Smart Collections to create a portfolio

No doubt you’ll capture some amazing shots that you’ll be proud of and will want to keep for future reference, printing, or showcasing in your portfolio. As I mentioned earlier, these exceptional images deserve a five-star rating. (Remember: Only a select few shots should achieve this!)

To gather all your best shots in one place and create a stunning portfolio, Lightroom offers a nifty feature called Smart Collections. Think of it as your personal assistant that automatically gathers all images in your catalog with a specific attribute.

Here’s how you set it up: In the Collections tab, choose the Plus icon, then select Create Smart Collection:

Lightroom Star Ratings: A Quick Guide

Next, give your Collection a name (such as “Portfolio”), and add some selection criteria. You can base it on any attribute you assign in Lightroom – whether it’s stars, flags, keywords, or more. In our case, we want to collect images with a five-star rating, so we’ll create a single rating rule:

Lightroom, Stars, Workflow, Help

Finally, hit Create, and watch as your Smart Collection – with all your five-star images – appears!

As you continue your photographic journey, your five-star collection will keep growing, beautifully documenting your progress and telling your unique story!

Lightroom, Stars, Workflow, Help

4. Use stars to categorize subjects

This method of using star ratings is quite unique, but it can work wonders, especially if you’re keen on keywording your images.

Imagine you’re a bird photographer. Throughout the day, you’re constantly switching subjects, photographing different bird species left and right. When you import those images into Lightroom, the daunting task of keywording awaits you. Well, fear not! The star rating system comes to the rescue, making it a breeze to sort through your feathered friends in no time.

Here’s how it works: Mentally assign star ratings to particular species, and then use hotkeys to swiftly assign the corresponding star rating to each image. Once you’re done “coding” your species with stars, simply filter them in Grid View.

Now you can focus on completing your keywording, knowing that you’ve effortlessly organized your shots. And if you want to remove the star ratings afterward, it’s as easy as highlighting the images and pressing the “0” key.

Note that this technique isn’t limited to bird photography alone; you can apply it to various photography scenarios!

Lightroom, Stars, Workflow, Help
The diversity of birds creates a diversity of shots. If you ever hope to find your images again, you need to keyword your collection. I used star ratings assigned to different species to help sort them and keyword them.

Lightroom star ratings: final words

Lightroom star ratings are like the secret sauce to streamlining your photo editing game. With just a few clicks, you can assign ratings to your images. That way, your photos will be neatly organized and ready to be edited. No more endless scrolling through folders and scratching your head trying to remember which shots were your favorites.

So embrace the power of Lightroom star ratings. Let them be your guiding stars in the vast universe of digital images. Take control of your workflow, save precious time, and unleash your creative genius!

Now over to you:

How do you plan to use Lightroom ratings? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Lightroom Star Ratings: A Quick Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ian Johnson.

Editing Aurora Photos in Lightroom: 8 Essential Tools

The post Editing Aurora Photos in Lightroom: 8 Essential Tools appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ian Johnson.

How to edit aurora images in Lightroom

One of the most amazing phenomena of the night sky is the aurora borealis (also known as the northern lights). For as long as humans have existed, the dancing, brilliant curtains of light have dazzled the viewers below.

The opportunity to see the aurora is often a bucket list item, and the opportunity to view and photograph the northern lights draws thousands of people to polar regions every year.

Advancements in digital cameras and photo editing software have created an incredible opportunity for you to edit your shots after a night out under the stars and lights. However, post-processing technology has, in my opinion, resulted in many aurora photographs that are over-processed to bring out a level of saturation and contrast that did not exist in the original scene. Because many of the colors of the aurora are so pure and contrast so intensely with the sky, it is easy to inject the equivalent of pixel-steroids into your images, resulting in an eye-catching but ultimately false effect.

It is my goal when editing aurora shots to enhance but not over-enhance. Understanding how each of the basic Lightroom editing tools impacts an aurora image can help you tell the story of a night out by making your file look like the sky did when you originally witnessed that beautiful light show. Below, I walk you through the different tools that are useful for aurora editing in Lightroom, and I do my best to explain how you can use each to your advantage.

Lightroom basic sliders

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
For the images above, I minimally edited the aurora and was careful not to over-enhance it. Understanding how the Lightroom slider controls impact your aurora shots can help you achieve natural and beautiful edits of the northern lights!

To illustrate how my favorite Lightroom sliders – Contrast, Clarity, Dehaze, Tint, Saturation, Vibrance, Shadows, and Highlights – affect an Aurora image, it is easiest to look at how extreme values for each setting impact the image.

For each tool, I will walk you through how the slider impacts any type of image (i.e., I will explain what the slider does in general terms). I will then apply it at an extreme level to the same aurora image to show a before (no edits) and after (extreme applied) comparison.

1. Contrast

Contrast is a very useful slider and a fundamental one for editing. By definition, the Contrast tool darkens the darkest midtones in the image and lightens the lightest midtones.

In an aurora image, many darker midtones appear in the aurora itself. As you slide the contrast to 100%, you’ll see that the colors in the aurora darken, giving the image a more saturated look:

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
Pushing the contrast to +100 increased the saturation in the Aurora, and the foreground shadows became much deeper. Boosting contrast and adding saturation or vibrancy can have a compounding effect and lead to an image that appears over-processed.

2. Clarity

The Clarity slider adds contrast to the midtones without adding much noise. The tool is often used to bring out texture and details.

As I said above, aurora colors generally fall into the midtones of your image, so a Clarity boost impacts them strongly. Boosting the Clarity to +100 adds definition to the banding of the sample aurora shot below because there are vertical dark lines in the sky. You may like the Clarity slider for aurora shots because it doesn’t add as much contrast as the contrast slider and can make stars in the image pop and seem crisper.

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
Adding +100 Clarity increases the banding in the aurora and makes the stars more visible. The Clarity adjustment did not add any saturation or other artifacts to the image.

3. Dehaze

Similar to Clarity, the Dehaze slider increases midtone contrast and shadows to give the images a slightly darker and more saturated look.

The Dehaze slider was built to remove haze from a scene. However, when you apply its technology to an aurora shot, it adds a lot of contrast and saturation to the image. It’s a slider to use gently (if at all) for aurora image editing.

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
In comparison to Clarity, the Dehaze slider adds a lot of contrast and saturation to the aurora image if it is boosted to +100. The Dehaze slider can be useful, but apply it sparingly (if at all) when editing your aurora images.

4. Saturation

The Saturation slider deepens, intensifies, and brightens the colors throughout the image.

In an aurora photo, you’re often dealing with very intense colors, so you will find it is very, very easy to overdo the Saturation slider. Use Saturation sparingly.

When pushed to +100, the Saturation slider gives the northern lights an almost neon appearance:

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
Oversaturating your aurora image gives it a fake, neon look.

At -100, on the other hand, it strips all color from the shot:

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
Bringing all of the saturation out of an image renders it black and white.

It might seem counterintuitive, but there are times when bringing the saturation out of your aurora image by -5 or -10 can help improve the file’s appearance and make it easier for the eye to comprehend the intensity of the northern lights.

5. Vibrance

Vibrance is essentially a less aggressive version of saturation. It’s a tool that increases saturation selectively, with an emphasis on cooler rather than warmer tones.

In aurora shots, the Vibrance slider provides a more realistic enhancement of the aurora’s colors. You can see in the examples below that there is still a real danger of going too far. A Vibrance value of +100 creates neon colors similar to overusing Saturation:

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
You may find Vibrance to be great for natural aurora image editing. However, boosting it too much will still result in an over-processed image.

However, at -100, you can see a distinct difference from -100 Saturation. The -100 Vibrance adjustment does not remove all color from the sky:

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
In contrast to Saturation, you can remove all of the Vibrance and still have some color left in the image.

When editing my aurora shots, I like to decrease the saturation slightly before increasing the vibrance; it’s a powerful technique to subtly improve the colors!

6. Shadows

The Shadows slider increases luminosity in the darkest parts of the image.

With a picture of the aurora, you have a distinct advantage in that the Lightroom program interprets almost any part of the image that is not the aurora to be a shadow. The Shadows slider, therefore, lets you brighten or darken your foreground very easily.

You can see in the +100 shadow example below how details were brought out of the shadows in the silhouettes of the trees:

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
There is a very clear line – in an aurora image – between the highlights and the shadows. Increasing the Shadows slider will raise the luminosity of any part of the image not covered in by the aurora.

7. Highlights

The Highlights slider is the opposite of the Shadows slider and increases the luminosity of the brightest parts of the image.

Lightroom interprets any part of the image with the aurora to be a highlight. That means an increase in the Highlights to +100 effectively increases the exposure of the aurora. On the other hand, if you over-expose an aurora image in the field, decreasing the highlights can help you reclaim lost detail.

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
There is a very clear delineation between shadows and highlights in an aurora image. Increasing the Highlights to +100 only impacts the brightness of the aurora. In this image, it gives the Aurora an overexposed, washed-out look – but that’s because I pushed the slider to +100.

8. Tint

The Tint slider is meant to be used for color correction in correspondence with the Temp slider.

When editing your northern lights photos, you can use the Tint slider to neutralize the snow, which tends to turn green during intense aurora displays. I like to use a Graduated Filter (i.e., a Linear Gradient mask), coupled with increased pink tints and decreased saturation to make the snow closer to white.

Often this helps your eye focus on the aurora and can restore balance to the shot.

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
Using Tint to do color control on an Aurora image is a bit more advanced, but you will find that you can control the color of the snow by combining the Tint and Saturation slider controls.

Put it all together for a final edit!

Now that you know how each slider impacts your overall image, it’s time to combine each in moderation to achieve a final edit.

For the shot below, I wanted to make sure the banding in the aurora was enhanced along with the purples. My final edit brings out features of the image without over-enhancing it:

How to edit the aurora in Lightroom
Using the controls described in this article, I edited this aurora image to give it a natural look and enhance the features I liked most about it, such as the purple colors and banding.

Now I want you to experiment with editing aurora images! Please pick your favorite aurora photo, then do some post-processing based on the advice I’ve shared. Then share the results in the comments below! As I always say, pixels are cheap – so I hope you make lots of pixels while photographing the aurora and have fun editing them!

The post Editing Aurora Photos in Lightroom: 8 Essential Tools appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ian Johnson.

How to Avoid and Reduce Noise in Your Photos (A Practical Guide)

The post How to Avoid and Reduce Noise in Your Photos (A Practical Guide) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Barry J Brady.

how to avoid and reduce noise in your photos

We’ve all seen it in our images: that uneven grainy look that makes even otherwise outstanding photos look unappealing. But how can you avoid noise? And, in cases where it’s unavoidable, how do you reduce noise in photos?

Fortunately, dealing with noise is easier than you might realize, even if you don’t own a $5000+ camera with breathtaking low-light capabilities. In this article, I’m going to share plenty of tips and tricks for both preventing and removing noise, including:

  • What causes image noise
  • Five simple ways to stop noise from ever appearing in your images
  • A noise reduction workflow you can use to reduce noise in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw

Sound good? Let’s dive right in, starting with the important first question:

What is noise?

Before and after noise reduction
Reducing noise in your images can make a huge difference to the overall quality.

In the context of digital photography, noise is aberrant pixels that appear in your image files.

In other words, noise is made up of pixels not correctly representing the color or exposure of the scene. If you photograph a dark blue wall, and in certain portions of the file, you can see speckles of white, red, or green, noise is probably the culprit!

You’re likely familiar with another type of noise: the static that you sometimes hear when you’re tuning a radio or watching TV. That static is caused by signal distortion or interference; it’s not deliberately included as part of the broadcast but is instead a result of the broadcasting process.

Technically, almost every image file contains some level of noise, even if it’s invisible to the naked eye. If you open an apparently noise-free photo and zoom in to 400%, for instance, you’ll probably start to see aberrations in the pixels, even if they’re slight. However, in this article, I’ve focused my discussion on significant noise (i.e., noise that’s visible or that threatens to become visible with small adjustments in post-processing).

Why does noise happen?

Noise is introduced when you shoot a long-exposure image or use a high ISO setting on your camera.

(What counts as a high ISO setting? That depends on your camera model, but these days, most cameras start producing noisy files around ISO 1600 or 3200.)

Does that mean you should never do long exposures or go over ISO 100? No! There are times you may need – or even want – to use long exposures or raise the ISO. Landscape photographers, event photographers, and wildlife photographers shoot in low light all the time, which requires long exposures and/or a high ISO.

At the same time, there are simple ways to avoid too much noise in your photos, even when using the above techniques, which I’ll discuss in the next section:

5 ways to reduce noise in-camera

Below, I share the five methods for minimizing noise while out shooting.

Not every method will apply to every situation, which is why it pays to be familiar with all of them – and to carefully choose the right method for your particular shot.

1. Shoot at lower ISO settings

Yes, we’re starting with the most obvious method. But photographers often push their ISO too high, too fast, leading to bad image quality.

Now, if your camera includes relatively new sensor technology, the ISO functionality will be great. You shouldn’t see too much noise creeping into your images, even up to ISO 3200. However, there might still be some noise at the higher ISO numbers, such as ISO 6400, ISO 12800, and beyond.

So don’t raise your ISO with abandon. Instead, be aware of your exposure, and recognize that shooting at a high ISO will produce more noise in your images. Boost your ISO if necessary, but consider other options before dialing in ISO 12800.

Here are a few items to think about before increasing the ISO:

  • Open your aperture to its widest setting (e.g., f/2.8)
  • If you are shooting in low light, use a tripod and drop your shutter speed
  • If you are shooting a smaller subject (e.g., a person), use a flash

Each of these strategies will help you get a nice, bright exposure – without unnecessarily raising the ISO.

Of course, if your shots are still turning out dark, then you will need to push the ISO up higher. I’d recommend doing some test shots to find out your camera’s ISO capabilities and at what point the ISO settings start to really degrade image quality.

For many years, I shot on a Nikon D80, and I knew that anything above ISO 500 was really difficult to use. Noise at ISO 640 and beyond became difficult to remove. And if I was able to successfully remove it, the whole image looked like a watercolor painting thanks to the noise reduction process. So I worked within my constraints.

2. Shoot in RAW format

Does the idea of shooting in RAW intimidate you? It shouldn’t! RAW is a great way to get the best out of your images, so be sure to use it.

You don’t have to shoot RAW all the time. But when you notice that the light is becoming a little too dark, switch over to RAW.

Why is this so important?

JPEGs come with compression – a process during which noise becomes baked into your images. So removing noise in post-production becomes really tough (as does increasing exposure, which is often important in high-ISO situations).

3. Expose correctly from the start

Boosting a too-dark exposure will reveal noise – which is why it’s essential that you get your exposures right from the very beginning.

When out shooting, I highly recommend checking your camera’s LCD – including the histogram – to make sure you’ve nailed the exposure.

And don’t be afraid to take several shots at different exposures, especially if you’re dealing with a tricky scene; better to be safe than sorry!

Also, the higher your ISO, the more unforgiving the file. In other words: If you’re using a high ISO, you had better get the exposure right, because boosting an underexposed high-ISO image will result in a noisy mess.

(Of course, don’t overexpose, either. While overexposure won’t cause problems with noise, it will obliterate detail, which is never a good thing.)

4. Be careful when doing long exposures

Long exposures produce some of the most dramatic images.

But if the exposure is too long, the camera sensor may heat up, causing unwanted noise.

Don’t let this stop you from doing long exposures – if you love long exposures, then do long exposures – just be aware of how your camera handles the long exposure time.

In fact, you might consider shooting a series of long exposures, then checking each file on your computer for noise.

Then, once you’ve determined your camera’s limitations, make sure you don’t set your shutter speed for longer than your camera can handle.

The key point here is to know the limits of your gear and to shoot within those limits. You’ll end up with great images and have an easy time when editing.

long exposure seascape
Long exposure images can increase noise in a scene.

5. Use in-camera noise reduction

Most cameras offer a function called Long Exposure Noise Reduction, and if you’re doing long exposures, it’s a good idea to turn it on.

Why?

Well, as discussed above, long exposure photos are especially prone to noise. A long exposure noise reduction option is designed to counteract this issue – by taking a second shot after the first, then using the noise profile of the second image to subtract noise from the first.

Long exposure noise reduction comes with a serious drawback, though: it takes time, usually as long as the original exposure. So if you use a 30-second shutter speed, the camera will take an additional 30 seconds to get rid of the noise. And if you shoot for an hour, you’ll need another hour to reduce the noise, which is an annoyingly long time to wait!

So yes, it may be impractical if you are doing 10-minute shots. But for medium-length long exposures, it’s often worth doing.

(And if you do have the timed, do it on the very long exposures too, as it can dramatically improve the image quality.)

long exposure night scene
Use in-camera noise reduction for long exposures!

Reducing noise in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw

Even with the best techniques, you’ll still end up with noise in your photos – at least on occasion.

This is where post-processing noise reduction techniques come in handy!

Different software offers different noise reduction options, and I’m going to focus on two popular (and near-identical) programs from Adobe: Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera Raw.

Below, I share my recommended workflow, but as you follow along, note that you’ll be able to use very similar methods in other programs!

Also note that you’ll generally want to complete all your other edits before reducing noise. This is because exposure adjustments, as well as sharpening adjustments, can make noise more visible. If you start by reducing noise and then apply a series of edits that amplify any existing noise, you’ll be forced to reduce noise a second time. This is inefficient, and it can also degrade image quality (since the noise reduction process does involve some loss of detail). So once you’ve done your basic edits, here’s how to proceed:

Step 1: Open your image and view it at 100 percent

Start by opening your image in Lightroom or Photoshop.

Note that RAW images opened in Photoshop will first go through Adobe Camera Raw, which is what you want. Again, remember that the controls in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom are almost identical, so most of the instructions are applicable to both ACR and Lightroom users.

how to reduce noise in your photos Adobe Camera Raw noise reduction
The noise reduction sliders in Adobe Camera Raw are identical in Lightroom.

I recommend viewing your image full screen, then zooming into 100 percent. The goal is to look for noise; after all, not all images require noise reduction.

Adobe Camera Raw with noise reduction
Adobe Camera Raw has some powerful noise reduction tools.

If you don’t see any noise, then there’s no need to apply any noise reduction. However, if you do notice some noise, and you feel it’s harming the image quality, proceed with the next step:

Step 1.5: Try the Denoise button (optional)

Adobe recently added an AI-powered denoise feature to Lightroom. It works by analyzing your selected image for noise; then it creates a DNG copy of your file that has been tweaked to remove noise while retaining detail.

Importantly, the Denoise button is only available in Lightroom, not Adobe Camera Raw. So if you’re an ACR user, you’ll want to skip straight to the next step. If you’re a Lightroom user, however, you’ll find the AI Denoise option in the Detail panel:

How to avoid and reduce noise in your photos

If you’re looking to reduce noise in your photos and you don’t mind waiting around, hitting the Denoise button can often do the trick. Once you press the button, you’ll see this dialog box, which includes a few basic settings:

How to avoid and reduce noise in your photos

I like to leave the Denoise Amount slider at its default value, though if the zoomed-in preview on the left looks either too noisy or too smooth, I’ll adjust the slider accordingly.

In Lightroom, I also recommend making sure the Create Stack option is checked. This tells the program to group the noise-reduced file with the original file for easy reference later.

Finally, hit Enhance, and wait for Lightroom’s AI to process your file.

In my experience, this approach does a reasonably good job of reducing noise, but it comes with a huge downside:

It takes forever to run (unless you own a state-of-the-art computer, at least).

If you look carefully at the screenshot I included above, Lightroom estimates that the noise reduction process will take a whopping 13 minutes to complete. For some folks, that won’t be a problem, but for others – such as those who edit high volumes of photos for clients – it’s just not worth the wait.

Regardless, you can always proceed with the manual noise reduction steps I discuss below:

Step 2: Adjust the Luminance slider

The Luminance slider reduces luminance noise (i.e., noise resulting from over- or underexposed pixels).

And many, many high-ISO images suffer from excessive luminance noise.

So zoom in to 100 percent, then boost the Luminance slider until the noise starts to disappear.

Don’t go too far, however,

Step 3: Fine-tune your result with the Luminance Detail and Luminance Contrast sliders

The Luminance Detail and Luminance Contrast sliders control the amount of detail and contrast preserved in your photos following luminance noise reduction.

You see, noise reduction smooths out noisy pixels, which automatically reduces detail and contrast. But by boosting these sliders, you’ll retain detail and contrast.

As you’d expect, the sliders do come with a drawback:

When you increase the values, you decrease the strength of the noise reduction. So while you’ll end up with a sharper image, you’ll also see more noise.

Step 4: Adjust the Color slider

The Color slider reduces color noise – which is the second type of noise you’ll find in your photos (often in the underexposed shadow areas).

So boost the Color noise slider, and zoom into 100 percent to see its effects.

Step 5: Fine-tune your result with the Color Detail and Color Smoothness sliders

As with luminance noise reduction (above), you can further adjust your image with the Color Detail and Color Smoothness sliders.

Want more detail in your photo? Boost the Color Detail slider. Higher values will protect thin, detailed color edges, but can also result in color speckles. Lower values remove color speckles but can result in color bleeding.

Want to keep colors nice and smooth? Boost the Color Smoothness slider.

And you’re done!

A final note on noise reduction

While I wish I could give you standard, one-size-fits-all settings for noise reduction, it just doesn’t work that way. Every image is different, so you’ll need to slide each adjustment around until you get your desired result.

I tend to increase Luminance and Color to about 50, then work from there. I slide each option up and down, carefully watching how it affects the image while zoomed in to 100 percent.

Then, after each adjustment, I zoom out to see the effect it has on the overall image. And if I’m happy with an adjustment, I move onto the next slider.

Is the process a little tedious? Sure. But if done properly, you’ll eliminate most of the unsightly noise in just about any image.

Practice is also important here, so try this on as many images as you can. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to predict the effect of each change.

How to avoid and reduce noise in your photos: final words

Now that you’ve finished this article, you know that avoiding and reducing noise shouldn’t be too complicated. Just follow the steps I’ve given, and your images will turn out great!

While it’s best to avoid noise from the get-go, reducing noise during post-processing is definitely a solid option. So focus on a two-pronged approach: do your best to avoid noise, and then clean up any remaining noise with software.

Now over to you:

Do you have any other tips for noise reduction and removal? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post How to Avoid and Reduce Noise in Your Photos (A Practical Guide) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Barry J Brady.

How to (Effectively) Cull Your Photos: 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit “Delete”

The post How to (Effectively) Cull Your Photos: 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit “Delete” appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by David Shaw.

How to effectively cull your photos

A few winters back, I was photographing on a high mountain pass. Low clouds and scattered sun danced across the snow-covered slopes, blown by a chill wind from the north. The view below came and went as fog blew past, opening and closing the scene like curtains. Enthralled, I snapped photos of the stark mountains, the pale sun, the glowing patches of light on the snow.

These shots are going to be awesome, I thought to myself.

Cull Your Photos Carefully - 5 Things to Consider Before You Hit Delete

A few hours later, I opened my computer and downloaded the images. I could see right away that they were indeed awesome! I sat and stared, certain that these were some of the best shots of the trip. The way the light played across the mountains, the storm light on the rock and snow slopes; yeah, it was great.

But a week later, as I was putting together images from the trip, I revisited those photos. Huh, I thought, I could have sworn those shots were better. I mean, they’re decent, but they’re not extraordinary. What happened?

Cull Your Photos Carefully - 5 Things to Consider Before You Hit Delete

I soon realized that the difference had to do with emotional distance. My initial assessment of the photos was clouded by the intensity of my feelings – but after spending time away from the files, I could separate myself emotionally from the experience of making them.

In other words, after a week, I could view those shots almost as though someone else had made them. As a result, many more of the photos ended up in the “delete” pile than I would have originally expected.

What I’m getting at here is that culling your photos is hard. Getting that emotional distance, thinking about what makes one photo great and another photo lackluster, determining how to reject some of your hard-won images – it’s a struggle for practically all photographers, including seasoned professionals.

Fortunately, there are certain steps you can take while reviewing your images to ensure that you keep (and reject) the relevant photos, which is what I discuss in this article. So without further ado, here are the five steps to follow as you cull and assess your images.

Step 1: Check the technical details

Cull Your Photos Carefully - 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit Delete

After importing the photos of a recent shoot into my Lightroom Catalog, I like to look at each image quickly – at full-screen size – and assess each for any technical faults.

I ask myself a series of questions:

Is the image out of focus (I check this at 100% or 1:1 view)? Is the composition obviously wonky? What about exposure; is the exposure so wrong that I can’t correct it?

If the answer is “Yes” to any of these questions, I immediately delete the image (or flag it as a reject by hitting X) and move on to the next file.

Cull Your Photos Carefully - 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit Delete

I encourage you to do the same here. Give each file a full-screen look, and do a technical assessment.

The trick in this first step is not to go beyond the technical details. This is not the time to try and gauge overall image quality. It’s just about deleting the obvious screw-ups.

Step 2: Do a second pass

If I’m eager to spend some time with my photos or I’ve got a deadline, I’ll do a quick second pass, where I go through the shots again soon after completing Step 1. Lightroom and many other image-organization programs offer the ability to flag images with different colors and/or rating codes, and I like to use this to give my files a more detailed evaluation.

Scrolling through my images, I color-code the good and bad standouts. Images that I like get coded green, purple, or blue (the color relates to my personal filing system). Images that I don’t particularly like, for one reason or another, get flagged red.

Cull Your Photos Carefully - 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit Delete
Red-flagged images are imperfectly sharp, have clear composition issues, or other technical problems. The green images are ones I like, and the un-marked images are ones to hold onto for future consideration.

Some images do not get flagged at all. These are usually images about which I’m ambivalent. They are good enough not to get the dreaded red flag but not so good that I want to highlight them immediately.

At this point, I’ll start post-processing my favorite shots, but I won’t delete anything – that comes later!

Cull Your Photos Carefully - 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit Delete
A screenshot of my Lightroom Catalog after a shoot of this Rufescent tiger heron in Argentina. Of the 26 images I captured, I selected two as keepers: one vertical and one horizontal image.

I think this second pass is important for identifying the really solid photos from the mediocre and unimpressive shots, but I’ll also note that you can push this step until after Step 3 or Step 4, depending on the scenario and what works for you.

(One more tip: The color coding I do doesn’t need to match your own color coding! You can use a red-green-uncoded system if you like, or you can add in additional colors for more nuanced coding, or you can work with a flag/no flag/reject flag approach. The important thing is that you’re evaluating your images a second time and identifying files based on more than basic technical quality.)

Step 3: Let your photos rest

As I mentioned in the introduction, immediately following a shoot, we get emotionally caught up in our images, for better or for worse. If a shoot goes well – like my experience on the mountain – you may have the feeling that your images are better than they actually are. If a shoot goes poorly, on the other hand, you may feel like all your images suck (when, in fact, they may not!).

The solution is to give the images some space. Pull back for a few days, don’t look at them, don’t edit them. Put your new photos out of sight, and give yourself some emotional distance from the experience of making your images.

After a few days, a week, or even longer, you can continue with Step 4 (or Step 2, if you haven’t yet done your second pass).

Step 4: Consider how your images will be used

Now it’s time for your next pass. You’ve had some time away from your photos, and you’re ready to look at them with fresh eyes.

As you dive back into your collection, review each shot – but with a focus on how the image will be put to use. If you are shooting for a client, then you may already have a good idea of the kind of images you need to deliver.

For example, the conservation groups I work for usually provide me with a brief on the project. In that document, they will note specific types of images or video they need. As I’m pulling selections for them, I’ll consider their requirements and put special effort into finding and editing images that match.

Usually, however, I don’t have clients telling me which images are best, or which images I need to deliber. Without anyone guiding me, I lean toward variety.

Cull Your Photos Carefully - 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit Delete
Aiming for variety involves including more unusual images, such as this panoramic composition.

When I first started shooting seriously, I saved almost every image. I was too attached to each one. Later, as my image catalog and hard drives began to swell, I became heartless with images, deleting all but one or two from a series, even good alternatives to my selects. Now I’ve settled somewhere in between because I don’t always know how an image will be put to use, so I like to have some variety available.

Magazine editors will often be looking for images with big areas of negative space that can accommodate text. Big wall prints require images that are immaculately sharp and high resolution. Illustrative shots, often sold for stock or for small use in publications, need to be tight with only the bare minimum of room around the subject.

While editing, I plan for these eventualities. I like to select four or five images featuring a variety of compositions from any given scene, but not more.

As an example, below are my five selects from an encounter with a brown bear in Southeast Alaska. Each of the five images has been published in national magazines, and each time, the editor wanted the image for a different layout – some involving text, some as a simple stamp-size illustration.

The bottom line is you never know what is going to appeal to different viewers, so it’s important to keep a group of images with some diversity. Don’t just pick the one photo you think is best and then reject the rest.

Cull Your Photos Carefully - 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit Delete
Throw Away Your Photos Carefully - 5 Things to Consider Before You Hit Delete
Throw Away Your Photos Carefully - 5 Things to Consider Before You Hit Delete
Throw Away Your Photos Carefully - 5 Things to Consider Before You Hit Delete
Cull Your Photos Carefully - 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit Delete

Again, don’t get caught up on what you see as the best image from a series. Rather, give thought to how you might want to use images from the shoot in the future. Red code (or however you tag your images) the faulty ones, or near-duplicates, but retain some variety in the greens/selects pile.

Step 5: Do one final check

By this time, your collection of images will be a checkerboard of red and green. The red images are flagged for deletion, and the greens (and other colors) are set aside as keepers.

If you are like me, you’ve created enough duplicate, failure, and screw-up files that the reds wildly outnumber the greens and unlabeled images.

Throw Away Your Photos Carefully - 5 Things to Consider Before You Hit Delete
This image sat in my catalog for years before I finally noticed that it was pretty decent.

Before I hit “delete,” I give each image one more look – just to make sure I’m not cutting something that I might want to keep. Sometimes if an image is unique, even if it’s not what I think of as “good,” I’ll hold onto it.

Throw Away Your Photos Carefully - 5 Things to Consider Before You Hit Delete
This image was taken Mexico in 2010. I found it years later lingering on a hard drive. I had completely forgotten about that sunset over the Caribbean. Hard-drive surprises can be great, but I recommend being more organized than I was at the time!

More than once, I’ve scrolled back through my Lightroom catalog and stumbled on an image that, for one reason or another, I never gave a close look. At the time I created it, I must have considered it unremarkable but didn’t consider it bad enough to delete. Years later, I’ve found some gems in those un-flagged images.

How to cull your photos: final words

How to cull your photos effectively

Selecting keepers from a series of images is not always as straightforward as it seems!

What is “good” and what is “bad” is subjective, and it can change depending on your emotional distance and the purposes for which an image might be put to use. Consider each image carefully and use your delete key as needed, but don’t get too enthusiastic pushing that button. Deleted images can never be recovered, after all!

Now over to you:

How do you approach image culling? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post How to (Effectively) Cull Your Photos: 5 Steps to Follow Before You Hit “Delete” appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by David Shaw.