Editing Raw Files

Ansel Adams wrote, "The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways."
The same can be said for editing your RAW files. Editing takes considerable time. It is a thoughtful, contemplative process. It is not a race to be done.

There is much in regards to digital imaging and photography that isn't intuitive. Editing your images is one such example. The biggest thing that students have trouble with is failing to make full use the full tonal range of the image.

Please read Chapters 1&2 in The Digital Negative: Raw Image Processing in Lightroom, Camera Raw, and Photoshop by Jeff Schewe. This book can be found and read online through UM's library system in the same way that you read the other book.


One of the biggest struggles that students have is learning to adjust the distribution of tones in an image. Technically speaking, when you are shooting, your job is to capture all the data in the scene without clipping important highlight information. Your job in editing is to re-arrange those tones to make full use of the tonal range and create an attractive image.

If you see data climbing the right and left walls of an image, that is data containing no detail. I find if helpful if you think of lost detail as not having texture. If you grossly overexpose an area to the point that the data is climbing the right wall, let's say it is a white t-shirt, then the photo of the t-shirt won't have any sense of texture to it. You won't be able to tell if there was a pattern or what type of fabric it was. In a nut shell, you should set the black and white point of an image so that the data just kisses both sides of the histogram without climbing it. Of course, there are exceptions to this such as when you deliberately allow the white of a specular highlight to go to pure white.

If you see that there is a gap between the right wall and the image data, then you are not using the full range of tones available to you. Move the White slider until the data just kisses or nearly kisses the wall. If you see that there is a gap between the left wall and the image data, then you are not using the full range of tones available to you. Move the Blacks slider until to left until the data just kisses or nearly kisses the wall.You should do these edits first, then edit the other tones. At a minimum will likely have to adjust the midtones a bit using the Exposure slider or Curves.

Simply put, if you only use part of the tonal range, then you will have a flat (lacking contrast) image.
Like any advice, it is good to hear it from multiple people. Here are some tutorials on the use of Adobe Camera Raw that I highly recommend. These are written for Adobe Photoshop, but nearly everything is the same between PS and LR as far as the editing of RAW files is concerned.
I would like you to watch these videos. If you are struggling to understand the editing of RAW files, these will really help. The first one in particular.

Start with this one:
Adobe TV video featuring Julieanne Kost introduction to ACR. Great step by step tutorial in which she explains the choices she makes. If you like it, and I think you will, it is part of a longer video series featuring her. Click here to see all the episodes of The Complete Picture with Julianne Kost.
Russel Brown a long time Adobe evangelist and a pretty funny guy, has been posting some really great tutorials and scripts to his website for a number of years. I mention it now because he has some nice tutorials on working with Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop CS4. He takes a novel approach in some of the tutorials in which he edits others' files.
The Russel Brown Show

No Class 1/28. What's due 2/4

Hello all,

I hope you are enjoying your day off and staying warm.

At this point, you should have your Technical Assignment #1: Fun with Shutter Speeds posted to Flickr. If you haven't done this yet, please do so by tomorrow night (Wednesday 1/29). Also, please be sure to add your Daily Photos for the week to Flickr. Be sure to organize all your photos on Flickr using Sets.

Since we won't be meeting this week, I just want you to finish shooting the Assignment #1: Now - Life in 2014. I would like those posted to Flickr by Sunday night so that I may review them before class on Tuesday. I would like you to make a set with all the images that you shot for the assignment. Then make another set titled: Assignment #1 Winners. You can put as many in there as you feel really good about, but you need to have at least four in there.

If you have any questions about anything, please email me. I look forward to reviewing all your work!

Best regards,

Seder

LSA Media Center - offers DSLR equipment for loan

LSA Media Center offers free equipment loans to students. This includes DSLRs (some good ones too!). You do have to attend a little training seminar, but they offer it each week and I can't imagine that it is too difficult. They offer 3 day loans with the ability to renew it online. A student in class mentioned that they may offer longer term loans to students in classes such as photography. Be sure to inquire about that if you borrow a camera from them.

Media Center Reservation & Help Desk: 734.763.1104
Hours
Monday through Thursday, 8am-10pm
Friday, 8am-5pm
Saturday & Sunday, Noon to 8:00pm
(hours are extended during the last three weeks of each term)

I'm presenting an Artist Talk this Friday, January 24th from 3-4 in room 1405 of East Quad

I will making a presentation on my work and how it relates to my teaching. A solo exhibit of my series Three Minutes is on display just up the hall from room 1405 where I will be presenting the talk. Please attend if you can.

Technical Assignment #1: Fun with Shutter Speeds

Homework:

• Read Chapter 3: Selecting and Using Lenses in the book The Digital SLR Guide: Beyond Point-and-Shoot Digital Photography.

Technical Assignment #1: Fun with Shutter Speeds: Due on Flickr before the beginning of next class (January 28th). Please put them all in a Set.

PART 1

Here are some nice examples of how a change in shutter speed changes how motion is rendered. You are to take the same photo (as much as possible) using all the shutter speeds that your camera offers. You can go by full stops; you don’t have to include fractions stops. Your camera likely has a range of 30 seconds - 1/4000 of a second.

You may have to complete this as two different sets of images. One set that includes the fastest shutter speeds to a normal working range and another that includes the slowest shutter speeds to the normal working range.

Let’s say you want to start with your slowest shutter speeds. Let’s say you have 30” as you slowest shutter speed. It is going to have to be pretty dark to use that shutter speed and not overexpose even when using your smallest aperture (likely f32) and your lowest ISO (likely 100). Since you can’t hand hold your camera at that speed and expect an image that isn’t blurry, you should set the camera up on something stationary and use the self timer to release the shutter. Bean bags / cornhole bags work well to position your camera. Of course, if you have a tripod, use that. Determine the correct exposure.

You need to change your aperture and/or your ISO each time you change your shutter speed. For example, let's say you start with f32 @ 30” using ISO 100. When you change the shutter speed to 15”, the camera only requires 1/2 the amount of light so you must either change your aperture to f16 or your ISO to 200. Your exposures must be reciprocal (they should all be the same in terms of brightness). As such, the histograms should be nearly identical for all the shots. You may find that you can't do this assignment outside on a bright day as you may find that your camera will overexpose the image when using very slow shutter speeds even when using even when using your smallest aperture (likely f32) and your lowest ISO (likely 100 or 200). Given that and that it is very cold outside, you might find it easiest to complete this assignment inside. Most of you will have a subset of the following shutter speeds. Just worry about these standard whole stop shutter speeds (don’t worry about the fractional stop shutter speeds such as 1/50, 1/40, etc.)

1/8000
1/4000
1/2000
1/1000
1/500
1/250
1/125
1/60
1/30
1/15
⅛
¼
½
1”
2”
4"
8”
15”
30”

Do not use a car or other automobile as your subject. Any other subject is allowed. Be creative with this.

PART 2

Take 10 photos that demonstrate the creative use of shutter speeds. Water falling, moon setting, people walking through a cafeteria with some remaining seated..... You have to create good images while applying technical know how.

Include at least one panned image. I suggest that you start with a shutter speed of 1/30 or 1/15. Go as slow as you need to get the desired effect. You have to track the motion with the camera (hand held). The trick to panning is the follow through. People tend to stop tracking the subject once they release the shutter. You have to keep tracking it while it is actually exposing the image.

Also be sure to include one photo demonstrating zoomed blur. I suggest you start with 1/15 of a second and experiment from that point. If you want the zoom lines to be very clear, then use a tripod. Otherwise, you may have a real mess of an image. Just play around with it. Try to get though the entire zoom range.

Post them to Flickr. You don't need to edit them at all.

Students' Cell Phone Pictures

Extra Credit Opportunity - GalleryDAAS Sticky Note Art Competition