How To Correct White Balance In Post If You Didn’t Shoot A Target
Over the last few months I have received many emails asking about white balance adjustment. In particular how to correct white balance in post if you didn’t shoot a reference target. First I want to say I always try to shoot a reference target. I own many, the Spyder Cube, the Color Checker Passport, and the Lastolite EzyBalance which happens to be my favorite as of late. The target makes short work of correcting color in camera via a custom white balance or in post with the white balance eyedropper tool. Using a target assures I will get the best color results with the least amount of effort.
With that said if I happen to make an image with an incorrect whitbalacne, all is not lost. It is possible to read what is happening in the Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) channels of the histogram and neutralize the color of an image. Then it is a simple matter of either warming or cooling the image to taste trying to remember how the room actually looked to your eye. Remember without a properly placed target in the color reference shot, it will take a creative judgment to generate the final color you plan to use to correct a series of images.
Below is a video showing one of the ways I use to correct white balance (color) issues if for some reason I didn’t make a custom white balance or use a white balance target as a reference shot. Lots of things can happen in the heat of the moment so don’t let an incorrect white balance be the end of the world.
Thanks for taking time to visit today. Sincerely, Thomas Shue
Today Adobe Releases Lightroom 5 And I’m On The Fence
Today is the first day that Lightroom 5 is fully available to the world. You can see the official post here. As excited as I usually am about new Adobe products I am on the fence about this one. Let the truth be told I am at a crossroads with image processing software all together. I have devoted most if not all of my creative life to the use Adobe creative tools but I can’t seem to get past the whole renting software movement known as the Creative Cloud. As a professional I fully understand paying for tools that make easier and my finished products better. Over the years I have paid tens of thousands of dollars for software and I own it. As long as I have a computer I can use it but due to thieves who pirate software all of this is changing.
I know you might be saying that Lightroom 5 is available in a boxed version so what’s the problem. I am almost certain that Lightroom 5 will be the last boxed version. Everything else Adobe has moved to the cloud so why not Lightroom 5? Also I have been at odds whether or not I actually need to keep upgrading software every single time something new hits the market. I have grown tired of trying to learn every new gimmick that hits the streets. How many versions of software do you need to process your photos. I own Lightroom 1,2,3,4. I have Photoshop CS thru CS6, I have Capture One 5 & 7, I have DXO, I have EOS Utility, I have all of the NIK plugins, I have OnOne Perfect Photo Suite, the list goes on and on, I have, I have….. Does Lightroom 5 offer me a set of tools I can’t live without? No, not really.
Lightroom 5 does offer a little more speed and a few neat features. In the past you know I would be more than ecstatic to be teaching all Lightroom 5 has to offer. But the fact is I do not own Lightroom 5 and today I don’t find myself rushing to buy it. I did play with beta version and I love the new healing brush, and the radial gradient. As great as these new tools are, I already have the same abilities in Photoshop. Now, there is a particular tool that I am extremely interested in that’s only in LR 5 and it’s the Upright Tool. Also, if Lightroom is your only editing software then I say run don’t walk to upgrade. The healing brush alone is worth the hundred and fifty.
As much software as I currently own, the problem for me isn’t really the software, it’s the new direction Adobe has chosen to move. As I sit here any type I do so with a heavy heart. I love Adobe but I can’t seem to come to terms with Adobe’s cloud strategy. It will either work or it will not. I know it’s their right to market their products however they want and they alone will have to live with the consequences. With that said, it’s my right to do business with them or not and also live with the consequences. I guess I am getting old or something because the world seems to be changing so fast. For me, at least with respect to software, it needs to slow down a little.
Until I can come to terms with the cloud and the fact that I will be paying every month for the rest of my life to use a particular set of rapidly changing creative tools I will just have to sit on the side lines. I will be sitting and waiting to see how this whole cloud software for professionals plays out. Adobe may already have millions of people on the cloud but I am not one of them.
I have filled out the payment information several times to join Creative Cloud only to close the page before clicking submit. Maybe over the next few days I can come to terms with CC and renew my relationship with a company I have been in love with for so long. I feel like I’m in a rocky relationship and need some time apart to figure it all out.
Sorry for all the drama and want to thank all of you for taking time to visit today. Maybe tomorrow I will post some lighting stuff, until then I hope you have a great day. Sincerely, Thomas Shue
How To Rename Large Groups Of Images Exported From Lightroom
Have you ever exported a large group of images from Lightroom and need to change the file names. I will tell you this, it can e a nightmare having to rename large groups of files. What do you do when you export images for Print and for web when you offer images to a client. Also when send an image from Lightroom to Photoshop or create a Virtual Copy in Lightroom, the original file name becomes something else entirely. Editing large groups of images in a Lightroom catalog can have you scratching your head with respect to file names after you export.
In the video below, I show you how simple it can be to rename huge folders full of images all in a few seconds.
Thanks for taking time to visit today, Sincerely, Thomas Shue
A Focus Stacking Workflow For Lightroom And Photoshop The Tip I Want In Focus The Base Petals I Want in Focus
Focus Stacking
Have you ever taken a picture and wished you had enough depth of field so several things could be focus at the same time? An example is when you shoot a flower, you can focus on the edge of the petals, but the tip of the center will be out of focus. The same is also true if you focus on the center of the flower, the petals will then be out of focus. There is just no amount of depth of field that will carry focus in that situation. A tilt shift lens help a little, but your out of focus blur shifts from a front to back situation, to a vertical one. This focusing problem holds true for landscapes, bees, heck anything that you can focus on.
In the macro world they learned long ago to use a technique during capture called Focus Stacking. Focus Stacking a system used during capture that allows you to extend depth of field that is impossible any other way. There is even special software (Helicon is top of the food chain for this) to automate the focus stacking postwork process. The whole idea is to work from a tripod and to shoot an object that does not move. The idea is to work your way from one end of the object to the other, rotating the focus ring just a little at a time, ending up with a series of images that when processed will show your object completely in focus. It sounds complicated but it isn’t, it’s just tricky for me to explain in words.
There are special nodal and macro rails to insure you cover your object in it’s entirety. However, there is no need to take it that far in order for this technique to be an effective tool for your image making tool box. Heck you don’t even need a tripod in most cases, just be sure to shoot loose around the edges of the frame. The reason is, you’ll need to crop your final image in order compensate for any misalignment issues created during capture. Remember, no tripod equals framing issues, thank goodness we have Photoshop to save our butts.
In the video below, I shot a hand-held sequence of images of a hibiscus. All I wanted was to have the tip of the flower (stigma pads & pollen sax) to be in focus along with the base petals of the flower. I was able to focus stack only two images in order get the final image I was after. The whole time I was shooting, I envisioned two images, an old-looking black and white, and a 1970′s faded velvia saturated vivid color shot. I am not quite sure I was able to pull it off in post, but I am happy. Just remember I was not shooting this for a job, I was shooting it because I just liked the flower and was hoping to make a print.
Sometimes you just grab the camera and have some fun, even if it’s shooting a simple flower. If you are anything like me, you will feel uneasy with the world if you don’t have your camera in hand making a picture at least once in a day. Thanks for taking time to stop by today. I hope whatever it is you’re doing today is fun and exciting and this post was able to help in some way. Sincerely, Thomas Shue
Below are the two finished images of the flower. Sometimes I just have to get this stuff out of my head so I can move on. So, do ya think I was able to pull off my vision? I would love to hear from you.
Hey guys, today I want to show you a feature in Lightroom that has been hidden in plain sight since the day I started using the program. Before I tell you about it, I want to give credit where credit is due. Lightroom guru Matt Kloskowski of Kelby media recently was offering some Lightroom training and brought this feature to my attention. This feature is actually just a button, and it lives in plain view.
So what’s the name of this elusive button? It’s the button that says Previous on it. I am sure you have all seen it, heck it sits in plain view and just happens to be visible every single time you develop an image in Lightroom. With a name like Previous, it seems pretty obvious what it does right? Well if you think that, you would be wrong. I guess the reason I have never used the Previous button is because I use the ctrl+z (cmd+z on a Mac) instinctively as needed to step backwards. I mean its super silly to use a special button to undo/go back/return to the previous state when the same undo shortcut exists on every piece of software on the planet. What a worthless button… boy was I mistaken.
So what the heck does the Previous button do? Let me show you. Take a few minutes and watch the video below on how to use the, “Lightroom Button That’s Hidden In Plain Sight”. Thanks for taking time to visit today. I hope you have a great day. Sincerely, Thomas Shue
