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Posts Tagged ‘correction’

How to Make a Manual Lens Correction in Lightroom

04 Oct

The post How to Make a Manual Lens Correction in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

The job of a camera lens is straightforward: it bends and focuses light, and it does so through the use of several curved pieces of glass that move back and forth. It sounds simple but is actually a lot more difficult than it might seem. Byproducts of all that glass are anomalies such as chromatic aberration and barrel distortion which can mar an otherwise beautiful image. Lightroom can fix these on its own to a degree, but to really take control of your pictures you can use the Manual Lens Correction panel to fine-tune your image until it’s pixel-perfect.

How to Make a Manual Lens Correction in Lightroom

Understanding Chromatic Aberration

Before wading too deep into manual lens corrections, it’s important to understand what causes issues such as chromatic aberration in the first place. Different colors of light travel at different wavelengths. As a result, when the glass elements of a lens bend the incoming light, it can be quite tricky to make everything line up properly on the camera’s image sensor. This is especially prominent when shooting at the widest possible aperture since it gets really difficult to get the light to behave properly when you let so much in at once.

The result is purple and green fringes when you see hard edges in a picture. It can also produce distorted images that look either squished or puffed out in the middle. Cheaper lenses, or lenses with very wide apertures, don’t have as many glass elements to correct for these issues. It’s also why lenses like the Nikon 105 f/1.4 or Canon 85mm f/1.4 cost (and weigh) so much! They have a lot of special glass inside to correct for the problems that often happens with their less expensive counterparts.

How to Make a Manual Lens Correction in Lightroom

If you don’t have a few thousand dollars to spend on ultra-sharp lenses, you can fix these image issues in Lightroom.

When you shoot in RAW, you can use the Automatic option. This does a fine job of removing purple and green fringes and fixing barrel distortion based on what it knows about the characteristics of your lens.

Image: Click these boxes to have Lightroom automatically attempt to fix lens-related picture problem...

Click these boxes to have Lightroom automatically attempt to fix lens-related picture problems.

Nine times out of ten it does the job quite well. However, sometimes you will want to tweak things for yourself or just do the entire operation on your own. This is where the Manual option really comes in handy.

Manual Lens Correction

The Manual Lens Correction panel contains three options, each of which you can control separately.

  • Distortion lets you re-shape your picture so it’s less puffed-out in the middle.
  • Defringe deals with purple and green fringes at areas of high contrast, particularly with a lot of backlighting.
  • Vignetting is for lightening or darkening the corners of a picture.
Manual-Lens-Correction-in-Lightroom

The Manual Lens Correction option gives you full control over lens corrections.

Distortion

This is a common issue with many lenses that isn’t always very obvious. However, once you notice it, you’ll start seeing this phenomenon all the time. Fortunately, the fix is simple. It’s usually just a matter of dragging the Distortion slider to the left or right.

Image: Something’s not quite right here. The composition is fine but the middle is bulging out...

Something’s not quite right here. The composition is fine but the middle is bulging out like a balloon.

As you drag the slider, you will see a grid appear over the picture which can help you get just the right value. Look for straight horizontal or vertical lines in your picture, and drag the slider until they line up with the grid.

Manual-Lens-Correction-in-Lightroom

The roof of the building gives a nice guide when correcting for distortion. It’s not quite lined up with the grid yet, but pushing the distortion slider a bit more will fix the problem.

The Constrain Crop option makes sure the final image stays within a square or rectangular boundary. If you adjust the slider too far to the right, the image can get a little too warped. However, checking this option will fix this by essentially zooming in on the picture as it’s being adjusted to avoid an extreme pincushion effect.

Manual-Lens-Correction-in-Lightroom

 

Final image:

How to Make a Manual Lens Correction in Lightroom

Defringe

This is where you can easily correct purple and green fringes that can show up on your pictures. You can adjust the sliders manually, but my preferred way is to use the eyedropper tool to select specific areas of purple and green fringing that you want to remove.

The picture below is straight out of the camera with no lens correction applied. Notice how the edges of the bench have what appears to be slight purple and green outlines. These are caused by the light being bent and shaped by the camera lens. Once you know to look for these sorts of issues, you start seeing them all over the place!

How to Make a Manual Lens Correction in Lightroom

Here’s a close-up view of the same picture. Notice the purple curve at the base of the seat and the green edges at the knurled edge that goes horizontally across the frame.

Manual-Lens-Correction-in-Lightroom

To manually correct these instances of chromatic aberration, Lightroom needs to know what range of colors you want to remove. Use the eyedropper tool to select either a purple fringe, a green fringe, or both, and then fine-tune by adjusting the sliders for Amount and Hue.

Manual-Lens-Correction-in-Lightroom

After selecting your purple and greens with the eyedropper tool, Lightroom will do its best to remove those specific colors around any high-contrast edges. You can fine-tune the defringing by adjusting the Amount and Hue sliders, but I usually find that Lightroom does a fine job just with a few clicks of the eyedropper.

How to Make a Manual Lens Correction in Lightroom

When viewing the full image, you can see these instances of chromatic aberration are now gone, and the picture is much more pleasing as a result.

How to Make a Manual Lens Correction in Lightroom

This operation can be extremely useful with portraits, which are often shot using larger apertures. Even if you don’t shoot close-ups for a living it’s nice to know that this simple, fast fix is available to you.

Vignetting

This option works much like the regular Vignette tool in Lightroom. You can use it to make the corners of your picture lighter or darker, depending on whether you drag the slider to the right or left.

Nearly all lenses exhibit some degree of vignetting, especially when using their widest aperture, but you can easily correct them using this tool.

Manual-Lens-Correction-in-Lightroom

Original image, straight out of the camera.

Sliding the Amount all the way to the left darkens the corners of the picture. It’s subtle but effective at drawing the viewer’s attention to the subject in the middle.

Image: Vignette amount -100

Vignette amount -100

Conversely, sliding the Amount all the way to the right makes the corners lighter. This is often useful to correct for the vignette that is inherent in many lenses at wider apertures.

Image: Vignette amount +100

Vignette amount +100

Conclusion

While you can use Lightroom’s automatic lens corrections, it’s nice to know how to correct for things like chromatic aberration, distortion, and vignetting on your own using manual lens correction. The best part is that none of these edits are permanent and you can undo your changes any time due to the non-destructive nature of Lightroom. So if you just want to try these out and see what happens, go right ahead!

 

manual-lens-correction-in-lightroom

The post How to Make a Manual Lens Correction in Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.


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Datacolor announces two new SpyderX Tool Kits for an all-in-one color correction workflow

19 Jun

Datacolor has launched two new kits that bundle together some of its most popular color correction tools to simplify the color workflow of photographers from capture to print.

SpyderX Capture Pro tool suite

The SpyderX Capture Pro is a bundle designed to offer the most essential components in a color workflow. It includes Datacolor’s Spyder LensCal, Spyder Cube, Spyder Checkr and SpyderX Elite, each of which are designed to play an integral role in the image capture and editing process.

SpyderX Studio tool suite

The SpyderX Studio bundle, on the other hand, includes tools not only for calibrating your camera and monitor, but also your printer. It includes the Spyder Cube, SpyderX Elite and Spyder Print.

If the items in these bundles were purchased on their own, the SpyderX Capture Pro tool suite would cost around $ 370 and the SpyderX Studio around $ 675, based on the retail price of the individual components. Through July 14, 2019, Datacolor is selling the SpyderX Capture Pro bundle through its website and authorized retailers for $ 320 and the SpyderX Studio bundle for $ 400 as part of an introductory offer. After that, the prices will increase to $ 400 and $ 500, respectively.

Press release:

Datacolor Launches SpyderX Tool Kits for Digital Photographers

Lawrenceville, New Jersey, USA, June 18, 2019 – Datacolor®, a global leader in color management solutions, announced the launch of two new product bundles for photographers to manage their color workflow: SpyderX Capture Pro and SpyderX Studio. Both include the recently launched SpyderX color calibrator for monitors – the most accurate, fastest (4X faster) and easiest-to-use Spyder, ever.

SpyderX Capture Pro provides all the essentials needed to precisely manage color from image capture through editing, and includes:

  • Spyder LensCal – Calibrate cameras, lenses and DSLR components.
  • Spyder Cube – Set white balance and RAW conversion.
  • Spyder Checkr – Next-level camera color calibration.
  • SpyderX Elite – Professional monitor calibration.

SpyderX Studio is the essential all-in-one photographic workflow solution for precision control from capture, to editing to print, and includes:

  • Spyder Cube – Set white balance and RAW conversion.
  • SpyderX Elite– Professional monitor calibration.
  • Spyder Print – Printer profiling for any printer/ink/paper combination.

Datacolor is kicking off the launch of these two products with a special 20% savings introductory offer. From June 18 through July 14, 2019, you can purchase the SpyderX Capture Pro for $ 319.99 (reg. $ 399.99) or the SpyderX Studio for $ 399.99 (reg. $ 499.99).

SpyderX Capture Pro and SpyderX Studio can be purchased at spyderx.datacolor.com, Amazon or with authorized resellers.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How to Use Complementary Colors for Color Correction of Your Images

25 Nov

Two days before my wedding, I got sunburnt on a fishing trip. It was also my bachelor party.

Al Shallal Ice Rink in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – before color correction

Al Shallal Ice Rink in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – after color correction

My wife’s cousin, the makeup artist for the big day, took one look at my bright red nose and dragged me into a changing room. She sat me down and pulled out a jar of green powder.

“Is that green powder?”

“Yep – green is the opposite of red on the color wheel, so this cancels out some of that shine.”

Those probably weren’t her exact words – but it was something like that. However, it stuck with me. She added a dash of green powder and my nose was slightly less red.

Using Complementary Colors for Color Correction

We are always striving to use color theory in new and captivating ways. Using complementary colors in your images, and creative adjustments to color balance and split toning can take your images to the next level. You most likely adjust white balance, including temperature and tint, somewhere at the start of the editing process. The ‘Temperature’ slider gives your images a cool or warm tone. The ‘Tint’ slider gives a green or magenta tint.

You use these sliders to add to the overall mood and tone of the image. Those values are fine-tuned throughout the editing process while making other adjustments. Recently, I made use of my knowledge of color theory (and that critical lesson on my wedding day), for an entirely different purpose.

Lightroom White Balance Slider at Default Settings

I currently live and work in Saudi Arabia. To the surprise of many people, I also play ice hockey out here for The Red Sea Sabres. We practice in Jeddah and play in international tournaments every year. On Saudi National Day, our team was invited to play in a friendly scrimmage against the re-emerging Saudi National Team. It was part of an effort to showcase ice hockey in The Kingdom (the details of the entire story are in the blog post linked in my bio).

When we arrived at Al Shallal Ice Rink, the ceiling lights had been tinted green in honor of the Saudi Flag. There was also a large mist looming over the entire ice surface. It was kind of like playing ice hockey on Venus. We were also part of a larger ice skating and Saudi National Day showcase, and there were heaps of photographic opportunities everywhere I looked.

Shooting backstage was fine, as you can see from the before and after images below that have only a few adjustments to the RAW cuts. However, backstage was under ‘normal’ fluorescent lighting and not the green tinted light hanging over the ice.

Original RAW file

And after minor corrections in LR

Tint Slider

My import screen filled with heavily tinted green photos.

You may already add small amounts of tint to your images for artistic purposes or to balance color after shooting under lighting conditions that cast an unwanted tint to your images. However, I had never seen anything like the RAW files I captured that night. As I watched my import screen fill with a tapestry of heavily tinted green photos, one word popped into my head…’magenta.’ I moved the tint slider toward the magenta side of the spectrum and the green cast faded.

Before the ice hockey scrimmage, an ice skating exhibition took to the ice – before color correction.

And after color correction.

Usually, I don’t go above +20 on the magenta slider, but the photo above required +130!

Split Toning

To help adjust skin tones and overall colors of jerseys and ice, I adjusted the split toning to add even more magenta to the image. However, I struggled to fully-correct the skin tones, but they looked better than the pale green faces staring back at me on import!

‘Split Toning’ helped remove more unwanted green from skin tones and even out the color of the ice.

Some of the images required a tradeoff. As with the image below; the foreground is backstage under fluorescent lights, and the background is on the ice under green colored lights. You can see that the player’s skin tone is off from the heavy magenta tint on his neck. However, it’s such a compelling image I allowed the tinted skin tone in exchange for the overall shot to be balanced.

This image could be further corrected in Photoshop using a localized correction on the player’s neck to correct his skin tone further.

Conclusion

Color, mood, and tone have a dynamic relationship in every image. If you are a self-taught photographer like me, you probably missed out on formal training in color theory. I have a picture of the color wheel on the wall in my editing office. That way, I am always reminded of the subtle but powerful difference using complementary or anchoring colors can add to an image. Alternatively, in this case, how adding a significant imbalance to one side of the spectrum can rescue images.

If you have been challenged by colored lighting conditions or have some images you’d like to share with us, please do so in the comments below.

 

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Apple patents correction system for smartphone accessory lenses

26 Jul

Accessory lenses for smartphones can be useful tools for expanding the photographic capabilities of your device. However, the process of physically attaching these lenses to the smartphone and centering them above the camera lens is prone to minor but important error as even a slight misalignment can result in a drop in image quality. Additionally, the accessory lens’ optical design can have a detrimental effect on the image output.

Apple has now been granted a patent that aims to fix the problem using a two-pronged approach: by using correction software and a movable built-in camera lens.

The document describes camera hardware and an analysis and processing software that can be used to analyze image quality and detect problems potentially caused by add-on lenses. By looking at certain image metrics, the system could compare image quality before and after attaching an accessory lens and then use software algorithms to correct accordingly.

Additionally, actuators would allow to change the position of the built-in camera lens on multiple axes, in order to correct for any misalignment of the accessory lens. This could include tilting the camera and varying the distance between the built-in lens and accessory lens.

The patent suggests electronics, magnets and radio sensing among other methods to detect if an accessory lens has been attached. If the smartphone knows what exact accessory is being used, additional options in the camera app could be utilized as well.

As usual, there is no way of knowing if and when this system will make it into a production device but it certainly looks like it could make the use of accessory lenses more appealing to many of us.

You can find the complete patent document on the USPTO website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Adobe Photoshop Express update brings perspective correction and vignetting

08 May

The Android version of Adobe’s popular mobile image editing app, Photoshop Express, has just received an update expanding the feature set with a few useful new functions.

Perspective Correction lets you correct converging lines and other types of perspective distortion. You can select a Full Auto setting or pick vertical or horizontal skew. The correction is then applied and fine-tuned using a slider.

Some type of vignette effect is available on most editing apps out there, so it’s about time the feature has made its way to Photoshop Express too. You can adjust the diameter of the vignetting effect by pinch-zooming and set the intensity on a slider to create the final result.

Additionally, it’s now also possible to share multiple images directly from the gallery, and change wallpaper and profile pictures directly from the app’s share screen.

The new functions are welcome additions to the app’s already quite extensive feature set, making Adobe Photoshop Express worth a closer look for anyone who edits images on a mobile device. The latest version of the app can be downloaded free of charge from the Google Play Store now.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

05 Sep

One of the most powerful Photoshop tools at your disposal is Curves. Though it’s often only used to tweak contrast, the curves tool is also hugely effective in correcting color. What’s more, learning how to use it gives you a greater knowledge of image editing in general. It’ll enhance your understanding of the histogram and teach you how to edit photos by numbers.

The idea of correct color

Correcting color in images is about removing unwanted color casts. The “unwanted” part is important because some color casts are desirable. For instance, you wouldn’t want to neutralize the warm hue of a sunset. However, you might want to remove the blue color cast that sometimes pervades photos taken on overcast days or in hazy conditions. By removing an unwanted color cast, you’ll reveal the true color of the objects and subjects in your photo and make the image “pop”.

The content of a photo will dictate how you edit it, so you shouldn’t obsess over correcting color in every photo. Many times, you’ll want to do little or nothing to the color. An appreciation of the curves tool and the numbers around it will help you decide what each photo needs.

A neutral histogram

When working with curves, histograms, and RGB numbers, it’s useful to know what the histogram is telling you. There’s no such thing as a right or wrong histogram, per se, since it only mirrors the pixel data of the image, but it will highlight potential problems.

By looking at all three RGB (red, green and blue) histograms at once, you can immediately get an idea of whether or not the image has a color cast. If there’s no color cast, the three histograms will look very similar. A black and white RGB image illustrates this perfectly because it’s completely neutral. In that case, the three RGB values will be equal in every part of the image and the histograms are identical.

Black and white photo with RGB histograms. How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

In this black and white RGB image, you can see that the red, green and blue histograms are identical. You won’t get this in a color photo, but if the histograms look similar, especially from the middle to the right-hand side, there is unlikely to be a noticeable color cast.

Getting ready

Before you start in curves, there are a couple of things you’ll need to prepare in Photoshop:

  • Be sure that the “Layers” and “Info” windows are open.
  • Select a “3 by 3 Average” or “5 by 5 Average” sample size for the eyedropper tool.

Easy one-click color correction using mid-tones

Whenever a photo contains an area that should be neutral gray in your estimation, you can use the mid-tone eyedropper tool in either levels or curves to quickly correct any color cast. Simply clicking on the supposedly gray portion of the image will correct the color. It’s usually worth clicking a few times in different areas until you achieve a result that pleases you. There are ways of calculating precise mid-tones in an image to make this method more precise, but guessing often works well and is far quicker.

RGB values of a magenta color cast - How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

By dragging the eyedropper tool over this gravestone, we can see that the green value is less than that of red or blue. We might reasonably expect this stone to have a neutral gray color, which would give roughly equal RGB values, but the green deficit (RGB 160, 149, 160) indicates a magenta (opposite of green) cast.

magenta cast color correction - How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

By opening curves or levels and clicking on the stone using the middle eyedropper, the magenta cast is corrected. As a result, the green in the photo is stronger.

Using curves and the info palette to correct color

By introducing the info palette into the equation, you can make far more precise color corrections. The technique you’re about to learn also teaches you to evaluate and edit photos by the numbers. Think about this – when you have nothing to compare an image to—no alternative version—it often looks “okay” at first glance. By studying the RGB values, you’ll get a clear idea of any potential problems in the photo.

Before you proceed, it’s important to note that an image always needs “neutral” areas for color correction to succeed. That’s because a neutral tone provides a known reference point that you can work from. Neutral pixels always have identical RGB values (e.g. 128, 128, 128). Any photo that doesn’t contain a neutral tone is difficult to accurately correct. This is true whether you’re adjusting color yourself or hitting an auto-color-correct button. Photographers often use gray cards to introduce a known neutral into the image for color correction later.

10 Steps to Color Correction with Curves

Here are the steps you might take to correct color using curves, the info panel, and histograms:

Step #1 – Select the eyedropper

With your image open, select the eyedropper tool from the Photoshop tools palette.

hotel in Switzerland - How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

This is a picture of a hotel in Switzerland before any color correction. There is no strong color cast, but you might detect its cool bias.

Step #2 – Check white RGB values

Hover the eyedropper tool over a diffuse white highlight in the photo with RGB values in the 230s or 240s (try to avoid high 250 values). Use the info palette to see these values.

How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

Hovering the eyedropper tool over diffuse white highlights, I can see the blue channel has consistently higher numbers than red or green. The difference isn’t drastic, but it does indicate a blue color cast.

Step #3 – Create a sample point

Hold down the Shift key and click to create a sample point from this white area, which will show in the info palette as #1. It’s possible to move a sample point after you’ve created it by holding down the Shift key and dragging.

Step #4 – Repeat with mid-tones

Repeat this procedure with a neutral gray mid-tone, if you can find one, with RGB values of around 120-140.

color correction info palette - How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

Here, we’re creating a mid-tone sample point. Again, you can see from the numbers (RGB 111, 120, 137) that there’s a strong blue presence. The highlight sample point that I’ve only just recorded is stored on the depicted info palette at the left, third down (marked as #1).

Step #5 – Repeat with shadows

Do the same thing with any black, shadow areas with values of about 10-30. After that, you’ll have created three sample points. Since color casts in shadows are inherently harder to see, this third sample point can often be skipped without ill effect.

color correction sample point shadow - How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

A shadow sample point from the trash bag records at RGB 20, 21, 29. We can see now that a cold color cast runs through the entire image from highlights to shadows. Once I’ve clicked on this, my three sample points are all stored and displayed in the info palette.

Step #6 – Analyze the three samples

Looking at the three RGB samples you’ve created, you should get an idea of any color casts that are present. You’ll typically see the same problem across all tones from highlights to shadows, though not always. Remember that a low RGB value in any of the three channels indicates an opposite color cast. Thus, a low red value indicates a cyan cast, low green is magenta, and low blue is yellow. This only applies in areas that should be neutral in color (i.e. white, gray, black).

Step #7 – Open a curves adjustment layer

Open a curves adjustment layer. Hold down the Ctrl and Shift (Cmd + Shift) keys and click once again exactly on the center of the second, mid-tone sample point you created (#2). This has the effect of placing a mid-tone point along each of the individual RGB curves.

How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

Holding down Ctrl + Shift (Cmd + Shift in Mac) and clicking with the eyedropper tool places a sample point on each of the three RGB curves. This is useful for adjusting specific mid-tones. Here, I’ve opened the red channel to illustrate this. To correct color, you have to adjust the individual red, green and blue channels until the corresponding output numbers on the info palette match.

Step #8 – Correct the color cast

Now it’s time to correct the color cast. On a curves graph, the top right point represents highlights and the lower left shadows. In between are any mid-tone points that you placed on the curve.

Starting with highlights (your #1 sample), open the individual red, green and blue curves channels one at a time and move the top right point either left or down along the outer edge of the graph so that, eventually, the three values match. As you move each point on the graph, the info palette gives you the updated output value.

Usually, it’s best to choose the lowest or middle of the three existing highlight values and match the other two to that (see “tip” below).

curves color correction - How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

This is an exaggerated example of a curves highlight adjustment in the blue channel. I’ve pulled the highlight point to the left, which has added blue to the image (far too much blue). Moving the point down the right-hand side of the graph would increase yellow. In reality, these edits will usually be very slight, moving only a small amount either way. The info palette will reflect these changes in the RGB output numbers.

Step #9 – Repeat for all three points

Repeat this process with the mid-tone and shadow points, so that all of the chosen neutral points in the image are in fact neutral. The bottom-left shadow point is also moved along the outer edge of the graph, either upwards or right. The mid-tone point you’ll drag either up or down. If the color looks wayward at the end of this process, it typically means that you’ve picked a sample point that wasn’t neutral. Ensure that your sample points contain no color noise or reflected color. Zoom in on the area you sample to make certain of this.

color correction curves info palette - How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

Here you’ll see that all three sets of RGB values have been equalized – for each point, you see the before (left) and after the (right) value (Red on point #1 went from 238 to 239, Blue from 244 to 239). 

Now all points are roughly similar, in other words, all the sample points I took that were estimated to be neutral have been made neutral. Note that the numbers don’t have to match perfectly like this as long as they’re close. In the curves graph, the red channel has been lifted and the blue channel pulled down slightly as a result of my edits. The green channel was untouched in this instance, so the corresponding line cuts straight through the middle.

Step #10 – Remove samples and save

Once the correction is complete, the sample points are removable by holding down Ctrl + Alt (Cmd + Option) keys and clicking on them. You should see the scissor icon when you hold these keys down. To finish, either save the image with its adjustment layer intact or flatten the layers, as required.

Before – uncorrected image.

color corrected image - How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool

This is the color-corrected image. With the blue cast gone, other colors in the photo can breathe. In particular, the yellow color of the hotel and the green in the grass and trees are more prominent.

Tip: Since moving the endpoints of the curve line affects all highlights and shadows, you should edit conservatively. In particular, avoid choosing the highest of the three RGB values as the target when matching red, green and blue highlight channels. Otherwise, you may find that you blow out wanted detail in the brightest part of the image. Flaws in the shadows are generally less noticeable, but you still risk blocking detail if you adjust all the shadow RGB points to the lowest of the three values. In general, turn the numbers away from their extremes.

Mixed Lighting

The types of correction discussed in this article work best when there are naturally occurring color casts in the image. In mixed lighting, where the light sources are radically different (e.g. incandescent lighting and daylight), you’ll need to painstakingly address each affected area of the image using layers in Photoshop or the adjustment brush in Lightroom. Avoid this type of lighting wherever possible, since it’s difficult and time-consuming to correct in processing.

Finally

I don’t expect that you’ll use these techniques on every image, but I hope they’ll improve some of your pictures and that you’ll enjoy experimenting using curves in Photoshop. This type of mathematical editing gives you a good understanding of histograms and the meaning of RGB values.

Merely hovering the eyedropper tool over a picture while watching the numbers will tell you something about it. If there are no naturally occurring “neutrals” in the photo and you want consistent or accurate color, a high-quality gray card provides a solution.

Please don’t hesitate to fire questions my way if anything is unclear.

The post How to do Color Correction Using the Photoshop Curves Tool by Glenn Harper appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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DxO ViewPoint 3 adds automatic distortion correction

17 Nov
A new ‘miniature’ tool allows for application of a tilt-shift type effect.

DxO ViewPoint 3 is available today, adding automatic horizon and distortion correction to DxO’s wide-angle lens correction software. The existing manual distortion correction tools are now complemented by an all-auto option to correct geometric distortion while automatically cropping the image. A new ‘miniature’ look is also added, providing a tilt-shift effect that can be adjusted by the user – you can adjust the direction of the blur gradients, and even modify the look of the bokeh by specifying the shape of the ‘virtual iris’. 

DxO ViewPoint 3 is available now for Mac and Windows. Through December 4 it’s offered for $ 50/£39, a discount off the usual $ 79/£59 price.

Press release

DxO announces DxO ViewPoint 3, a major update to its industry-leading wide-angle lens correction software

New automatic perspective and horizon correction tools are complemented by a miniature effect that perfectly mimics tilt shift lenses

Special discounts on all DxO software through December 4, 2016

PARIS—November 16, 2016—DxO, a world leader in digital imaging technologies, announces a major update to DxO ViewPoint, its simple but powerful software that automatically corrects problems inherent in photographs taken with wide-angle lenses. DxO ViewPoint 3 leverages DxO’s advanced image science to automatically correct skewed perspectives and horizons with a single click, making the process quick and easy. The update also introduces a brand new tool that produces a remarkable miniature effect, the first software of its kind to perfectly replicate the popular look made famous by tilt shift lenses.

DxO ViewPoint is simple, but powerful image processing software for Mac and Windows that thousands of photographers rely on for photos taken with their wide-angle lenses because of its ability to fix even the most complex perspective problems, as well as restore the natural shape to subjects situated on the edges of photos. DxO ViewPoint benefits from the automatic corrections provided by DxO Optics Modules, developed by exacting laboratory analysis of thousands of camera and lens combinations.

The existing perspective correction tools have been dramatically enhanced with an innovative, fully automatic mode that can instantly correct geometric distortion, straighten both horizontal and vertical lines, and automatically crop images, effectively eliminating keystoning while preserving the maximum information in the picture. The new auto horizon correction tool is equally efficient at correcting skewed landscape and architectural images. A single click detects the most relevant straight lines in the image, which are analyzed to determine the correct horizon.

“DxO ViewPoint has become an essential tool for me when photographing with my wide-angle lenses, which by their very nature induce all manner of odd deformations,” said architectural photographer, Luca Nicolao. “Its tools let me easily correct for distortions and keystoning, allowing me to achieve a much more natural composition in my images.”

DxO ViewPoint 3 also adds an innovative and useful new tool that perfectly simulates the depth-of-field reduction that’s identical to the type of creative looks that previously required the purchase of costly and tricky tilt shift lenses. To replicate the miniature look, DxO ViewPoint 3 displays the location and intensity of two blur gradients which the user can adjust symmetrically or asymmetrically. The application even enables photographers to simulate a precise type of bokeh.

With just one license, DxO ViewPoint works as both a stand-alone app, and as a plug-in for DxO OpticsPro, Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. DxO ViewPoint 3 can be used as a plugin for DxO OpticsPro starting with version 11.3 (also available).

Pricing & Availability

DxO ViewPoint 3 for Mac and Windows is immediately available in the DxO online store (shop.dxo.com) and at photo resellers at a special discount through December 4, 2016:

  • USD: $ 49 instead of $ 79
  • GBP: £39 instead of £59
  • EUR: 49€ instead of 79€ (Suggested retail prices, including VAT)

Photographers who acquired a DxO ViewPoint license on or after September 1, 2016 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 3.

A fully-functional trial version of DxO ViewPoint 3, good for one month, is available on the DxO website: http://www.dxo.com/us/photography/download.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Course Correction: Deserted Golf Greens into Solar Power Plants

12 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned golf green solar

Derelict putting greens will be put to greener uses in Japan, where an abandoned golf course near Kyoto is being converted to the area’s largest solar energy-generating facility.

Solar power production represents an ideal type of landscape reuse in this context for many reasons: expansive areas with little shade and high sun exposure are perfect for laying out panels for maximum effect and efficiency. Developed by Kyocera, “the plant will generate an estimated 26,312 megawatt hours (MWh) per year — enough electricity to power approximately 8,100 typical local households.”

golf green conversion

Also under construction, a similar project in the Kagoshima Prefecture is being located on an area originally cleared for a golf course that was never finished and occupied. Critical to a country facing power issues in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear incident, these projects are also a sign of land use awareness and changing times. Just a few decades ago country club memberships sold for millions in Japan, but “overdevelopment of golf properties during the real-estate boom of the 1990’s and 2000’s has led to hundreds of idle courses today that are now under analysis for repurposing or redevelopment.” 

green golfing

Of course, closed golf courses are also an international problem well beyond the Japanese archipelago, giving this solution potentially global applications as well, particularly in the United States. Together, these projects should help inspire other countries to turn some of the most environmentally unsound landscapes toward more productive and sustainable uses.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Tips for Using Tilt-Shift Lenses for Correction and Creativity

01 Mar

If you’ve ever wondered about the effects of using a tilt-shift lens this video with host Vincent Laforet will show you some of uses such as:

  • Correcting distortion caused by wide lenses and converging lines
  • Create stitched images without distortion
  • Creating miniature looking scenes by shifting the focus plane
  • Achieving maximum focus on your subject using shift

Here are some of the Tilt-shift lenses mentioned in the video.

Obviously these are specialty lenses and not everyone has a need for, or can afford them. But perhaps if you have the ability you may want to rent one and play around. Check with your local camera store or online with places like Borrow Lenses. Or you can try the less expensive Lens Baby for making some fun effects.

Have you ever tried one out? Do you do the type of photography that requires a tilt-shift lens? Or is it a luxury for the wish list? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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The post Tips for Using Tilt-Shift Lenses for Correction and Creativity by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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LAB Color Correction Video Tutorial: Creative Grading Techniques for Images

12 Nov

In this second video on LAB we explore a way to add creative color grading onto a desaturated dusk image. Once again exploring LAB colour mode and curves we get playful to create saturation and color contrast to add life to a dull scene. Don’t miss our first video on the LAB colors tutorial. Before After

The post LAB Color Correction Video Tutorial: Creative Grading Techniques for Images appeared first on Photodoto.


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