Archive for the ‘editing’ Category

    

Lightroom Spot Removal Tip

Friday, January 29th, 2010

Lightroom Spot RemovalThe spot removal tool in Lightroom has to be one of my favorite features. With Adobe adding this tool, I can now spend more time in Lightroom than in Photoshop, increasing my workflow and my productivity.

The spot removal tool looks like a big O with an arrow pointing to the right. It can be found in the Develop panel, in between the crop tool and the red eye tool. When clicked, you will see an option to Clone or Heal the spot. You can also adjust the size of the area and the opacity you want to use for the removal. Typically I use "Heal" and adjust the other sliders to match the spot. The really nice part of this tool is that Lightroom will try to fix the spot on its own by finding a matching area! However, if the fix is bad you can just drag and drop the matching area to find one that works. Simple, right? It really is!

Lightroom Spot Removal

Here is a great example of a one shot HDR photo that I've been working on. This shot was taken during the Mark Wallace PocketWizard Meetup in Jack Studios. All of the dirt and spots you see are the window, not on my sensor. I really love this photo because it is so industrial. It gives me the "Gotham City" vibe. However, the spots are really annoying!

Lightroom Spot Removal

Even the helicopter at the top of this image gets annoying when the photo is small enough where you can't tell what it is…

Lightroom Spot Removal

…or that really long smudge from the top

Lightroom Spot Removal

Lightroom Spot RemovalAll of the circles you see in this screen shot are where I told Lightroom to make the removal.  In Lightroom, when you put your mouse over one of the circles you will see another one appear with an arrow pointing to the original. That is the area of pixels that Lightroom took to fix your spot. As I stated before, move that new circle around and you will see the original spot's area change.

Neat, isn't it?

Lightroom Spot Removal

Getting rid of all of the spots on the window in this photo took me about 15 minutes of Lightroom work. Yes, it could take the same amount of time in Photoshop if you are quick about, it but the key is staying in Lightroom to improve your workflow. While the photo isn't complete, here is what I have done in a matter or 15 minutes:

Lookout Jack HDR

If you didn't know this tool existed please give it a try. If you knew it existed and never thought it was worth a shot, please give it a try. I'd love to see your before and after photos too, so please post a comment with a link to your photos. Thanks for reading and happy shooting!

Scott Wyden Kivowitz
http://scottwyden.com

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Posted in Quick Tip, editing | 2 Comments »

10 Ways to Know You Made a Good Picture

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Copyright Scott Bourne - 2009 All Rights Reserved

Copyright Scott Bourne – 2009 All Rights Reserved

How Do I Know if I Shot a Good Photograph?

My pal Rick Sammon gave his take on this subject a few days ago here at http://bit.ly/JF51S. Now it’s my turn.

Here are 10 things to look for in a good photograph. (NOTE: These are offered in no particular order.)

1. Correct exposure. The image is not too bright or too dark. Unless for artistic reasons, there are no blocked up shadows or blown out highlights.

2. Sharpness. The photo is sharp where it needs to be. Unless for artistic reasons, your subject should be in sharp focus. If you’re photographing a person, the eyes must be in focus.

3. Background. Is there anything in the background that distracts from the photo or competes with your eye’s attention on the subject? Look for uncluttered backgrounds.

4. Composition. Is the photo balanced? You want to avoid horizons that cut through the middle of the photo. Unless for artistic reasons, you want to avoid placing your subject dead center.

5. Intruders. Look out for intruders. These are simply objects that encroach on the edges of your image. Tree branches are a typical offender as our power lines, etc.

6. Color. Are the colors believable? You want to get good color rendition in a color photograph. Unless for artistic reasons, the color should be similar to what you saw with your naked eye.

7. Emotion. The photograph should evoke some emotion. Any emotion will do. But really good photographs cause an emotional reaction.

8. Subject. You want to find an interesting subject. It can be a person, an animal, a mountain, etc., whatever it is, look for something that is special, or interesting or better yet arresting. If you’re not sure what the picture is about, it’s not typically a good photograph.

9. Attention. Is there enough attention on your subject? Look for ways to draw attention to the subject. This can be done by getting closer, filling the frame, eliminating clutter, etc.

10. Light. It’s impossible to have a good photograph without good light. It is possible to have an OK subject, but take the OK subject and put it in good light and all of a sudden, you have a GOOD subject. Look for the light.

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