Pixology Magazine

Pixology
The Magazine for Photographers
March 2013
The Paper Chase
People-Free Photos
Creative Vignetting
Pixology
The Magazine for Photographers
CONTENTS
4 The Paper Chase
10 Creative Vignetting
16 6 Favorite Blend Modes
16
23 People-Free Photos
31 The Tripod Analogy
23
35 Chromatic Aberrations
41 Alt Photo
35
From the Editor
I’m starting to realize that over time I’ve
begun to look forward to spring more
and more each year. I suppose the fact
that I grew up in California, where the
weather seemed almost unchanged yearround, caused me to not even realize
sometimes that seasons even existed at all.
But after spending a few months in cold
weather without much sunlight, I’m really
looking forward to spring. The warmer
weather and blooming flowers will get me
outside more with my camera, and I can
hardly wait.
I’m sure spring flowers will appear in
upcoming issues of Pixology, as will
a variety of informative content to
help you make the most of all sorts
of photographic images. As always, I
welcome your thoughts via email at
[email protected].
Thank you,
Tim Grey
Editor
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Photo by Jeff Nelson
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Since moving to areas where the seasons
are more pronounced, I’ve started to
appreciate those seasons all the more. I
definitely look forward to winter, because
it often brings snow, and as a California
native, snow never gets old to me. Or at
least it hasn’t so far.
3
The
PaperChase
Understanding the Paper
Attributes that Really
Matter for Photo Printing
By Tim Grey
Call me old-fashioned, but I’m a fan of the photographic print. I am fully aware
that this fondness for viewing and sharing photographs in the printed form started
when I was in high school. That’s when I witnessed for the first time the magic
of the latent image appearing on the sheet of photo paper I had slipped into the
developer solution. I certainly realize we’re living in a digital world where pixels can
be quickly and easily shared with a huge audience without the use of paper.
But I still love the photographic print. And I know I’m not alone.
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4
In the world of digital photography we are
able to exercise tremendous control over
the process of optimizing and printing our
photographic images. Sometimes that may
seem like more of a curse than a blessing, but
I feel the benefits are significant. However, it
also seems to me that many photographers
aren’t familiar with the various attributes of
photo papers, and thus aren’t able to make the
best decision about which particular paper is
best for a given image.
as “paper”. However, in some cases the
substrate is quite different from paper.
Let’s review the key attributes you’ll want to
take into account when selecting photographic
papers that make the most sense for you
based on your personal preference, style
of photography, the specific image you’re
printing, and other considerations.
The substrate has a relatively significant
impact on the overall perception of a
particular photo paper. Basic papers can
certainly be very nice, but fabric-based papers
can have a more artistic feel to them, and
more exotic materials can obviously draw
attention to the image—or potentially draw
attention away from the image.
Substrate
Unique substrates can include fabrics such
as silk, a variety of different wood materials
(not wood pulp, but actual wood), and even
metals. I’ve seen some pretty wild results
using different substrates, and it certainly
seems that if someone can find a way to make
ink stick to something, someone will end up
printing on that “something”.
Substrate is just a fancy word that simply
refers to the material the photo paper is
actually made of. At first you may assume
this simply means “paper”, since we generally
refer to these materials we print our images
on as photo papers. But in many cases what
we refer to as photo paper is actually made of
something other than wood pulp.
Finish
To be sure, many photo papers are indeed
created primarily from wood pulp. But
you’ll also find fine art papers made from
fibers such as cotton, which can result in a
print surface that could easily be described
as luxurious. Other papers are made from
bamboo, which is generally considered
to be an environmentally friendly
renewable resource.
Perhaps more significantly, the finish of a
particular photo paper affects the overall
level of detail, contrast, and color saturation
possible when printing to that paper.
In many cases the substrate used for a
particular photo paper is really just a
variation on a theme, essentially using
a variety of different fibers to create
something you would easily recognize
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The finish of a photographic paper in large
part relates to how matte or glossy the surface
is. There is obviously a perception issue for
the paper related to how shiny it is, but that
aspect is largely hidden when the print is
mounted behind glass.
Generally speaking, you will get the greatest
contrast and saturation by printing to a glossy
paper. That’s because the glossier papers tend
to hold the ink close to the surface rather
than absorbing the ink and thereby causing a
loss of vibrance and contrast.
You might reasonably conclude that based
on these factors, a glossy paper is “good” for
photo printing and a matte paper is “bad”
(or at least less good). However, it is
5
important to keep in mind that while we
commonly appreciate good contrast and
saturation in photographic images, in many
cases a photo can benefit from having those
factors toned down a little bit.
There is a tremendous amount of personal
preference at play here, to be sure. But I
personally find that glossy papers tend to look
too shiny for my tastes. So when I’m looking
for the impact that is generally achieved with
a glossy paper, I tend to compromise with a
semi-gloss paper instead. But in many cases
I’m looking for something more subdued, so
I’ll opt for a paper with a matte surface.
Of course, in terms of the glossy aspect of
the paper surface, when the print is framed
behind glass that surface loses most of its
impact. However, the overall feel of the image
retains the impact of the paper surface, at
least to some extent, based on the way the ink
interacts with the paper surface.
Coating
It seems to me the concept of coating for
a paper is often confused with the finish
of the paper, which is perfectly reasonable
considering the similarity of these paper
attributes. But when referring to coating
for a paper, in general I’m referring to
matte papers.
Many photographers assume that matte
papers don’t have a coating, and that this lack
of coating is what differentiates them from
glossy papers. That is certainly true with
some matte papers, but these days you’ll find
that a great many matte papers are coated
matte papers.
When a matte paper is coated, that coating
is specially formulated for the specific paper,
without altering the matte appearance of the
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paper. That means it can be very difficult
or even impossible to determine whether
a particular matte paper is coated just by
looking at the surface of the paper. But
when you print, that coating will make a
huge difference.
In effect, a coated matte paper behaves very
similar to a glossy paper in terms of the
contrast and color saturation that can be
achieved. As such, many coated matte papers
provide the best of all worlds for printing
photographic images. You get a surface that
won’t be susceptible to distracting reflections,
while retaining the increased color gamut and
contrast range typically possible only with
glossy papers. These coatings can also offer
some degree of protection to the physical
surface of the paper compared to uncoated
matte papers.
Texture
To me, texture is an attributes that can be the
most significant differentiator for a photo
paper. While I may prefer a smooth paper
surface in many cases, I find that for more
creative or unique images I want something
that stands out a little, or at least enhances the
mood of the photo.
For example, I’ve long been a fan of Epson’s
Exhibition Canvas Satin (http://amzn.to/
V2TIPO). This “paper” is actually genuine
canvas material, and it has a wonderful
texture to it. It works very well with
“painterly” scenes, especially when the
image is comprised of deep, rich colors,
such as dark greens.
I am also very fond of papers that have an
“old world” sort of texture to them, like
handcrafted papers from many years ago,
which work with a wide variety of images.
6
How much texture you want in a paper
depends in large part on your own personal
preference as well as the specific image you’re
going to be printing. Therefore, this tends
to be a very subjective decision, and really
requires that you have an opportunity to
evaluate the papers in person. Even better is
being able to see images printed on that paper
whenever possible.
One thing that I strongly recommend
evaluating when you’re looking at a textured
paper is to make sure the texture doesn’t look
too much like it has an obvious repeated
pattern. In other words, it is generally best if
the texture has a bit of randomness to it, so
that you have a genuine texture as opposed to
what appears to be almost a grid pattern on
the paper.
Color
Paper color is one of those interesting
attributes that often requires a comparative
review to really appreciate. It also seems to be
underestimated in terms of the overall impact
on your photographic prints.
If you walked up to a group of photographers
and asked them what color photographic
paper was, you’re most likely to hear “white”.
Generally speaking that is true, as most
photographic papers tend to be white,
meaning they don’t have an actual color tint.
This helps explain why the attribute I refer to
as color is often described as the whiteness of
the paper. In other words, the closer to white
the paper is, the less color tint is visible.
Many great photographic papers have some
degree of color tint, usually with a hue that
falls somewhere near yellow. In other words,
these “colored” papers tend to have a creamy
color appearance. This is true for a variety of
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matte papers, especially fiber-based, as well as
canvas and similar materials.
While yellow hues are most common for
papers that aren’t exactly white, there are
other options available as well. This can range
from a very subtle blue tint, for example, to
extreme tints for some of the more exotic
materials such as wood, metal, silk, or other
unusual surfaces.
It might seem reasonable to assume that the
color of the paper really isn’t that impactful,
considering you’ll be covering the paper with
ink and then possibly matting the print to
cover up any areas of the paper the image
itself doesn’t cover. But the color of the paper
can have a very big impact on the appearance
of the final print.
The key thing to keep in mind is that when
you print a photo the ink coverage across
the print is not consistent. Dark areas have
considerably more ink coverage than bright
areas. In fact, if any portion of the photo is
completely blown out or otherwise has a true
white value, there will be no ink at all placed
in that area.
How much ink is required to form an opaque
covering that prevents the paper color to
show through varies based on the specific ink
formulation, but the bottom line is that the
paper color often shows through in bright
areas of a photographic print.
That paper color can be very beneficial to
the overall impact of a print. For example,
a creamy paper causes bright highlights to
appear with a bit more warmth in the print
than in the actual digital photo. This can
create an overall sense of warmth for the
image itself, above and beyond what the
actual photo would convey.
7
Brightness
The brightness rating for a paper is presented
on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing
maximum brightness. This attribute is often
thought of as being related to how white a
paper is, which is not entirely accurate in the
context of a color tint. What brightness really
relates to is how much light is reflected by
the paper, but of course the net result is that a
paper with a higher brightness rating appears
closer to pure white for practical purposes.
The key benefit to a paper with a higher
brightness rating is that the colors will appear
more pure and thus you can achieve prints
with higher perceived saturation. Contrast
will also benefit with a brighter paper.
Most photo papers offer a brightness rating
of around 90 or higher. If you are looking for
vibrant colors that are presented as accurately
as possible, you’ll likely want to opt for a
paper with a relatively high brightness rating.
But keep in mind that a lower brightness
rating doesn’t necessarily mean the paper is
of lesser quality. Many fine art papers have
a moderately low brightness because they
are intentionally off-white and not as highly
reflective of light.
Weight
I think weight is the attribute that is perhaps
the least appreciated and yet can be incredibly
impactful. It is also an attribute that is
often misunderstood.
Admittedly, paper weight really only impacts
the final print in terms of holding that print
in your hands. Once a print has been matted
and framed, you have no way of handling
the print, and thus you can’t appreciate the
weight of the paper. So if you only tend
to offer prints to others after matting and
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possibly framing the print, you don’t need to
worry about the weight. In that case you can
opt for the lighter weight version of a paper
if multiple weights are offered, which means
you’ll generally pay a little less for the paper
as well.
However, if customers will be handling the
print directly, weight can make a tremendous
difference. Papers with a heavier weight feel
more substantial, which imparts a sense of
quality. That’s not to say that you always want
an extremely heavy paper, but it is worth
considering if your prints will be handled
by others.
You are probably already familiar with weight
presented in pounds for typical papers.
This weight is presented quite simply as the
number of pounds to a ream (500 sheets).
However, that doesn’t mean a ream of paper
you buy in the store actually weighs as
much as the “weight” suggests. For example,
standard letter size copier paper has a weight
that is based on an uncut size of 17-inch by
22-inch. In other words, the weight rating you
see on a standard ream of letter size paper
is four times the actual weight of that ream,
because the weight rating is based on a larger
paper size.
With photo papers, in most cases you won’t
find a weight rating in pounds, but rather
in grams. More specifically, the weight is
presented as a number of grams per square
meter. Sometimes this will be presented
simply as “grams”, but it actually relates to
the weight in grams per square meter of the
paper. This value is often abbreviated as gsm,
or sometimes as g/m2.
Most photo papers fall in a range between
around 150 to 200 gsm at the low end, up to
around 250 to 300 gsm at the high end. As an
example, you might find that a paper from a
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given manufacturer with a specific surface is
offered in weights of 170 gsm and 250 gsm. If
the prints you’ll produce will be matted and
framed before sharing, I would opt for the
lower weight paper, since the lighter weight
will often be considerably less expensive
than the heavier version. If, however, you
will allow customers to handle the prints,
you may want to consider paying more for
the heavier weight paper in order to make a
heftier impact with your prints.
Thickness
Thickness is often considered to be
approximately equivalent to weight, but the
two qualities do not necessarily correlate.
To be sure, a heavier paper is generally a
thicker paper, and a thicker paper is generally
relatively heavy. But weight really relates to
density of the material, and thus isn’t always a
good indicator of the actual thickness of
the paper.
Paper thickness is usually presented in mils,
which is equal to one-thousandth of an inch
(0.001 inch). Most photo papers tend to
range from around 5 mil for thin papers up
to around 13 mil for thicker papers, and even
near 30 mil for certain fine art papers such
as canvas. That means those papers range
from around 0.005 inches up to around 0.03
inches. In other words, even “thick” papers
are relatively thin all things considered, but
the difference between thin and thick can be
more significant than the numbers suggest.
More often than not you’ll find that the
weight and thickness of various papers
correspond, meaning the thicker the paper
is the heavier it will be. By paying attention
to the relationship between the two,
however, you can get a much better sense of
how a particular paper will actually feel in
your hands.
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For example, a paper with a weight of 170
gsm and a thickness of 13 mil will feel almost
a little “fluffy”, while a paper with a weight
of 250 gsm and a thickness of 7 mil is going
to feel very dense. As with weight, thickness
really only matters if the papers will be
handled without being matted and framed.
But when the paper is going to be handled,
greater thickness can make an impact. Just
keep in mind that thicker papers also tend to
be less flexible, and in some cases that can be
less than ideal.
Sampling is Key
There are obviously a variety of paper
attributes that can affect the perception of
your photographic prints. Because these
attributes can vary widely from one paper to
another, it can be helpful to understand each
attribute individually. However, it can also be
confusing to evaluate various papers based on
the wide range of attributes.
To me, the best solution is to sample a wide
variety of papers. Fortunately, many paper
manufacturers offer sample packs that allow
you to test multiple papers. I encourage you
to take a look at some of these sample packs,
such as those offered by Canon (http://www.
canon.com), Epson (http://www.epson.com),
Moab Paper (http://www.moabpaper.com),
Red River Paper (http://www.redrivercatalog.
com), among others.
Not only are sample packs a great way to
better appreciate the different attributes for
photo papers, but they may also lead you to
discover a great photo paper you wouldn’t
have otherwise considered using to print
your photos.
9
Creative
Vignetting
Using Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw to Frame Up a Photo
By Tim Grey
Vignetting in a photograph is one of those
things I find very amusing, not because a
darkening of the edges in a photo is especially
humorous, but rather because of the behavior
of photographers when it comes to vignetting.
It almost seems that if vignetting is caused by
the behavior of the lens, more often than not
it is unwanted. And when a lens doesn’t cause
any vignetting at all, it seems that is when a
photographer is most likely to add it.
This perspective on vignetting splits the
issue into two basic categories. The first is
lens vignetting, which is caused in large part
by light falloff with wide-angle lenses. The
other is creative vignetting, which we add to
an image during the optimization process.
And this division is very helpful in the
context of post-processing, because in many
cases we need to approach these two types
of vignetting differently, mostly to allow for
potential cropping of a given image.
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If you are trying to compensate for (or
enhance) the vignetting that occurs due to
lens behavior, you will want to utilize the
Lens Correction options relatively early in
the process of optimizing your photo. In
particular, it is generally best to apply such a
correction before you crop the image. In fact,
depending on your particular workflow and
the software being used, it may be critical
to apply this lens correction vignetting
adjustment prior to cropping.
When you are adding a vignette effect to
an image for creative purposes, you will
naturally want that effect to apply based on
the final cropped image. That may require
that you wait to apply a vignette effect until
after you have finalized any cropping for
the image. If you’re using Adobe Photoshop
Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw to
optimize a RAW capture, however, you can
actually adjust the creative vignetting effect
at any time as you work toward finalizing the
appearance of your photo.
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Why Vignette?
Before exploring the various options available
to you when applying a vignette effect to a
photo, it is worth considering some of the
reasons you might want to vignette an image.
First, it should be pointed out that what we
refer to generally as a vignette effect need
not always involve a darkening of the edges
of a photo. A vignette can involve either a
lightening or darkening of the edges. That
effect can also be fine-tuned in a variety
of ways. In other words, while lenses tend
to have a pretty consistent effect when it
comes to vignetting, and that effect always
involves a darkening of the edges, when
we’re applying a creative effect we have
much more flexibility.
There are a variety of reasons you might
add a vignette effect to an image. The most
often cited reason is to “frame up” the photo.
For example, if you have a relatively bright
image without any clearly defined edge, the
final print may appear to sort of fade off into
nothingness. A darkening vignette in such
a situation can help constrain the photo.
Conversely, you may actually want to add a
lightening vignette effect to a bright image
in order to intentionally create a sense of the
image fading into oblivion at the edges.
a tunnel-vision effect, adding to the dark and
dramatic feeling for a photo.
In short, there are a variety of reasons you
may want to apply a creative vignette to
a photo. If you have a tendency to skip
the option to add a vignette effect to your
images, you may want to spend a little time
playing with the options, and then turning
the effect off and on to get a better sense for
the effect and what it might make possible
for your images.
A Note on Subtlety
There are certainly plenty of images that can
benefit from a relatively extreme vignette effect.
However, more often than not a bit of subtlety is
best. I think a good comparison here would be
A vignette can add a sense of drama to an image, and also
help keep the viewer’s eyes within the frame of the image.
A vignette effect also has a degree of
impact on the viewer, which can be
helpful. Our eyes tend to focus on the
brightest area of a photo, steering away
from the darker areas. By darkening the
edges, you are effectively encouraging the
viewer to “stay inside” the photo rather
than drifting away outside the image.
When the vignette effect is a bit strong, it can
also create a sense of drama within the photo.
Extremely dark edges can create something of
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11
saturation. We tend to like having vibrant colors
in our photos, but if you take the saturation too
far things start to look really bad really quickly.
With both saturation and a vignette
effect, sometimes it can be difficult to
maintain perspective. We sort of get a little
desensitized to the point that we don’t notice
how strong the effect we’ve applied really is.
Therefore, it can be important to carefully
review the results you’re achieving and give
some thought to whether a more subtle
effect might be better. Turning the effect off
and on while evaluating the image can be
especially helpful for this purpose.
Finding the Controls
You’ll find the option to apply a vignette to
your photo in just about any software that
allows you to apply adjustments to images.
In this case I’ll focus on Adobe Photoshop
Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw, for a
few reasons.
First, Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw
utilize the same engine for processing
your images. In other words, both offer
the same adjustments that have the same
impact on your photos. Second, Lightroom
and Photoshop have become the de facto
standards for photographers to optimize
their photos. Since Adobe Camera Raw is the
processing engine for Photoshop, that means
that if you are working with RAW captures
you can achieve the exact same vignette effect
with either Lightroom or Photoshop.
Elements Editor does include a Vignette
Effect option in the Guided Edit mode,
which offers most of the vignette settings
available in Photoshop or Lightroom.
As I mentioned previously, when applying
a creative vignette effect it is helpful if it is
applied in such a way that there is automatic
compensation if you crop the image. That
means you must crop the image as part of
the overall adjustment process within Adobe
Camera Raw or the Lightroom Develop
module. It is also important that you utilize
the post-crop vignette adjustments rather
than the vignette correction that is available
as part of the Lens Correction adjustments.
In the Lightroom Develop module you’ll find
the Post-Crop Vignetting adjustment controls
in the Effects section of the right panel. In
Adobe Camera Raw these adjustments are
found on the Effects tab (marked with an “fx”
icon) among the set of controls on the right
side of the Adobe Camera Raw dialog.
Vignette Controls
The main control for the vignette effect is the
Amount slider. Dragging this slider to the left will
The vignetting controls in Lightroom’s Develop module
(shown here) or Adobe Camera Raw enable you to exercise
tremendous creative control over the effect.
It should be noted that photographers
utilizing Adobe Camera Raw via
Photoshop Elements unfortunately do not
have access to the vignette controls. In
Photoshop Elements you are limited to a
subset of the overall adjustment controls
in Adobe Camera Raw. That said, the
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darken the edges of the image, and dragging it
to the right will lighten the edges. When you are
initially getting started applying the effect I highly
recommend applying an exaggerated effect in the
intended direction so you can better evaluate the
effect of the other available controls.
The Midpoint slider determines how far into
the middle of the image the vignette effect
extends. The default value is 50, which you
can think of as a sort of “middle” value for
this control. Dragging the slider to the left
will move the vignette further toward the
center of the image, and dragging to the right
will constrain the effect so it only impacts the
outer portion of the photo. In fact, moving
the Midpoint slider all the way (or nearly
so) to the right will cause the vignette to
only affect the extreme edges of the photo,
which actually starts to take the effect toward
something that perhaps wouldn’t normally be
called a vignette at all.
The next slider is Roundness, which as the
name implies determines whether the shape
of the effect is more of a circle versus a ellipse.
Your decision here may relate to the aspect
ratio you’ve cropped the image to, or to the
overall composition or shape of the key
subject. Moving the Roundness slider to the
left will cause the shape of the vignette effect
to follow more of an ellipse, approaching
more of a rectangle with an extreme value.
Moving this slider to the right will cause the
effect to appear more circular.
The Feather control determines how much
transition there is between the vignette effect
and the rest of the image. Moving the slider
to the right toward a higher value will cause
a large amount of transition, which can be
When the edges of an image almost seem to fade away relative to the key subject (left) a lightening vignette (right) can enhance
that sense of fading into oblivion, which can be more interesting than a more typical darkening vignette.
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13
helpful if you prefer a more subtle result.
Moving the slider to the left will create a more
abrupt transition that occurs across a smaller
distance. In fact, taken to an extreme you can
reduce the Feature value so much that the
vignette has a completely crisp edge more
along the lines of a matted print.
The Highlights slider interacts to a certain
extent with the Style popup found above
the set of sliders. These two settings work
together to determine how a darkening
vignette effect impacts the brightest areas
found within the area being darkened by your
vignette settings.
To begin with, these settings are really only
applicable when you have applied a darkening
vignette effect, not a lightening effect. In fact,
the Highlights slider won’t even be enabled
if you have used a positive value for the
Amount slider.
The Style popup determines the overall
behavior of a darkening vignette relative to
bright areas that fall within the vignette area.
The first option is Highlight Priority, which
preserves bright areas within the vignette.
This creates a more natural effect relative
to what you might see with actual lens
vignetting when photographing with a wideangle lens. As much as light falloff within
the lens might cause the edges of the frame
to appear darker than the rest of the image,
extremely bright areas within the darkened
area will still overpower that darkening effect.
With Highlight Priority selected from the
Style popup, you have a similar preservation
of bright areas.
The Color Priority option, as the name
implies, prioritizes color values in order to
help retain a degree of saturation for the
colors that appear within the vignette area.
This can be important when the image
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consists of especially vibrant colors that you
want to maintain even in darkened areas.
The final option for Style is Paint Overlay.
This causes the lightening or darkening effect
of the vignette settings to overpower whatever
else exists at the edges of the photo. This has a
tendency to create a bit of a drab appearance
in the vignette, so I tend to prefer not to select
this option.
If you have established a negative value
for the Amount slider in order to create
a darkening vignette effect, and you have
also chosen the Highlight Priority setting
for the Style popup, you can then adjust
the Highlights slider. A lower value will
diminish the brightness of highlights that
fall within the vignette area, and a higher
value will emphasize those highlights.
My general feeling is that if the vignette
area contains bright reflections or other
especially bright areas, I’ll tend to increase
the value for the Highlights slider. If the
image is of a relatively even tone, I’ll tend
to use a moderate to low setting. And of
course if I want to hide bright areas within
the vignette I’ll keep the value for the
Highlights slider at or near zero.
Cropping with a Vignette
One of the things I appreciate most about the
creative vignette controls in Lightroom and
Adobe Camera Raw is that these controls
represent a post-crop effect. In other words,
the settings you establish for the post-crop
vignetting controls will always be processed
based on any crop you’ve applied to the image
within Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw.
In fact, because these vignette controls are
always taken into account after the image
is cropped, you can apply or refine a crop
after establishing settings for your creative
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By using the post-crop vignette controls in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw, you’ll ensure that even if you crop the image within
this software, the vignette will remain at the edge of the final image rather than being partially cropped out.
vignette, and the vignette will automatically
be updated to reflect the cropped image.
This, of course, causes me to appreciate that
the vignette is applied post-crop. But it also
causes me to give serious thought to the crop
for an image while I am still working on it
within Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw.
In the context of a Photoshop-only workflow,
that means I’m going to try to finalize my
crop for the photo within Adobe Camera
Raw, rather than later in the process of
working with the image in Photoshop. This
isn’t my normal approach, so it means I want
to give some thought to both my vignette
and crop decisions while I’m still adjusting
the RAW conversion settings within Adobe
Camera Raw.
Within a Lightroom-based workflow, this
behavior means I want to finalize my crop
within the Lightroom Develop module,
before I send the image to other applications
where I might be tempted to crop the image.
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So, for example, if I’m going to perform
some work on the image in Photoshop and
I want to include a creative vignette, I’ll
tend to finalize the crop and vignette within
Lightroom first.
Exploration Encouraged
Many years ago, I used to be of the mindset
that vignetting was a “problem” that should
be avoided. This would affect my choice of
lenses as well as my cropping and processing
of images. More recently, I’ve begun to
appreciate the impact a vignette can have
on an image. More often than not my
tendency is toward a very subtle vignette
effect, but sometimes I’ll add a rather strong
and dramatic effect. So, even if you’re a
photographer who has tended to shy away
from vignetting, I encourage you to play
around with this creative effect. You just
might find that it suits some of your images
very well.
15
6
6
Favorite
Blend
Modes
Making the Most of Math in Photoshop
By Tim Grey
Blend modes seem to be a mystery to many
photographers, and I’m convinced this has to
do with my belief that most people just don’t
like math. And blend modes are all about
math. Specifically, a blend mode allows you
to take pixel values from one image layer and
combine them with pixel values from another
image layer, performing specific math with
those values to create new and (usually)
different values.
That’s all well and good, but if you’ve ever
just randomly experimented with blend
modes, you’ve probably found the results
were very unpredictable, and probably not all
that helpful. But blend modes really can be
remarkably helpful in a variety of situations.
So, presented here are my six favorite blend
modes, along with how I generally put those
blend modes to use.
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16
Multiply
The Multiply blend mode is what I refer to
as a density booster. A simple way to think
of the Multiply blend mode is in the context
of slide film. If you had two copies of the
exact same image as slides, you could stack
those two slides together and put them into a
slide projector, and you’d have the same basic
effect as the Multiply blend mode. The overall
image will get darker, adding density—and in
many cases texture—to the image.
So, for example, if you had a photograph
of snow that lacked texture, you could
create a copy of the Background image
layer by dragging the thumbnail of the
Background image layer to the New Layer
button (the blank sheet of paper icon).
You can then change the blend mode to
Multiply using the popup at the top-left of
the Layers panel.
Even better, you can add an adjustment
layer without modifying the settings for that
adjustment layer. Instead, simply change
the blend mode for the adjustment layer to
Multiply and you’ll get the exact same effect
without the significant increase in file size
caused by creating a copy of the Background
image layer.
To be sure, there are other ways to darken up
an image. But in many cases when I’m trying to
enhance detail in a bright image, the Multiply
blend mode is a fast and easy solution.
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The Multiply blend mode causes a darkening effect, which
can be especially helpful when you want to quickly enhance
detail in a bright image. The bottom image shows the effect
of duplicating the Background image layer and changing the
blend mode to Multiply, based on the middle image.
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Screen
The Screen blend mode is essentially the
opposite of the Multiply blend mode. Put
simply, it lightens instead of darkening. To use
the slide film analogy again, you can imagine
having two separate slide projectors, each with
a copy of the exact same slide, and both pointed
at the exact same spot on the screen. The result
is more light, and thus a lighter image.
While the Screen blend mode could obviously
be used to brighten an image quickly and
easily, to me it has a much better capability
for creating a multiple exposure effect with
remarkable ease. Simply stack multiple
images as layers in a single document in
Photoshop, and change the blend mode for all
but the bottom-most layer to Screen.
The technique works best when the original
captures were slightly under-exposed, but you
can do nearly as well with virtually any image,
simply adding an adjustment layer (such as
Curves or Levels) to darken the image after
creating the composite.
When you stack multiple images as layers in a single
document, and change the blend mode for each of those
images to Screen, the effect is that of a multiple-exposure
effect, as shown below.
To me, this capability is infinitely better than
the “old” technique of capturing multiple
under-exposed images on a single frame of
film, because the Screen approach offers much
more flexibility without the issue of not really
knowing what you’ll end up with.
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Overlay
The Overlay blend mode is one of the
“contrast” blend modes, which means it is
able to both lighten and darken portions of
the image depending on whether the pixel
values on the upper layer are lighter or darker
than middle gray, respectively.
and white. Change the Opacity setting for the
Brush tool on the Options bar to about 15%,
and then paint with black to darken areas
of the image and white to lighten areas. You
can adjust the brush size by pressing the left
square bracket key ([) to reduce the brush
size and the right square bracket key (]) to
increase the brush size, and you can switch
between the foreground and background
colors (black and white) by pressing “X”.
The result is an easy method for lightening
and darkening specific areas of the photo to
enhance detail and drama.
There are two primary ways I tend to use the
Overlay blend mode. The first is to create a
local contrast enhancement effect similar
to what you could achieve with the Clarity
slider in Lightroom’s Develop module or in
Adobe Camera Raw. Start by making a copy
of the Background image layer, change the
blend mode for the Background Copy layer
to Overlay, and then choose Filter > Other >
High Pass. Starting with a Radius setting of
around 10 pixels, fine-tune to taste, and click
OK. You can then reduce the Opacity setting
in order to tone down the final effect.
The other way I use the Overlay blend mode
is for a dodging and burning technique that
offers considerably more flexibility than the
Dodge and Burn tools. Hold the Alt key on
Windows or the Option key on Macintosh
and click the New Layer button (the blank
sheet of paper icon) on the Layers panel. In
the New Layer dialog, type a meaningful
name for the layer, set the Mode popup (the
blend mode) to Overlay, and turn on the
“Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)”
checkbox. Click OK to create the new layer.
Then select the Brush tool, set the Hardness
value to 0%, and press “D” to make sure the
colors are set to the default values of black
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The Overlay blend mode enables a very flexible approach
to dodging and burning within an image, among other
possibilities.
19
Color
The Color blend mode is restricted to
changing color values for pixels in your
images. As such, I tend to use it for correcting
or replacing specific colors in a photo.
For example, you can compensate for an
extremely strong color cast such as you might
find in old and faded family photos using the
Color blend mode. Just create a copy of the
Background image layer, then choose Filter
> Blur > Average to replace the contents of
the Background Copy layer with the average
value of all pixels. Invert that color by choosing
Image > Adjustments > Invert, change the
blend mode for the Background Copy layer
to Color, and reduce the Opacity setting to
achieve the most accurate color possible.
icon) on the Layers panel. Change the blend
mode for this new layer to Color (it is also a
good idea to rename the layer to something
meaningful). You can then use the Brush tool
to paint any color you’d like anywhere in the
image, and only the color of the underlying
image will be adjusted. That means you retain
the texture, but change the color.
I use this technique for painting a replacement
color to fix color “contamination” in an image,
to change the color of specific objects, to remove
the color from lens flare, and much more.
The Color blend mode makes it possible to correct a wide
variety of color issues within images without harming the
overall texture in the photo.
I’ll also use the Color blend mode for more
targeted color corrections. I start by creating
a new empty layer by simply clicking the
New Layer button (the blank sheet of paper
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20
Luminosity
I think of the Luminosity blend mode as
being something of the opposite of the
Color blend mode. While the Color blend
mode restricts any changes in pixel value to
color changes without affecting luminance
values, the Luminosity blend mode adjusts
luminance values without affecting color. So,
for example, you could create a copy of the
Background image layer, apply sharpening to
that layer, and then change the blend mode
for the sharpened layer to Luminosity to
ensure there aren’t any color artifacts caused
by the sharpening.
Another common use for the Luminosity
blend mode is to ensure that tricky
adjustments can’t affect color. For example,
you could add a Curves adjustment layer
and change the blend mode to Luminosity
so you’ll know that all adjustments you apply
with that Curves adjustment layer will affect
tonality but not color in the photo.
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With the Luminosity blend mode you can ensure that specific
adjustments, such as sharpening, will only affect tonality,
and not cause any color artifacts within the photo.
21
Difference
The Difference blend mode is one that
leaves a rather wild impression if you’re not
expecting the effect it creates. In short, when
you have two image layers and set the upper
layer’s blend mode to Difference, the image
will display a color value for each pixel that
represents the difference in value between
the upper and lower pixel values. If there is
no difference for a set of pixels, that pixel will
appear as black.
There are a variety of somewhat extreme
creative effects you can produce with the
Difference blend mode. For example,
I’ve been known to create a copy of the
Background image layer, invert that layer
by choosing Image > Adjustments > Invert,
and then change the blend mode for the
Background Copy layer to Difference.
The effect is unique, to say the least.
On a more practical level, I’ll use the
Difference blend mode to help achieve more
accurate alignment of images, such as when
creating a composite panorama. I’ll attempt
to get the layers aligned as closely as possible,
and then change the blend mode for the
upper layer to Difference. The more black
you see at this point, the more aligned the
images are. You can then move the upper
layer around, or even apply transformation
commands in order to achieve the best
alignment possible, and then change the
blend mode back to Normal when
you’re done.
The Difference blend mode can produce some interesting
creative effects, but it is perhaps most useful for helping
ensure proper alignment of composite panoramic images and
other composites.
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22
People-Free
Photos
When Technology May Just Outperform Patience...
By Tim Grey
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23
Sometimes including people in a photograph
can really add to the image. In fact, in some
cases the person in the photo really is the
photo, and you simply wouldn’t have a photo
without the person in the frame. But quite
often when I’m photographing a scene I
prefer not to include any people in the frame,
and that can be a challenge at times.
You could certainly stand in place waiting for
the scene to be free of people, but that could
mean waiting for a very long time. And in
many cases you may find that no matter how
long you wait, you’re never going to be able to
capture a frame without any people included
in the photo. In those cases, blending
multiple exposures in Photoshop can provide
a surprisingly effective solution.
Capturing the Frames
The first step, of course, is to capture multiple
frames of the scene. The key is to ensure that
you have enough images so that for each
area of the scene at least one of the captures
is people-free. You’ll naturally want to use a
tripod to help ensure proper alignment of the
frames, and to make your work assembling
the final result much easier.
I also recommend using a cable release to
trigger the camera for your captures. This
will help ensure you don’t inadvertently
bump the camera, for example, causing a
mis-alignment of the frames. Perhaps more
important, however, using a cable release
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enables you to simple stand by your camera
observing the scene, triggering captures at
appropriate moments without the need to
look through the viewfinder or even stand
right next to your camera.
When I’m capturing images for this purpose,
I generally try to create virtual divisions of
the scene in my mind to help keep track of
my captures and ensure I’m capturing images
that will result in a people-free result. I’ll
then monitor the overall scene, keeping the
segments I’ve identified in mind, and trying
to make sure that I’m capturing one or more
images for which no people appear in each of
those segments.
Depending on the amount of people in the
area I’m photographing, I may even work in
a logical order from one segment to another.
I won’t take this approach if it will involve
waiting too long to capture the full sequence
of images, because you’ll get better results if
the lighting for the scene is consistent for the
full range of images you’re capturing.
The key is to be sure to capture more images
than you think you will likely need, and to
try to be sure you’ve captured images that
will allow you to assemble a composite result
without any people present.
Assembling the Frames
Once you’ve captured your sequence of
images, you’ll obviously need to download
24
them to your computer and then sort
through the photos to identify which
images you’ll combine. For example, if you
defined segments of the scene while you
were capturing your images, you can focus
on those segments and identify a single
image that is people-free for each of those
segments. The process of creating the final
result will be much easier if you select the
smallest number of images necessary to
create your final image.
With those images identified, you’ll then
want to assemble them as individual layers
in a single document in Photoshop. If
you’re using Lightroom to manage your
images you can select the images to be
assembled and then choose Photo > Edit
In > Open as Layers in Photoshop from
the menu. If you are using Bridge to
browse your images, after selecting the
photos to process you can choose Tools >
Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop
Layers from the menu.
The result will be a single document with
multiple layers, with each layer named based
on the filename of the source image for
that layer.
Aligning the Frames
With the composite image assembled in
Photoshop, the next step is to align the
individual frames. You might assume this
step could be skipped because you captured
the scene with a tripod. However, even
on a tripod there can be subtle movement
that causes some shift between frames.
As a result, I consider the alignment to be
a critical step. Fortunately, the process is
almost entirely automatic.
You can assemble the frames for your people-free photo easily from Lightroom (shown here) or Bridge, providing a basic starting
point for your final composition.
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25
Start by selecting all
layers on the Layers
panel, which can
be accomplished
by clicking on the
thumbnail for the
top-most layer, then
holding the Shift key
while you click on
the thumbnail for the
bottom-most layer.
With all of the
layers selected on
the Layers panel,
choose Edit > AutoAlign Layers from
the menu. This
will bring up the
The Auto-Align Layers feature in Photoshop provides a fast and simple method of ensuring the
Auto-Align Layers
individual frames in your composition are aligned based on the content of each image.
dialog, where you
can choose how
each layer above only being used to add small
you want the images to be processed. You
portions of the scene in order to remove
can leave the Projection option set to Auto,
people from the frame.
so that Photoshop can determine how to
The first step in this process is to add a black
best process the individual images to ensure
layer mask to all but the bottom layer in
proper alignment. Then make sure the
the stack so that all pixels in each of those
Vignette Removal and Geometric Distortion
layers will be hidden. To do so, click on the
checkboxes are turned off, so that the images
thumbnail for the top-most layer on the
are simply being aligned without
Layers panel to select it, then hold the Alt key
additional processing.
on Windows or the Option key on Macintosh
Click OK, and each of the image layers will
while clicking on the Add Layer Mask button
be processed, creating a result where all of the
(the circle-inside-a-square icon) at the
layers are aligned based on the actual content
bottom of the Layers panel.
of each image.
Repeat this process for all but the bottommost layer on the Layers panel, so that you
Blending the Frames
have a layer mask filled with black added to
all but the bottom layer. At this point, you will
With the layers assembled and aligned, you’re
only be able to see the bottom-most layer.
ready to actually blend the images together
to create the people-free result. This calls for
You can now blend pixels from other image
layer masks for all but the bottom-most layer
layers in order to remove people from the
on the Layers panel. Specifically, the bottomscene. This is perhaps the trickiest part of
most layer will become the base layer, with
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26
With a layer mask filled with black added to all but the bottom-most layer in your composition, you can begin blending the
additional layers in order to remove people from the scene. The top image here shows a person on the stairs with a layer mask
filled with black. You can then paint with white on the layer mask of a layer that is people-free in that area, effectively erasing the
person from the scene, as shown in the bottom image.
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27
with that layer. If not, Shift-click the layer
mask again to re-enable the mask, and Shiftclick on the layer mask for the next layer up.
Repeat this process as needed until you have
identified which layer provides a people-free
solution for the specific area you’re
focused on.
With the layer you’ll use for cleanup
identified, and with the layer mask enabled
for that layer, use the Brush tool to paint with
white on the layer mask for the appropriate
image layer, making sure the Hardness setting
is at a moderate to low value so there will be
at least a little bit of blending along the edges
of your brush strokes.
When you have finished assembling your people-free
composition, you will have a series of layers, each with a
layer mask filled mostly with black. The white areas of each
layer mask show where pixels were revealed in order to
remove people from the underlying image.
the overall process, but one that will become
more comfortable as you perform the same
basic tasks multiple times.
First, identify an area of the image where
people are visible and need to be removed.
Then hold the Shift key and click on the
layer mask for the next layer up from the
bottom layer. This will disable the layer mask
for that layer, causing the applicable image
to be revealed. You can therefore evaluate
the image to determine if the layer you’ve
revealed is free of people in the area you’re
focused on. If so, you’re ready to get to work
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You can then repeat this basic process of
identifying a good source layer for a given
area, and then painting with white on the
layer mask to reveal “clean” pixels in that
particular area for the image. With time,
you’ll be able to use this process to remove
all people from the image. Be sure to zoom
in and carefully evaluate the image to be
sure you’ve successfully removed all people
without leaving any obvious artifacts behind.
Cropping the Image
In most cases, once you’ve blended the various
image layers to remove all people from the
scene, you’ll need to crop the image. You may
want to apply something of a creative crop
to begin with, but it may also be necessary to
crop in order to remove empty areas of the
frame caused by the way images were shifted
during the alignment process.
I recommend turning off the Delete Cropped
Pixels checkbox on the Options bar so you can
perform a non-destructive crop. By doing so, if
you later realize you’ve cropped out an area of
the image you’d prefer to keep, you can simply
choose Image > Reveal All from the menu
28
Once you’ve created your people-free composition, you can crop to create the final result.
to effectively undo the crop by enlarging the
canvas to reveal the entire image. At that point
you can re-crop the image as desired.
Once you’ve fine-tuned the crop box to
perfection, simply press Enter/Return on the
keyboard, double-click inside the crop box,
or click the checkmark button on the Options
bar in order to apply the final crop.
At this point you should have an image that
is free of people. It may have required a bit
of extra work, but it surely involved less time
than would have been required to achieve
a people-free photo than if you had waited
at the scene until all the people were gone.
Unless you were willing to settle for a latenight photo, that is.
As this point you can simply choose File
> Save to save the updated version of the
composite image. If you started from
Lightroom, you can then choose File >
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Close to close the image, and the final result,
complete with layers intact, will be included
in the Lightroom catalog alonside the original
images you used as the basis of the composite.
Photoshop Extended
There is obviously a bit of effort involved in
creating a people-free composite image as
outlined in this article. As a result, you may
be wondering if there is perhaps an easier
approach. There is, indeed, but it comes with
a price tag.
The solution is to use the Extended version
of Photoshop, rather than the standard
version. This is a considerably more expensive
version of Photoshop, and there aren’t many
features in the Extended version that most
photographers would need. But if you have
Photoshop Extended, creating the people-free
image is quite easy.
29
To get started, open all of the images you
want to blend in Photoshop Extended. Then
choose File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack
from the menu. Click the Add Open Files
button to add the open images to the list for
processing, and turn on both the Attempt to
Automatically Align Source Images checkbox
and the Create Smart Object after Loading
Layers checkbox. Click OK, and the stacked
image will be created.
Then choose Layer > Smart Objects > Stack
Mode > Median from the menu. The images
you assembled into a stack will be analyzed
and blended so that areas that are variable
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from frame to frame are replaced with the
average value among the layers. In other
words, when there was movement within the
frame, only the pixels that are the same in
most of the layers will be visible, and people
or other objects that moved from frame to
frame will effectively disappear.
You can then crop the image to finalize the
effect, having spent virtually no effort at all
creating the composite image.
30
The
Tripod
Analogy
Understanding the Difference
Between Theoretical and Practical
How often do you employ a tripod in
your photography?
By Tim Grey
No, honestly. How often do you really
employ a tripod?
If you’re like me or most of the
photographers I’ve had the opportunity
to photograph with, including
some of the top-name professional
photographers in the industry, the
answer is something along the lines of,
“Not that often”.
To be sure, there are situations where
a tripod is a critical component in
photography. I wouldn’t imagine
capturing a long exposure photograph
without a tripod. And I even hesitate
to capture the individual frames of a
composite panorama without the use
of a tripod. But a rather significant
percentage of my photos are captured
without a tripod, and they end up
being perfectly sharp and usable.
Most of the time.
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31
I think the tripod is a perfect analogy for a
bigger issue that seems to afflict a great many
photographers. Specifically, I’m referring to
the notion of a theoretical benefit versus a
practical benefit. In other words, the issue of
separating hype from reality.
Let’s consider a few examples of situations
where photographers seem to get caught
up in theoretical benefits that don’t
necessarily have a significant impact on
the final photographic image.
Expose to the Right
You’ve probably been admonished on more
than one occasion that you should “expose to
the right” in digital photography, meaning you
should expose each image to be as bright as
possible without losing highlight detail. The idea
here is that because you’re exposing as bright as
possible, you’re maximizing information and
minimizing noise in your captures.
This concept is absolutely true, and very
much grounded in reality. If you expose an
image as bright as possible without sacrificing
highlight detail, you are indeed helping to
ensure maximum detail and minimum noise.
But you’re also ensuring that nearly every
photo is going to require a bit of adjustment
after the capture to optimize overall tonality.
The key is context. If you are photographing
in a situation where you are pushing your
luck a little bit in terms of increasing the ISO
setting, noise is obviously a concern. If you are
working with a scene where highlight detail is
critically important, you obviously want to do
all you can to ensure the best results.
But the reality is, in most cases exposing
to the right is only going to make a minor
difference in the final image. I’m not
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suggesting for a moment that optimizing the
exposure relative to noise and detail won’t
make a difference. But in a great many more
typical photographic situations the difference
will be relatively minimal.
If we’re talking about the difference between
an ISO setting of 100 versus 200, there’s really
no difference at all for all practical purposes.
In other words, if exposing to the right means
you can brighten the image by one stop at a
modest ISO setting, you’re not going to have a
significant impact on the final image.
RAW Capture
RAW versus JPEG is actually one of my
favorite debates, for a variety of reasons. Part
of this is the fact that I use RAW capture
almost exclusively in my own photography.
And yet when a photographer confides in me
that they still shoot in JPEG I rarely make an
effort to talk them into RAW capture.
The reality is, if the exposure and color
temperature are established at nearly optimal
settings in the capture, RAW versus JPEG is a
minor issue. The only real issue that remains
is the compression applied to JPEG captures
that can result in some degradation of image
quality even with otherwise perfect settings.
To be sure, I’ve had situations where I
was able to identify a print as having been
derived from a JPEG capture simply based
on the subtle texture of a grid pattern in
areas of the image caused by the nature of
JPEG compression. But for images that will
be printed without significant enlargement,
or simply shared online, the difference is
generally minimal.
A RAW capture certainly provides greater
latitude in terms of adjustments that can
32
be performed to salvage a less-than-ideal
capture. But if the capture reflects an optimal
exposure and good white balance setting, and
thus doesn’t require much in the way of postprocessing, there isn’t a huge practical benefit
to RAW capture in and of itself.
adjustments you’re not likely to lose smooth
gradations of tone and color within the
photo. But the reality is that for most photos
you don’t need to apply strong adjustments
anyway (I hope), so a high-bit workflow tends
to be a bit of overkill.
Bit Depth
Color Space
I’ve found that the concept of bit depth for
photographic images tends to be a topic
that is often misunderstood. That is perhaps
understandable considering that bit depth is
all about math, and many people don’t seem
to exactly embrace math.
The issue of color space is in some ways
related to the issue of bit depth, by virtue
of the fact that both of these issues affect
the total range of potential color values
available for your photos. The difference is
that bit depth affects the total number of
possible colors available while the color space
effectively determines the total range of the
available colors.
At the core of bit depth is the number of color
and tonal values available in a specific photo.
When you work in a high-bit workflow, you
literally have trillions of colors available for
your photos. In a low-bit workflow, you have
“merely” millions of colors to work with.
The human visual system is estimated to be
able to discern a total of around 16.8 million
individual colors, which happens to be about
the same number of color values possible
in an 8-bit per channel workflow. In other
words, our visual system essentially operates
at 8-bits per channel.
The real benefit to a high-bit workflow comes
when you need to make strong adjustments
to a photo. With each adjustment you are
causing some loss of information in an
image. What that really translates to is a loss
of potential color values in an image. With
a very strong adjustment, that can cause an
image to demonstrate gradations that are a
bit harsh, lacking the smooth transition from
one color value to the next.
With a high-bit workflow you have a bit
of extra overhead, so even with strong
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It seems perfectly reasonable to assume that
the largest color space is the best choice.
That isn’t a bad assumption, but if you don’t
consider how your images are being shared
then you aren’t making the most informed
decision about the color space you’re using.
If you will only be sharing your photos online
or through other purely digital means, there’s no
real benefit to a large color space. In many cases
when printing your images, especially if you will
have a lab produce the prints for you, there is
also not a real benefit to a large color space.
In fact, the primary benefit of an extremely
large color space such as the ProPhoto
RGB color space has nothing to do with
the technology of today, but rather with
the potential for tomorrow. By working in
a large color space today, you’re helping to
ensure maximum potential later. Of course,
that ignores the fact that your monitor can’t
display the full range of ProPhoto RGB. And
most displays can’t display the full range even
of the Adobe RGB color space.
33
In other words, while there is a potential
benefit to working in an extremely widegamut color space, that benefit probably
relates more to potential benefits in the future
rather than real benefits today.
The List Goes On
The examples above are just a handful of the
higher-profile examples where quite often
the benefit is more theoretical than practical
for many photographers. My aim in pointing
these issues out is not to suggest that you
shouldn’t take advantage of every potential
benefit for your photos, but rather to help
provide some perspective.
It seems to me there is a tendency for many
of these issues to be presented as though
there were only one right answer for all
photographers. In many cases, there are
shades of gray that make the issues not quite
so absolute. With such issues, I think a bit of
perspective is in order, so you can hopefully
make a more informed decision about what is
truly important while working with your own
photographic images.
And even if you decide to take advantage
of every theoretical benefit even if it isn’t
providing an actual practical benefit for
your images, I think a bit of knowledge can
help provide some helpful perspective on
those issues.
PIXOLOGY
34
Chromatic Aberrations
Removing Color
Fringing with
Minimal Effort
By Tim Grey
Sometimes the smallest issues can lead
to what seems to be the biggest problem
for an image. When you’re trying to
create photographs of the highest
quality possible, you naturally want
everything to be perfect. But if you’re
not in the habit of zooming in close to
evaluate the image at the pixel level, you
might miss a problem and not notice
PIXOLOGY
it until you’ve made a big print. One
of the common issues I see along these
lines is chromatic aberrations.
Chromatic aberrations are easy to miss
in a photo if you don’t zoom in for a close
look, but fortunately it is now incredibly
easy to remove chromatic aberrations in
Lightroom or Photoshop.
35
When I use the term chromatic aberration,
I’m actually referring to a variety of color
fringing artifacts that can be caused
by different issues, ranging from lens
shortcomings to “blooming” caused by an
overflow of light for individual pixels on
the image sensor during capture, and other
causes. The result is a ghosting generally
found along high-contrast edges within
a photo.
Avoiding Color Fringing
Most of the color fringing artifacts that
generally get referred to as chromatic
aberrations are caused by the lens. For
example, if the lens does not focus light of all
wavelengths at exactly the same focal plane,
color fringing will generally be evident.
Color fringing is most common with wideangle lenses, where a greater degree of
variability in terms of the focal plane tends to
occur. Fringing is also common with cheaper
lenses, such as those with plastic elements
found in some compact cameras.
You’re most likely to see color fringing along
high-contrast edges in your photos, and
especially with backlit subjects. So while color
fringing can appear just about anywhere in
a photo, when you’re taking a close look you
will want to begin your review at the highcontrast edges in the photo.
What all this means is that color fringing
can be difficult to avoid. If a scene requires
a wide-angle lens, you aren’t likely to be able
to back up and use a longer lens to get the
same shot. And if you are using a relatively
The correction options for color fringing are found in the Lens Corrections section of Adobe Camera Raw or the Develop module
in Lightroom.
PIXOLOGY
36
inexpensive lens, it is likely that you’re not
going to buy more expensive gear just to
prevent color fringing. That said, it is worth
keeping in mind that equipment does make
a difference, and so you might take this issue
into account when you’re evaluating new
photography equipment for purchase.
Simple Color Fringing Correction
There have been tools for correcting
chromatic aberration and other color fringing
artifacts for quite a long time, but recently
they’ve gotten much better. That’s especially
true with the latest RAW processing software
from Adobe, which means the Develop
module in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw
in Photoshop.
Both Lightroom and Photoshop share the
same image-processing engine for RAW
conversion, so while the interface between
the two varies a bit, the actual controls and
the results you can expect are the same.
If you’re using Lightroom, you can select an
image that needs color fringing correction, go
to the Develop module, and then scroll down
to the Lens Corrections section of the right
panel and switch to the Color tab. If you’re
using Adobe Camera Raw, switch to the Lens
Corrections section of controls by clicking
the appropriate button below the histogram
area, and choose the Color tab.
You can then turn on the Remove Chromatic
Aberration checkbox, and under ideal
circumstances you’ll find that all color
fringing has been completely removed from
the image. In my experience, around half
the time simply turning on the Remove
Chromatic Aberration checkbox provides a
Simply turning on the Remove Chromatic Aberration checkbox can resolve many instances of color fringing in your images,
creating a significant improvement with one click.
PIXOLOGY
37
good result, and no refinement is necessary.
The other half of the time, a bit of fine-tuning
is required.
Fine-Tuning the Correction
You’ve probably heard the advice on more
than one occasion to evaluate your images
at a 100% zoom setting, so that one pixel
in your image is represented by one pixel
on your monitor. When it comes to color
fringing, however, you need a closer look. I
recommend zooming in to at least a 400%
zoom setting (the 4:1 option in Lightroom)
and panning around a variety of different
areas of the photo. In particular, you should
evaluate high-contrast edges in the photo,
and you should also be sure to check the
outer perimeter of the image in addition to
key areas closer to the center.
When that close inspection reveals color
fringing even with the Remove Chromatic
Aberration checkbox turned on, you’ll need
to employ the Defringe controls.
The Defringe controls are separated between
adjustments for purple fringing and green
fringing. For each of these basic color values
there is an Amount slider that determines
the strength of the color fringing reduction
for that color, as well as a Hue control that
enables you to expand or contract the range
of colors being affected in the image.
When you find color fringing that wasn’t
eliminated by the Remove Chromatic
Aberration checkbox, the first thing you
need to do is determine whether that color
fringing is closer to purple or green in terms
of the color of the fringing. Then increase the
value for either the Purple Amount or Green
Upon closer inspection, you may discover that even after turning on the Remove Chromatic Aberration checkbox, there is still a
degree of color fringing in certain areas of the image, especially along high-contrast edges.
PIXOLOGY
38
Amount slider based on which color the
fringing is closest to, watching the fringing
in the image to determine the best setting. I
recommend using the minimum value that
actually removes the color fringing, in order
to avoid causing other problems elsewhere in
the photo.
If you increase the Purple Amount or Green
Amount slider beyond a value of around five
without a significant improvement, you likely
need to expand the range of colors with the
Hue controls in order to focus the adjustment
on the actual color values represented by the
color fringing in the image.
With the Purple Hue control, you have sliders
on either end of the range of colors being
affected. You can drag the left slider toward
the left to expand into blue color values,
and you can drag the right slider toward the
right to expand into red color values. You
can obviously also drag the sliders inward
if you want to restrict the range of color
values being affected, but in most cases you’ll
likely find yourself expanding rather than
contracting the range of colors.
Similarly, the Green Hue control allows you
to expand the range of colors toward more
orange (to the left) or cyan (to the right) color
values. There is obviously a bit of overlap
between the two Hue sliders, which means
you’re not likely to run into a situation where
you can’t correct color fringing in an image
with either the Remove Chromatic Aberration
checkbox or the Defringe controls.
It is worth noting, by the way, that you don’t
need to turn on the Remove Chromatic
Aberration checkbox in order to employ the
Defringe controls. In most cases you’ll likely
Adjusting the Amount and Hue sliders in the Defringe section of the Color section for Lens Corrections allows you to fine-tune
the adjustment to remove virtually all traces of color fringing within the image.
PIXOLOGY
39
turn on the checkbox, and then evaluate the
image to determine if additional fine-tuning
is necessary. But you could just as easily jump
directly to the Defringe controls if you prefer
that approach or simply feel it is necessary for
a particular image.
Fast and Effective
Chromatic aberrations and other forms of
color fringing in an image can be frustrating
to say the least. Fortunately, with the
latest RAW processing tools from Adobe,
correcting that color fringing is remarkably
fast, and the results are very impressive.
Be sure to evaluate your images closely,
especially when you know color fringing is a
risk, but rest assured that when color fringing
is there, the solution isn’t far away.
By carefully evaluating the image at a relatively high zoom setting, and fine-tuning the controls to remove color fringing, you’ll
help ensure an image with optimal quality that is distraction free, even when printed at a large output size.
PIXOLOGY
40
An iPhone App Offers
More than Just a “Tap”
for Creative Photo Effects
By Tim Grey
A few months ago I started playing around with Instagram, a mobile photo
sharing application that offers one-touch effects that mostly fall into the
“old and faded” photo category. Mostly I wanted to see what all the fuss was
about, perhaps trying to understand a little better why Facebook decided it
was worth spending $1 billion to acquire Instagram.
PIXOLOGY
41
It was fun playing with Instagram, and
I’ll admit I actually do like the nostalgic
and damaged effect for many snapshottype photos. But my overall reaction was
that Instagram just wasn’t very good. Sure,
it was easy to use, and it made it easy to
share photos. But there are only twenty
effects, including the “Normal” effect that
causes no effect at all, and there is very little
opportunity to refine the effects.
Since then, I’ve discovered Alt Photo from
Alien Skin Software (http://www.alienskin.
com), a free application for the Apple iOS
devices such as the iPhone and iPad. Alt
Photo has 36 basic effects in six categories,
featuring both color and black and white
options. The effects are, as is common, mostly
based on vintage film photography effects.
But there’s also quite a bit of control available
for the various effects.
the border, swipe to adjust brightness, and
swipe to adjust effect intensity. Cropping can
be done with a simple pinch gesture, or by
moving the crop box around and moving
each corner individually. There are even a set
of presets for the aspect ratio so that you can,
for example, crop quickly to a square image.
At each stage of the adjustment process you
simply click a green checkmark to apply
the change, or a red X to cancel the current
adjustment. When you are happy with your
You can access the camera for your device
directly from within Alt Photo, so you can
capture a new image you’d like to adjust and
share. You can also access images that are
stored on your device, which means you can
add an effect to a photo you’ve previously
captured with your mobile device, or you
can synchronize photos from another source
to your device and then adjust those images
with Alt Photo.
After selecting a basic effect for a photo you
can crop the image, add a border effect from
one of the more than a dozen options, adjust
the overall brightness of the image, and
refine the intensity of the creative effect
you’ve applied.
All of the various options and adjustments
are controlled by simply swiping across the
screen of your device. You can swipe up,
down, left, and right to select among the
various effects, and then swipe to select
PIXOLOGY
42
final result, you can similarly click a green
checkmark and the adjusted image will be
saved to your device.
As you would surely expect for any mobile
photo app, Alt Photo also provides excellent
integration with major photo-sharing
services. With a single step you can share
your Alt Photo creations via email, Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr. And you don’t
need to go through the process multiple times
to share in multiple ways. Simply select all of
the sharing options you’d like to use, and the
image will be shared with all of them with the
tap of a button.
You can enter a caption for the photo that
will be used with all applicable online sharing
services, and also choose whether you want to
save the result to your mobile device, and add
a Twitter hashtag for #altphoto. Once you’ve
chosen the options for how you want to share
your creation, simply tap the Share button
and the image will be posted for the world
to see.
I would love to see even more effects
available in Alt Photo, including the ability
to apply additional adjustments such as
contrast, saturation, and sharpening, as well
as additional creative effect options such as
vignetting. It would also be great to see Alt
Photo available on other mobile platforms,
such as Android-based devices. But I think
Alien Skin Software has done an excellent
job with Alt Photo, and I look forward to see
what they add in future updates.
PIXOLOGY
43
Pixology
The Magazine for Photographers
Pixology magazine is published electronically on a monthly basis. For more information, visit
www.pixologymag.com
Copyright © 2013 by Tim Grey. All Rights Reserved.
To contact the publisher:
Tim Grey
328 8th Avenue #132
New York, NY 10001
www.timgrey.com
[email protected]
About Tim Grey
Tim Grey is regarded as one of the top educators in digital
photography and imaging, offering clear guidance on
complex subjects through his writing and speaking.
Tim has authored more than a dozen books and hundreds
of magazine articles on digital imaging for photographers,
and has produced over a dozen video training titles on a
wide variety of subjects. He publishes the Ask Tim Grey
email newsletter in addition to Pixology magazine. Tim
teaches through workshops, seminars, and appearances at
major events around the world.
For more information:
www.timgrey.com
Every attempt has been made throughout this magazine to distinguish proprietary trademarks from descriptive terms by following the
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The publisher has made best efforts to prepare this magazine, but makes no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to the
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Parting Shot