Title Details

about the author v

credits vii

foreword ix

acknowledgments xi

introduction xxi

Part I Capture Workflow 1

Chapter 1 What are Raw Files Really About? 3

A RAW Start 4

Why use RAW? 5

Understanding RAW 6

RAW Capabilities 7

Do not Shortchange RAW 8

What is 16-Bit all About? 10

Proprietary Formats 12

The Value of DNG 12

Does JPEG have a Place? 13

Q&A 16

Chapter 2 Shoot RAW Right from the Start 17

The Digital Darkroom 19

Understanding the Sensor 19

Dealing with Limitations 21

Exposure – More than Getting Brightness Correct 21

Reading the Histogram without Being an Engineer 24

Interpreting the Histogram 26

Looking at Histograms: Examples of Good and Bad Exposures 27

Perfect exposure with ideal histogram 27

Nice range of tones from left to right 28

Histogram has visual relationship to scene 28

Light tones kept in range 29

Black-and-white challenge 30

Restricted tonal range still needs good exposure 30

Poor exposure causes color problems 31

Bad light causes exposure problems. 31

Poor exposure causes background problems 32

Exposure for shadows washes out highlights 33

Filters are Still Necessary 33

Noise Raises its Ugly Head 35

Variations among Cameras 39

Q&A 41

Chapter 3 Color and RAW 43

Good RAW is Good Color 45

Adobe RGB versus sRGB 46

Color Space for the Purpose Needed 47

White Balance: A RAWWorkflow Issue 48

White balance in the camera 49

Auto white balance 50

Preset white balance 51

Custom white balance 52

Q&A 54

Chapter 4 What’s New in Adobe Camera Raw? 55

Making RAW Processing More Photographic 56

Some Changes to the Interface 58

First tab changes – tonal adjustments 60

First tab changes – color adjustments 61

Tone Curve changes 62

Changes to the Detail tab 62

The new HSL and Grayscale tab 63

The new Split Toning tab 64

Presets 64

How Lightroom Affects Camera Raw 66

Q&A 68

Part II Camera Raw Workflow 69

Chapter 5 A Quick Look at Camera Raw Tools and Workflow 71

Finding Your RAW Photos 73

Bridge Capabilities 74

Opening Camera Raw 81

The Importance of Reset and Undo 83

Camera Raw in Six-Part Harmony 85

Camera Raw Toolbar 86

Preview Options 90

The Ideal Workflow 92

Base Settings 96

How to Approach Camera Raw 98

Monitor Calibration 99

Q&A 101

Chapter 6 Workflow Applied 103

What is Your Photo About? 105

Auto Settings 105

Workflow Options 106

Tonal Adjustments 110

Color Adjustments 121

Detail Adjustments – Sharpening 125

Detail Adjustments – Noise Reduction 130

Save Your Work 131

Setting Up Camera Raw for Your Camera 133

Q&A 136

Chapter 7 Advanced Tonal Control 137

Evaluate the Image 138

First Adjustments – Blacks and Highlights 140

Tone Curve Adjustments 142

Back to Basic and Clarity 145

Back to Color 146

Refining Color 149

Sharpening with the Detail Tab 151

Evaluate, and then Open or Save 155

Q&A 156

Chapter 8 White Balance Decisions 157

A Neutral Subject is Rarely Neutral 160

Wave tonalities interpreted and more161

Cloud, water, and rocks color 164

Dusk Light 165

Dusk interpreted 165

Dusk color revealed 170

Aquarium Greenery 173

Evaluating Color 180

Key colors 180

Critical colors 181

Memory colors 181

Colorcasts 181

Weak color 182

Color interactions 182

Creative colors 183

Q&A 184

Chapter 9 The Noise Problems No One Talks About 185

When Noise Becomes a Problem 187

Watching for Noise 188

Reducing Noise in Camera Raw 189

Working to Control the Noise 191

Looking deeper at noise 195

Readjusting the Image 197

Q & A 198

Chapter 10 Special Features of Camera Raw 199

Special Tabs of Camera Raw 200

Fixing Lens Problems 202

Correcting aberrations 203

Vignetting adjustments 205

Using the Retouch Tool 207

Using the Red Eye Removal Tool 209

Influencing Color Changes 209

Batch Processing 211

Simple batching renaming 212

Group processing 215

Duplicating Processing: Saving Settings and Presets 219

Q & A 222

Part III Making Camera Raw Work Harder for You 223

Chapter 11 Tough Decisions 225

Soft Colors 226

No harsh contrasts 227

Adjusting with soft in mind 229

Color enhancement 232

The Detail tab 232

Backlit Contrast 235

Core decisions 236

Color enhancement 240

Not the Normal Light 243

Color or tonalities first? 243

Night tone interpretation 246

Adjusting for the night 247

Crop for evaluation 248

Night noise 249

Final check 251

Q & A 252

Chapter 12 Black-and-White Processing 253

Camera Raw or Photoshop for Black-and-White 254

Camera Raw does Black-and-White Right 256

How to Think Black-and-White 259

Shooting for Black-and-White 261

Converting to Grayscale 262

Optimum use of Color Sliders 266

Using Split Toning 267

Q & A 270

Chapter 13 Double Processing for Exposure 271

One Size May Not Fit All 273

Bright sky, dark ground 273

Bringing out the scene 274

Processing the Bright Areas 275

Processing the Dark Areas 280

The Merging Process 286

Putting two images into one 287

Small area changes 292

Process for the Main Photo 293

Process for the detail 296

Put them together again 298

Double Processing for Color and Tonal Range Techniques 301

Two-Shot Processing 302

Into Camera Raw 303

Making the Photo Work 310

Q&A 316

Chapter 14 Post Camera Raw Processing 317

Ansel Adams and Image Processing 319

What’s a good image, anyway? 320

Expressing what you want 320

Interpreting an Image 322

Sharpening 332

Q & A 336

Appendix A Alternatives to Camera Raw 337

Why Use Other Programs? 338

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom or Apple Aperture versus Camera Raw 339

Lightroom 339

Aperture 339

Camera-Specific RAW Converters 340

Canon ZoomBrowser EX and Digital Photo Professional 340

Nikon Capture 340

Olympus Studio 341

Pentax Photo Browser/Laboratory 341

Sigma Photo Pro 341

Sony RAW Software 342

Independent RAW Converters 342

DxO RAW Engine 342

Phase One Capture One 342

Photoshop Elements 343

Pixmantec RawShooter 343

Pro Glossary 345

Index 351