Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Step Three:
Normally, I start by adjusting the white
balance (see page 26), but in this case,
I'm okay with the overall color tempera-
ture (don't get me wrong, I'm going to
pump up the color in just a moment, but
as far as it being too warm or too cool, or
just totally wrong, I'm okay with that part
for this particular photo. That's pretty
common for shots taken outdoors, where
white balance usually isn't a big issue).
We're going to start with the thing that
bugs me the most (which is what I usually
do), and in this case, it's the sky. It's just
too stark and bland (take a look at the
image in Step Two for a reference). Here's
the recipe for darkening the sky: (1) Lower
the Highlights slider a lot (here, I dragged
it down to -43). Then, (2) lower the Expo-
sure a bit (I lowered it to -0.65), which
affects the sky big time (since it controls
the midtones). Then, (3) increase the Con-
trast a lot (to +71 here) to give it some
“oomph,” and you can see that helped
a lot (again, compare it to Step Two). If
you need a refresher on the Basic panel
sliders, go back to Chapter 2.
Step Four:
Now, we stop and see what it needs
next. Back in Step Three, the mountains
look way too dark, so we'll have to open
up those dark shadow areas by dragging
the Shadows slider way over to the right
(here I went to +91). When you increase
the Shadows a lot, like we did here, it
can make the blacks look washed out,
so I generally drag the Blacks slider to
the left to balance it out (here, I dragged
to -38). To bring out some highlights,
I increased the Whites to +17 (I couldn't
increase the Highlights—they were busy
keeping the sky dark). The sky started
getting a little bright from all that, so
I lowered the Highlights even more
(down to -89).
(Continued)
