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A Simple Explanation of Aperture

If there’s one thing about photography that confuses newcomers(and often the rest of us) it’s the idea of aperture. What is it? Why is it so complicated? How does it affect your photos? Well, aperture isn’t complicated or impossible to understand, it’s just unfamiliar. And like most unfamiliar things the more you learn to about it the less intimidating aperture will be.

In this article I’m going to show you just how not complicated aperture can be. You’re going to learn the basics of aperture and how it relates to the focus and shutter speed of your photographs.

Aperture and the Dreaded F-Number

Let’s start off by explaining what aperture is and how it is measured. The idea of aperture in reality is astoundingly simple and there’s honestly only a few things you truly need to know to conquer the subject.

What is Aperture?

OK, let’s just get this out of the way right off the bat…aperture by its very definition is simply a hole. As it pertains to photography, aperture is the hole in the lens where light passes into our cameras. That’s it.

See, not so scary! However, the way aperture is measured is the cause for anxiety in some because, there again, it’s measured in a fashion that most of us don’t readily understand. But don’t worry, much like everything it becomes easy once you understand one fundamental thing….

F-Numbers

Trust me. You are neither the first nor the last person to be completely perplexed when it comes to understanding the way aperture is measured. The notion of ‘F-Numbers”(sometimes called f-stops) has been the source of a lot of confusion because they simply don’t make much sense in terms of how we normally think about our physical world. In short, the F-Number is nothing more than a ratio between the focal length of the lens and the diameter of the aperture being used. So an aperture of F4 means that the focal length is four times larger than the selected aperture. An aperture of F8 means that the focal length is eight times larger and so on and so forth. Now this is where things get a little weird….The larger the F-Number, the smaller the actual opening. The smaller the F-Number the smaller the actually opening. Look at this quick example:

It’s going to be OK…take a deep breath and realize that it actually makes sense mathematically but you’re not going to have to understand anything more in depth than that for most practical purposes. Just know that it the larger the physical opening of the aperture the smaller the F-Number will be.

Aperture and Depth of Field

There are a surprisingly large amount of factors that determine the final depth of field or your image and aperture size is one of them. Generally speaking, the wider the aperture(smaller F-Number) the more shallow depth of field will become. This means that smaller apertures(larger F-Numbers) will bring more of the scene into the range of focus than will larger apertures. Take a look at these Chess pieces and see what I mean.

Not only does aperture play a key role in focusing but it also spills over into your shutter speed. Speaking of shutter speed….

Aperture and Shutter Speed

The relationship between aperture and shutter speed is extremely simple and yet extremely important. Simply put, larger apertures allow more light to enter through the lens. More light means faster shutter speeds can be used. This is where the phrase “fast lenses” comes from because lenses with larger aperture allow for faster shutter speeds.

So, faster lenses with wider maximum apertures are capable of shooting more effectively in low light conditions because they allow more light to pass through them. A lens with a maximum aperture of F2.8 is considered to be “faster” than a lens with a maximum aperture of F4.

Final Thoughts on Aperture

In a way all this might sound like an oversimplification but it’s essentially all you really need to know about aperture. The manner in which aperture selection relates to depth of field and shutter speed will take you a long way in photography. Aperture isn’t scary! Having this simple knowledge will help you better understand exposure, make smarter lens choices and generally control your images much more effectively.

The Case for Black and White Photography

Brace yourself because here it comes…it’s another discussion about black and white photography. Don’t worry, it’s not going to be the same old “which is better?” or even worse, another “how to convert your photos to black and white” type of articles. Admittedly, I have written on both of those subjects extensively before but this time will be a little different.

Today, we’re going to strip down the idea of black and white photography and attempt to locate how this tried and true area of photography has managed to maintain its status in an arguably over saturated(pun intended) world of photographic modernism.

Monochrome and the Film Difference

It’s not secret that the black and white side of photo work is deeply rooted in film. Still, even though it makes for a solid title for this section, the term “monochrome” has been somehow mismanaged to the point where it is widely considered synonymous with black and white. This is wrong. Monochrome means “one color” or essentially an image made of shades of only one color. This color could be anything from black, yellow, red or pink. Grayscale might actually be a more appropriate term for true black and white. Even then the lines become somewhat blurred because it’s incredibly difficult to completely abolish all color toning from a black and white film negative. Take a look at these images of a 4×5 black and white negative(complete with film borders)and I’ll show you what I mean.

The first photo is a color rendition of the negative. You’ll notice that is is toned quite blue based on the development. This is due to a few factors but the point is virtually all black and white photographs aren’t exactly black and white. Rather, they are toned based on the type of film emulsion and the development techniques used. Now, look at that same piece of film after I have digitally converted it to black and white in Lightroom.

See the difference? I say all of that to say this: modern digital photography often paints a one dimensional representation of black and white images. True black and white photographs aren’t usually black and white at all or not even monochromatic. Instead, they are a carefully mapped presentation of tonal ranges. Remember this the next time you click a button to make your photo black and white. Sure, it might remove the color but the work shouldn’t stop there.

Speaking of color…

Is Color Necessary?

Yes, color is needed. Is it always needed? Absolutely not. There are times when a photo is suited to black and white and times when it is not. Well, who decides? That question is also deceptively simple to answer. It’s you, you’re the one who decides. Does the color play a role in the emotion or feeling you mean to convey or does it get in the way? These are most certainly murky waters to wade.

Today, we don’t even have to approach color or black and white photography the same way as we did thirty or even twenty years ago. Take the very site you’re reading this article on right now. LifePixel specializes in infrared converted cameras that brings the world of color into a new realm of creative exchange. Infrared cameras see light differently than our own eyes. As a result, completely familiar colors become foreign and black and white pictures take on a completely new feel. When you think about color and how it relates to photography you must understand that even the things we see are wholly subjective to our own perception.

Some Closing Thoughts…

If you haven’t been able to tell by now the purpose of this article isn’t to promote the merits of one type of photo over another. There’s plenty of room even now for both color and black and white photography. In fact, a lot of it comes down to personal taste and how we perceive the world around us. At the same time, remember to look deeper into your work and find what gives it meaning to you. Does color play a part? Does it make more of a connection in black and white? Whatever direction you choose just make sure that the original intent of the photo shines through.

Speed Up Your Processing with Lightroom Import Presets

We all know about presets in Lightroom and all the great things they can do your post processing. Presets help make your editing easier and make achieving a constant styling much more efficient. The biggest benefit of using presets is that they speed up your post processing so you can get back to making photographs, baking muffins, building model airplanes, or whatever it is you might rather be doing instead of sitting in front of your computer screen. But did you know you can use presets jumpstart your post processing efforts before you even import your photos into Lightroom?

In this article I’m going to show you how easy it is to apply presets to your photos as they import into Lightroom. These presets aren’t even limited to develop presets…oh no. You can even add in metadata presets like copyright information and keywording along with camera and lens profile information. This is the kind of thing that the pros use and you should as well. If you find yourself editing large batches(weddings, portraits, events) of similar photos then you’re going to love using import presets in Lightroom. Let’s get started.

Applying Presets on Import

It all starts here in the Import screen of Adobe Lightroom.

If you look to the right you’ll notice an ‘Apply During Import’ panel.

This is where all the magic will happen. Click on that tab to open up your options. From here we’ll have a few choices.

Develop Presets and Camera Calibration

Applying develop and camera calibration* presets as you import your photos into Lightroom couldn’t be easier. The process is essentially the same as it is while editing your images in the Develop Module. To begin, make sure you have the photos you wish to import with the preset. Next, click the ‘Develop Settings’ drop down. This will bring up a list of all the develop presets you have currently installed in Lightroom.

From here it’s simply a matter of selecting the preset you want to apply to the images you’re importing. After you’ve made you’ve made your choice click ‘Import’ and your photos will be brought into Lightroom with the chosen develop preset freshly applied.

**To apply camera calibration settings to your photos on import simply save them in a develop preset and then use the same steps as above.

Copyright and Metadata

Import presets aren’t limited to develop settings. We can also apply keywording and metadata(copyright information/location/creator) to each and every image we import. This helps to better organize or photos and perhaps more importantly, it allows us to protect them from unwanted use. Adding in keywords is super easy as you can type them right into the keyword box. Alternatively, you can add in keywords alongside your other metadata.

Assigning metadata to images is just as easy as applying develop presets. To start, click the ‘Metadata’ drop down arrow.

Select your preset or to add a new one click ‘New’. This launches the new metadata preset dialog box.

It’s here where you can add in virtually any information imaginable. When you’re finished be sure to name your new metadata preset. In the example above I’ve left the title as ‘Untitled Preset’ (I’m lazy) but it’s always a good idea to title any preset you make in such a way that you can immediately know what it contains. Once you’ve created the new preset it will then become selectable from the metadata preset drop down menu. After you’ve applied it, click ‘Import’. Your new metadata information will automatically be applied to each image you selected to import just as the develop settings were in the previous example.

Some Final Thoughts….

Import presets are a great way to easily jump start your processing workflow. By applying certain develop and metadata presets on import you can yourself a lot of time by having the settings you use the most already applied before any work actually begins. This becomes especially useful when you find yourself editing a large number of photos at once. Not only can import presets making editing a breeze but they can also play a big part in protecting your photos by attaching important copyright information to your photos. If you haven’t already give import presets a try and see just how much they can help you and your photography.

Smarter Sharpening with the High Pass Filter in Photoshop

What if I told you that sharpening as we know it in photography isn’t real? That might be a little hard to believe but the truth is that it is actually impossible to make an image physically sharper after it has already been made. Sharpening a photo is simply an illusion. We can make a photograph appear to be sharper. Our digital images can be made to look sharper by adjusting the contrast of the pixels around the edges of shapes within the photo and this is what we are going to talk about today. We will look at how you can easily make your photos more sharp quickly using the high pass filter in Photoshop.

What is the High Pass Filter?

The high pass filter is just a method of creating a sharpening effect to your photo based on the pixels surrounding the contrasted edges of the elements within the image. While Photoshop has some dedicated sharpening tools(unsharp mask, smart sharpening) the high pass filter is the method I tend to use the most because I love the total control it gives me over my sharpening.

Using the High Pass Filter

To get started with sharpening using the high pass filter it is highly recommended that you complete ALL of your edits prior to performing the sharpening. This means that if you’re like me and do most of your processing in Lightroom and then export to Photoshop for finishing you will leave your high pass sharpening for the very last step. When you’re ready to sharpen, open your image in Photoshop.

Next, duplicate the layer by using keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J(Cmd+J for Mac). This is the layer where the high pass filter will be applied. I’ve renamed it “High Pass Layer” so it’s easier to see.

Make sure the new high pass layer is selected and then click on the ‘Filter’ tab and then ‘Other’ and lastly select ‘High Pass’.

You’ll notice an abrupt change to your image. It will essentially go completely grey. Don’t panic because this is exactly what we want to happen. But we have a choice to make and that is what radius we set for the high pass filter.

The radius controls the amount of pixels which are targeted around the edges where the sharpening will be applied. There’s a lot of wiggle room here and it generally is based on the resolution of your camera. The higher megapixel your camera the higher you can set the radius without causing unsightly effects such as halos and glowing edges. Let me show you what I mean. Here is the high pass filter with a radius of ‘1’…

And now here it is with a radius of ‘36’.

The higher the radius the more of the image will be affected. This particular photo was made with a 36.4 megapixel camera and I find a radius of ‘4’ to be the proverbial sweet spot. Adjust your radius accordingly.

Click ‘OK’ to apply the high pass.

But wait, this still looks horrible and gray and not at all what we want.

The next step is key. We have to change the blend mode of our sharpening layer. There are multiple choices here but the ‘Overlay’ option tends to work best with virtually all images and is the blend mode I use. After the overlay blend mode is selected we have what is essentially our final sharpened image.

Have a look at the difference the high pass filter has made in terms of sharpness. Here is the unsharpened photo….

And now the freshly sharpened version….

Closing Thoughts on Sharpening with the High Pass Filter

Don’t forget, not only can the high pass filter be applied easily but like any other layer adjustment in Photoshop the opacity can be adjusted until you reach the exact level of desired sharpness. Furthermore, adding in a layer mask to the sharpening layer can allow you to take complete control over the sharpening effect and only apply it to the areas of the photo you choose.

The best bit of advice when it comes to sharpening an image using any method is that less is usually more. Always remember that an over sharpened image is often less appealing than one that is slightly soft. Enjoy using the high pass filter in Photoshop!

A Quick Guide to Local Adjustment Presets in Lightroom

If you use Adobe Lightroom, I’m sure you’ve heard of develop presets and how they can jump start your creativity. But did you know that you can also create and save local adjustment presets just as easily? In this article I’m going to show you how to create and save your own local adjustment presets so you can make the most of your editing time in Lightroom.

What are Local Adjustments?

Local adjustment presets work a lot like develop presets in that they allow you to save certain combinations of edits for quick application later. The biggest difference between the two types of presets is that normal development presets generally work globally(affects the entire image) whereas local presets affect only the portions of the image you choose. These edits are applied either with either the local adjustment brush, graduated filter, radial filter, or a combination of the three. The great thing about local adjustment presets is that each preset can be applied by any of the local adjustment tools in Lightroom.

Here’s an example using the picture above. This is how it looked originally.

Let’s say we want to only lighten the leaf without disturbing the rest of the photo. Not only that, but the area could also use a little bit of a boost in clarity and sharpening. We can use the local adjustment brush and combine all this edits into one and apply them at the same time.

Now, that looks better.

This is an edit you might have use for in the future since adding a little exposure and clarity can might an image really pop. Instead of taking the time to go back in and adjust the sliders each and every time why not save this adjust as a preset? Saving local adjustments is even easier than saving a regular development preset because there’s no new folder to make and name, no check boxes to tick or untick. Everything is already set up for you and all you’ll need to do is make your adjustments and then name your new preset.

Saving the Preset

First, click the ‘custom’ drop down at the top of the local adjustments panel….

Find the bottom of the ‘Save current settings as new preset’ option at the bottom of the drop down menu and click on that.

Now it’s time to name your awesome new local adjustment preset. Just as with any other type of preset it’s a good idea to come up with a descriptive name that immediately tells you what the preset does. For this preset I’ve chosen ‘+Exp Clarity Sharp’.

And that’s it! Your new preset will appear as a freshly made preset name in the local adjustment presets dropdown menu.

Final Thoughts on Local Adjustment Presets…

Like any other preset in Lightroom, local adjustment presets save you time by eliminating the need to change multiple adjustment sliders each and every time you want to use a particular edit. Making a local adjustment preset is one of the easiest tricks you can use to speed up your post processing. Remember, every preset you make can be used with all the local adjustment tools in Lightroom. That means the adjustment preset we made above can also be applied using the radial and graduated filter as well. Local adjustment presets are great. Use this guide and find out for yourself!

How to Use the Clarity Slider in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC

If you reach way back to Adobe’s Lightroom 1.1 build you will find the clarity slider. After its introduction wayyyy back then the clarity slider has been a favorite weapon of most landscape and even portrait photographers. This slider is a personal favorite of mine just as it is the professed secret love of many Lightroom users. It adds a little “punch” to your photographs and can work wonders with portraits, landscapes, and virtually any other image that appears to be a little visually flat. And now in Lightroom Classic CC, the clarity slider is still going strong.

But what does the clarity slider do specifically? In this article we’re going to talk about how the clarity slider works and how you can use it more effectively to bring out the full potential of your images.

How Does the Clarity Slider Work?

When we adjust clarity, we are essentially adjusting the contrast of our photo.The difference is that instead of the entire tonal range being adjusted, the clarity slider targets the midtones only. This give the overall illusion of the image become more clear. Look at this histogram of the image above before the clarity was increased by+60…

Now, look at that same histogram after the boost in clarity

The blacks and highlights haven’t been affected very much but the midtones certainly have. And that’s the great thing about the clarity slider: it is far less likely to wash out detail in the areas which are already bright or already dark. This makes it a great tool when working with textures(insert link to texture article) with scenes which need a good bit more contrast without going into overkill in the shadows and highlights. Speaking of overkill…or rather over’clear’(haha)…the next section will talk about some things to watch out for when using the clarity slider.

How NOT to Apply Clarity

Granted, every photo is going to be different, so there are no real “rules” when it comes to using the clarity slider(or anything else in photography) to adjust your images. That being said, a general guideline that will help you immensely is the good ol’ fashioned “less is more” approach. While there clarity slider works great to add some extra power in your photograph it can also cause some unsightly side effects if abused.

Here’s a photo where the clarity has been cranked to +100. Notice anything?

On top of the entire scene now looking a little unnatural, when we zoom in we can see the real problem with using the clarity slider too liberally.

Zoomed to 3:1

Those dreaded halos. I hate them, and honestly, you probably should as well. They are caused by the pixels around high contrast areas becoming too separated from the pixels surrounding them which adds up to the bright banding around those areas. To remedy this, try adjusting clarity locally using the radial or graduated filter or the adjustment brush. If all else falls, simply back off the clarity a bit. In almost all cases less contrast will be more preferable than that dastardly halo effect.While Adobe has drastically refined the performance of the clarity slider in recent years the over clearing a photo can still be problematic. Also note the halo effect is worsened when coupling too much clarity along with too much sharpening as happened with the image above..

Final thoughts on Clarity

The clarity slider is a great tool. It helps us to increase contrast in the midtone luminosity range while avoiding blown out highlights and burnt out shadows. I use it to some extent in virtually every photograph I process. That being said, as awesome as the clarity slider can be, it can also work against you if you push it too far. Always remember to keep things in the scope of the reality you wish to present to the viewer and don’t over clarify your images. On the flip side of that you should also not be afraid to actually lessen the clarity in some of your images. It can actually smooth out skin tones and impart a nice soft contrast to a landscape. With a little bit of knowledge the clarity slider can open up entirely new post processing opportunities that you might not have considered!

Editing Secrets Revealed!: Five Lightroom Tricks

Adobe Lightroom is one of the most widely used software programs out there. When it comes to editing your digital photos it’s extremely difficult to beat Lightroom when it comes to ease of use, versatility, and powerful post processing tools. It’s safe to say that most of you reading this likely have had some experience using Lightroom but do you know about some of the hidden capabilities of the software? Well, maybe I shouldn’t say hidden. Perhaps “lesser known” is a better way for my point to be phrased.

In this article, we’re going to show you five lesser known tricks to be found in Adobe Lightroom. You might even wonder how you’ve managed without them for so long!

#1: Direct Histogram Adjustments

You know how to adjust exposure using the adjustment sliders in Lightroom but did you know that you can make exposure adjustments directly to the histogram?

Yeah, really! Not only that, but you can work with the blacks, shadows, and highlights independently. To do it, simply hover over different areas of the histogram and pay attention to the bottom left corner of the histogram. This tells you which area of the histogram you will be adjustment. At the far left is the blacks region…

And to the far right will be the whites region.

To adjust an area, click on it and hold as you drag left or right on the histogram.

In the middle areas you will have shadows highlights and overall exposure. All independently adjustable in the exact same way.

#2 Visualizing Spots in Clone/Heal Mode

The clone and healing tools are a great way to remove unsightly dust and dirt specks that show up on your finished digital photo. It’s easy to just make some of those things go away with a click or two.

Did you know that there’s a super easy way to make removing those spots a lot more precise? It’s aptly called the “visualize spots” mode and to access it click…you guessed it, the visualize spots box at the bottom of the view window when in clone/heal mode. You can also use keyboard shortcut (A).

Your image is instantly converted to a black and white relief. Spots show up in white.

You can control the sensitivity of the spot revelation by using the slider.

#3 Sharpening Mask

Don’t introduce unwanted noise by sharpening your entire photo! There’s a smarter way and it’s by using the masking slider when sharpening your images in Lightroom.

Holding down the ‘Alt’ key(Option key on Mac) while adjusting the masking slider sensitivity will convert the image to a black and white relief similar to the visualize spots mode from earlier.

Now it’s just a matter of healing or cloning out the spots!

#4 Developing Video

For some, the downside of Lightroom is that it doesn’t work well with video editing. Video isn’t supported in the Develop Module so you have to rely on quick develop settings and presets to process any of your video files. Or do you? There is in fact a work around to help you edit your videos more precisely in Lightroom. First, make an image capture from your video.

Then make any adjustments to that image capture just as you would a normal photo. When finished, go back to the Library module. Then hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key(Command on Mac) and be sure both your edited image capture AND the video thumbnail are selected.

Now, click on ‘Sync Settings’

A dialog box will appear showing the available settings which can be synced. Make your selections and click ‘OK’. And boom! You’ve just developed your video.

#5 Custom Name Plate

This last trick is possibly the easiest…and the most arbitrary. You can customize the “name plate” in Lightroom along with a couple other things. The name plate is that little bit of text in the upper left hand corner of the view window.

Here’s how to change it. Simply right click on the name plate and choose ‘Edit identity plate’ from the drop down.

This will open the identity plate edit dialog box.

Select ‘Personalize’ from the dropdown at the top left.

Now change the font color, style, and size to whatever you want! You can even upload a custom logo image form here as well!

Final Thoughts…

Lightroom, as powerful as it is, offers some hidden gems if you just know where and how to find them. The secrets of Lightroom aren’t limited to just the ones we’ve shown here! Have your own tricks that you’d like to share with the class? Post them in the comments below!

Effective Black and White Conversion in Lightroom

In a way, black and white photographs were part of the reason I became interested in photography. I was no more than twelve or thirteen when my parents bought me a black and white Kodak disposable film camera. Remember those? It contained one roll of black and white 35mm film. Everything was set for you…just wind, click, and repeat. The thirty six exposures from that roll of film displayed an alien world. No colors, just shades of grey and contrasts of light. I was dumbfounded at the power that even these simple images could convey.

A picture from that magic roll of film….

Fast forward over twenty years and we find ourselves in the middle of the roaring age of digital photography. Now, we can see the world with two different sets of eyes: one in color, one in black and white. In our digital darkrooms it’s easier than ever to make professional quality black and white conversions from your RAW image files. In this tutorial we’re going to show you how to take your images beyond black and white using Adobe Lightroom.

More than Desaturation

There is more than one way to convert your images to black and white in Lightroom. We start with this image….

Sure you can grab hold of that saturation slider and simply set it to zero. This works. But you lose so much due to the nature of the desaturation.

The photo is somewhat flat after setting the saturation to “0”.

While the color has been removed, so too have the luminance values of those colors. Luminance values are the brightness values of the specific colors within the photo. It’s these differences in lights and darks that make a strong black and white image. Without being able to control each colors luminance we are left with a flat and often uninteresting image. The most effective method for converting your photo to black and white is to convert it to grayscale and then adjust the image with the black and white portion of the HSL Panel. It’s incredibly easy and powerful tool for working with black and white photos. You’re about to learn how to do it right now!

The Grayscale Conversion

Changing our images to “black and white” actually means we are converting them to “Grayscale”. No, grayscale isn’t some kind of mythological skin condition…. Grayscale is simply the term used to describe black and white photos which are in reality shades of gray and not only black and white. To convert your image to grayscale, click the black and white treatment option at the top of the Basic Adjustment panel.

Which gives us this grayscale image of our original photo.

You can also achieve the same result by jumping directly to the HSL panel and clicking the black and white tab.

Basic adjustments can be made for things like exposure, contrast, clarity, ect., but remember that we’re about to do more work on the photo using the color luminance adjustment in the HSL Panel. These adjustments can affect the overall contrast of the image so its a good idea to keep your initial edits at a minimum.

Adjusting with the B&W Section of the HSL Panel

Now that we have a black and white image to work with it’s time to adjust them color luminance and really make our image stand out. You can adjust the sliders for each color to either darken or brighten them within the image but an easier way is to use the target adjustment option. It’s the little dot at the top left of the B&W section.

Using the target adjustment tool is useful since we can select the area of color we want lighten or darkened without actually having to remember the original colors. Simply click the target adjustment tool and then click the area of color in the photo. Just drag up or down to adjust.

In this photo, the sky is made up mostly of blue, reducing the blue luminance values can add some great dramatic effects to the sky.

The same is true for the other colors. Greens and yellows in the bushes can be brightened. The orange color of the ponies hair can be darkened. After some final tweaking in the basic panel we have this final black and white photograph.

Final Thoughts

Converting and processing your black and white images in Lightroom is an incredibly easy and fast process. It also will open up a whole new world of creativity for you and your photography. Think your photos aren’t black and white material? Try the techniques in this article and I can virtually guarantee you might begin seeing your images in a completely different light.