LIGHT & LAND

L A N D S C A P E S I N T H E D I G I TA L D A R K R O O M
MICHAEL FRYE

CRAFT&VISION
 INTRODUCTION
PERFORMING THE SCORE

“I think of the negative as the ‘score,’ and the

print as a ‘performance’ of that score, which
conveys the emotional and aesthetic ideas of the
photographer at the time of making the exposure.”

– Ansel Adams, 1983

The digital darkroom gives us tremendous control over our images. We can make them
lighter, darker, add contrast, change the colour balance, increase saturation, turn a colour
photograph into black and white, remove telephone poles, blend exposures with HDR,
combine ten images to capture infinite depth of field, or put a winged elephant in the sky.

But what do we do with all these choices? I think the guiding force should be your original
vision. What inspired you to press the shutter? What were you trying to convey? Every
decision you make should be guided by that primary idea, and by the feeling you’re trying
to convey. Communicating the drama of a stormy sky requires a different approach, and
different settings, than portraying the delicate beauty of a flower. Or, as Ansel said, your
“performance” in the digital darkroom should convey your “emotional and aesthetic ideas”
at the time you made the exposure.

A good musical performance needs the right tempo—not too fast, not too slow. It has to
have contrast—high notes and low ones, quiet interludes and boisterous passages—but
with smooth transitions. When the musician finds the right balance the audience feels it.

Photographs also need balance—enough saturation to bring an image to life, but not make
it harsh or garish; dodging and burning that draws the eyes to the right places, but not in
an obvious way; a colour temperature that enhances both warm and cool hues. When the
photographer finds the right balance, the viewer senses it.

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 In this book I’ll take you step-by-step through each decision as I process five different
images in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. You’ll see my workflow in action, and I’ll explain
why I use particular techniques in a particular order. But more importantly, you’ll come
to understand the aesthetic judgements behind each decision—how a certain amount of
contrast conveyed my vision, or why too much saturation muddied the colour rather than
enhanced it. As you look over my shoulder you’ll gain insights about how to convey your
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own unique vision, and how to squeeze every ounce of beauty, emotion, and inspiration
out of your photographs.
While I use Lightroom for these examples, the basic principles apply to any software.
Learning how to make good decisions and find the right balance is more important than
learning any particular tool or technique.
 LANDSCAPE
CONSIDERATIONS
A photograph is a photograph. Most of the techniques and aesthetic principles that apply
to other subjects apply to landscape photographs as well. But in some other photography
genres the photographer is often concerned with only one subject. Landscape
photography frequently requires blending many different ingredients in a harmonious way.

HIGHLIGHT & SHADOW DETAIL

In attempting to meld those elements together, landscape photographers often want to
show both highlight and shadow detail, even in scenes with extreme contrast. HDR and
other methods of blending exposures have made it possible to capture both highlight and
shadow detail in almost any situation.

These blending techniques are sometimes essential, but remember that contrast is good.
Without contrast, photographs look flat. Just because you can keep detail in the darkest
shadows doesn’t mean you should. Lightening something draws attention to it. Before
going to great lengths to preserve shadow detail, ask yourself whether those dark areas
really deserve more notice. Are there more interesting things that viewers should be
looking at? Maybe those dark areas should stay black, or show just a hint of detail.

Or maybe only key areas should be lightened. Instead of automatically launching your
favourite exposure-blending software, try directing the viewer’s eyes by selectively
lightening and or darkening specific areas. I have yet to meet a photograph that couldn’t
benefit from some dodging and burning.

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 BLACK POINTS
& WHITE POINTS
How much of an image should be pure
black? How much pure white? This is a key
aesthetic decision for every photograph.

First, remember that every image is

different. You shouldn’t automatically make
five percent of every photograph pure black
any more than you would automatically
place every horizon a third of the way from
the top of the frame.

Second, ask yourself whether anything in

the image would look black or white in real
life. If not, then we shouldn’t see black or
white in your photograph.

Third, and foremost, consider the feeling

you’re trying to convey. Landscape
photography is all about communicating
the mood of a particular place at a particular
time. Deep blacks and bright whites give
an image power and drama. A more limited
range of tones, with no pure blacks or
whites, may help convey serenity and calm.

Be careful, however, about creating large

regions of blank white in your photographs.
You never see washed-out highlights in
nature except when looking at the sun, or
the sun reflecting off water, and it looks
unnatural to see them in a photograph.

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 WORKFLOW
Should you process each image the same way, following the same steps in the same
order, or should you approach every photograph differently?

Yes. In other words, I think it’s helpful to apply a similar sequence of steps with most
images—that way you don’t forget something important, and you develop a certain
efficiency. But remember that every image is different, and you may need to change your
approach to fit a particular photograph’s unique aesthetic demands.

With Lightroom, or other non-destructive editors like Adobe Camera Raw, Aperture, or
Nikon Capture, the sequence of steps isn’t critical. When you make a change, you’re just
writing a set of instructions about how you want the image to look, and those instructions
are only applied when and if you export the photograph. So you can start anywhere, jump
back and forth between different tools, and still end up in the right place.

But I think you’ll get to the right place faster, with less frustration, if you do some things
before others. It seems logical, for example, to make adjustments that affect the whole
image before worrying about small, local areas. I prefer to start with basic cleanup, like
cropping and removing dust spots; move to overall decisions about white balance, tonality
(brightness, contrast) and saturation; then finish with local changes like dodging, burning,
and tweaking individual colours. Here’s my typical workflow in Lightroom:

- Crop
- Clone dust spots
- Set the profile
- Set white balance
- Optional: convert to black and white
- Recover highlight or shadow detail, if necessary, with the Recovery and Fill Light tools
- Make overall tonal adjustments with the Point Curve
- Adjust overall clarity, vibrance, and saturation with the Presence panel
- Tweak individual colours with the HSL panel
- Make local corrections (mostly dodging and burning) with the Adjustment Brush
- If necessary, fine-tune settings in the Detail and Vignettes panels

10 6
 Click anywhere along
TOOLS the curve to add your
own point. Pushing a
In a book this size it’s impossible to describe every nuance and keyboard shortcut in
point up or to the left
Lightroom. For more detail about Lightroom’s Develop Module, I recommend reading David
lightens that area (D),
duChemin’s Vision & Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. For a
while moving it down
comprehensive look at all of Lightroom’s features I’d suggest looking at Martin Evening’s
or to the right darkens
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book, or D65’s Lightroom Workbook by Seth Resnick
it (E - following page).
and Jamie Spritzer.
To remove a point, just
drag it off the left or
This book has a different focus: to help you use the most important tools well, learn to
right edge of the box.
make good decisions about how your photographs should look, and produce a finished
image that captures the emotion and beauty that you envisioned B
The steeper the line
of the curve, the more
CURVES contrast; the shallower
the line of the curve,
C the less contrast.
There is one essential tool that needs some discussion here: Curves. Curves are the
single most powerful tool in the digital darkroom. Now that Lightroom 3 has a real point Moving the black point
curve, I use it for all global tonal adjustments: setting a black point and white point as well to the right, the white
as controlling contrast and brightness. There’s nothing wrong with the Exposure, Blacks, point to the left, or
Brightness, or Contrast sliders, but Curves can duplicate all their functions and more, in both, increases overall
one place, without switching back and forth between tools, and without the risk of one tool contrast by making the
working at cross-purposes with another. whole line steeper
(F - following page).
Curves intimidate or confuse many people, but they’re actually quite simple to use. We’ll
start with some basics: After setting the black
point and white point,
First, in the Tone Curve panel in Lightroom 3, click on the Point for 95 percent of my
A images I make an
Curve icon in the lower right corner (A). The lower-left end of
the curve is the black point: pushing it to the right increases S-curve. This means
blacks (B). Make sure you keep the black point anchored to placing two more
the bottom of the Curves box; it shouldn’t be along the side of points: one about 1/4
the box or floating out in space, as this will change the output of the way up, the
levels and turn blacks to grey. Click on the left-hand triangle other about 3/4 of the
in the histogram to see exactly what parts of the image have way up. Then I move
become pure black. the 1/4 point down
and to the right, and
The upper-right end of the curve sets the white point: pushing the 3/4 point up and
it to the left increases whites (C). Again, make sure you keep to the left. This makes
this point anchored to the top of the Curves box so you don’t the middle part of the
change the output levels. Click on the right-hand triangle in the D curve steeper, but
histogram to see exactly what parts of the image have become pure white. the top and bottom
shallower, increasing
the contrast in the

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 midtones, while decreasing
it in the highlights and
shadows.
This resembles film
curves. Film manufacturers
discovered long ago that
most images look better
with more contrast in the
middle values and less in
the extremes. The same
E idea works for digital
images—except that we
have more control, as we
can tailor the shape of the
curve to fit each individual
F photograph.
You can adjust contrast
with the shape of the curve:
a shallow S-curve adds
a little contrast (G), while
a sharp S-curve adds a
lot of contrast (H). If you
move both the 1/4 point
and the 3/4 point about the
same distance from the
centre line, you’ll increase
contrast while keeping
the overall brightness the
same. To lighten the image
while also adding contrast,
use a lightening S-curve:
anchor the 1/4 point near its
original location, but push
the 3/4 point up and to the
left (I). To darken the image
while also adding contrast,
use a darkening S-curve:
anchor the 3/4 point near its
G original location, but pull the
1/4 point down and to the
right (J).
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With just four points on a
curve—the black point, the
white point, a point about
1/4 of the way up, and a
point about 3/4 of the way
up—you can control how
much of the image is pure
black, how much is pure
white, the overall contrast,
and the overall brightness.
The most important
image adjustments can H
be accomplished with this
one tool, and with a little
practice, using Curves
becomes easy
and intuitive. I
Some books advocate
placing many points
on a curve to lighten or
darken specific areas of
the image. I think these
local adjustments are
better suited to dodging
and burning tools like
Lightroom’s Adjustment
Brush, and a simple
S-curve is preferable for
controlling the overall
tonality.
If you’re using Lightroom
2, you can set a black
point with the Blacks
slider, a white point with
the Exposure slider (it’s
not exactly the same,
but close), and make an
S-curve by moving the
Lights and Darks sliders J
underneath the Parametric
Curve.
 DEFAULT SETTINGS A

The default settings in Lightroom and Camera Raw include

+50 Brightness, +25 Contrast, and what Adobe calls a
“Medium Contrast” point curve (other Raw processors also
usually add contrast and brightness by default). The Medium
Contrast point curve makes a darkening S-curve, which, as
we’ve already seen, increases contrast and darkens the
image (A).

The default Brightness and Contrast settings also add curves.

These may not show up in the Tone Curves panel, but they
affect the image just as a curve would. Setting the Brightness
at +50 is like taking a point in the middle of the curve and
pushing it up and to the left (B). This lightens the midtones and
boosts contrast in the darker areas, but reduces contrast in the
mid-to-upper ranges of the image—something I’d rather avoid.
Putting Contrast at +25 makes an S-curve (C)—not a bad
thing, but something that’s easily duplicated, with finer control,
by using the Point Curve .

Aside from the specific effects of these default settings, I’d

rather not use multiple curves and risk one counteracting
another with potentially adverse effects on the image. I need
just one curve to do everything necessary for most images, B
so I begin processing each photograph with both Brightness
and Contrast set to zero, and the Point Curve set to Linear.
For good measure, I set Blacks at zero too, since this slider
duplicates the black point in the curve.

Here are three different versions of a photograph made along

the Merced River west of Yosemite National Park. The first
shows the image with Lightroom’s default settings (D); the
second, my typical starting point, with Blacks, Brightness, and
Contrast at zero and the Point Curve set to Linear (E - following
page); the third, the photograph after adding my own curve C
(F - following page).

With this image, the default settings—especially the Brightness

at +50—create washed-out colours. Keeping everything
“zeroed” makes a better starting point from which to add my D
own S-curve and show the colour and contrast the image
needs.

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 E F

10
 FINDING DIRECTION
Ultimately it doesn’t matter whether you prefer using Curves or some other tool, what
default settings you start with, or even what software you use. The goal is to make the
image communicate something, and there are many ways to accomplish that. Knowing
what you want to say is more important than using a particular procedure.
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In the following examples you’ll see the unprocessed Raw file first, and the finished
image only at the end of that section. Rather than seeing my interpretation for that
photograph initially, you’ll learn more if you look at the flat, lifeless original, evaluate its
potential, and find a direction. How would you process it? Would you make it lighter,
darker, add contrast? What feeling would you try to convey, and what tools would allow
you to do that? Trying to answer these questions at the beginning will increase your
understanding of the whole process.
 ONE PAINTED HILLS IN
THE TEMBLOR RANGE,CALIFORNIA

EVALUATION
This was the most incredible display of flowers I had ever seen. Yellow hillside daisies,
orange San Joaquin blazing stars, and purple phacelia grew in pure stands, often an acre
or more in size. It looked like someone had dumped buckets of paint over the hills. I only
had one afternoon and morning to photograph this amazing place, but as I was reluctantly
walking back to my car, headed to an unbreakable commitment, I found this composition
and made my favourite photographs of the trip.

Of course, this image may not look like much here. You’re seeing the unprocessed Raw file
with my default settings in Lightroom, including Contrast and Brightness set at 0, and the
Tone Curve straight (A). With no added contrast the image looks rather
flat. I’ve become used to evaluating photographs with these settings,
and I can see the possibilities in sometimes dull-looking files. Before we
go any further, look at this image and see if you can find its potential.
How would you process it? More importantly, what kind of feeling would
you try to convey, and what tools would you use to do that?

For me, I want to show the incredible colours, and convey something
about the wonder and awe that I felt in this place. Highlighting these
colours will require increasing the contrast and saturation, but not
beyond believability. I want viewers to marvel at the abundance of
flowers, not conduct an internal debate about the photograph’s realism.

PHOTOSHOP OR LIGHTROOM?
Before going any further I need to decide whether this image will
require Photoshop, or whether I can do everything in Lightroom.
Lightroom has become a powerful tool (as have other Raw processors
like Adobe Camera Raw, Aperture, and Nikon Capture), more than
capable of handling everything that most images need. But I still use
Photoshop for a few things, like:

- Perspective cropping - Combining two or more images

- Serious retouching (composites, expanding contrast range,
A
- Complex selections expanding depth of field, panoramas)

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 The only item on the list that might apply to this image is “serious retouching.” When
composing this photograph I left a little extra room at the bottom and top. I knew I didn’t
want the sky in the frame—it was too bright and distracting—but cropping it out in the
camera might also have sliced off some of the yellow flowers near the top. Keeping that
extra space left me the option of cloning out the sky if necessary. So before deciding
whether to use Photoshop I need to see if the top can be trimmed without losing anything
vital.
(C): it feels cool and aloof, and this photograph needs to be warm and happy. Pushing the
slider to the right, to 5505K, certainly makes the image warmer, but to my eye, too warm,
turning the greens and purples muddy (D). Part of this photograph’s power comes from its
colour contrast; the juxtaposition of the cool greens and purples against the warm yellows
and oranges creates a visual vibration. If the greens and purples become yellowish, then
everything is warm, and there’s no contrast. So I decide to leave the white balance at
5000K (E).

With the Crop Overlay tool (press the R key) in

Lightroom I bring down the top edge just enough to
eliminate the sky, and pull up the bottom edge to get
rid of the dirt patch in the lower-left corner, then hit
Enter to see the result (B). Much better—no more
distractions along the edges, and the yellow patch
near the top is still intact. I won’t need Photoshop
after all.

Having made that decision, I can now use my

typical Lightroom workflow that I outlined on page 6.
Since I’ve already cropped, the next step is cloning
dust spots, a routine matter with Lightroom’s Spot
Removal tool (I discuss this tool in more depth with
Example 4, page 26). B

PROFILE & WHITE BALANCE
Now it’s time to look at the big picture. Before increasing contrast and saturation I first
need to choose a profile in the Camera Calibration panel. In this case I decide to keep my
standard profile for this camera (Canon 1Ds Mark II), ACR 4.4. The other choices either
create undesirable colour shifts or make little difference. (I discuss profiles in more detail
with the fourth example, on pages 26 and 27.)
Next, I evaluate the white balance. This is a vital aesthetic decision; a small change can
make a profound difference in the look and feeling of an image.
To make my field workflow easier I usually leave the camera set to automatic white
balance. But this means that I always need to look at the white balance later, in software.
Here the camera chose 5000K. Just looking at this number tells me that the white balance
is probably close, as there’s a small patch of sun in the photo, and any image with sunlight,
or even sunset colours, should usually be around 5000K to 5500K—just like slide film.
But I’m still going to move the Temp slider in Lightroom to see if a different white balance
might look better. In this case pushing that slider left to 4474K makes the image too blue
C D E
POINT CURVE
Next comes the overall tonality. Before getting to the Point Curve I’ll look at the Recovery
and Fill Light tools. These actually do things that the Point Curve can’t, so it’s worth checking
to see if they might help. But in this case neither tool is necessary; the histogram shows no
clipping, and viewing the image itself I find no problems with highlight or shadow detail.
So on to the curve. As I explained earlier, I start with Brightness, Contrast, and Blacks at
0, and the Point Curve set to Linear. Then I click on the Point Curve icon on the lower right
corner of the Tone Curve panel. The first decision is about black and white points. Since
there’s nothing pushed up against either end of the histogram—nothing already pure white
or black—I have room to move the black and white points without washing out highlights or
blackening shadows.
But I don’t want to go too far. Looking at this image, there’s nothing that I would perceive
as black or white in real life. And while I want more contrast, a flower photograph shouldn’t
feel harsh.

13
 So I slide the black point (the lower-left end of the curve) to the right, making sure to keep it
along the bottom edge of the box, and push it far enough to give the shadows some depth,
but not enough to make them pure black.
For this image, a similar procedure works for the white point—sliding it to the left, but not
too much, being sure to keep the point along the top edge of the box to avoid changing the
output levels.
Here’s the resulting image, curve, and histogram (F). The steeper the line of the curve,
the more contrast. Moving the end points has made the whole line steeper, increasing
contrast.
by only moving the black and white points; there’s good contrast, but the shadows are
more open. This fits the mood of the image better (H).
When adjusting contrast it can be difficult to find the right balance. You want enough to
give the image snap and punch, but not so much that it starts to look harsh or garish. For
comparison, here are two more versions, the first with a gentler S-curve and less contrast
(I), the second with a sharper S-curve and more contrast (J). To me the middle version (H)
is about right, but these things are always subjective.

The image already look livelier, but it’s not there yet. I press J to show highlight and
shadow clipping, and push both the black and white points as far as they can go without
actually losing detail at either end. This creates more contrast, but even though there’s
nothing pure white or black, the image seems rather harsh, and the brightest yellows, just
left of centre, look hot (G).

F G

H I J

So I’ll try another approach. Instead of moving the black and white points closer together,
I’ll make an S-curve.
With this photograph I make a lightening S-curve—that is, I move the 1/4 point only slightly
down and to the right, but push the 3/4 point up and to the left quite a bit, so the whole
middle part of the curve is shifted upward. This makes the midtones lighter overall as well
as increasing the contrast. The result is brighter and livelier than what could be achieved
CLARITY & SATURATION
There’s one more control for tweaking the overall contrast: Clarity. This tool boosts the
midtone contrast, and can add a lot of snap to a photograph. But I use it sparingly, as it can
make an image look too crispy. This is a flower photograph—it should feel a bit soft. But I
add a little Clarity, going from my default starting point of +10 to +22.

14
 You might have noticed that the S-curve increased saturation as well as contrast. That’s
one reason why I usually adjust tonality—brightness and contrast—before saturation. In
this case I think the overall saturation now looks about right, so I leave the Saturation and
Vibrance sliders at 0. As a comparison, here are three versions with the Saturation at 0 (K),
-15 (L), and +15 (M).
DODGING & BURNING
The image is nearing completion. The main task left is dodging and burning. At this point
I ask myself two questions. First, do any bright spots draw too much attention? Second,
does something dark need to pull the eyes more?

To answer the first question, the sun was striking a spot just left of centre. This bright
triangle bleeds off the left side of the photograph, pulling the eyes out of the frame.

I click on the Adjustment Brush tool and move the Exposure slider to the left. The amount
doesn’t matter, as it can be tweaked later, but I’ll start with -0.51—about half a stop. Using a
fairly large, soft-edged brush (Size 7.0, Feather 100, Flow 100, Auto Mask off, Density 100)
I paint over the triangle. The result is a little too dark, so I push the Exposure slider back up
to -0.34 (O).

To answer the second question, the other two yellow patches near the top and bottom
didn’t receive any sunlight, and deserve to draw a little more attention. So with the
Adjustment Brush still activated I click on New, push the Exposure slider to the right, and
paint over the bottom yellow patch (P), then repeat the procedure with the top patch (Q).

K L M

While the overall saturation looks good,

I’d like to make the oranges and purples a
little stronger. In the HSL panel I push the
Orange saturation slider up to +24, and N
the Purple slider up to +22. The change
is slight, but enough to help those colours
hold up against the bright yellows (N).

The last two adjustments—a slight increase

in Clarity, plus boosting the orange and
purple saturation—make only subtle
differences. But the cumulative effects of
such small changes can add to the beauty
of the final print.

O P Q

15
 V

The three yellow focal points are now in preserved by keeping the Amount high and
better balance, and draw the eyes nicely the Radius low. With my Canon 1Ds Mark T
through the photograph from bottom to II, I usually start
top (R). with an Amount
of 60 and the
lowest Radius
R possible, 0.5 (T).

The Detail and Masking sliders control

what parts of the image get sharpened. The
idea is to sharpen edges, but not sharpen
smooth areas like sky or water, where the
sharpening would only emphasize noise.
Unfortunately using either of these controls
can leave textured areas like rocks or tree
bark unsharpened and soft, so I usually
leave these tools off—that is, I keep Detail
at 100 and Masking a 0. This sharpens
everything evenly.

(Note: sharpening settings can vary greatly

with different camera models. Also, I find
FINAL STEPS that images processed with the new engine
in Lightroom 3 need more sharpening than
The image is essentially done. I don’t in Lightroom 2.)
typically add much vignetting—if there are
bright spots that draw the eyes out of the With this image I’ll keep my standard
frame, I usually use the Adjustment Brush settings and adjust them later when I know
to darken those specific areas rather than the size and resolution of the final print.
use an overall vignette. Since I already did
that with the triangle Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the
on the left edge, I original Raw file and the final image (U)
keep the vignetting (V). Quite a difference! The hardest part
at my standard of processing this photograph was simply
settings (S). finding the right balance—adding enough
contrast and saturation to bring it to life and
There is little noise capture the wonder of this place, without
(this was captured going too far and making the image look
at 100 ISO) so I harsh, fake, or garish.
S
leave Lightroom’s noise reduction
tools at their default settings. Of course some people might think
I’ve gone too far, or not far enough.
Every digital image needs sharpening. Photography is always subjective. But
The fine detail in landscape images is best to me this captures what I saw and felt.
U
16
 The histogram is nicely balanced, with nothing pushed up against either edge, showing
that there’s detail in the highlights and shadows. Certainly the photograph will need more
contrast, but not too much. The feeling should be uplifting rather than dramatic. Also, with
a reflection like this it helps to either darken the sky or lighten the water to bring them into
better balance and emphasize the symmetry.

CROPPING & CLONING

The horizon looks straight, but the main centres of interest—clouds, sunlit peaks, and their
reflections—reside in the middle of the frame, so there might be excess space on the sides
that could be cropped.

With the Crop Overlay tool I bring in both the left and right sides and simply play around
with those edges until I’m satisfied. I don’t want to crop too tightly, as the image needs to
feel expansive (B).

A few dust spots need to be removed; the Spot Removal tool in Heal mode takes care of
these quickly. No other retouching seems necessary.

TWO SUNRISE,
GREENSTONE L AKE, SIERR A NE VADA B

EVALUATION
Again, this first image shows the rather flat-looking, unprocessed
Raw file (A). Before reading further, take a moment to think about the
direction you would take. How would you process this image? What
feeling would you try to convey?

This is one of my favourite sunrise spots in the Sierra Nevada high

country. On this morning a raft of speckled clouds drifted in, a great
addition to the scene. Every time I looked up from my camera I was
surprised by just how gorgeous the view was. I want the finished image
to convey some of the serene majesty and beauty I saw that morning.

17
 PROFILE & WHITE BALANCE DARKENING THE SKY
In the Camera Calibration panel I look at alternatives to my standard ACR 4.4 profile. All You have to be willing to alter your workflow when the image calls for it. Usually my next
the other choices—Adobe Standard, for example (C)— make the sky too blue or cyan; I like step is to adjust the overall tonality with the Point Curve, but here I’d like to darken the sky
the slight magenta tint that ACR 4.4 gives the image, so I leave it at that. and bring it into better balance with the water before increasing the global contrast.

The Adjustment Brush seems better suited to following the crooked contours of the
ridgeline than the Graduated Filter tool. I set the Exposure to -0.51 as a starting point,
then use a big, soft-edged brush (Size 18.1, Feather 100, Flow 100, Density 100) and paint
over most of the sky. As I get near the ridgeline I use the left bracket key ([) to make the
brush smaller. I keep Auto Mask off, as it sometimes creates halos around edges like this
ridgeline. By letting part of the brush spill over onto the ridge I can hide the transition and
avoid a tell-tale halo in the sky.

The Exposure setting of -0.51 is a bit too strong; I don’t want the sky to look darker than
its reflection in the water, something you’d never see in real life, so I back the Exposure
C off to -0.34. Also, I push the Contrast slider up to +21 to bring out more definition in the
clouds (E).

The camera’s automatic white balance chose 7500K, which seems like a high number for
a sunrise photograph. Usually images with sunlight, including sunrises and sunsets, look
best around at 5000 to 5500K, equivalent to slide film. But to my eye 7500K looks about
right. I try pushing the Temp slider to the left, but going too far immediately makes the
image seem too cold. I settle on a slight move, to 7238K (D).

18
 POINT
Next, as usual, I make an S-curve. A sharp bend makes this image look too contrasty and
CURVE harsh (H), so I end up with a more gentle curve. It’s a slight lightening S-curve, bringing
the midtones up a little (I).
Now that the sky and
water are in better
balance, it’s time to adjust
the overall tonality. First
I press J to activate the
clipping triangles in the
histogram, then push the
lower-left end of the Point F
Curve (the black point) to
the right, keeping it along
the bottom of the box,
until some small areas
G
underneath the trees go
black (F). Even though
these spots are small, the
image already feels too
heavy, so I pull the black
point back to the left,
leaving the shadows more
open (G).

Next, I push the white

point (the upper-right
end of the curve) to
the left. A slight move
I
activates the clipping
warning in the brightest
snow patch, indicating
washed-out highlights.
This is something I usually
avoid—I don’t want blank
highlight areas with no
detail, as they usually look
splotchy and unnatural. So
I leave the white point in
When adjusting contrast or saturation, it’s often helpful to deliberately go too far, then back
its original position.
H off. Think of it as a pendulum. Increase the contrast or saturation until it’s obviously too
much, then decrease it until it’s obviously too little. Keep repeating this process, but swing
a little less at each pass, until you find a happy medium. If in doubt, think about the feeling
you want to convey.

19
 CLARITY & SATURATION
Next, I push the Clarity slider up from my default setting of +10 to +18—a subtle change,
but too much makes the photograph look hard and heavy.

The gentle S-curve didn’t increase the saturation very much, so I push the Vibrance and
Saturation sliders to the right. Saturation boosts already-saturated colours while leaving
less-saturated colours almost untouched. Vibrance boosts those less-saturated colours
more. In this image Vibrance makes the blues too intense. I’m really more interested in
bringing out the warm tones. Since these are already somewhat saturated, the Saturation
slider does this well. So I end up with +7 Vibrance and +22 Saturation (J). The image is K L
really coming to life now.

THE FINAL IMAGE

J
Here’s a before-and-after comparison (M) (N - following page). Does the final image
succeed in capturing the feeling I was after? I think so, but it always helps to let a
photograph sit for a week or two, then look at it again with fresh eyes. The beauty of
Lightroom’s non-destructive editing is that it’s easy to go back and change any aspect of
the image at any time.

DODGING & BURNING

Although I already used the Adjustment Brush to darken the sky, it’s worth looking at the
image again to see if there are other areas that need lightening or darkening. The sunlit
snow patches below the right-hand peak jump out at me—they’re a bit hot, and draw
attention away from more interesting things. So I click on the Adjustment Brush tool, set
the Exposure to -0.51, and choose a small, soft-edged brush. This time I select the Auto
Mask check box to confine my brush strokes to the white snow. This works perfectly, but
the Exposure setting is too much, so I back it off to -0.34 (K).

Anything else? Yes, there are some bright areas along the edges that I’d like to darken to M
help hold the viewer’s eyes in the frame (L).

20
 N
21
 THREE VERNAL FALL IN SUMMER,
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

EVALUATION
What potential does this image have? Take a moment to think about how you might
process it, and what you would try to convey (A).

In May, Vernal Fall is a thundering, roaring cataract, and you would get soaked by spray
if you were standing at this spot. But when I made this photograph in late July, the flow
had dwindled and the waterfall was lapping quietly against the rocks. The blurred motion
created by the slow shutter speed seemed to fit this calm mood, creating a contrast in
textures between the hard rock and the soft, silky water. To me the finished photograph
needs to convey that quiet feeling, and emphasize the ethereal look of the waterfall.
A
The histogram is narrow and pushed to the left, indicating a low-contrast, underexposed
image. I’ll need to lighten it and increase the contrast.

But the big question is whether to leave this in colour or change it to black and white.
Sometimes I know before I press the shutter that I want the final photograph to be in
black and white; other times I’m certain I’ll leave it in colour. But this is one of those
images that could work either way. There are some interesting subtle hues, but the
photograph’s effectiveness depends less on colour than on the contrast between the
light water and darker surrounding rocks. For now I’ll defer that decision and start with
some basic steps.

B
CROPPING
& CLONING
Although the overall framing looks
fine, I decide that I could trim the
top and left sides. There’s just a
little too much space at the top,
and I want the viewer’s attention
focused on the more interesting
bottom part of the frame (B).
Cloning is a routine matter of
cleaning up a few dust spots.

16
42 22
 PROFILE & WHITE BALANCE My other Black & White Presets mimic the effect of coloured filters with black-and-white
film: the “Red Filter” Preset lightens reds while darkening greens and blues, the “Blue
My standard ACR 4.4 profile looks fine, and this choice Filter” Preset lightens blues while darkening oranges and yellows, and so on. I usually try
won’t matter as much if I convert the image to black and them all. In this case the warmer filters lighten the tan-coloured rocks, making them too
white, so I stick with that. prominent. Here’s the image with the yellow (E) and red (F) “filters” for comparison. I settle
on the “Straight” mix as a starting point.
Even if I do convert this to black and white, the white
balance can affect how the colours convert to shades But it’s only a starting point. In the B&W panel I push the Red and Orange sliders to the
C left to darken the tan-coloured rocks. I want the cliff to recede visually so that the waterfall
of grey. I’d like to start with a fairly neutral colour
temperature. The camera chose 6600K, which looks stands out cleanly against a dark background (G).
a bit cool. I select the Eyedropper tool and click on the
white water, but this changes the Tint slider from +15 to -3
and makes the image too green. So I press Command-Z
(Control-Z with Windows) to undo, then simply push the
Temp slider to the right, and settle on 7532K (C).

CONVERTING
TO BLACK & WHITE
I can’t put off the decision any longer. The black and white conversion can have a dramatic F G
effect on contrast, so it’s better to do this before adjusting the curve.

Underneath the Tone Curve is the HSL/Color/B&W panel. I’ve created several Presets for
the Black & White mix. I start with one I call “Straight,” which leaves all the sliders for the
Black & White mix at zero. This looks pretty good, and convinces me that the photograph
should be in black and white (D).

POINT CURVE
I move the black point far enough to make the deepest shadows dark grey, but not pure
D E
black. I’m mindful of the soft look and feeling that I’m after, and real blacks will make
the image feel too hard. I slide the white point to the left, but not too far—I’m planning to
selectively lighten the waterfall further with the Adjustment Brush, so I need to leave some
head room (H - following page).

Next I add a slight S-curve to lighten the image and further increase the contrast. The
result leaves nothing pure white or pure black, but gives the image a rich set of charcoal
greys to contrast with the nearly-white water, a look that seems appropriate for this
photograph (I - following page).

23
 H I

Now it’s time to look for distractions. Is there anything that’s too bright, that pulls my
attention away from the waterfall? Yes—the whole upper-left corner, and a small,
underwater rock at the bottom centre of the frame. In the Adjustment Brush panel, I click
on New to add a pin, and, using a small brush, darken the underwater rock with the
Exposure set to -0.33. Next, I click on New again, and with a larger brush paint over the
upper left part of the image. I prefer a subtle effect here, so I nudge the Exposure value to
-0.17 (L - following page).

CLARITY K

After some experimenting I decide to set the Clarity at 0; with this image too much Clarity
counteracts the soft, ethereal feeling that I’m after.

DODGING & BURNING

As I mentioned, I’d like to selectively lighten the waterfall so that it stands out further
against the darker surrounding rocks. After clicking on the Adjustment Brush tool I set the
Exposure slider to +0.33, choose a medium-sized, soft-edged brush (Size 8.0, Feather
100, Flow 100, Density 100), and select the Auto Mask check box.

I keep the centre of the brush over the water so that the Auto Mask confines the brush
strokes to the light areas. The result was just what I was after—the waterfall really glows
(J). But now it feels like my eyes are being drawn out of the top of the frame. So I click on
Erase, make the brush size much bigger (to get a softer edge), and erase away the effect
from the top of the waterfall (K).

24
 L

TONING
There’s one more detail: I’d like to add a slight warm tone to the image.

In the Split Toning panel I set both Highlights and Shadows to the same values: Hue 45,
Saturation 3 (M). I’m not after a real split-tone effect here, just an overall warm tint.

M N

THE FINAL IMAGE

I can’t say that I envisioned the final result from the
start. In this case I had to dive in and experiment to
find the right path, but the final version has the quiet
luminosity I was seeking (N) (O).

O
25

FOUR REDBUD REFLEC TION
ALONG THE MERCED RIVER, C ALIFORNIA
EVALUATION
Once again, take a look at the flat, unprocessed Raw file and think
about the direction you might take. How would you process it? What
feeling would you try to convey? (A)
This is the only time I’ve seen a magenta reflection in nature. The
colour comes from a pink-flowered redbud bush sitting in the sun on
the opposite bank of the river. I used a slow shutter speed, and there’s
actually nothing sharp in the photograph—the whole image consists of
blurred water. To me the photograph needs to feel soft, yet brilliant. I
think of the colour in the middle of the frame as a jewel set in the water.
26
The histogram is fairly narrow, so the contrast will need to be increased. There’s nothing
in the image that should be black, but some areas could be white, or close to white. I
definitely want vibrant colours.
CROPPING & CLONING
The photograph was framed carefully, and I don’t see anything that needs to be cropped,
but there are lots of dust spots. Retouching images like this has made me more diligent
about cleaning my sensor!
I zoom in to 1:1, select the Spot Removal tool, and set it to Heal. Starting at the upper-
left corner, I work my way systematically through the image using the Page Down key.
The trick to effective retouching, whether using the Spot Removal tool in Lightroom and
Camera Raw, or the Clone Stamp or Healing Brush tools in Photoshop, is to align your
clone-from and clone-to spots with the texture of image.
Here’s an example: I clicked on a dust spot, and Lightroom automatically chose to heal
from an area above and to the right. There’s an obvious circle caused by the mismatch
between the tones and colours of the clone-from and clone-to locations (B). By moving the
clone-from circle to the left, so that it lines up with the horizontal stripes in the water, the
retouching becomes seamless and unnoticeable (C).
B C
PROFILE
The profiles in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw can subtly or dramatically change the
colours of an image. Some profiles create more saturated colours, some less, and the
overall colour temperature or individual hues can be altered, so I want select a profile
before making other decisions, especially about white balance and saturation. There is not
 necessarily a “correct” profile for WHITE BALANCE
any camera or any image. Rather,
each profile can be thought of as I try clicking on the white water with the Eyedropper tool to see if this will improve the colour
a different colour flavour, and you balance. This shifts the colour temperature to 7650K, which looks too warm (G). Again, I
can choose the flavour you like want to retain the warm-cool colour contrast. When the colour temperature gets too yellow
best for a particular photograph. some of the blue notes in the water become muddy, and the image loses its vibrance. So
after a bit more experimenting I decide to leave the white balance “As Shot,” at 6300K.
In the Camera Calibration panel
of Lightroom and Camera Raw
you’ll find a pull-down menu with
different profiles. For my camera D
(Canon 1Ds Mark II), and most
Canons, Lightroom and Camera
Raw come with eight choices.
Other camera brands will have
different profiles, although with
some you may find no choices G
at all. You can also create your
own profiles—I use the X-Rite
ColorChecker Passport to make
custom profiles for special lighting
conditions.

My default profile, the one that

usually gives me the most
natural, realistic colours with my
camera, is ACR 4.4 (D). But I
always check to see if another
profile might be better suited to a
particular image.
With this photograph the
differences are mostly subtle.
The “Camera Landscape” profile,
however, dramatically increases
the saturation, and shifts some
of the colours (E). As usual, this
profile exaggerates the colours
too much for my taste. But the
“Camera Standard” profile adds
more contrast and definition to
the image compared to ACR 4.4,
without exaggerating the colours,
so I choose that (F).
E
POINT CURVE
As I said at the beginning of this section, there’s nothing that should be black in this
photograph. Parts of the water could be close to white, but I don’t want blank, washed-
out areas.
I start by pressing J to see highlight and shadow clipping. Next I slide the upper-right end
of the Point Curve to the left to set the white point, moving it until I start to see clipping, then
backing off slightly. Then I slide the lower-left end of the curve to the right to set the black
point, moving it just far enough to give the shadows some weight (H - following page).
Then I make a sharp lightening S-curve. This looks better, but the image still seems a bit
dark and heavy (I - following page). I push the 3/4 point even more to the left, making the
midtone line of the curve almost vertical, but that clips, or washes out, some highlights
(J - following page). So I end up adding another point to the curve near the top to bring
F
detail back into the whites. This is a radical curve, but it creates the luminosity I’m looking
for (K - following page).

27
 H I L

SATURATION
The sharp S-curve has boosted the contrast, and with it the saturation, so I don’t think any
more is necessary. I might even consider taking some out, but to me this looks about right.

DODGING & BURNING

Some whites still seem too bright and lacking in texture. I select the Adjustment Brush tool
and start with the Exposure set to -0.51. With a moderately large, soft-edged brush I paint
over the brightest patches of white, then readjust the Exposure to -0.43 (M).

J K

RECOVERY
Even though nothing is technically washed out, some areas lack definition. So I push the
Recovery slider to the right until I see more texture in the whites (L).

28
 O

MORE DUST REMOVAL

The radical curve has brought out some dust spots that weren’t visible before. This often
happens—increasing contrast makes dust spots more apparent. For this reason it might
THE
make more sense to leave cloning until the end of the workflow, but I prefer to do it early FINAL IMAGE
because I find it annoying and distracting to see those dust spots while trying to make the
image look beautiful. If more dust spots become apparent later, I just make another pass Again, this is a big change from the original, unprocessed Raw file (N). But to me the final
with the Spot Removal tool to clean those up—which I do here. image conveys that bright, jewel-like appearance I was seeking (O).

29
 shutter that I wanted the final image to be in black and white. I visualized a dramatic
rendition with strong contrast, reminiscent of some of Ansel Adams’ photographs made
from this very spot.

The histogram shows plenty of room on the left edge, but a small spike on the right,
indicating overexposed highlights. Pressing the J key shows clipping in the bright, sunlit
snow on top of Cathedral Rocks. These areas are small, so I should be able to rescue
them with the Recovery tool.

I envision a full range of tones in the final image, with small areas of black and white, and
every shade of grey in between. The key word in that previous sentence is small; only tiny
areas of pure black and white are necessary to create impact. Ansel Adams is known for his
high-contrast prints, but his photographs usually show only tiny areas of pure black or white,
and many images have no real blacks or whites at all. His prints get their richness from the
variety and subtlety of greys, rather than heavy-handed masses of black and white.

RECOVERY
Before doing anything else I need to make sure that I can bring back detail in those
washed-out highlights. If not, there’s no point in proceeding further. Pushing the Recovery
slider up to 20 easily pulls in the highlight detail (B).

FIVE YOSEMITE VALLE Y

AF TER A SNOWSTORM

EVALUATION
This image cries out for a strong interpretation. What would you do with
it? What mood would you try to convey? (A)

I’ve spent many hours at Tunnel View in Yosemite waiting for storms
to clear. Usually I go home with nothing except memories of shivering,
stamping my feet, and getting wet. But sometimes perseverance is B
rewarded, as on this February afternoon when the sun broke through
and illuminated Cathedral Rocks.

Unlike the photograph of Vernal Fall, I knew before I pressed the

30
 CROPPING & CLONING
Next, I consider cropping the image. There’s a small sunlit patch of snow along the right
edge near the top, something that could pull viewer’s attention out of the frame, but
trimming the right edge seems to truncate the rounded line on top of the Leaning Tower
(the tall, dark cliff near the right edge). So I leave that edge alone and trust that I can
darken that snow patch later with the Adjustment Brush if necessary.

A dark triangle of rock intrudes into the left edge of the frame, another potential distraction,
but cropping that out doesn’t seem to work either. This triangle acts as a visual bumper,
preventing the viewer’s eyes from bleeding off the left side of the image. In the end I decide
not to crop anything. After removing a few dust spots I’m ready for the next step.
E
PROFILE & WHITE BALANCE
Even though I’m planning to convert this image to black and white, profiles can alter the
contrast, and the underlying colour balance can affect the black and white conversion. But
POINT CURVE & CLARITY
after some experimentation I decide to stick with the ACR 4.4 profile, and the “As Shot”
After pressing the J key to show highlight and shadow clipping, I move the black point far
white balance, 5500K.
enough to the right to make some tiny areas near Bridalveil Fall pure black (F). I leave the
white point where it is—there’s no reason to throw away the highlight detail that I recovered.
CONVERTING TO BLACK & WHITE
Moving the black point has darkened the image too much overall, so I’ll need a to create
Before adjusting the Point Curve I need to convert the image to black and white, as this a curve that lightens the mid-to-upper tones, while leaving the black and white points
translation has a big effect on the overall contrast. I try each of my Presets that adjust the unchanged. That means making a steep, straight line from the black point upward, then
Black & White Mix to imitate the effects of coloured filters with black and white film. With bending the top of the curve over to meet the white point (G - following page).
this image there’s a neat progression, with the blue “filter” providing the least contrast (C),
green a little more, yellow producing moderate contrast (D), orange a bit more than that, The image now has small areas of black, tiny spots of white, and a balanced range of
and finally red creating the most contrast. Since I envision a dramatic, high-contrast final greys in between. There’s plenty of contrast, so I only nudge the Clarity up to +22.
image, I go with the red “filter” mix (E).

C D F

31
 (J) Lightening and adding contrast to Bridalveil Fall and the surrounding area
(K) Darkening and adding contrast to the sky and sunlit snow
(L) Lightening Half Dome
(M) Darkening some bright spots along the edges

DODGING & BURNING J K

While the overall contrast now looks about right, this image needs extensive dodging and
burning to direct the viewer’s attention. The snow-covered trees along the bottom of the
frame are too bright. Bridalveil Fall is too dark—it needs to draw the eyes more. The sky
needs to be burned down to keep the viewer’s attention on more interesting things below. I
use six different pins with the Adjustment Brush, as the illustrations show:

(H) Darkening and adding contrast to the trees along the bottom
(I) Bringing down the lower edge even further

H I

L M

32
 The cumulative effect is dramatic (N). In particular, I’ve created the illusion of a faint
beam of sunlight striking Bridalveil Fall. Nature doesn’t always provide perfect lighting, so
sometimes you have to help it along!

I couldn’t get away with this much dodging and burning in colour. With colour there’s an
expectation of realism, but converting to black and white takes the image further from
reality, so we’re willing to accept tonalities we wouldn’t see in real life. To demonstrate
this, I’ve clicked on the HSL panel to change this image back to colour (O). Now the area
around Bridalveil Fall looks fake—like someone did some heavy-handed dodging. In black
and white this region seems believable.

N O

FINAL TOUCHES
As with the image of Vernal Fall, I use the Split Toning panel R
P
to add a slight warm tint to the image (P).

Is there anything else that needs to be fixed? Yes—the Q

increased contrast has emphasized some small bright areas
in the sky along the right and left edges. These can easily be
trimmed, which I do with the Crop Overlay tool.

(Q) (R) This is certainly a large departure from the original Raw file, but to me the finished
photograph captures the dramatic potential of this scene. Is it realistic? Probably not. Does
it convey my “emotional and aesthetic ideas ... at the time of making the exposure?” Yes.

33
CONCLUSION
Learning to express your vision with software requires trial,
error, and experience. But there is one small shortcut. While
digital tools keep changing, the aesthetics of photography
remain the same. One of the best ways to improve your digital
darkroom skills is to simply look at good prints. Galleries and
museums are full of photographs made by masters of the
craft, and they have a lot to teach us.

When viewing prints, look at the contrast. How much of the

photograph is pure white? How much pure black? Is the
print dramatic or understated? Notice the colour balance
and saturation. With black-and-white images, check for slight
colour tints.

Ansel Adams, one of the greatest landscape printmakers,

said “The difference between a very good print and a fine
print is quite subtle and difficult, if not impossible, to describe
in words. There is a feeling of satisfaction in the presence
of a fine print—and uneasiness with a print that falls short of
optimum quality.”

Learning software tools is relatively easy. Mastering the art

and craft of the digital darkroom is another matter. Trust your
instincts. Find balance. Let your original inspiration guide you.

34
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Frye is a professional photographer
specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the
author and photographer of The Photographer’s
Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, and
Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps
of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He
is also featured in the book Landscape: The
World’s Top Photographers. He has written
numerous magazine articles on the art and
technique of photography, and his images have
been published in over thirty countries around
the world, including the magazines National
Wildlife, Outdoor Photographer, American Photo,
Sunset, Texas Highways, Britain’s Professional
Photographer, and Russia’s Foto & Video.
Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite
National Park since 1983, currently residing just
outside the park in Mariposa, California.

Michael is passionate about sharing his

knowledge of photography and helping others
express their photographic vision. Visit www.
michaelfrye.com for free photo tips, tutorials,
and photo critiques.
68
 LIGHT & LAND
$5
LANDSCAPES IN THE DIGITAL DARKROOM
MICHAEL FRYE

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*Gear Is Good. Vision is Better. But hey, who are we kidding, y’all are still going to lust after the latest lens, so at only $5 each these books
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70