Review Digital Camera World 06-04-2013

Digital Camera World

How to process raw images the right way in Photoshop Elements Jun 3rd 2013, 23:01 In our latest Raw Tuesday tutorial on using raw format, we look specifically at Photoshop Elements and show you how to process raw images in Elements’ Adobe Camera Raw editor. Many photographers prefer to shoot in JPEG format so that they don't have to spend time processing raw images to get better colours and tones within Photoshop Elements' standard editor. Because JPEG photos are already processed in the camera, they instantly take on the colours produced by the camera's picture style and white balance settings. However, a lot of the colour and tonal information is thrown away when you shoot in JPEG, so you can end up adding noise or blocky compression artefacts to the shot if you do need to edit it later. You can retain the colour and tonal information that JPEGs discard by switching the file format on your camera to raw, and processing the shots in Adobe Camera Raw. Adobe Camera Raw places all the most useful photo-fixing tools close to hand as sliders and icons, so editing is a very simple process – there's no need to rummage through lots of sub menus hunting for particular commands. Our before image In this Photoshop Elements tutorial we'll show you how to set up Adobe Camera Raw to get the best possible pictures from your raw files. You'll learn how to adjust a raw file's tonal range to give an image more contrast, how to boost the colour saturation of an image without creating over-saturated and unprintable colours, and you'll also learn how to remove unsightly sensor spots. And finally, you'll learn how to give your processed shot more impact by sharpening those delicate details. How to process raw images in Photoshop Elements: steps 1-2 01 Set the depth In Photoshop Elements, choose File>Open and browse to your start image. The image is a Digital Negative so it will open in Adobe Camera Raw. To squeeze as much colour and tonal information out of the file as possible set the Depth drop-down menu to 16 bits/channel.   02 Set the white balance The shot's mountains look a little too warm. Because it's a raw file you can cool things down easily by dragging the Temperature slider left to 4900. You can counteract the image's slightly green hue by dragging Tint right to –1. This creates a Custom White balance setting. How to process raw images in Photoshop Elements: steps 1-2 How to process raw images in Photoshop Elements: steps 3-4 How to process raw images in Photoshop Elements: steps 5-6 How to process raw images in Photoshop Elements: steps 7-8 How to process raw images in Photoshop Elements: steps 9-10 How to process raw images in Photoshop Elements: steps 11-12 How to process raw images in Photoshop Elements: steps 13-14 How to process raw images in Photoshop Elements: steps 15-16 READ MORE 10 reasons your photos aren’t sharp (and how to fix them) 34 Photoshop effects every photographer must try once Crop photos the right way: classic mistakes and how to avoid them Adobe Lightroom: what every photographer needs to know about the ‘alternative Photoshop’ Bird photography tips: how to shoot pin-sharp pictures of birds of prey Jun 3rd 2013, 10:48 Birds of prey are some of the most exciting wildlife subjects you'll ever photograph, but their fast movements and the bright sky behind them pose big obstacles for photographers. Over the next three days we plan to offer our best bird photography tips for taking pictures of birds of prey. In this first instalment we’ll explain how to shoot pin-sharp bird portraits, and our subsequent posts will offer bird photography tips for taking pictures of birds in flight and how to photograph through wire cages. The majestic presence  of birds of prey and their elegance in flight makes for striking bird portraits and on-the-wing action photos alike. Birds of prey  are notoriously tricky to find and photograph in the wild, but luckily there's an easier option: visit a local falconry centre and you'll be able to get a lot closer to birds of prey than you would in their natural habitat. We headed to the Barn Owl Centre in Gloucestershire, England, where their resident Eagle Owls, Buzzards and Barn Owls are much more used to humans and camera flashes than their wild counterparts. An Eagle Owl staring beadily down the lens with a gorgeous shallow depth of field makes for a fantastic wildlife shot, and the good news is that it isn't hard to achieve with a little patience. All you have to do is follow our bird photography tips and remember to be patient. Wild animals aren't expected to be well behaved, and even trained ones in specialist falconry centres can take a while to coax into posing; we spent an hour waiting for Kaln, this gorgeous Eagle Owl, to come down from a tree and model for us! Bird photography tips for perfect bird portraits: steps 1-2 01 Go telephoto You don't need masses of specialist kit to shoot bird portraits. If you're just starting out, you'll be able to get by with just a kit lens and your DSLR, but a telephoto zoom lens with a 300mm, or even 400mm, setting is a great asset for really striking wildlife shots.   02 Three legs better Another piece of kit that will make a big difference to bird portraits is using a tripod. We added a Vanguard BBH200 ball head to our Manfrotto tripod, as ball heads are easy to adjust quickly, meaning you're as flexible as possible when it comes to changing angles and positions. PAGE 1: Bird photography tips for perfect bird portraits – steps 1-2 PAGE 1: Bird photography tips for perfect bird portraits – steps 3-4 PAGE 1: Bird photography tips for perfect bird portraits – steps 5-6 PAGE 1: Bird photography tips for perfect bird portraits – steps 7-8 READ MORE Free bird photography cheat sheet Wildlife photography in any environment: free photography cheat sheet Zoo photography: a fool-proof method for capturing animals through glass 9 things you need to know about using a super-telephoto lens

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