Review Digital Camera World 01-28-2014

Digital Camera World

Learn Adobe Illustrator CS6 Master Techniques from an Adobe Guru! With over 25 years of experience teaching, Robert Farrell has been a trusted instructor for individuals and companies who want to improve their Adobe skills. From our sponsors

7 Photoshop solutions to common image problems Jan 28th 2014, 00:01, by jmeyer Routine camera mistakes are the bane of any photographer. In this guide we’ll show you how to deal with some of the most common photography problems and improve just about every photo you take with these seven essential Photoshop solutions. Photoshop Solutions to Common Problems: 01 Recover blown-out skies We've all taken a shot of a beautiful landscape only to find the sky looks washed out and nothing like it did at the time. This is because skies are typically lighter than land, so if the land is correctly exposed, then the sky will be over-exposed. The best way to recover the detail is in Camera Raw or Lightroom. Use the Highlights slider in the Basic Panel to knock back the lightest areas. If it's not enough, use the Graduated Filter tool to drag a line from the top of the image in towards the land (hold Shift as you drag to keep it vertical). Then drop the Exposure to gradually darken the sky, just like a lens-mounted filter. SEE MORE: How to rescue blown skies using simple Photoshop effects Photoshop Solutions to Common Problems: 02 Reduce camera-shake blur For Photoshop CC users, the Shake Reduction filter is a new and surprisingly effective way to correct camera shake. Go to Filter>Sharpen>Shake Reduction and Photoshop automatically corrects the shake. To take it further, you can add 'multiple blur traces' to correct different types of blur in separate areas of the image. You can also tell Photoshop the direction the blur is going by drawing a straight line with the Blur Direction tool. It's very clever, and while perfect results aren't guaranteed, it can help save an otherwise doomed image, or breathe new life into old shots that were once complete write-offs. SEE MORE: Camera Shake – the ultimate cheat sheet for mastering tripods, monopods and shooting handheld Photoshop Solutions to Common Problems: 03 One-click white balance fixes If you shoot raw files then you're free to set the white balance afterwards, so an image that looks too cool or warm is easy to fix. Use Camera Raw or Lightroom for this. The White Balance settings are found in the Basic Panel. Don't bother with the presets, however – they rarely give accurate results. Instead, grab the White Balance tool, then click an area in the image that should be grey. If necessary use the Temperature and Tint sliders to fine-tune the colour, or click another area in the image. SEE MORE: White balance – Photoshop fixes and in-camera solutions for any situation Photoshop Solutions to Common Problems: 04 The power of adjustment layers Adjustment layers are one of the most useful of all Photoshop features. Among the almost limitless array of effects they can provide, you can correct exposure problems, fix colour casts, convert to black and white, and increase punch and saturation. Add adjustment layers by clicking the half-moon icon in the Layers panel. Adjustment layers occupy their own slots in the layer stack, and affect all the layers below, which means not only can you add different combinations, you can also use masks, blend modes and opacity to change how the layer works. SEE MORE: Photoshop layers demystified – a beginner’s guide to smarter photo editing Photoshop Solutions to Common Problems: 05 Reduce the noise levels Noise reduction helps to remove the noise that deteriorates image quality, particularly when high ISOs have been used to take the shot. SEE MORE: How to reduce noise at high ISO settings The best place to carry out noise reduction is in Camera Raw's Detail panel. Double click the Zoom tool to jump to 100% to accurately judge the settings. Use the Luminance slider to fix the grainy noise, and the Color slider to remove any unsightly colour blobs. Be careful not to push it too far, though. SEE MORE: How to restore delicate detail in Camera Raw and keep noise at bay Photoshop Solutions to Common Problems: 06 Controlled cropping Crop your images in Camera Raw so that the crop remains editable until you render the changes. You can right click while using the Crop tool in Camera Raw to choose different aspect ratios for your crop, and press A if you need to straighten a horizon. SEE MORE: Crop photos the right way – classic mistakes (and how to avoid them) Photoshop Solutions to Common Problems: 07 Retouch in Camera Raw Photoshop makes short work of blemishes and marks, whether it's spots on skin, dust on the sensor or any other problem. Ideally, carry out as much work as possible in Camera Raw for the best quality. SEE MORE: How to retouch photos in 10 easy steps The newest version of the Spot Removal tool enables you to paint areas rather than just add heal points, which makes the tool a hundred times better. Once open in Photoshop, use a combination of the Spot Healing Brush and Clone Stamp tools to tidy up. READ MORE 101 Photoshop tips you really need to know Best photo editing tips for beginners: 18 quick fixes to common image problems Photoshop Curves Tool: 6 techniques every photographer must know 13 photo editing mistakes every photographer makes (and what you can do about it) When to use a reflector: the effects produced by different colour surfaces Jan 27th 2014, 12:40, by jmeyer Reflectors are available with many different surfaces, such as gold (which adds a warm glow to faces) and white (which helps to lift shadows and balance light). You can even get reflectors with multiple surfaces.  But how do you know when to use a reflector with one of these different coloured surfaces? All reflectors work in the same way, but the colours make a real difference in your shots. In the cheat sheet below we’ve illustrated the effects produced by silver, gold and white reflectors. SEE MORE: How to use a reflector to control natural light When to use a reflector Click on the infographic to see the larger version, or drag and drop to your desktop. 01 Silver reflector A silver reflector reflects a large amount of light. It's best to use these at some distance if you're working in the studio otherwise the light can look too harsh. If you want to make your own, silver foil works a treat. However, they're not too expensive and most reflectors come with several covers, such as white, silver and gold, so getting one is a good investment. 02 Gold reflector Gold is best avoided with studio flashlights, which are usually balanced to daylight, as the warm glow that it radiates is likely to create mixed lighting in your final images. This will only mean more work in the digital darkroom later on. If you're working outside, using a gold cover warms skintones up beautifully. 03 White reflector A white reflector is ideal when working in the studio as it creates a softer, colour-neutral fill light. You don't have to use a specially-made reflector, a large piece of white card can be just as effective. Professional studios often use huge sheets of white foamboard. While they're not that expensive, they take up a lot of space. READ MORE How to eliminate harsh shadows when using flash 10 rules of photo composition (and why they work) What is color temperature: free photography cheat sheet 14 portrait photography tips you’ll never want to forget

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