Related Posts

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  White balance tool in RAW

  We mentioned using the white balance tool the other day when Crystal posted her delicious chicken recipe, and a lot of people asked about how to use the White Balance tool.  It is in different places in Adobe Camera RAW and Lightroom.

   

  ACR Location above

  Lightroom location below

  

   

  The use of both tools is exactly the same, but in this blog we will demonstrate it using Adobe Camera RAW for this tutorial.

  I shot this image of my chicken for our recipe tutorial on auto white balance and it is very orange, as often happens with indoor, tungsten-lit images.  I selected my white balance dropper and found an area that was neutral, in this case it was the white plate, and I clicked on that.  Done and done.

   

  

   

   Then the only thing I had left to do was increase the exposure a tad and lower the blacks a bit for some pop.  Often removing the reds of a very orange image will make the exposure seem darker, so be aware this can happen.

   

   
  For the image above, I found the most neutral area was the shadow on his white collar.  A quick click and correct color was restored.  The lovely part of this is that once I complete my edit for this image, I can then sync all of the edit WITH proper white balance for the same lighting and location.  It makes it very quick.  White balance is one of those things that moves an image from "snapshot" to "pro" very easily.

   

  

   

  Some things to note:

  I find the BEST areas to find neutrality (assuming I don't use a gray card shot--which I don't often have time for in a fast-paced wedding), is in the SHADOW of a white or gray item.  So within a fold of a shirt or crease of a dress.  The closer to 18% gray, the more accurate.  Blacks rarely work well for white balance, even though people consider black neutral.  Also, consider your whites.  Some wedding dresses have bluing added to the fabric to make it appear more brilliantly white.  Other dresses are more of a candlelight cream color.  If ALL else fails, you can use the white of an eyeball to get a ball park and add a little more yellow/magenta back, as needed.  Remember, once you get a good white balance for a particular lighting situation, you can often sync that setting to ALL of your images in that same scenario.  So taking a minute to get it right pays off.

   

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  A cool tool to get Proper White Balance

   

  Getting those white dresses neutral can be tricky.... but not anymore!

  Use the Color Sample Tool in Camera Raw and then edit that image to get a proper RGB edit.  It is so easy!  

   

   

  
  Sav
• 
  Pro-Tip: Thinking Like Your Camera

  Man, cameras these days. So smart.

  There are so many options in making an image with a camera now. You can keep all of the control of the camera (this is what Crystal and I (Rachel) do. When people oooh and ahh over our cameras and say, "Wow, those must take GREAT pictures!", we smile and say, "Yep, we taught them everything they know!" ;)), you can keep some of the control of the camera, but let the camera make some decisions, or you can let the camera make the decisions. Each way has pros and cons, and some models of camera will only allow a one or maybe two of these choices. A point and shoot is a good example of a camera that will usually only allow you to let the camera call the shots.

  Sigh...so that means you have no control, right? If the picture turns out good, it was all the camera? And if it turns out bad, there was nothing to be done? Should we just sit in the corner and sulk?

  Absolutely not! You have a lot more control than you think, even if the camera is on auto mode.

  So, we know the camera is looking at the picture you want to take, and SOMEHOW the camera is figuring out what settings to apply to that image. You can't usually SEE those settings, so how can you influence them?

  That is where I come in! I am going to show you how your camera thinks! Once we learn this, we can apply it to other lessons. Once you're "at one" with the mind of your camera, you'll be able to have some measure of control in using even a point and shoot camera.

  First of all, when a camera looks at a scene that you intend to shoot, it doesn't really see the scene like you do. Say you're shooting your kids at the park on the playground. There's green grass, a red slide, a blue sky. Junior's wearing a yellow shirt. The camera doesn't see that. The camera doesn't see colors. It sees TONES.

  
  

  (image by graynoisemusic.tumblr.com)

  The camera sees the scene in gradations of brightness.

  Ok, great! But how is it choosing the settings?

  Well, the camera is looking at the whole scene you have framed and is averaging the scene to 18% or MIDDLE gray. It wants to pick the settings that will average the frame towards the middle of that pattern.

  And lots of times, it works great!

  But what if I want to shoot a picture of my kid standing against a black board, writing his name? Or something primarily black? (Or a VERY dark color.)

  
  

   

  Is this a middle tone? NO WAY! But guess what? Your camera will let in enough light automatically to make it look 18% gray. So that chalkboard will no longer be black. It will be gray. Oh...and hmm. If that black is moved up the grayscale...then what do you think happens to all those tones (like skin, hair, etc.) that are LIGHTER than the black that has been shoved up the scale? Uh oh. It's not good. They're going to be WAY brighter than they should be. They might even get shoved entirely off the scale, into white nothingness.

  We've all had those pictures right? The overexposed ones. ALL the detail is gone. Everything is just an icky, white blob. It looks bad on screen and prints even worse. All the details get shoved into the white category and they are gone forever. Let's all have a moment of silence for our fallen highlights. *sniffle*

  Ok, so that's a time where our camera's plan of making everything middle gray has failed us. D'oh!

  Let's think of another. And you all know this one too, I bet. Say you're darling and precocious child is sitting in front of the bright window reading a book. It is an ADORABLE picture in your mind. The angelic child is framed by the bright window, it's perfection! But...you take that picture with SO much of it SOOOO bright, and what happens?

  
  

   

  The average of this scene is really white. Not middle gray. It's at the TOP of the scale. So, the camera pushes allll that white, bright light down the scale to 18%. And what happens to the child's face, which is pretty much in shadow? It also gets shoved down the scale. Suddenly you can barely make out the child for all of the shadow. Some of the details might even be lost to total blackness. *sniffle* Isn't this story just SO sad??? All of these missing details that we could have had!

  By the way, the above technique is a good way to get a silhouette. So if that was what you were planning...a silhouette of junior reading in the window, WOOHOO! (It's always nice to know what you want to do and how to do it.)

  Ok, so now we have an idea of what the camera is thinking. How it is trying to read the scene. This will help you choose lighting/color situations that your camera can better handle. (Or you can add flash to help even the exposure. There are pros and cons to using a small flash on your camera, but we'll discuss those later.) One thing that is very hard for a point and shoot is backlight. In general, it is best to steer clear if you want to be able to make out the faces of the people in your picture.

  But here's my big tip for how to get a backlit photo with your point and shoot. But first, I have to share a secret. Shhhhh. Your shutter button is a double agent. Shhhhhhh. It lives a secret life. Not only can you push it and it will faithfully release the shutter and take the picture, it can also LOCK THE EXPOSURE!! So, all of what we were talking about above is the basics of making an exposure. We've learned how your camera determines the exposure it will use on automatic. SO now, let's use that knowledge. If you know that you want your child sitting in the window to be properly exposed and you want the window to be bright, then walk up to your child's face and fill most of the frame with it, push your shutter button halfway down and HOLD IT! This will lock what your camera is seeing as middle gray. It is seeing your child's face this way. (Which is technically a little underexposed, but not THAT bad for a snapshot with a point and shoot) Now, back up and frame the picture as you would like to see it (again, keeping that button halfway pressed down.) Now, once you have the picture framed as you'd like it, press the shutter down the rest of the way. VOILA! Your image is now properly exposed! Or a lot closer, anyway. (What can I say? I'm an exposure purist. I can't call 36% gray 18% gray. ;) )  Also, good to note:  If you are using a DLSR and have the ability, look into setting BACK BUTTON FOCUS, that way you can free up your shutter to JUST lock exposure and allow the back AF-ON button to handle all of that focus stuff.

  Would it work the same as the child against the blackboard? You bet. Pick what you want to be properly exposed and press that shutter button halfway down and reframe your shot and then press the shutter button the rest of the way.

  Now that you know how your camera thinks, you'll be able to start looking at what might happen if your camera is thinking the whole scene needs to be 18% gray. Sometimes it will be perfect, and sometimes it won't, so that is where you can either lock your exposure, add some flash, or change your angle to the light.  The next step from here is to start moving into MANUAL mode.  Watch for coming posts to erase the mystery from manual mode!

• 
  JPEG vs. RAW, the Ultimate Grudge Match

  We asked people in our amazing Pure Constructive Criticism group what topics they wanted blogs about.  One that popped up a few times was the difference in RAW image files vs. JPEG image files.

  "Woot!"  I thought.  "A softball question!  I can totally do this!"

  And then I started thinking about it.  All of the technical information I knew.  All of the technical information I DIDN'T know.  Gulp.  This is actually a HUGE topic.

  So can I start this blog with a little disclaimer?  I do not claim to know the exact technical information on all of this.  I have some technical knowledge and some practical knowledge and I will present what I know and what has worked for us.

  So let's start with WHAT a RAW file is.  When a camera takes an image, the sensor captures the light of red/green/and blue.  It records the intensity of the light of these colors.  If you choose to capture your files as a RAW image, you will be getting THIS.  The uncompressed, unfiltered, unedited, RAW (like as in really actually raw) data.  If you choose to get a jpg image, your camera will strip out and filter the data to compress it and it will add some in-camera processing (contrast, sharpening, etc.) to your final image.

  This is not to say that one file is better than the other.  Rather there are times that one will be the best fit.

  A JPEG is 

  • A compressed file, stripped of some of the data that could be deemed unessential to the exposure you told the camera to make

  • smaller (since it's compressed!)

  • edited in-camera, to an extent

  • able to be directly edited, though this can lead to some quality loss.  (A lossy file.)

  • A file that can be viewed immediately on a computer or printed

  A RAW file is

  • An unfiltered file, all of the data collected by your camera's sensor

  • much larger

  • Not edited by the camera AT all.  All editing happens in the computer afterwards.

  • Cannot be directly edited.  It is considered a read-only file, and all edits are added via a "sidecar" file like an xmp file.

  • This leads to the file being lossless.

  •  It is also not exactly an IMAGE.  It cannot be viewed without special software.  But most cameras come with their own or you can use a product like Adobe Lightroom or Bridge/ACR.  Also, each RAW file tends to be proprietary to each manufacturer and camera.

  Using a jpg file is a great idea if you know you'll have good exposure or white balance and if you don't feel like you'll be editing the images a lot.  Sometimes if I am almost out of memory when I am taking snapshots at a soccer game, I will switch my camera to JPEG and capture smaller files.  They are not files I will be using to print huge images, I won't be editing them extensively, and usually my exposure and white balance is close enough.  And, truthfully, if I mess up a little, the sakes are not high.  JPG is ok here.

  But when I shoot a wedding, even though I am fairly confident in my exposure skills, I will shoot in RAW.  I have enough digital memory that I can capture a whole wedding easily in RAW and I make SURE I have all my cards.  But the safety net that RAW provides is wonderful.  I can easily sync edits for RAW images in Lightroom, but I WILL need to post process all my images, though I will have ALL the control over the editing.

  Here are two screen shots of a JPEG and RAW of the same image.

  

  This is the JPG image.  (I just asked Crystal to grab a snapshot using JPG/RAW capture for me.  Yay for her and thank you to her beautiful models.)  It is pretty sharp and has strong contrast.

  

  Same image as above, but the RAW data.  Notice how much less sharp it is out of the box?  NO sharpening applied.  Much lower contrast.  In fact, there is a lot more dynamic range.  Less highlights and less deep shadows.  This means I can add the contrast I want in the processing, but I will have more actual data to work with, rather than trying to change an manipulate pixels that are already set.

  Changing exposure, white balance and contrast in a RAW image is MUCH easier than trying to push the pixels of a JPEG.  So if you are not sure of your white balance or your exposure, then shooting in RAW is not only a safety net, it will make a faster edit.  A few clicks will give you a perfect exposure and skin tone with no quality loss.

  I would say that for most people, using RAW is the more responsible option for client sessions.  In the event something goes awry, you will have much more leeway with the RAW.

  One other benefit (and a HUGE reason we choose to shoot in RAW), should there ever be a dispute over who created an image and it comes to legal proceedings, a RAW file can help you establish ownership of your image.  This is also why we never relinquish our RAW files to anyone.  They establish us as the creators of the images.

  If you have not ventured into RAW with your SLR yet, consider trying it.  The creative control alone will astound you.  While you can use Lightroom and ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) for JPGS now, there is much more range to what those tools can give you if you have the RAW images.  If you're not ready to give up your JPGS, most cameras give you the option to shoot in both RAW and JPEG at the same time.  Give it a shot.  I bet you'll grow to like it.

   

• 
  Five Steps to Greater Productivity

  We all only have 24 hours in the day, but sometimes it feels like other people MUST have more.  How else can they get so much done?  There are a lot of strategies for saving time and being productive, but these are Rachel and Crystal's top five.  

  Since there are thirteen kids between the two of us (Rachel has 8 and Crystal has 5) and we have teens and toddlers, plus two busy businesses, and factors like autism and epilepsy in our families, we have to make the most of the time we have, because nearly all of it is spoken for.  When we first started working together, we were so busy and didn't have a very good plan in place for getting our photography lives together, so the top of our list in the early days was "Don't Sleep."  That is not a very effective long-term solution, so we nixed that and added in these solutions.

  1) Get it right in camera

  I really can't stress this one enough.  It might take a little work at the outset to learn your camera and exposure well enough that you can truly nail the basics when you hit the shutter button, but believe me this is a big one.  Know how to shoot in manual, so YOU are in charge and not your camera.  In fact, we recommend not venturing into business until you have this one well in hand.  Once you hang out that shingle, you'll be so busy with serving clients, shooting, editing, marketing, office work, financials, etc., that taking the time to truly LEARN is an incredible luxury, but not one that you'll always have time for.  So this one is top of the bunch.  If you hit your exposure right and know how to shoot in Kelvin, so you're not having to fiddle constantly to hit the right white balance in post, you will have a MUCH easier time when you sit down to edit.  Suddenly the days required for a session will fall into a few hours.  So learn exposure.  Learn white balance.  Understand how to get the best focus you can so that you can use ANY of your images, not just the handful that are in focus.  Read books (Understanding Exposure is fantastic), join groups (our Facebook group is wonderful), and practice, practice, practice.  

  2) Learn to batch process

  We love using Lightroom and ACR.  Once you edit an image the way you like it in Lightroom or ACR, you can then sync this edit across all of your images that are in the same lighting scenario.  So one edit is suddenly 20.  Bam.  This is a big reason that tip #1 is important.  If your exposure and white balance are all over the map, syncing will never work.  So having a consistency in your shots is so important.  We'll be creating more and more content to help you get all of these right in camera.  But we have some fantastic tutorials on how to batch edit.  It's easy to get bogged down in touching the minutiae of every image, but get that batch process down, and you'll have cut out a huge chunk of time in your post work.  Easily saving yourself the equivalent of days or weeks each year.  Of course, we recommend our fantastic presets and actions to help with this process.  Amiright?

  3) Organize yourself

  Look, I have 8 kids, and Crystal has 5 kids, so I am not talking about some intense level of white-glove perfection.  No no.  I just mean you need an order to your workspace that you can understand.  You will feel more at peace if there is an order to your surroundings and you know how to find what you need.  Obviously, this applies to your physical workspace, but it also applies to your digital workspace too.  Keeping your files organized and at your fingertips is freeing.  Crystal and I load all of our images into external hard drives (and a Drobo and to the cloud...for safety), but from there we load them organized by date and then client name.  If it is a wedding client, within their folder we have the Engagement, Bridal, Wedding, etc.  This saves a lot of time hunting for the right files.  Also, in Lightroom, I (Rachel) make sure to keyword my files as I download them.  That way I can quickly search through images by client name, date, location, interesting features, color, etc.  Just in case I remember an image I want to use and can't quite remember all of the specifics.  Keywording is along the right side of the Library module, and you can quickly and easily start keywording as you upload images.

  

  4) Set small goals and reward yourself

  Mindset counts for a lot.  A lot of times being a small business owner is a lot of work.  We know it.  We hear you.  Sometimes there is a lot of stuff that is pretty thankless that just needs to get done.  This is where we like to set small goals and reward ourselves as we achieve them.  Got the client emails all answered?  Yay, you get to check Facebook!  Finished editing 30 images?  You get to walk to the mailbox in the sunshine to get the mail.  Before lunch, make your social media posts for the day and then enjoy your lunch, guilt-free.  Sometimes being the small business owner is hard because there is not a lot of recognition in just how hard you're working and how much you're hustling to get it all done, so it's nice to remind yourself how many things you are accomplishing each day.

  5) Keep lists, use Google Calender, etc.

  This is along the lines of being organized, but this is mentally.  Whether you use a paper organizer,  your phone, Google calendar, pop-up reminders, Post-It Notes, etc., give yourself a map and a plan.  We all have those days where we are on fire with ideas of what we want and need to accomplish for our business.  And we probably all know those days are not EVERY day.  So when you have those amazing days, capture them.  Lean into the passion, the joy, and the excitement.  Let it flow.  Capture the ideas.  Then map it out.  Write lists of what you need to do to accomplish these goals and give yourself manageable chunks.  Organize your time so that you know, ok, today I need to make 2 Instagram posts and one Facebook post, and I want to be sure that I check up on potential clients that I have not heard back from who requested quotes.  Tomorrow, I need to post to my Pinterest board, send out client orders, etc. 

  Having a schedule in writing both keeps you accountable, and it also takes the burden of having to freestyle every day.  Sometimes it's nice to have someone tell you what needs to be done...even if it's you.  (Just a you that is on fire with excitement and passion and vision.)

  We use Google Calendar for Pure.  We keep it color coordinated.  So each day, I can look and see the colors and know exactly what tasks I have to do.  (blogging, fb, Pinterest, Instagram and so on). 

  

  BONUS
  6) Actions and presets save lives!
  
  Being stuck behind your computer editing can be rewarding for some photographers and a nightmare for others.  Speed up that workflow so that you can be out shooting, marketing, and building relationships with your clients and other vendors!  If you are stuck "hand editing" every single image, you will get burnt out, very fast!  Especially if you are editing weddings!  (Seriously take it from us, you don't need to hand edit that picture of Aunt Sally eating her salad!  No one is going to look at that image more than once, unless they want to post it on Social media to embarrass Aunt Sally).  Apply a clean editing preset, batch that crap and move on!  (our favorite is Basic Workflow from our 1st set of presets for both ACR and Lightroom!)  and with the code it is only $50!  SAY WHAT??!!!!)
  
  We are currently offering 50% off!  YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT!  50% OFF our entire store, using the code  NEWYEAR
  Hurry.... it ends in a week!   So hurry and grab your actions/presets HERE! We promise, they are pretty rad!

• 
  Tips for photographing Fireworks

  With New Years Eve coming up there is often times where you have a chance to photograph fireworks if you want.  

  Photographing fireworks can often be confusing and frustrating.  You want to capture more then one firework at a time, and you want the capture the movement, but can't quiet figure it out.  There is one tip that makes this much easier, and will give you the results you are wanting!

   LONG EXPOSURES!!

   

  Having a long exposure (mine was 30 seconds) will allow you to capture more then one firework, and you will capture all that movement.  However, you will need to adjust other settings and you will need to figure out a way to allow yourself to photograph with such a long exposure.  Here is a quick list of what I do. 

  1) Set my exposure to 30 seconds. 

  2) Set my camera up on a tripod.

  3) Set my camera on a 2 second delay.  I do this if I don't have my remote trigger with me.  Even on a tripod when you click the shutter, there may be inadvertent camera shake that will result in your picture not being tack sharp.  This way I can press the shutter button slowly and lift my hands slowly so there is no camera shake. 

  4) You will want to set the other settings in camera to get a proper exposure.  Having such a long exposure, your camera is going to let in a lot of light, so you will want to adjust your ISO (most likely as low as you can go or in the 100's) and then adjust your aperture.  For this image, I was shooting at an ISO 160 and an F stop of 14.  That way my image wasn't overexposed. 

  Below you will see a picture of my settings.  

  

  Try these tips and you should have no problem photographing those fireworks! 

  This also works for other type of pictures you want to take in the dark like castles and such.  I am sharing an image I took with my cell phone and the image I took with my camera.  My cell phone was barely able to capture the lights behind the castle, but my camera had no problem with it, since it was long exposure.  This was a 25 second exposure, 14 and ISO 160.  

  First is the cell phone image.  I mean it isn't horrible for capturing the moment, but as a photographer I wanted more.  I waited for the crowds to die down (the park had closed 10 minutes before this when I took the cell phone image.  I waited until about 30 minutes after closing and and it was pretty empty).  They don't kick you out right when park closes, the rides stop, but you don't get ushered out of the park right away, which allowed me to capture some pretty awesome night time shots!)

  

  And now the image I captured with my camera.  Again this is a 25 second exposure, ISO 160, and F stop 14.