Photo Live Magazine First Issue Photo live - cat's add in 2017 versioin | Page 162

and we can do essentially the same
thing today with our digital tools.
On to Lightroom, is working in the
post processing area your full time
job? What’s involved in your typical
work week?
These days, my business partner
runs Photoshop Services, our raw
processing company. Since 2012,
Lightroom has been my full time job.
My normal week includes writing
regular tutorial blog posts, replying
to emails from my readers and sup-
porting users on numerous Light-
room forums including my forum
(https://www.lightroomforums.net)
and the official bug report/feature
request forum (https://feedback.
photoshop.com/photoshop_family/).
I spend a lot of time testing Adobe
software, and I’m currently working
on 2 new books, with 1 more book
and 2 video series in the works after
that. I never get bored!
Are you shooting much yourself and
what’s your favourite genre of pho-
tography?
I don’t get to shoot as much as I’d
like to, so vacations are my time to
escape the office, travel and shoot.
Landscapes and seascapes are my
favorites, because it’s peaceful and
calm. I enjoy photographing animals
too, as I can get lost in the moment,
waiting to see what they’ll do next.
Photography has to be one of the
best ways to relax!
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Can we get a few tips? For exam-
ple, you’ve gone out and taken some
landscape photos in colour, what’s
the first few things you do in Light-
room?
When I get back from a shoot, the
first job has to be culling the bad pho-
tos and picking my favorites. Most
of us tend to get a bit snap-happy
and editing all those photos can be
overwhelming. Sorting through them
first, allows us to focus our time and
efforts on the best photos.
Before you start editing, it’s impor-
tant to stop and analyze the photo.
Where does your eye go, are there
any distractions, and then technical-
ly, is it too light, too dark, not enough
shadow or highlight detail, does it
have a color cast, is there noise, and
so forth. The results of that analysis
affect what I do next, but most of
the time, I start with Exposure, get-
ting it in the right ball park, followed
by Highlights and Shadows, and
then Contrast, because Highlights
and Shadows will have flattened the
midtones. Once that’s about right,
it’s easier to go back and fine tune
the white balance. Then I move on
to clarity and local adjustments, and
finish up with sharpening and noise
reduction.
I find a lot of photographers struggle
with setting the white balance, espe-
cially on landscapes. In a lovely land-
scape, there’s often nothing neutral
to use for a click white balance. Over
time, you can learn to adjust it by
eye, but if you struggle, shooting a
light neutral card such as a WhiBal
makes it really easy to get the “cor-
rect” white balance, which you can
then tweak to taste.
What about Black and White - same
question...
A great Black & White starts with a
great color photo. The white balance
can be used creatively for B&W, but
as a general rule, I’d try to at least
get the overall Exposure and White
Balance right before switching to
B&W. Next I’d tweak the B&W mix,
perhaps darkening blue skies and
lightening pale greens to add to the
contrast. I love a contrasty B&W im-
age, but you have to be careful not
to lose the shadow and highlight
detail. The Clarity control can give
the image a nice gritty feel without
losing the detail. You started out talk-
ing about Ansel Adams, and dodging
and burning using the Adjustment
Brush can make or break a B&W im-
age. It allows you to draw the eye of
the viewer to specific areas of the
photo, and away from distractions.
And for portraits - what is the first
few things you do?
I treat portraits in exactly the same
way, first analyzing the photo before I
start making adjustments. For close-
ups, I’m more likely to do a little teeth
whitening and spot removal, but I
don’t like to go overboard. There’s
nothing worse than a portrait that
looks like it’s been photoshopped!