Adobe Camera Raw for Digital Photographers Only

Rob Sheppard is editor–at–large for Outdoor Photographer, and is author/photographer of over 20 books including The National Geographic Field Guide to Photography and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Digital Photographers Only. He is committed to bringing professional photographers together with technology that benefits their craft. His Web site is www.robsheppardphoto.com.

about the author v


credits vii


foreword ix


acknowledgments xi


introduction xxi


Part I Capture Workflow 1


Chapter 1 What are Raw Files Really About? 3


A RAW Start 4


Why use RAW? 5


Understanding RAW 6


RAW Capabilities 7


Do not Shortchange RAW 8


What is 16–Bit all About? 10


Proprietary Formats 12


The Value of DNG 12


Does JPEG have a Place? 13


Q&A 16


Chapter 2 Shoot RAW Right from the Start 17


The Digital Darkroom 19


Understanding the Sensor 19


Dealing with Limitations 21


Exposure – More than Getting Brightness Correct 21


Reading the Histogram without Being an Engineer 24


Interpreting the Histogram 26


Looking at Histograms: Examples of Good and Bad Exposures 27


Perfect exposure with ideal histogram 27


Nice range of tones from left to right 28


Histogram has visual relationship to scene 28


Light tones kept in range 29


Black–and–white challenge 30


Restricted tonal range still needs good exposure 30


Poor exposure causes color problems 31


Bad light causes exposure problems. 31


Poor exposure causes background problems 32


Exposure for shadows washes out highlights 33


Filters are Still Necessary 33


Noise Raises its Ugly Head 35


Variations among Cameras 39


Q&A 41


Chapter 3 Color and RAW 43


Good RAW is Good Color 45


Adobe RGB versus sRGB 46


Color Space for the Purpose Needed 47


White Balance: A RAWWorkflow Issue 48


White balance in the camera 49


Auto white balance 50


Preset white balance 51


Custom white balance 52


Q&A 54


Chapter 4 What’s New in Adobe Camera Raw? 55


Making RAW Processing More Photographic 56


Some Changes to the Interface 58


First tab changes – tonal adjustments 60


First tab changes – color adjustments 61


Tone Curve changes 62


Changes to the Detail tab 62


The new HSL and Grayscale tab 63


The new Split Toning tab 64


Presets 64


How Lightroom Affects Camera Raw 66


Q&A 68


Part II Camera Raw Workflow 69


Chapter 5 A Quick Look at Camera Raw Tools and Workflow 71


Finding Your RAW Photos 73


Bridge Capabilities 74


Opening Camera Raw 81


The Importance of Reset and Undo 83


Camera Raw in Six–Part Harmony 85


Camera Raw Toolbar 86


Preview Options 90


The Ideal Workflow 92


Base Settings 96


How to Approach Camera Raw 98


Monitor Calibration 99


Q&A 101


Chapter 6 Workflow Applied 103


What is Your Photo About? 105


Auto Settings 105


Workflow Options 106


Tonal Adjustments 110


Color Adjustments 121


Detail Adjustments – Sharpening 125


Detail Adjustments – Noise Reduction 130


Save Your Work 131


Setting Up Camera Raw for Your Camera 133


Q&A 136


Chapter 7 Advanced Tonal Control 137


Evaluate the Image 138


First Adjustments – Blacks and Highlights 140


Tone Curve Adjustments 142


Back to Basic and Clarity 145


Back to Color 146


Refining Color 149


Sharpening with the Detail Tab 151


Evaluate, and then Open or Save 155


Q&A 156


Chapter 8 White Balance Decisions 157


A Neutral Subject is Rarely Neutral 160


Wave tonalities interpreted and more161


Cloud, water, and rocks color 164


Dusk Light 165


Dusk interpreted 165


Dusk color revealed 170


Aquarium Greenery 173


Evaluating Color 180


Key colors 180


Critical colors 181


Memory colors 181


Colorcasts 181


Weak color 182


Color interactions 182


Creative colors 183


Q&A 184


Chapter 9 The Noise Problems No One Talks About 185


When Noise Becomes a Problem 187


Watching for Noise 188


Reducing Noise in Camera Raw 189


Working to Control the Noise 191


Looking deeper at noise 195


Readjusting the Image 197


Q & A 198


Chapter 10 Special Features of Camera Raw 199


Special Tabs of Camera Raw 200


Fixing Lens Problems 202


Correcting aberrations 203


Vignetting adjustments 205


Using the Retouch Tool 207


Using the Red Eye Removal Tool 209


Influencing Color Changes 209


Batch Processing 211


Simple batching renaming 212


Group processing 215


Duplicating Processing: Saving Settings and Presets 219


Q & A 222


Part III Making Camera Raw Work Harder for You 223


Chapter 11 Tough Decisions 225


Soft Colors 226


No harsh contrasts 227


Adjusting with soft in mind 229


Color enhancement 232


The Detail tab 232


Backlit Contrast 235


Core decisions 236


Color enhancement 240


Not the Normal Light 243


Color or tonalities first? 243


Night tone interpretation 246


Adjusting for the night 247


Crop for evaluation 248


Night noise 249


Final check 251


Q & A 252


Chapter 12 Black–and–White Processing 253


Camera Raw or Photoshop for Black–and–White 254


Camera Raw does Black–and–White Right 256


How to Think Black–and–White 259


Shooting for Black–and–White 261


Converting to Grayscale 262


Optimum use of Color Sliders 266


Using Split Toning 267


Q & A 270


Chapter 13 Double Processing for Exposure 271


One Size May Not Fit All 273


Bright sky, dark ground 273


Bringing out the scene 274


Processing the Bright Areas 275


Processing the Dark Areas 280


The Merging Process 286


Putting two images into one 287


Small area changes 292


Process for the Main Photo 293


Process for the detail 296


Put them together again 298


Double Processing for Color and Tonal Range Techniques 301


Two–Shot Processing 302


Into Camera Raw 303


Making the Photo Work 310


Q&A 316


Chapter 14 Post Camera Raw Processing 317


Ansel Adams and Image Processing 319


What’s a good image, anyway? 320


Expressing what you want 320


Interpreting an Image 322


Sharpening 332


Q & A 336


Appendix A Alternatives to Camera Raw 337


Why Use Other Programs? 338


Adobe Photoshop Lightroom or Apple Aperture versus Camera Raw 339


Lightroom 339


Aperture 339


Camera–Specific RAW Converters 340


Canon ZoomBrowser EX and Digital Photo Professional 340


Nikon Capture 340


Olympus Studio 341


Pentax Photo Browser/Laboratory 341


Sigma Photo Pro 341


Sony RAW Software 342


Independent RAW Converters 342


DxO RAW Engine 342


Phase One Capture One 342


Photoshop Elements 343


Pixmantec RawShooter 343


Pro Glossary 345


Index 351