Manual Shooting Issues

[Ysarex]

Next step is WB. You had the camera set to auto WB and that means your color in the photo is off. Ideally you want to start shooting a reference target (talk later) but for now let's use the roof of the barn. Go to the Basics tab and click on the eyedropper. In the image click on the roof of the barn and the color will change. I got temp = 5900 and tint = 19.

Next step go ahead and click auto and let Adobe take a crack at it -- we'll fix it from there.

Adobe always raises the exposure value too high. I reset it to .2

Next white and black clipping points -- the white and black sliders. Always do this next and keep coming back to it. You start with white and black clipping points and you end checking them last step.

Hold down the alt/option key and grab the white slider. The screen will turn mostly black. Move the slider to find the brightest part of the image. It will show out of the black. Adjust the slider until it disappears. In other words move the slide just to the point where the entire image turns black.

Joe

Do that and I'll start typing the next step.

The eyedropper? I have LR CC 2015, I don't know if I have that option...
Would it at all be alright with you to continue this tomorrow? My laptop battery is about to drop...

Sure -- you're looking for the WB eyedropper under the basic tab -- you have it. I'll be around in the morning and I'll check this thread.

Take Care,
Joe

 

[darkblue-x]

Next step is WB. You had the camera set to auto WB and that means your color in the photo is off. Ideally you want to start shooting a reference target (talk later) but for now let's use the roof of the barn. Go to the Basics tab and click on the eyedropper. In the image click on the roof of the barn and the color will change. I got temp = 5900 and tint = 19.

Next step go ahead and click auto and let Adobe take a crack at it -- we'll fix it from there.

Adobe always raises the exposure value too high. I reset it to .2

Next white and black clipping points -- the white and black sliders. Always do this next and keep coming back to it. You start with white and black clipping points and you end checking them last step.

Hold down the alt/option key and grab the white slider. The screen will turn mostly black. Move the slider to find the brightest part of the image. It will show out of the black. Adjust the slider until it disappears. In other words move the slide just to the point where the entire image turns black.

Joe

Do that and I'll start typing the next step.

The eyedropper? I have LR CC 2015, I don't know if I have that option...
Would it at all be alright with you to continue this tomorrow? My laptop battery is about to drop...

Sure -- you're looking for the WB eyedropper under the basic tab -- you have it. I'll be around in the morning and I'll check this thread.

Take Care,
Joe

Hey Joe, sorry for the delay, I am back if you are still willing to give me the tutorial. Just let me know whenever is convenient for you, I am up to the last point that you had given me with the ALT white slider, it brought me to +25 for this particular picture.

 

[Ysarex]

Next step is WB. You had the camera set to auto WB and that means your color in the photo is off. Ideally you want to start shooting a reference target (talk later) but for now let's use the roof of the barn. Go to the Basics tab and click on the eyedropper. In the image click on the roof of the barn and the color will change. I got temp = 5900 and tint = 19.

Next step go ahead and click auto and let Adobe take a crack at it -- we'll fix it from there.

Adobe always raises the exposure value too high. I reset it to .2

Next white and black clipping points -- the white and black sliders. Always do this next and keep coming back to it. You start with white and black clipping points and you end checking them last step.

Hold down the alt/option key and grab the white slider. The screen will turn mostly black. Move the slider to find the brightest part of the image. It will show out of the black. Adjust the slider until it disappears. In other words move the slide just to the point where the entire image turns black.

Joe

Do that and I'll start typing the next step.

The eyedropper? I have LR CC 2015, I don't know if I have that option...
Would it at all be alright with you to continue this tomorrow? My laptop battery is about to drop...

Sure -- you're looking for the WB eyedropper under the basic tab -- you have it. I'll be around in the morning and I'll check this thread.

Take Care,
Joe

Hey Joe, sorry for the delay, I am back if you are still willing to give me the tutorial. Just let me know whenever is convenient for you, I am up to the last point that you had given me with the ALT white slider, it brought me to +25 for this particular picture.

Hi, I'm here but I'm leaving for a short time. Got to run an errand with the wife. It's 7:15 pm here right now. I should be back and will respond to this thread in under two hours. Some where between 8:30 and 9:00 pm I should be back. If you're still here we can do that.

Joe

 

[darkblue-x]

Next step is WB. You had the camera set to auto WB and that means your color in the photo is off. Ideally you want to start shooting a reference target (talk later) but for now let's use the roof of the barn. Go to the Basics tab and click on the eyedropper. In the image click on the roof of the barn and the color will change. I got temp = 5900 and tint = 19.

Next step go ahead and click auto and let Adobe take a crack at it -- we'll fix it from there.

Adobe always raises the exposure value too high. I reset it to .2

Next white and black clipping points -- the white and black sliders. Always do this next and keep coming back to it. You start with white and black clipping points and you end checking them last step.

Hold down the alt/option key and grab the white slider. The screen will turn mostly black. Move the slider to find the brightest part of the image. It will show out of the black. Adjust the slider until it disappears. In other words move the slide just to the point where the entire image turns black.

Joe

Do that and I'll start typing the next step.

The eyedropper? I have LR CC 2015, I don't know if I have that option...
Would it at all be alright with you to continue this tomorrow? My laptop battery is about to drop...

Sure -- you're looking for the WB eyedropper under the basic tab -- you have it. I'll be around in the morning and I'll check this thread.

Take Care,
Joe

Hey Joe, sorry for the delay, I am back if you are still willing to give me the tutorial. Just let me know whenever is convenient for you, I am up to the last point that you had given me with the ALT white slider, it brought me to +25 for this particular picture.

Hi, I'm here but I'm leaving for a short time. Got to run an errand with the wife. It's 7:15 pm here right now. I should be back and will respond to this thread in under two hours. Some where between 8:30 and 9:00 pm I should be back. If you're still here we can do that.

Joe

Alright great! We shall continue then.

 

[Bebulamar]

I'm new to shooting full manual and there is without a doubt a lot of trial and error, but I was wondering how I could improve...

I tend to have an issue determining my scene and exposure. I try not to shoot anything that is backlit because I understand it will turn out like crap.
On sunnier days, I move Exp. Comp. down usually to about -0.7 to -1.3.
I'll often reduce aperture, and accordingly have to slow down shutter speed.
As far as ISO. I have a tendency towards trying to keep it down to as low as possible. More often than not I have it set to 200 max.

I just recently downloaded Lightroom (in place of using VSCO) and I can clearly see a lot of photos I take are overexposed by what I understand of the histograms (there is a lot of clipping). Often where the subject is not caught properly at all; where I miss the crucial data that I am trying to capture.

It's a bit of a struggle and I have been feeling discouraged with all of these things that I am not grasping properly together.

I feel that perhaps I'm marching down the wrong path for my skill level perhaps and that there may be some things that are a priority for me to learn before mastery of the three pillars (shutter, ap, iso).

I used a Nikon D3300.
35mm Prime f/1.8g
70-300mm ED VR.

Eager to hear suggestions and ask again questions..

If when you started out you started with manual mode then everything would be easier. You started out in auto mode and now things seem too difficult.
First of all stop using the Exp. Comp. and do shoot things that are backlit. Use the meter and set it for 0 indication on the exposure bar to start. Do this for a while and see which type of scene will come out right and which won't. After that we will continue to discuss.

 

[Ysarex]

Next step is WB. You had the camera set to auto WB and that means your color in the photo is off. Ideally you want to start shooting a reference target (talk later) but for now let's use the roof of the barn. Go to the Basics tab and click on the eyedropper. In the image click on the roof of the barn and the color will change. I got temp = 5900 and tint = 19.

Next step go ahead and click auto and let Adobe take a crack at it -- we'll fix it from there.

Adobe always raises the exposure value too high. I reset it to .2

Next white and black clipping points -- the white and black sliders. Always do this next and keep coming back to it. You start with white and black clipping points and you end checking them last step.

Hold down the alt/option key and grab the white slider. The screen will turn mostly black. Move the slider to find the brightest part of the image. It will show out of the black. Adjust the slider until it disappears. In other words move the slide just to the point where the entire image turns black.

Joe

Do that and I'll start typing the next step.

The eyedropper? I have LR CC 2015, I don't know if I have that option...
Would it at all be alright with you to continue this tomorrow? My laptop battery is about to drop...

Sure -- you're looking for the WB eyedropper under the basic tab -- you have it. I'll be around in the morning and I'll check this thread.

Take Care,
Joe

Hey Joe, sorry for the delay, I am back if you are still willing to give me the tutorial. Just let me know whenever is convenient for you, I am up to the last point that you had given me with the ALT white slider, it brought me to +25 for this particular picture.

Hi, I'm here but I'm leaving for a short time. Got to run an errand with the wife. It's 7:15 pm here right now. I should be back and will respond to this thread in under two hours. Some where between 8:30 and 9:00 pm I should be back. If you're still here we can do that.

Joe

Alright great! We shall continue then.

OK, first by the numbers: white balance, white and black clipping points. As I noted go ahead and click auto and let LR take it's crack at it. It will always raise the exposure value too high. Whatever it does, cut it in half.

You've done the white clipping point (and WB?). Black clipping point works just like the white one. Hold the alt key and this time the screen goes white. As you pull the black slider you'll see color come and go. Get to the point where the screen is completely white. That means you have no black in the photo. GET BLACK!! This is one of those rules. All rules have exceptions and you can break all the rules except probably this one. A good photo reaches black. So hold the alt key and pull the Black slider until you see some color start to show in the barn door right side. It will start showing blue -- push a little harder till a smidge of black appears.

Joe

 

[darkblue-x]

Next step is WB. You had the camera set to auto WB and that means your color in the photo is off. Ideally you want to start shooting a reference target (talk later) but for now let's use the roof of the barn. Go to the Basics tab and click on the eyedropper. In the image click on the roof of the barn and the color will change. I got temp = 5900 and tint = 19.

Next step go ahead and click auto and let Adobe take a crack at it -- we'll fix it from there.

Adobe always raises the exposure value too high. I reset it to .2

Next white and black clipping points -- the white and black sliders. Always do this next and keep coming back to it. You start with white and black clipping points and you end checking them last step.

Hold down the alt/option key and grab the white slider. The screen will turn mostly black. Move the slider to find the brightest part of the image. It will show out of the black. Adjust the slider until it disappears. In other words move the slide just to the point where the entire image turns black.

Joe

Do that and I'll start typing the next step.

The eyedropper? I have LR CC 2015, I don't know if I have that option...
Would it at all be alright with you to continue this tomorrow? My laptop battery is about to drop...

Sure -- you're looking for the WB eyedropper under the basic tab -- you have it. I'll be around in the morning and I'll check this thread.

Take Care,
Joe

Hey Joe, sorry for the delay, I am back if you are still willing to give me the tutorial. Just let me know whenever is convenient for you, I am up to the last point that you had given me with the ALT white slider, it brought me to +25 for this particular picture.

Hi, I'm here but I'm leaving for a short time. Got to run an errand with the wife. It's 7:15 pm here right now. I should be back and will respond to this thread in under two hours. Some where between 8:30 and 9:00 pm I should be back. If you're still here we can do that.

Joe

Alright great! We shall continue then.

OK, first by the numbers: white balance, white and black clipping points. As I noted go ahead and click auto and let LR take it's crack at it. It will always raise the exposure value too high. Whatever it does, cut it in half.

You've done the white clipping point (and WB?). Black clipping point works just like the white one. Hold the alt key and this time the screen goes white. As you pull the black slider you'll see color come and go. Get to the point where the screen is completely white. That means you have no black in the photo. GET BLACK!! This is one of those rules. All rules have exceptions and you can break all the rules except probably this one. A good photo reaches black. So hold the alt key and pull the Black slider until you see some color start to show in the barn door right side. It will start showing blue -- push a little harder till a smidge of black appears.

Joe

Would that be at -34 in this particular instance?

 

[Ysarex]

The other adjustments on the Basics tab: Contrast, Highlights

Would that be at -3

The eyedropper? I have LR CC 2015, I don't know if I have that option...
Would it at all be alright with you to continue this tomorrow? My laptop battery is about to drop...

Sure -- you're looking for the WB eyedropper under the basic tab -- you have it. I'll be around in the morning and I'll check this thread.

Take Care,
Joe

Hey Joe, sorry for the delay, I am back if you are still willing to give me the tutorial. Just let me know whenever is convenient for you, I am up to the last point that you had given me with the ALT white slider, it brought me to +25 for this particular picture.

Hi, I'm here but I'm leaving for a short time. Got to run an errand with the wife. It's 7:15 pm here right now. I should be back and will respond to this thread in under two hours. Some where between 8:30 and 9:00 pm I should be back. If you're still here we can do that.

Joe

Alright great! We shall continue then.

OK, first by the numbers: white balance, white and black clipping points. As I noted go ahead and click auto and let LR take it's crack at it. It will always raise the exposure value too high. Whatever it does, cut it in half.

You've done the white clipping point (and WB?). Black clipping point works just like the white one. Hold the alt key and this time the screen goes white. As you pull the black slider you'll see color come and go. Get to the point where the screen is completely white. That means you have no black in the photo. GET BLACK!! This is one of those rules. All rules have exceptions and you can break all the rules except probably this one. A good photo reaches black. So hold the alt key and pull the Black slider until you see some color start to show in the barn door right side. It will start showing blue -- push a little harder till a smidge of black appears.

Joe

Would that be at -34 in this particular instance?

Yes it would BUT -- BIG BUT: We'll re-evaluate the white and black clipping points as we go. Other adjustments we make will alter those and we'll re-tweak them back. We start by setting white and black clipping points and we finish by re-checking them and doing a final tweak as needed.

Next the Contrast, Highlights and Shadows values. These are more to taste and they are also influenced by other changes we make. Right now take the Highlights all the way down to -100, Shadows in the low 30s and Contrast in the mid teens. Still on the Basics tab raise the Clarity value to 20. Clarity is micro-contrast and you'll need to work back and forth between Clarity and Contrast. Recommendation: take it easy on Clarity.

Saturation for now leave alone. Vibrance doesn't belong there it's a special effect and should be placed under Effects and then never used.

Joe

 

[darkblue-x]

The other adjustments on the Basics tab: Contrast, Highlights

Would that be at -3

Sure -- you're looking for the WB eyedropper under the basic tab -- you have it. I'll be around in the morning and I'll check this thread.

Take Care,
Joe

Hey Joe, sorry for the delay, I am back if you are still willing to give me the tutorial. Just let me know whenever is convenient for you, I am up to the last point that you had given me with the ALT white slider, it brought me to +25 for this particular picture.

Hi, I'm here but I'm leaving for a short time. Got to run an errand with the wife. It's 7:15 pm here right now. I should be back and will respond to this thread in under two hours. Some where between 8:30 and 9:00 pm I should be back. If you're still here we can do that.

Joe

Alright great! We shall continue then.

OK, first by the numbers: white balance, white and black clipping points. As I noted go ahead and click auto and let LR take it's crack at it. It will always raise the exposure value too high. Whatever it does, cut it in half.

You've done the white clipping point (and WB?). Black clipping point works just like the white one. Hold the alt key and this time the screen goes white. As you pull the black slider you'll see color come and go. Get to the point where the screen is completely white. That means you have no black in the photo. GET BLACK!! This is one of those rules. All rules have exceptions and you can break all the rules except probably this one. A good photo reaches black. So hold the alt key and pull the Black slider until you see some color start to show in the barn door right side. It will start showing blue -- push a little harder till a smidge of black appears.

Joe

Would that be at -34 in this particular instance?

Yes it would BUT -- BIG BUT: We'll re-evaluate the white and black clipping points as we go. Other adjustments we make will alter those and we'll re-tweak them back. We start by setting white and black clipping points and we finish by re-checking them and doing a final tweak as needed.

Next the Contrast, Highlights and Shadows values. These are more to taste and they are also influenced by other changes we make. Right now take the Highlights all the way down to -100, Shadows in the low 30s and Contrast in the mid teens. Still on the Basics tab raise the Clarity value to 20. Clarity is micro-contrast and you'll need to work back and forth between Clarity and Contrast. Recommendation: take it easy on Clarity.

Saturation for now leave alone. Vibrance doesn't belong there it's a special effect and should be placed under Effects and then never used.

Joe

Okay, I'm there.
Side question: When you said that about clarity, does that only apply to this photo, or are you recommending to always go easy on clarity?

 

[Ysarex]

Now you need to get some tone and color in the sky. Pulling the Highlights to -100 helped but it's not enough. You're looking for the toolbar above the drop down tabs. There's a row of icons. The middle one is a rectangle with a gradation of grey. Click on that. It's the linear gradation tool. You'll see a whole new set of sliders appear. If they're all at zero change one to anything (it won't work if something isn't changed). Go to the photo, click in the sky closer to the trees than the top of the photo and drag it down to the roof of the barn.

Play with it. You can reposition it, expand and contract it and rotate it. Grab the center node and you can move the whole thing. Set the exposure value to -1.4 and you'll have some sky. Undo anything else you set.

Then set the temp value to -22 and the sky will shift color.

When I finally got it in position I had the center node down into the trees about 1/2 way from the tree tops to the barn top and bottom line marking the end of the gradient just above the bottom of the window on the barn.

Joe

 

[Ysarex]

The other adjustments on the Basics tab: Contrast, Highlights

Would that be at -3

Hey Joe, sorry for the delay, I am back if you are still willing to give me the tutorial. Just let me know whenever is convenient for you, I am up to the last point that you had given me with the ALT white slider, it brought me to +25 for this particular picture.

Hi, I'm here but I'm leaving for a short time. Got to run an errand with the wife. It's 7:15 pm here right now. I should be back and will respond to this thread in under two hours. Some where between 8:30 and 9:00 pm I should be back. If you're still here we can do that.

Joe

Alright great! We shall continue then.

OK, first by the numbers: white balance, white and black clipping points. As I noted go ahead and click auto and let LR take it's crack at it. It will always raise the exposure value too high. Whatever it does, cut it in half.

You've done the white clipping point (and WB?). Black clipping point works just like the white one. Hold the alt key and this time the screen goes white. As you pull the black slider you'll see color come and go. Get to the point where the screen is completely white. That means you have no black in the photo. GET BLACK!! This is one of those rules. All rules have exceptions and you can break all the rules except probably this one. A good photo reaches black. So hold the alt key and pull the Black slider until you see some color start to show in the barn door right side. It will start showing blue -- push a little harder till a smidge of black appears.

Joe

Would that be at -34 in this particular instance?

Yes it would BUT -- BIG BUT: We'll re-evaluate the white and black clipping points as we go. Other adjustments we make will alter those and we'll re-tweak them back. We start by setting white and black clipping points and we finish by re-checking them and doing a final tweak as needed.

Next the Contrast, Highlights and Shadows values. These are more to taste and they are also influenced by other changes we make. Right now take the Highlights all the way down to -100, Shadows in the low 30s and Contrast in the mid teens. Still on the Basics tab raise the Clarity value to 20. Clarity is micro-contrast and you'll need to work back and forth between Clarity and Contrast. Recommendation: take it easy on Clarity.

Saturation for now leave alone. Vibrance doesn't belong there it's a special effect and should be placed under Effects and then never used.

Joe

Okay, I'm there.
Side question: When you said that about clarity, does that only apply to this photo, or are you recommending to always go easy on clarity?

Always go easy on Clarity. Micro-contrast can really help a photo but it gets ugly fast when it's overdone. It will halo and start throwing artifacts. So use but soft-pedal it. You find yourself setting Clarity above 50 it should raise a flag.

Joe

 

[Ysarex]

You turn the gradient tool off by clicking on the icon again -- think toggle with those tools.

Joe

 

[Ysarex]

When you have the gradient tool active note the options bar just below the icons. You see Mask: New Edit Brush.

You're going to add a second gradient by clicking on New and then dragging a gradient up over the grass. My node for this gradient is about 1/6th into the grass down from the fence and the top line stops between the barn door and barn window.

Set the exposure to -.8, Contrast to 20, Temp to 50 and Tint to 45. Note that we're using the Temp/Tint values to change the color just under the gradient.

Joe

 

[Ysarex]

This is why you're using LR. In the early years a raw converter allowed use to get a good overall conversion of the raw file but did not provide this kind of discreet local adjustment. This is the big change we've experienced in the last decade. The better raw converters are now giving us the ability to parametrically edit our raw files and make discreet local changes to tone response and color. That then often permits us to complete the edit we want to do entirely in the parametric editor -- big advantage.

Now go back to the Basics panel and check the white and black clipping points and reset them.

Joe

 

[Ysarex]

If you go back to the gradient tool you'll see two white dots on the screen representing the gradient nodes. You can click on either to activate and tweak that gradient.

In addition to the linear gradient we just used you also have a radial gradient and a free hand brush (the two icons on either side of the linear gradient). Between the three you can mask and isolate any region of you photo to make dicreet local changes. Take some time soon to explore the options for using those tools and the type of changes you can make with them. This is your real LR power.

Joe