Adobe Camera Raw for Digital Photographers Only

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