No Photoshop Editing in Lightroom 4

A recent article on dpreview.com was about some of the new editing tools in the new Adobe Lightroom. I was aware of these things but haven’t had the time to really try them out.

The updated tools were first released in Lightroom 4 and will be incorporated into Adobe Camera Raw 7 in the new version of Photoshop. The beauty of using these tools is that they allow the adjustment of images “non-destructively”, which means that you can always go back and change it.

A recent presentation at the Jefferson County Photography Club about using tone mapping techniques to create a “pseudo-HDR” effect got me thinking about how far one could go in balancing out the tones in a high contrast situation.

The following shot was very high contrast with a view out a window on a sunny day. Although I had bracketed this shot two stops under and two stops over, I wanted to see if I could get a reasonable tonal balance using only the image that was the default metered exposure. This task was somewhat more complicated because the camera original was a .JPG file as opposed to my usual RAW file. But that’s another story.

The image has some detail at the extremes, but the outside is still overexposed and the interior is under exposed. Using the tools in Lightroom, however, I was able to balance these out nicely.

Having seen the value of the new tone adjustment tools, I decided to take it further so the next step was to straighten out the vertical lines that were a bit skewed due to the camera angle.

Finally, I converted the image to black and white, which is optional in this case but Lightroom has a good tool for this purpose.

Although I don’t think I would ever eliminate Photoshop from my workflow, I think I will be using Lightroom more and more for what I will call “pre-processing”.

For the record, the shot was captured with a Panasonic GH2 Micro 4/3 camera with a 14mm f/2.5 prime lens (28mm equivalent in 35mm).

More Cyanotypes

I  had good sunlight the other morning so I exposed a couple more cyanotypes from negatives I generated the day before when it was cloudy.

The first is from an image I captured last March of an old church ruin in Kabletown, WV.

Church Ruin, Kabletown, WV (Scanned Cyanotype)

The negative was printed on Pictorico OHC transparency film on my Epson 3800 and then exposed to the sunlight for 10 minutes.

Here is what the rig looks like on the bench on the front porch:

The second print was a shot of a sculpture/fountain that is at the front of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The sculpture is sprayed by water and the effect a mix of fantasy and sensuous.

"Splash" (Scanned Cyanotype)

For this the negative was exposed to sunlight for about eight minutes.

I have been thinking about setting up some kind of UV light so I can expose these prints at any time regardless of the weather. But there’s something neat about doing it the old fashioned way.

Cyanotype Fun

I’ve been dabbling in what is referred to “alternative processes” and I have succeeded in making a couple of cyanotype prints.

On one level it’s quite simple, but to get a really good print requires some care. I thought I would describe the process by showing one result, which is which is my first reasonably successful effort.

Here is the original digital image, captured in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. a few months ago:

Since cyanotype printing is a contact printing process – in other words requires a negative the same size as the print – a negative had to be made from the digital file by printing on clear film. In this case, I used Pictorico OHC (overhead projector film.) Here is the file from which the digital negative was printed. Note that the images is flipped so when it is placed over the paper, the printed side is down in tight contact with the paper.

Once I had the negative, it was time to prepare the paper. The cyanotype paper emulsion is hand coated on the paper. The digital negative is then contact printed by exposure to an ultraviolet light source. About the best UV source available is the sun! So after about three minutes of exposure bright sunlight on a clear early winter day, I had an image. The image is already “developed” on the paper from exposure. To finish, the print is only washed in plain water to wash away the unused emulsion.

And here is a scan of the final print:

If nothing else, it’s an interesting departure from the high-tech processes of digital imaging. I have no intention of giving up my digital camera, but this kind of process creates a different kind of image that can be quite elegant in its own way.

Paper Testing With the 3800

I’m back to where I was a few months ago testing different papers to see which will give me the best results with the new printer.

The results with the Advanced Black and White driver are really stunning with Museo Silver Rag and Epson Velvet Fine Art papers.

Hanemuhle Photo Rag works much better with the 3800 than with the 1800. I never bothered to get a custom profile for the 1800 and Photo Rag and it yielded an excessively warm-tone print. With the 3800 ABW driver Photo. Rag comes out neutral with very good blacks.

However, I keep coming back to Museo Silver Rag for the black and white exhibit prints. It is even better with the 3800 ABW driver than it was on the 1800 with a custom profile, and that is saying something.

I think I will have to bite the bullet and spend the money on this paper.

The jury is still out for color. Photo Rag has yielded some nice prints but I also like Epson Velvet Fine Art and Museo Portfolio Rag. I’m still testing.

Epson 3800 First Impressions

I’ve had my new Epson Stylus Pro 3800 for about ten days and I am well impressed so far.

I especially like the Advanced Black and White driver, which performs as advertised delivering very neutral black and white prints.

Besides that I am impressed by the printer’s consistency in color across different papers.