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Technique PHOTO SCHOOL
Everyone has to start somewhere and in Photo School we look at the core skills every beginner needs. Thismonth, how to use Exposure Compensation, and Lightroom’s Radial Filter tool Camera class
Words & pictures by Kingsley Singleton
or darker. In aperture-priority only the shutter speed is affected, getting faster or slower, and in shutter-priority, the aperture changes, getting bigger or smaller. In manual mode it doesn’t function at all and the place where you’d see the exposure bar will likely change to a live metering of the light. n Exposure compensation in action The amount of exposure compensation is measured in EV. 1EV is one ‘stop’ of light, and the value changes in 1/3rd, 1/2 or full stops. So, say you were shooting in aperture-priority mode at f/8 with a shutter speed of 1/60sec. If youentered+1EVof exposure compensation you’d still be shooting at f/8, but the shutter speed would slow to 1/30sec. Entering -1EV would quicken it to 1/125sec. If you were in shutter-priority with a setting of 1/60sec and an aperture of f/8, setting +1EV or -1EV means the shutter speed remains at 1/60sec, but the aperture changes to f/5.6 or f/11, respectively. n Howmuch is toomuch? The amount of exposure compensation offered is limited, normally to +/-5EV. Usually, 1EV of exposure compensation is enough to correct a picture, but if you need more than the reach of the scale, switch to manual exposure where any shutter speed and aperture can be set to whatever values are required.
The Radial Filter tool (shortcut Shift+M) is probably the least-used of Lightroom’s Local Adjustment tools, but it’s very useful for highlighting the subjects of your shots. It creates a circular or elliptical shape to your adjustments, meaning that you can place your subject in a pool of light to accentuate them, or use the filter to darken the edges of the frame, again drawing the eye to the centre. You can also lighten the edges to create a faded look around the subject, while keeping the contrast on the focal point, whether it’s a person, part of a landscape, a city view or a still-life subject. Being a very flexible tool, the Radial Filter also allows you to control adjustments like Sharpness, Saturation and Noise Reduction. Its shape and position are highly controllable and you can add either Feather to its edges for a soft blend, or go for something harder edged. Here’s how it works... Software technique The Radial Filter tool ADOBE LIGHTROOM Entering a change to the exposure compensation will reveal an exposure bar in the viewfinder display, on the screen and/or on a smaller LCDmany DSLRs have. The image lightens or darkens on live view displays depending on if you enter positive or negative settings. The exposuremode changes the effect of exposure compensation. In auto or program (P), the shutter speed and aperture change to make the pic lighter Although it sounds like something a flasher would be required to pay after a court case, exposure compensation is, in fact, a very useful camera function. It allows you to bias the metered settings, making an image lighter or darker. The main reason to use exposure compensation is that, as good as they are, cameras still get stuff wrong and you may need to tweak settings to suit the scene you’re shooting; for example to brighten a subject so it looks white not grey or when shooting into the light; or to darken a sky so it’s not burnt out, or silhouette a subject. n Theway it works Exposure compensation is usually accessed from a button on the body of your camera or via an on- screen command. It is identified with a +/- symbol. The rear command wheel defaults to this on larger Canon bodies, and on ‘retro-styled’ cameras like the Fuji X-T1 or Nikon Df you’ll often find a dedicated dial.
TOP The scene as metered by the camera. MIDDLE The same scene but with +0.7 exposure compensation to brighten it. BOTTOM LEFT The live view screen shows the effect of using exposure compensation; the exposure bar giving the reading. BOTTOMRIGHT A top-plate LED displays the amount of exposure compensation set.
FINDING THE FILTER Once you’re in the Develop module, you’ll find the Radial Filter tool under the Histogram, and above the Basic tab, along with the Graduated Filter tool and others. Its shortcut is Shift+M. CONTROLLING THE SHAPE With the Radial Filter tool selected, click and drag over the image and you’ll draw an ellipse. Hold Shift as you drag and you’ll make a perfect circle. The handles on the filter can be used to change its shape and clicking the horizontal or vertical handles moves them together to stretch or thin the shape. Hold Alt as you drag to control just one of the handles at a time, or Shift to do them all at once. Drag the centre point to reposition the filter entirely The Feather slider controls the softness at the edge of the adjustment, so setting it high is a good idea if you want a natural looking blend.
SWITCHING FILTERS Like other Local Adjustment tools, each time you click New you’ll get a new Radial Filter, shown as a new pin on the image. You can swap between existing filters by clicking the pins; if you can’t see them, find Show Edit Pins under the main image preview.
INVERTEDMASKS The Invert Mask tick box switches the tool’s area of effect. With the box unticked, the effect is outside the filter, and here it’s been used in that way to add a vignette, reducing the Exposure and other settings to darken the area. When ticked, adjustments are placed within the shape you’ve drawn, so here it’s used to lighten and add definition to the subject’s face, increasing the exposure setting and also adding Clarity.
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Issue 19 | Photography News
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