To dodge and burn is to paint with light and shadow. By doing this, we can add depth to photos. We can also use it to tame the light in certain areas of image, or change the emphasis of what people mostly notice in the image.

This is a follow up to the Adjustment Brush Basics in Photoshop tutorial, where a lot of people indicated they wanted a more in depth look at this adjustment tool

Currently, the adjustment brush is only found in the Public Beta Version of Photoshop

How to use the adjustment brush

Choose the Adjustment Brush for the toolbar.

Set the adjustment to Brightness contrast

Once to click on the image, or begin painting the tool is activated.

You will see a new Adjustment Layer with a mask.
(This is the same adjustment layer if you added it from the layers panel, its just a simpler way of getting there).

Turn the brightness all the way up so we can easily see the adjustments. Don’t worry, you can reduce this later if you prefer a more subtle adjustment.

Brush settings

Let’s look at brush settings, including pen pressure for a Wacom, Xencelabs or Microsoft Surface type stylus. (The tutorials still works with a mouse, just not the pen pressure settings).

If you click the icon to the left of Opacity, pen pressure controls brush size.

If you click the icon to the right of the opacity you can control opacity with pen pressure.

This enables you to blend in the adjustments because you can shade like a pencil, adding more density by pressing harder.

If you want more advanced settings choose Window>Brush Settings

Shape Dynamics changes size, Transfer controls opacity with pen pressure.

For dodge and burn (painting with shadow and highlights) I like to use pen pressure for opacity and turn off size.

One more adjustment, lower the flow to around 7%

How to Dodge and Burn

Burn is to darken shadow areas and to Dodge is to brighten the highlight areas, or add highlights, I think of this as adding light.

You will lighten the areas facing the light source

You will darken the areas that are shaded from the light source

Tip for Brush Size, Control+Option+Drag your cursor to change brush size and softness. (Alt+Dight Drag on Windows). Or use the square bracket keys  [ and ] keys change brush size, add the Shift key to change softness.

Dodging and Burning

Lets start with Dodge, or lighten.

Paint the areas you want to lighten.

Here is the image with the light areas painted (you can see it in action on the video at the top).

Hiding the Adjustment layer, shows you the before image.

Burning the image (Darken)

Let’s paint some shadows.

Click the background

With the Brightness / Contrast still selected and the Adjustment brush the selected tool,

Click to add a new adjustment layer

Turn the brightness all the way down

Paint in the shadow areas.

Reusing your masks

Lets create a new Exposure adjustment, just to show how easy it is to reuse your work.

Choose exposure

As soon as you click on the image a new Adjustment layer is created.

We want the same brush settings we used on the highlight area, but don’t want to have to paint it again.

Here is a trick. Hold down Alt/Option and drag your highlight  Mask into the Exposure layer mask

The mask will be duplicated and added to the exposure.

If we hide the highlight area, we will see that the exposure can now be used to control the effect of the brushwork.

If you wanted to tint the color, such as warm uo the highlights, do the same thing, use a Photo filter of hue saturation adjustment.

Trick for straight lines

It can take a steady hand and some patience, to paint these columns at Petra.

As soon as you begin dragging down with your brush, hold the Shift key and it will constain the movements in the direction you are moving the brush.

This makes it easy to get the highlights on one side of the pillar.

Repeat for the other side of the pillars with a darkened adjustment to darken them

To make the shadows blend a bit more, drop the flow to 2%

Paint over the shadows to blend them in more.

When you are done, you can adjust the opacity of the adjustment layers to tone down the adjustments a bit, for a more natural result,

I hope you found this tutorial useful.

Check out another of our 700 free Photoshop tutorials here at the cafe

Great to see you here at the CAFE

Colin

PS: Get over $200 worth of valuable Photoshop Add ons, brushes, presets, cheat sheets and ebooks abolulutely free, right here. 

The post Dodge and Burn Photos in Photoshop with the Adjustment Brush appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

There is a new feature in Photoshop, which is only available in the public beta of Photoshop 2024 at the time of this writing. How to get the Photoshop beta

The adjustment brush basically brings an easier way to paint on your image and do things like brighten the areas you are painting non-destructively.

It will apply an adjustment layer and a mask to your image. This doesn’t offer any new functionality over what you can currently do with an adjustment layer and painting on the adjustment mask with a brush. It just makes it quicker and easier to do. This tool will be popular with less experienced Photoshop users, and also useful for a super quick fix for more experienced users if they choose to use this method.

With that said, let me show you how to use the Adjustment brush on a practical example of  a photo. Then, at the end, I’ll tell you exactly how it works.

How to Use the Adjustment Brush Tool in Photoshop

Click and hold on the brush tool to reveal the adjustment brush.

Click on Adjustments at the top of the interface.

There are 6 different options, we will use Brightness/Contrast

Then you just paint on your image to apply the adjustment wherever you paint. Really simple.

Use the  [ and ] bracket keys to change the size of the brush. You can change the settings of the adjustment in the Properties panel.

Maybe we want to remove the adjustment from the person in the photo.
Switch to the minus brush. (X key)

Its hard to see where you have painted sometimes.

Click the Display mask button in the Floating toolbar. (You will also notice the – and + bush options are there too).

Now you can see the mask

with the – brush, paint away from the person

Now the adjustment is applied just where we want it.

Notice the mask in the layers panel, I’ll explain that in a moment, let’s finish the image first.

Now I want to darken some areas.

You cannot both lighten and darken on the same adjustment, we need to create an additional Brightness/Contrast adjustment.

To add another of the same adjustment we are currently working on, we need to click a different layer first.

As soon as you start to paint, you will get a second Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer

This time, make it darker

Paint on the sky and edges to darken those areas of the photo.

Let’s add a different Adjustment.

When adding a different adjustment, you don’t have to select a different layer.

Choose Vobrance

As soon as you start painting, a new layer will be created automatically.

Paint on the person, to pop their colors.

Make adjustments to control the amount of vibrance.

And here is the photo. If you want, you can change the opacity of the different layers  to reduce the effects of each adjustment if you choose.

If you want to increase the effects, duplicate the layers you want to increase.

If you want to Learn How to use Layer Masks in Photoshop, see this tutorial. 

What does the Adjustment Brush do?

Let me show you what’s happening and how this tool works, along with accessing more settings and options.

As soon as you begin to paint a new adjustment layer will be created in the layers panel with a black mask. The black mask hides the adjustment.

The adjustment brush sets the foreground color to white. When you paint on a black mask with white, it will show the contents of that layer (the brightness adjustment) wherever you paint. This is how the adjustment brush works.

You can change the settings of the adjustment layer in the properties panel, like any adjustment layer.

This will change the brightness of the areas you are painting. (Or other settings, depending on the type of adjustment).

If you have painted too much and want to undo some areas, change the brush to the subtract brush. the – brush.
notice as you change the brush, it changes the foreground color between black and white.

You can also switch between + and – by tapping the X key on the keyboard.

If you want to build up the effects and blend them better, use a lower setting on the flow.

If you choose the brush icon, you can change the brush and use any brush you like,

If you are using a pressure sensitive pen tablet such as a Wacom, Xense labs or Microsoft Surface, you can change the pen pressure settings.

Choose Window>Brush Settings

Here you can change things like opacity and size to be affected by how hard you press with your pen.

Just set the Control to Pen Pressure. Obviously, if you are using a mouse, the Pen Pressure option isn’t available.

I hope you found this tutorial useful. Let me know if you would like to see me create a more in depth tutorial on dodging and burning with the Photoshop  Adjustment Brush. Drop a comment and let me know. We got enough interest, click the link for said tutorial.

As always, if you got any value out of this, please share with your friends and tell them about the cafe, either in Real Life or on social media by clicking the share buttons at the top of this page.

Great to see you here at the CAFE

Colin

PS: Get over $200 worth of valuable Photoshop Add ons, brushes, presets, cheat sheets and ebooks abolulutely free, right here. 

The post New Adjustment Brush in Photoshop appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

Have you ever wondered how to use the Color grading tool inside Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw? Here is your complete guide to all the settings in the Color Grade tool in Lightroom and ACR.

This isn’t a tutorial on color theory, it is a tutorial on how to get the best color grading results using this tool and it covers 2 important sliders that are often overlooked.

You can find the color Grade tool in Lightroom (v10 2021 and newer) under the develop module. I’ll start with an explination of the settings, then we will apply them to 3 images to show how to work highlights, shadows and add a cinematic color grade to photos.

You will also find it under Filter>Camera RAW in Photoshop 2021 and newer.

If you want a larger view of the color wheels, click the Shadows, midtone or highlights buttons.

Shadow, Highlight and Midtones

Here I created a gray and color scale so you can see the effects of the adjustments. This part is best viewed in the video at the top.

As we move the shadows, notice how it affectsa the left side of the grayscale bar as well as the blacks in the image.

The highlights shifts the left side of the scale and the bright parts of the image.

Midtones affects the mids in the image, see the middle of the grayscale bar.

Hue, Saturation and Luminance

Drag around the circle (wheel) to change the color (Hue).
Drag towards the edges of the wheel to increase saturation (amount of color). Drag towards center to reduce the saturation.
Drag the Luminance slider to increase/decrease brightness.

Tips for using Color Grade

Hold down Ctrl/Cmd to constrain adjustments to Hue only

Shift key constrains to Saturation only without changing hue

The Alt/Option key allows you to make fine adjustments as it slows down your movements.

Balance

The balance slider will favor a color and apply the tint to all the ranges in the image

Balance to the left will favor the Shadow tone (If you have changes it, otherwise it will have no effect).

Move Balance to the right to favor the color on the Highlight wheel

If blending is in the middle, it favors the midtone wheel. The midtones are also influenced by the shadow and highlight colors.

Blending

The blending slider will separate the colors in the regions, or blend then together.

Move the Blending slider to the left and the colors are more separated and contained to their respective regions.

As the slider is pushed to the right, the colors are now distributed through the other tones and blend with each other more.

Color Grading Highlights (Blending use case)

Remember this is a Color grade, not a color correction. You should do color color correction first, grading is to add some style.

Let’s color grade the highlights on this photo I shot in Maui Hawaii.

Add a little pink to the highlights

Add a little blue to the shadows (a very common color grade move).

See how the color is present in the highlight/shadows regions, but it’s very separated and doesn’t blend much.

As we move the blending to the right, the colors blend together much better. See the highlights on the water.

Experiment with the Balance as well

Color Grading Shadows

Here is a photo, that has lots of shadows.

It can look nice to add a little greenish tint to the shadows to add a bit of style

Or we could add a little blue.

(Optional) Sometimes when you add some color in the shadows and midtones, you will need to reduce the saturation a little bit to keep skin tones more natural.

Cinematic color

Lets make a cinematic color grade

here is the starting photo

The most common look is the Teal and orange, or blue and orange color grade, also known as the Blockbuster look. This is achieved by adding teal or blue to shadows and orange to highlights.

Notice the Luminance in the shadows and highlights. I have boosted the darks in the shadows and increased brightness in highlights to add contrast punch.

Let’s do another vintage period color grade, that I enjoy.

Add some greens into the shadows.

Adding yellow to the highlights adds a nice look.

Usually this is accompanied by reducing the saturation somewhat

Hopefully this tutorial has given you some insight into this very powerful tool in Lightroom and camera raw.

If you are getting value from my tutorials, please tell your friends about PhotoshopCAFE and share them on social media.

Great to see you here at the CAFE

Colin

The post Ultimate Guide to ACR Lightroom Color Grading Tool appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

Adobe Photoshop mini masterclass on Select and Mask. The video and written steps explain how every tool in Select and Mask work, so you can fix all the common problems we get with cutouts. Eliminate Jaggies, blockies, smudgies and halos.

Part 1/2 Hair and Fur is here.

When you make selections to cut out images, often you will have problems with the edges. You’ll see halos, jaggies, blockies, smudgies and other problems. (I just coined the phrases Smudgies and blockies, you’ll know them when you see them.) Photoshop contains a number of tools to address these edge problems. Many people aren’t using all these tools because they often don’t know what each tool does. That’s my goal here, to explain these tools and demonstrate when to use them. I wanted to make a comprehensive walk-through of every feature in Select and Mask and how it works. Here is Part 2 of this tutorial, dealing with Smooth Edges. Part 1 is here

This tutorial is made in Photoshop 2024. It will work with Photoshop CC and newer.

We will use a car because it has nice smooth hard edges. We will focus on these types of edges in this tutorial. Often I will use the Pen tool to get a very accurate selection on this kind of task if I’m going high resolution or print. See how to use Photoshop Pen Tool here

For a faster and easier way to cut out these objects, please watch the first 3 steps of this tutorial.

Select and Mask can be used on all selections, no matter what tool you use to make the selection.

Lets make a selection

Choose the Object Selection or Quick Selection tool

Look for Select Subject at the top toolbar

Choose Cloud for a better quality selection

Tip: Cloud gives the best quality, but you have to be connected to the internet for it to work. Otherwise use device.

You can change the preferences to choose Cloud all the time

Photoshop Settings>Image Processing>Select Subject Processing, choose Cloud.

You will now see a selection

Notice an extra bit got selected at the back

Use Object selection

Hold down Alt/Option for the subtract option and draw around the selection boundaries you want to remove

Photoshop will remove that portion and snap to the object.

Finish making the selection off you need to. I have many tutorials on making selections, there are many ways to do it using the magic tools, quick mask, pen tool, color range, marquee tools and more. I have tutorials on those here as well as a course on Photoshop Selection Secrets.

If you used the steps above or a different selection tool, let’s refine the edges now.

Choose Select and Mask (If it doesn’t show, choose a selection tool for the toolbox on the left of Photoshop).

Select and Mask Workspace Tools.

Let’s look at the tools on the left.

Refine Tool is for soft and semi transparent areas. We covered this in part 1 of this tutorial

Then we have the brush tool.

The brush tool lets us paint wherever we like without any algorithm working. It’s fully manual

If we paint with the brush tool we can add areas to the selection.

Hold down Alt/Option to remove areas. This tool allows us the freedom to manually choose edges and areas that got missed.

In this case, we are painting away the extra bit on the back. We are in Black and White viewing mode which lets us view the mask. (This was covered in part 1).

The object selection tool is the same Object Selection in Photoshop and uses ai to detect edges and objects

We can add the car in the garage with a single click when using the object selection in Select and Mask.

The Lasso tool uses a lasso to add or remove from the selection, Like the brush, but it’s selection based.

Make a selection and that areas shows

Hold Alt/Option and make a selection to remove from that area.

We don’t have to fill when using the lasso tool, it does it automatically.

If we use the polygon Lasso tool, we can edit with straight lines. This is a very useful option.

Using Global Refinements in Select and Mask

Let’s explore the global refinements. These tools are designed to help with smooth edges such as skin or hard surface objects.

Look at the Jaggie edge

Adjust smooth to smoothen out the bumpy edge

How Global Refinements Work

Let’s look at Photoshop for a second, so I can show you what’s happening with the Global Refinement tools. Don’t follow these steps, but just observe for a second. (You can watch it on the video at the top).

Here is a rough edge, we are looking direct at the mask. (Photoshop layer Masks for beginners here)

If we choose Filter>Blur, we can soften the edge of the mask,

This is exactly what the feather slider does.

The edge is soft and removed the bumps and unevenness,  but we need to make it a sharp edge.

Choose Ctrl/Cmd+L for Levels. (we are adjusting the mask, but viewing the image, so you can see the result, don’t worry, you don’t have to do this).

As we pull the triangles together it sharpens the edge, This is the same as using the contrast slider in Select and Mask.

Before Select and Mask, we used to use blur and Levels all the time, because that way the only way to do it.

Back to Select and Mask

Add some feather to soften the edge and even it out

Add contrast to make the edge sharper.

Shift Edge

There is another setting that allows you to expand or shrink the edge. This lets use show more of the edge, or choke out the edge fringes.

Move it to the right to expand and widen the edge.

Move it to the left to contract the edge.

How Shift Edge works (demonstration, you don’t have to do this).

If we go back to that mask in Photoshop

Remember when we added a feather and then pulled the triangle together in Levels to sharpen that edge?

If we move all the triangles in levels to the right it contracts the edge

Move all the triangles to the left to expand the edge of the selection.

Shifting Edges in Select and Mask

Back to select and Mask

Be careful when shifting the edges in Select and Mask, because this affects the entire image.

Often its useful to Turn on decontaminate colors because this can remove the edge halos by itself.

Only after you apply decontaminate colors. move the Shift edge a very minimum amount.

This is the fastest and easiest way to fix the edges.

There are a number of ways to fix edges and I have made several tutorials here at PhotoshopCAFE. Here is another way to clean up the edges of selections in Photoshop 

Choose New Layer with Layer Mask on “output”

Click OK to apply the changes.

The layer open with a layer mask in Photoshop.

If you paint on the Layer mask with a black brush, you can remove areas of the cutout.

If you paint on the Layer mask with a white brush, you can add areas of the cutout.

This way you can use brushes to finish the cutout and get it absolutely prefect.

There are other tools and many other techniques to working with cut outs and edges in Photoshop. My course covers many of them, and there are lots of free tutorials here at the CAFE

I hope this 2-part tutorial has helped you understand the Select and Mask tool in Photoshop better.

Thanks

Colin

If you found this useful, please tell your friends about photoshopCAFE and follow me on social media for Photoshop tips and inspiration.

The post Select and Mask in Photoshop free masterclass Pt 2 fix Smooth edges appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

When you make selections to cut out images, often you will have problems with the edges. You’ll see halos, jaggies, blockies, smudgies and other problems. (I just coined the phrases Smudgies and blockies, you’ll know them when you see them.) Photoshop contains a number of tools to address these edge problems. Many people aren’t using all these tools because they often don’t know what each tool does. That’s my goal here, to explain these tools and demonstrate when to use them. I wanted to make a comprehensive walk-through of every feature in Select and Mask and how it works. Here is Part 1 of this tutorial, dealing with soft edges like hair and fur.  Part 2 is here

Select and Mask Ultimate Guide, Part 2 – Global Refinements and Smooth edges

This tutorial is made in Photoshop 2024. It will work with Photoshop CC and newer.

We will be using all the options in the next 2 tutorials. Be aware that you don’t have to use all the tools on every selection, I just want to explain each so you know what to do when you encounter jaggies, blockies, smudgies and other problems on the edges.

We need to start by making a selection.

I have created many tutorials and even a course on making selections. I’ll list just a few here. You can search or browse for many more here at PhotoshopCAFE

Using the Pen Tool

3 Ways to fix edges on cutouts

3 ways to cut out anything in Photoshop

For this tutorial, we will use the fastest way to get a decent initial selection.

Choose the Object selection tool

Under the dropdown at Select subject, you’ll see two options

Device: Processes on your computer and is the fastest option, doesn’t require internet connection.

Cloud: Uploads to Adobe server farm and takes advantange of massive computational power. Rwequires active internet connection and takes longer.

choose Cloud.

Click Select Subject (This uses Adobe Sensei ai to make the selection. Different ai than Firefly which powers Generative ai)

Sensei does not use up generative credits.

The selection will be made.

Note: You can use any selection method you like to get to this point of the pipeline, we just used Select and Mask because it’s fast.
I’m using a simple background for this image. It’s not because the Photoshop tools are bad, or I’m not able to work on difficult images, we are doing a simple one, to make the learning uncluttered and easy to follow. I have other tutorials on making challenging selections if that is the task you are facing right now.

Choose Select and Mask

We are now in the Select and Mask Workspace  and this tutorial will mainly focus on the suite of tools available here.

Notice we have a Quick selection tool at the top of the toolbar on the left. We also have select subject available here. Some people prefer to open the image in Select and Mask and then make the selections.
I prefer to make the selections first (like we did here).  I have 2 reasons. 1. It’s faster, Photoshop lags when making selections in Select and Mask. 2. I like to have all the Photoshop tools available for making my initial selection.

If you don’t see the cutout, adjust the Transparency slider in the view mode, if you are in Onion Skin view.

Viewing the Mask in Select and Mask

In the view, there are lots of ways to view the edges.

The main ones I use are:  Onion skin  (O key) This lets you adjust the transparency of the background as a guide

On White (T key) So you can see the dark edges on light areas

On Black (A key) So you can see the light edges on dark backgrounds

Black and White (K key) this is the same as viewing the mask or an alpha channel. It lets you easily see problems on the mask.

There are 2 options in refine mode. Each uses a different algorithm.

Color aware is usually best for simple backgrounds. Object aware is usually best for complex backgrounds.

How does Edge Detection Work?

Turn on Show Edge to see how the tool works. (I don’t often turn this on when working, only if I need to visualize something).

Move the radius slider so that we have an edge to look at.

The areas inside the edge are kept and the are outside the edge will be hidden.

Here I increased the size of the edge to 82, so you can see what’s happening.

The edge is the transition area, or the area where Photoshop decides what belongs to the subject and what should be background.

A thin edge will produce a smoother selection, a wider edge is good for soft areas like hair, fur, smoke etc, because it’s wide enough to cover the transition areas.

What do we do when there is a combination of smooth and soft edges, like a person? One sized edge won’t work for all.

This is what the Refine tool does

Change the edge radius to 1, or 0.

Paint around the hair wit the refine tool. Make sure to paint on the middle and include the edges of the both subject and background. Make sure you cover all the edges of the hair.

If we turn on Show Edges, you can see what happened.

Notice the edges are thin (I set radius to 1). But now we have a wider edge around the hair because we painted it with the refine brush.

The algorithm in Photoshop will try and mask the hair in this edge.

There is a faster way to do this step.

If you click the Refine Hair button, notice Photoshop will add a wider edge around the hair for you. You may still have to touch it up with the refine brush, but this gives you a head start.

If you zoom in on the smooth parts like the arms, notice the edge isn’t very good.

We can fix this using Global Refinement tools.

However, if you use global refinements tools when you have hair, it messes with the edges.

see how even moving 1 slider gives us helmet hair.

Don’t make any global refinements yet, I’ll show you how to handle that.

Under Output, choose New Layer with Layer Mask.

Click ok

Name this new layer “Soft”.

BTW, this selection is good enough for many low resolution purposes like social media and online use where people aren’t zooming in close to the image.

Combining soft and smooth edges

Let’s look at how to refine the smooth edges like the arms without messing up the hair selection.

Hide “soft” layer

Choose the bottom layer

Once again choose Select subject and click on Select and mask, like we did at the beginning.

We are viewing on black i view.

See the edge is uneven and rough.

If we move smooth, it will reduce the ridges and valleys.
(We jumpdeeper into Global refinements in part 2 of this tutorial ).

The edge is blurry.

Use Contrast to sharpen the edge.

If the edge looks too sharp and jaggy, add a small amount of feather. (These tools will all be explained properly in part 2)

Now we have made the smooth edges look better. Don’t even worry about what the hair edges look like in this pass.

Choose new layer with layer mask.

Click ok

Name the new Layer Hard

Now we have 2 layers

All we need to do now is mix the best of each. This has a challenge because we want to use the existing masks because they contain the selections.

We could apply the masks, but that would be destructive, here is a better way…

Choose the soft Layer and Press Ctrl/Cmd+G to put it in a group.

We can now add a layer mask to the group. Brilliant!  Now we can mask the layer without ruining the cutout mask we worked so hard to make.

Choose the brush tool (B)

Choose Black as the foreground color. (Black hides pixels when applied to a mask – White reveals pixels).

Click on the on the hair layer group mask “soft”. as shown below.

paint away the edge of the arm

Now we want to add the edge of the arm from the hard layer.

Click on the Hard layer and press Ctrl/Cmd+G to make a group.

When you add the mask to the new group, hold down the alt/Option key. This will make a black mask.

The black mask hides everything on the layer

Choose white as the foreground color. White will show the areas we paint on

Paint on the arm to show the better edge from the hard layer

We have now combined the 2 different refinements.

Decontaminate colors

Decontaminate colors is a good way to blend in colored edges.

Make a selection around the lion. I used the select subject again.

Click select and mask

See the bad edges

Choose Refine Hair.

If you don’t see it, click on the refine brush.

Its a good start, but there are black edges.

Click Decontaminate colors and it takes the surrounding colors and adds them to the edges.

If it’s too strong, change the amount to suit your tastes.

I hope you found this tutorial useful!

Continue to part 2

Part 2 on smooth edges and the Global Refinements in depth, is here

Here is my course on Photoshop Selection Secrets

Thanks

Colin

If you found this useful, please tell your friends about photoshopCAFE and follow me on social media for Photoshop tips and inspiration.

The post How to use Select and Mask in Photoshop. Refine edges on every cutout appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

Continuing on my deep dive series into the different settings in Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW (The adjustments on both are identical). This time I break down Texture, Clarity and Dehaze. They aren’t the same. I’ll explain what each does, provide the best times to use each on your photos and then we will wrap up by applying all 3 to an image selectively using masks. For previous tutorials in this series, check out Contrast | Shadow/Highlight vs Black/White

Before we dive in, I want to quickly define 2 terms.

Contrast and Frequency in images

Let’s start with contrast. Contrast=The difference between the lightest and darkest pixels in an image.

On the left side of this photo, you will see the darkest and the lightest pixels.

Because there is a large distance between them (on the grayscale), this is known as high contrast.

Look at the right side of the same photo. There aren’t any real blacks.

The difference between the darkest and lightest part is less. This makes a low contrast image.

Here is an example of full contrast, blacks and whites exist in this image. It looks punchy.

An example of a low contrast image. No true blacks or whites. The image appears softer. There isn’t any right and wrong here. Use what works best of each photo.

Frequency. The details in an image

Max Wendt from Adobe said it the best I’ve heard it. High frequency is the details, mid frequency is the features, while low frequency are the areas.

All that means, areas of fine detail are known as high frequency and areas that have little detail are known as low frequency. Most images contain all the different frequencies.

Finding the Texture, Contrast and Dehaze sliders

Both Camera Raw in Photoshop and all the Lightrooms have these 3 sliders.

In LIghtroom Classic they are under the presence portion of the adjustments panel

In Photoshop, choose filter>Camera RAW

You will find them under the Effects panel. When you are in masks in Lightroom and ACR, they are called Effects.

Clarity

Time to demonstrate the 3 sliders and explain them.

I will use this chart on all 3 of the adjustments so you can see how it effects different parts of an image. This isn’r a standard chart, I made it myself for testing purposes.

This is the chart with no adjustments for your reference.

When we increase the clarity, you will notice the image looks sharper and more punchy.

Clarity adjusts the contrast in the midtones of the image (Grays). It doesn’t really affect blacks ands whites as much as midtones. It also adjusts the colors and makes them appear muddy. It adds a grunge to the image at higher settings.

Because of this, it makes details pop.

How clarity works.

Clarity works in a similar way as unsharp mask in Photoshop.

Choose Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp mask

When cranked up too high you can clearly see whats happening. It adds a halo around edges and details. This gives the appearance of sharpening.

Clarity is useful for bringing out details in an image.

Here you can see the details on Chrystal’s shirt as well as the raygun. But be careful, this effect is not flattering on skin. We will address this at the end where we use a brush to apply clarity.

When Clarity first came out, it was widely used as an cartoonish effect known as the Grunge look or the fake HDR look in an attempt to emulate the work of photographer Dave Hill. (Trend followers might not have been aware of Dave Hill by the time it became mainstream, poor Dave).

While it still has it’s place for certain effects (I have a client that loves it, and forces me to use it often under protest), I would suggest against overusing this look unless you are after this particular effect. (I show how to do it on the video at the top, but essentially you crank Clarity, highlights and shadows to the maximum setting).

Another place where Clarity is great is with landscape photos.

Clarity can really bring out details in things like rocks.

Dehaze

Dehaze works mostly on Low frequency areas on an image. It was designed to cut through fog, smog and glare. Dehaze boosts low frequency contrast and saturates the colors.

Notice how it doesn’t really affect the light parts of the image when added. But it really boosts the contrast in the rest of the image. This works well for things like skies as well as cutting through glare. It’s like cleaning a dirty window.

If used in the opposite direction, dehaze can be used to add fog.

Dehaze works well on areas like the waterfall that is losing detail due to the mist.

Remember, the primary goal here isn’t to fix a photo, but to demonstrate what these tools do. (I say this because, someone will say “the waterfall looked better before” and they might be right according to their subjective tastes. while others will prefer the “after” effect. It doesn’t matter, the point is to observe what these tools do so you can use them on totally different images.. your images. I look forward to the day when I don’t have to preface these obvious things, but photographers…).

Here you can see Dehaze affects the washed out area the most. While the whole image is affected, its not as much as the area of low contrast.

If we push the dehaze to the left, it will actually introduce haze.

Dehaze on skies

I love to use dehaze on skies and clouds.

See how it pops the details on the clouds.

But be aware, dehaze also boosts saturation

If we reduce saturation afterwards, we can enjoy the detail of Dehaze without over saturating the colors.

Texture

The newest of the three Presence sliders is Texture. This is actually my choice in most cases and has largely replaced clarity in my personal workflow.

Texture Increases medium frequency contrast and doesn’t affect color too much (because its higher frequency than sharpening, it doesn’t exaggerate noise as much,

See how the details are showing better, but the color isn’t affected.

Texture was originally created by Adobe as a way to soften skin without removing the fine details like pores.

A subtle amount of negative texture can quickly make skin look great without making it look fake. Go too far and it will become plastic looking.

Originally designed to reduce texture, Adobe wondered what would happen if they allowed it to increase texture. What they go was an excellent sharpening effect that pops the textures in images.

Here is an image with texture applied. It brings out the gravel and texture of the road.

Texture works similar to sharpening, but sharpening is applied to finer details than texture.

Here the image has sharpening applied but no texture. See the finer details. This also enhances noise grain if any is present in the image.

The ideal mix is a bit of sharpening and a bit of texture.

Applying Texture, Clarity and Dehaze locally with a Mask brush.

Now for the holy grail. This is how I like to use these 3 adjustments.

Here is the before image. Remember, the goal is to pop the details as a demonstration.

Lets create a mask brush

Click on the mask icon

choose brush

Apply the brush to the low contrast area.

Increase the Dehaze.

Lower the saturation so we are affecting the details and not the color.

Continue to paint on the areas of the image that you want to cut through haze.

Add a second mask for Clarity.

Click> Create New Mask and choose brush

Add some clarity.

Paint over the bamboo and the leaves on the left to pop the details. You cam also paint over some of the areas we app;ied dehaze and see how combining these reveals a lot of detail. (The video at the top of the page shows this very well).

Add a third brush.

Increase texture

Paint over the ground and details in the leaves on the left. Even add a little texture to the model.

Texture is my go to tool for a lot of detail, but also combine it with sharpening.

Here is the image before adjustments

And here is is after only applying the 3 tools (and a lowering of saturation on the dehaze).

This tutorial was to demonstrate Texture, Clarity and dehaze, You would use other tools on your image as well of course. “What about contrast?”  you may ask. That is covered in it’s own tutorial here. Contrast | and Shadow/Highlight vs Black/White

If you found this tutorial interesting, then maybe you are ready for my comprehensive course on Lightroom Classic or Camera Raw. I also recently released a tutorial on Masks in Lightroom and Camera RAW here.

For the next few days you can use this code ACRLR15 to save 15% of these valuable master classes/courses. (You won’t see the fake 97% discounts here, because we never artificially inflate the prices of our courses, they have been some of the best value courses available for 20 years).

Thanks for checking this out

Colin

The post Texture, Clarity and Dehaze in Lightroom + ACR explained. The Ultimate Comparision appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

This tutorial focuses on the Tone adjustments in Lightroom and ACR. These are the most important settings to begin editing your images.

This simple tutorial shows you an effective way to prepare your photos for further enhancement. It gives you a solid base of quality image details. (In many cases this is all you will need).

This tutorial works with Lightroom Classic, Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW

A quick tip to start.

If you are using Lightroom, drag the develop panel to the left to widern the panel and elongate the sliders. See the red )original length) thia gives u almost 2x the amount of control.

Recover details

Here is the original image showing a loss of detail in the bight areas in the sky and on the left of the image.

We will use the Tone panel and this is the order I use it.

First, we want to reveal as much detail in the highlights and shadows as we need.

Drag the highlight slider to the left to reveal details in the sky. (Dehaze also reveals the details, but it also increases contrast, so it shouldn’t be used yet.)

If you still need more details, (depends on the image) reduce the exposure slightly.

I like to slightly reduce the contrast slider to open up more detail (See this tutorial on Contrast to see why)

Lets reveal detail in the shadows (lower right of the image)

Slide the Shadow slider to the right.

Use the Shadow and the highlight sliders as recovery sliders. Always more the Shadows to the right

And always push the highlights to the left.

Note: The amount you move these will vary from image to image and from camera to camera. These are shot on a drone with low dynamic range files, so they are pushed more aggressively that I would need to move them on camera like the Sony A1 for example.

Now we have opened up the details in the image. Next we want to add some punch.

The Whites and Blacks are used to add the contrast back into the image with minimum loss of details.

Lets do the whites first.

Hold down the Alt/Option key as you move the whites. You will see clipping indications on the screen. This lets us know if we have gone too far and lost highlight details.

Move the whites to the right to clean up milky areas in the highlights. This image is already bright, so it doesn’t need much.

Move the blacks to the left to add punch to the shadows. (Hold down alt/Option to see clipping too).

At this point, you can go on and use other tools including curves and Presence. This tutorial is focusing on the tone adjustments and I hope this helps you get to a good start point in getting better edits!

Check out this companion tutorial on Contrast vs Whites/Blacks that fits right in with this tutorial.

Great to see you at the CAFE

Colin

The post Tone Panel, most important settings in Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

This is one of those fundamental skills in Photoshop. I’m making this tutorial because some things have changed in photoshop and I want to show the newest and best way to achieve the blending or fading effect. I’m also offering a way to have more flexibility and some different options to blend all the edges, not just one edge.

Here I our Photo on a layer, with a pattern in the background that we will fade into. (How to combine images here If you don’t know how to get to this point.)

Add a layer mask on the top layer

Press the D key to reset colors

Choose the Gradient tool or hit the G key

Choose foreground to background and linear for the options as shown. Mode normal, opacity 100%

Drag on the image to apply the gradient.

Black hides the layer and white shows. Because it’s a gradient, you get a smooth blend.

The new gradients allow you to drag the points to change them.

On white so you can see better. (I created a white layer)

What if you want to fade the top too?

In the past, I would have said grab a black to transparent gradient. This still works, but the following gives more options for you

With your Layer selected, Press Ctrl/Cmd+G

This puts your layer in a group

You can add Masks to groups

Add a layer mask

Apply the gradient at the top.

Notice it doesn’t affect the gradient at the bottom

If you want more, select the top group (Its already selected unless you clicked somewhere else)

Press Ctrl/Cmd+G to put the group inside another group.

Add a mask, apply a gradient on the left.

Repeat for the right side. As you can see, you can keep nesting Layer groups and adding masks to each one. This is handy to know.

Another option is to choose. a radial Gradient instead.

Now you can do everything in one gradient. Here is a tutorial on using the radial gradient for blending layers, it shows the basics and goes into more depth

I hope you found this tutorial useful!

Thanks

Colin

The post How to Fade an image in Photoshop appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

We are working on Photoshop 2024 on the Mac. It works the same on Windows.

The first part is (somewhat) common knowledge, but I quickly build from there into new territory. I started with the knowledge that you can apply art effects to images if you use a 40% density with Generative Fill. I then ran with that piece of info and experimented with a number of things and came up with the tutorial you see here. Don’t worry if you don’t understand what I just said, it will be explained.

Here is an important explanation, then we will do step-by-step, but this will help people who have difficulties getting the same result.

5 Steps to Generating Art from Photos

When we generate these effects, these are the 5  steps we will take every time. It’s actually very fast and easy once you have done it a couple of times. (This is a reference, I will walk you through it). We will start with a photo.

1. Press Q for Quick mask (Takes us into Quick Mask Mode)

2. Choose a foreground color (a shade of gray)

3. Press Alt+Backspace – Option+Delete on Mac (Fills the canvas with the Foreground color)

4. Press Q key once again (Takes us out of Quick mask and turns the Mask into a selection, You won’t see the selection because it’s filled with less than 50% gray)

5. Choose Generate and enter text into the prompt

Ok, hold on one second. This is where some people got stuck.

In this tutorial, I will be setting the Brightness in the color picker to set the density (transparency of mask selection)

The number depends on a Photoshop setting.

Double click the Quick mask tool. What is your Quick Mask option set to?

If you are set to Color Indicates: Masked Areas then enter the same amount as the desired density. You know like normal. If you want 40% density, enter 40 int the B box. If you want 7%, enter 7. (If in doubt, use this option, it’s the easiest)

BUT If you are set to Color Indicates: Selected Areas then enter the opposite amount from 100 as the desired density. For example is you want 40% Density, enter 60  (100-60=40). If you want 7% density, enter 93 (100-93=7). If you wanted 20% density, enter 80 (100-80=20) (100-B=Density).
Sorry if some people got confused. Hopefully this clears it up. Not everyone has the Mask options set the same, so we have to have this explanation. So depending on your preferences, choose the correct number.

I have my preference set to Color Indicates: Selected Areas in this tutorial. So either change your preference now and follow along exactly. Or make the adjustments to the B (Brightness) number. Chart below to help.

Let’s demonstrate the effect now.

Creating a Water Color Effect to a photo with Photoshop AI

Starting with a photo

Press the Q key, or click on Quick mask to enter quick mask mode. (In quick mask you can paint or fill with color. These will be converted to selections when we exit Quick Mask).

Now we want to set the density for the mask (transparency). We want to start with 40% (The number everyone uses for this effect)

Let’s choose a Foreground color

Click on the foreground color picker

Choose the lightness from 0-100. The color doesn’t matter because masks don’t support color. Only tones.

See the 3 HSB (Hue, Saturation, Brightness) radial buttons? We will enter our number into the B field. This is the Brightness and its all we care about.

In this case I am entering 60.

This will give me 60% brightness, but 40% density because my Quick Mask mode is set to selected. (If yours is set to Masked, then just enter the desired density as the same Brightness amount (the opposite). If this doesn’t make sense, read the part above labeled “ok hold on one second…”

Click ok

Now fill the quick mask with the foreground color

Press Alt/Option+Backspace, You will see a pink color overlaying (this is the mask)

Press Q once again, or click Quick Mask to convert the mask to a selection and leave Quick mask.

You might see a warning saying selection won’t show because there is nothing selected over 50%. This is expencted. You won’t see the marching Ants selection, but the selection is active and everything is selected at 40% density (transparency).

Now, click the Generative Fill button on the taskbar

In the field, enter Watercolor into the prompt.

You will see a result, that looks like water color and takes on the shape and form of your photo.  (We are about to make it look a whole lot better.. hold on)

Ok this is where most people stop with converting photos to art in Generative fill and getting just ok results.

Lets see what I have discovered that makes it a whole lot better.

Lets start with changing the density (This isn’t even the good bit yet.. stay with me)

Much Better results with lower density

I wondered, why does everyone who does this stick to 40%? Surely there must be other numbers that work too? And sure there are, here is the result of my first discovery (more coming as this tut progresses).

Let’s do these steps again

1. Press Q for Quick mask (Takes us into Quick Mask Mode)

2. Choose a foreground color (a shade of gray)

This time we only want 7% density: enter 93% (or 7% depending on your mask setting)

3. Press Alt+Backspace – Option+Delete on Mac (Fills the canvas with the Foreground color)

4. Press Q key once again (Takes us out of Quick mask and turns the Mask into a selection, You won’t see the selection because it’s filled with less than 50% gray)

5. Choose Generate and enter watercolor into the prompt

Now look at this much better result. (This still isn’t even the good bit)

What I have discovered here is the density changes the result

The lower the density, the closer the result is to the original image. The Higher the density, the more the result will stray from the original.

THIS IS A HIDDEN AMOUNT SLIDER (The Density) But when you see why in a second, the lights will come on.

Here I performed the same 5 steps, but changed the text prompt to watercolor instead of watercolor and got an oil painted result.

We also tried it with Pencil Sketch for another art effect, this is at 30% density.

Here I used the same Pencil sketch prompt, but at 10% density. Experiment with different densities for different results.

Ok, if you stuck with me this far (And didn’t assume you already knew this and bounced) get ready for a huge payoff.

It struck me that Photoshop uses Firefly as the engine that runs Generative fill. So therefore, it seems Generative Fill must understand the Firefly settings? Let’s see.

Go to Firefly.adobe.com

Click on Text to Image

Just to get something going to populate the interface, I entered Street and Firefly generated these images. (Firefly is now on Model Version 2 and vastly improved image generation – No V2 isn’t in Photoshop yet).

Look at the settings on the right side of the interface, this is the magic.

Notice a strength slider? We are emulating this by changing the density back in Photoshop.

Scroll down and see more settings.

Let look at Movements (These are art styles or movements such as Art Deco,  Art Nouveau (predecessor to Art Deco), Steampunk, cyberpunk etc)

Ok, lets go back to Photoshop.

Open a Photo of a street.

Q for Quick mask

Choose foreground color. Choose 40% density. Either 60 or 40 into your B box depending on your Quick masks settings

Click ok

Fill with foreground color Alt/Option+Backspace

Press Q to convert to selection

Remember the movements in Firefly?

Enter Art Deco

Now our photo is converted to exactly the same scene, but in an art deco style! Mind blown!

Let’s try a different one. Steampunk.

Yes! This works beautifully too.

So, all the movements work. Lets try a different category.

Back in Firefly I see a concepts tab

Ohh futuristic looks interesting. Lets try that

I entered Futuristic in the prompt in Photoshop and Generative fill gave me exactly what I wanted.

Just for fun I opened another of my images I shot a while back

Entering Futuristic into the Prompt transformed this exact scene into a futuristic diner concept. Ok, it’s far from perfect. But start to think about the possibilites!

I encourage you to experiment with this and see what you can do. Go to Firefly for inspiration and see what you can generate.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful!

If you want to learn more about Generative Fill, check out my course here

Great to see you here at the CAFE

Colin

The post Revealing hidden features in Photoshop Generative Fill to convert photos to art and more appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

(AKA Colin’s Gear Guide)

Click here to buyl the products in one place from B&H Photo.

(I will earn a commission from these links, so I appreciate your support of the CAFE.)

I reviewed a lot of stuff in 2023. What is the best? Check it out here.

2023 is almost gone, but what isn’t, is all the exciting tech and gear we need to make our creative stuff.

I wanted to share all my favorite products of the year. Kind of a Colin Smith’s creative tech roundup kind of thing. There are some that I included last year, that are in here again, Why? Because some are so good

Now, the criteria for this isn’t just a bunch of things I’ve seen other people use. This is tech so good, I actually own and use everyday (where applicable, I mean, I don’t use a gimbal or 360 camera every day. But when I do, these is the ones I prefer.). There were some products that didn’t make the grade, which I returned or they are gathering dust somewhere. When I replace a piece of gear, I usually research and test many options before adopting it. Full disclosure, some of these were given to me and others I purchased myself. If it’s not the best of class I’m not including it, even if it was given to me, so this isn’t a sponsored post, it’s my unbiased opinion. (I’ll add a little asterisk * by the products given to me, so that you know). Most of these I have reviewed throughout this year and I’ll link to those reviews.

This is purely my opinion and based on my hands-on experience. Yes, there will be “what about xyz products?” and these might not be included because I haven’t had hands on experience with them, so I won’t make blind recommendations. I think you get the idea, so please don’t fill up the comments with “what about” posts 🙂

Alright, let’s go!

Best Laptop

Apple 2023 16″ MacBook Pro M3 MAX 64Gb

The 16″ MacBook Pro is a great laptop. It features a large clear screen and lots of ports including a SD card reader. The Apple silicon chip generates very little heat and is super power efficient. Even the earlier M1 and M2 chips still hold up as far as speed goes. With Apple, there is always balance of power and budget and I recommend this configuration as maximizing power without going completely overboard with price. This is a higher end setup, but you will also be happy with a lower tier for less money. Also consider the M2 Mac Studio for a desktop machine.

Review. | Photoshop M1 speed test

Mirrorless Camera (Video)

Sony A7SIII

I went ahead and purchased the Sony A1, the only reason I didn’t include it here, is the price, its not the range of everyone.

I would take a look at the A74 which I would have purchased if I didn’t have the A1.

But for video, the Sony A7sIII is a clear choice, and the camera many have been waiting a long time for. It’s a full frame, low light beast. Shoots H.264 and H.265 and capable of 10-bit video. It can shoot up to 120F/s at 4k and can even output uncompressed RAW through its HDMI. The in body stabilization is amazing, no limit on recording time and has dual slots that can take either SD or CFExpress cards (on both slots). Auto focus is super fast and accurate and it support various log modes. Very importantly for solo shooters, it has a proper articulating flip out screen, which has touch. This is everything we were hoping for and the footage is beautiful at 15 stops of dynamic range. I’m in love with the footage on this camera.

► Buy it here

REVIEW here

Dongle/Dock

Hyperdrive Thunderbolt 4 Dock

I have one of these on my desktop right now. When you have a computer with limited ports (looking at you Apple) you have the option to live that dongle life, or you can use a dock that has it all. The best part is the dock can stay attached to all your peripherals and connect to your MacBook pro or another Thunderbolt 4 equipped computer through a single TB4 cable.

The Thunderbolt 4 Dock is designed for enterprise businesses, PC gamers and video editors looking for an advanced connectivity solution that delivers maximum bandwidth and epic display resolutions. It features two Thunderbolt 4 Downstream ports capable of 40Gbps data transfers and 32G PCIe transfers, and one Thunderbolt 4 Upstream port that provides up to 96W Power Delivery charging for your host device.

Additionally, enjoy gaming and video editing like never before with dual 6K 60Hz display support through HDMI or Thunderbolt, an ultra-fast 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet connection, and high-resolution audio with the ability to choose between lifelike 8K 60Hz resolution or 4K 120Hz resolution to ensure faster rendering with less blur.

Get it here

Portable Hard Drive

Samsung 4TB T7 Shield Portable SSD

These tiny drives are ultra fast and small. I have found these drives very reliable and they don’t require separate power plugs. They are also great value for money.

Get it here

Card Reader

Sony MRW-G2 CFExpress (Type A) Card Reader

This card reader can read up to 10 Gb/s and comes with USB C and USB A cables. It works with CF Express (A)  and SD cards. It’s fast and a solid build.

Get it here

If you just need an inexpensive USB-C SD and Micro SD reader, look no further than

UNI USB-C SD / MicroSD Card Reader 

BEST GIMBAL

DJI RS3 Pro

The newest DJI Ronin gimbal, now called RS3 is very similar to previous RS2. The main update is auto locking motors. The arms are carbon Fiber, the battery detaches to charge without having to be attached. It can be used in briefcase mode, it has locking axes (makes it easy to balance) carries a heavier payload and breaks down into a very small footprint. The inbuilt screen provides access to enough functionality, that you can use the gimbal without having to attach a smartphone for quick shoots.  If you get the pro bundle (I highly recommend you do) you get a mechanical focus to work on any lens and the amazing Raven Eye. Raven eye connects to the app wirelessly and provides remote control over the gimbal movement including a responsive mimic and automatic face tracking. This is now my favorite gimbal, hands down. This is how you get cinematic smooth footage while walking or moving the camera around a subject.

Buy it here

See my setup video for the full Pro bundle 

Best Mobile Phone Gimbal

Insta 360 Flow

The Insta360 Flow is a handheld, pocket-sized gimbal that is designed to stabilize your smartphone camera while you are on the go. The device features a three-axis gimbal that provides stability on the pan, tilt, and roll axis, ensuring that your footage remains smooth and steady, even if you are moving around. This makes it perfect for capturing footage while walking, running, or engaging in other activities where it may be difficult to hold your phone steady.

One of the standout features of the Insta360 Flow is its portability. The device is small enough to fit in your pocket, making it easy to carry with you wherever you go. This means that you always have access to stable footage, even if you don’t have a bulky camera or tripod with you. It also features Deep track, an ai powered smart tracking, that follows the subject, even if they disappear behind obstacles for a few seconds.

See my review here

Tiny Camera

Check out the amazing Insta 360 GO3.

Action camera with a flip up screen that transforms into a tiny remote camera. It’s amazing all the things you can do with this, It has a magnetic mounting system and this camera can go where other camera can’t. Allowing for unique shots.

See review here

Best 360 Camera

Insta360 ONE X3*

The quality of this little 360 camera is amazing, and with the app you can recompose video in post to make it look like the camera is moving around. Miss nothing by capturing the entire scene at once. To boot, it has the best stabilization out of any camera I tested including the goPro.

See review

Buy it here

Best Smartphone

Google Pixel 8 pro*

REVIEW

As far as innovation, the Google Pixel 8 pro wins this year. The screen is gorgeous, the 3 cameras are best in class. All 3 shoot RAW with up to 50mp. Also features an updated Google Tensor chip. Comes with 7 years of updates and new features. This phone also features under-screen fingerprint sensor and a punch-hole camera (no notch).

Microphone

Sure SM7B

This thing is industry standard for podcasts and desktop recording for a reason. The sound quality and rugged reliability is legendary. All my tutorials are recorded with this mic. I also use a Scarlett solo for the USB interface. Because this is a dynamic mic and not a condenser, it may need a little boost, so I use a Cloudlifter.

On camera mics

Rode Wireless GO II

The wireless go is an amazing mic. It’s a belt pack with the microphone built into the transmitter. It’s really fast and easy to set up and the built-in mic is very clear with great signal to noise ratio. You can also plug in a lav mic and use it like a traditional lav set. The range is also very good. Rode has made it even better with the GO II, which features 2 transmitters and a single receiver, so you can mic up 2 people for interviews. There are new features, such as the ability to record directly into a transmitter and save the recording internally. Recently Rode updated their app to offer even more features. It’s worth checking out the Wireless PRO, which I would consider, but I haven’t reviewed it. 

REVIEW HERE 

Review of the new accessories here

Photo Software

Adobe Photoshop 2024

Do I really need to explain why Photoshop is the best image editing software? It’s the industry standard for a reason. Review

Adobe Lightroom Classic 13 (2024)

Lightroom is the best tool for working with lots of photos. Use it to organize your photos, edit them and deliver in many ways. I have always been a fan of the quality edits I can make to my photos in Lightroom and it handles panoramas and HDR better than just about anything out there. It works with 3rd party plugins so you can extend its functionality. Review

Best Music for your Videos

Epidemic Sound, the right songs, the right license at the right price. need I say more? You can download the entire song, or stems.

Get it here

Graphics Tablet

Wacom Intuos Pro M*

Wacom is head and shoulders above all others when it comes to pressure sensitive input from a stylus. If you have ever used a Wacom tablet, you will realize these is a reason it’s what almost all the pros use. The feel is the closest you will get to pencil on paper, with no lag and lightweight pen that doesn’t need batteries. The latest Intuos Pro now supports 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity, which allows even the lightest touch to register and not turn into a dotted line (as almost everything else does). It has built in Bluetooth or USB-C connectivity, so you can choose how to connect. I find the medium to be the “goldilocks” in sizes. It’s large enough to provide the precision and real-estate for drawing and not too large as to hog your desk space. For retouchers the Wacom tablet is a necessary tool, not an accessory. I sure couldn’t create the imagery I do without one and the latest release is worth the upgrade with the Pro pen2, metal back and high level of sensitivity. review

get it here

Color Management

X-Rite Color checker Passport photo 2*

For perfect color, you need a reliable source with known colors to calibrate your photos. Take a shot with the passport in frame,  create a color profile that works in Lightroom or ACR and all your photos are looking good with lifelike color

Buy here

X-Rite Color checker Passport video*

You need to calibrate your video too and this is the solution.

Buy here

X-Rite Color checker XL*

If you are serious about color management, you probably already have an X-Rite color checker. This card enables you to have known colors when you shoot. This enables you to dial in correct colors when you are editing the color of your photos or video. There was a problem with the color checker though. If you are flying a drone or using 360 Cameras, the chart was a little small to get a good reading sometimes. Enter the XL (For Extra Large). As an Xrite Coloratti, I was involved in testing the XL and providing real-world feedback. Not only was it amazing for drone work, but I love it in the studio. I use this to calibrate my cameras, Its nice and large, has true blacks, whites and gray tones as well as skin tone and primaries. The larger size enables me to double it up as a take-off pad for my drone, bonus! see it here

Best Monitor

BenQ 32″ SW321C Photographers IPS Monitor.*

This monitor is very pleasant to look at with extreme care given to color accuracy and color management. It supports 99% Adobe RGB. It comes with a puck to change color modes as needed. I can go between Adobe RGB, sRGB and Rec.709 in an instant. It comes with a hood to protect it from glare and color contamination. The stand allows for adjustment of height and angle, as well as rotation. This is the monitor sitting right in front of me most days.

Get it here

Best Pro Monitor on a Budget

BenQ PD2706UA

This monitor has a crisp clear 4K display. It also comes with some great features live KVM mode and an articulating arm. You can quickly adjust the height, angle and even flip between vertical and horizontal displays quickly.  Check out my full review in this little beauty. This is currently my 2nd monitor on my desktop for daily use.

Review

The Best Drone

DJI Mavic 3 Classic

It’s going to take a lot to beat the Mavic 3. Why? This little drone is amazing. It’s the drone I’ve always wanted. It’s portable and easy to travel with and has great range and battery life. This in itself isn’t enough though. I really need the sharpest high resolution photos and video and the onboard Hasselblad camera brings this. The Classic provides the same quality as the 3 Pro with a single camera for a more affordable price.

Review

Mavic 3 Classic Review

Get it here

Smaller Drone

DJI MINI 4 pro

I don’t have a mini 4 pro, but I love the mini 3 pro, see my review here

Wireless Charging

Apple Magsafe Duo wireless charging.

This 3 in one wireless charger I recommended last year broke. I replaced it with this Apple one which folds up into a small footprint and charges quickly and reliably. Be warned though, this charger doesn’t come with a charging brick, so you will have to shell out extra on tip of this already expensive piece of gear.

Get it here

Screen Calibrartion

Calibrate Display Plus*

This is the best device for calibrating your monitor for accurate color. The Display plus now supports a wider color gamut and can also calibrate HDR monitors.

BEST CONSTANT LIGHTS

Luxli Timpani 1×1 RGB LED Light Panel (2-Light Travel Kit)

I have recently been turned onto these lights. I shot my ebike review with them, if you want to quickly see the quality.

What I love about them, They are bright and consistent. You can adjust the color temp to match existing lights, or go into RGB mode and dial in almost any color you like. They are sturdy and well built. Many light panel have weak yokes, but not these. They come configured as a convenient kit that includes a sturdy travel bag that will protect them for years to come.

PS, I currently use a Gitzo tripod as well as Siri and Vanguard.

My favorite bags right now are Think Tank Airport and Hex Cinema Backpack.

Ok, that’s it for now. If there is a category that I have excluded, drop a comment and I’ll see what I can do to expand this gear guide.

Thanks for checking this out.

Great to see you here at the CAFE!

Colin

Here is a link to buy all the products in one place from B&H Photo.

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