Digital Darkroom

Terms to Know

Aspect Ratio-the proportion of the width of the image to the height of a 2D image

Clipping-the intensity of the light falls outside of what can be recorded by the camera and there is a loss of detail.

Color Profile-the data for a digital device, such as a printer or monitor, which describes its gamut, or range of colors. Used to match the gamut from one device to another.

Exif Data-information stored by the camera in the file.

Gamut-range of colors

Histogram- a graphic representation of the tones in an image. A spike of data on the left side indicates underexposure, on the right overexposure.

Neutral Value-RGB values are equal or gray

Non-destructive Editing-adjust the image without overwriting the original image data. Instructions are written to a sidecar file that tells the software how to interpret the image.

White Balance-the setting that adjusts for the color temperature of the light and that will make a white object appear white or a gray object a neutral value

Workflow-the tasks to be performed and the order of those tasks. When working with Lightroom to optimize the appearance of your photos, the order of the steps makes a difference.

Lightroom Workflow:

  1. Lens corrections. Rotate, crop and straighten.
  2. Transform-Use auto to straighten architecture or horizon lines.
  3. Crop. Keep the lock on to maintain aspect ratio.
  4. Set white balance.
  5. Read the histogram to set exposure. Most images should have the widest possible dynamic range, meaning that there should be data across the entire histogram.
    a. Exposure slider-use to adjust the overall tonality
    b. Set black point-shift double click.
    c. Set white point-shift double click.
    d. Use shadows slider to brighten mid tones.
  6. Adjust clarity (mid tone contrast)
  7. Adjust vibrance.
  8. Use saturation with care: +10 at most
  9. Sharpen-amount at least 50

Lightroom Resource: Lightroom CC – Create Stunning Images using the Basic Panel

Other Lightroom Tutorials by Julieanne Kost