Michael Lloyd
08-01-2009, 09:25 AM
If you shoot RAW format (and you should) and you use ACR 5.0 (Adobe Camera Raw) you have some pretty nice tools available for image editing. I try to do 95% of my editing in ACR. Doing so speeds my workflow up exponentially. Occasionally I'll shoot an image and wish I had used my Graduated Neutral Density filter. Thanks to Adobe, there is another option. I'm on the road at the moment and all I have to use for an example is what I shot yesterday. The image that I used as an example is not very good but it suited this post. I'll post the original first, then the screenshot, then the final image.
The GND filter is easy to use. The screenshot shows that I actually applied two GND's to the image. It doesn't show the "ball colors" so I'll explain them. To apply a GND filter you click the Graduated Neutral Density icon at the top of the ACR window. It's at the far right. Select the location on the image where you want to begin, hold the left mouse button down and drag the filter window up or down. The starting point is the brightest point and the end is the darkest. The "bright end" of the "stick" will have a green ball on it and the "dark end" will have a red ball on it. In the image below I started at the bottom and dragged the filter up. I used two filters to even out the exposure. Each filter has it's own settings.
I could probably do a better job of explaining this but I think the real trick to learning how to use the GND filter supplied in ACR is to use it.
(Just curious, does this tutorial give me an all expenses paid 2010 Galapagos trip :D I'm just askin :D )
The GND filter is easy to use. The screenshot shows that I actually applied two GND's to the image. It doesn't show the "ball colors" so I'll explain them. To apply a GND filter you click the Graduated Neutral Density icon at the top of the ACR window. It's at the far right. Select the location on the image where you want to begin, hold the left mouse button down and drag the filter window up or down. The starting point is the brightest point and the end is the darkest. The "bright end" of the "stick" will have a green ball on it and the "dark end" will have a red ball on it. In the image below I started at the bottom and dragged the filter up. I used two filters to even out the exposure. Each filter has it's own settings.
I could probably do a better job of explaining this but I think the real trick to learning how to use the GND filter supplied in ACR is to use it.
(Just curious, does this tutorial give me an all expenses paid 2010 Galapagos trip :D I'm just askin :D )