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Popping An Image In Camera Raw
I'm having trouble remembering how to do a tutorial on here so I'll just fake it as best I can!
I saw this technique for processing RAW images in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) that looked really interesting so I gave it a try on a couple of different images.
1. To get started, you open the RAW image in ACR & then pump up the "fill light" slider all the way to the right - somewhere between 75-98on the sliding scale, depending on the image. It will look really washed out at this point - but don't panic!
2. Next, take the "black" slider and start scooting it to the right until all the colors and lines begin to pop. I've found that it can end up anywhere between half the amount of the fill light slider all the way up to just below the fill light slider depending on the image. You will see something that almost looks like an HDR image if you get the right mix.
3. You'll probably then have to adjust the contrast & saturation levels because some of these can really get out of hand after adding the black at high levels - but do it slowly and continue to play with the fill light and black sliders as you do to see what combination works best.
4. This technique seems to work best on images with lots of bright colors - if the image has a lot of midtones or grays it's probably not going to work well.
Here's my beginning image:
