Mike Harris
Technique Editor, Digital Camera World
Make the most of a rainy-day photo in Lightroom Classic
It’s a dark and dismal day down by the canal, and this image has been underexposed by as much as one stop, so we’re losing detail in the shadows and the overall image is flat. The good news is, it’s easy to rescue!
In Lightroom Classic, we’ll start with some global changes . Open the Basic Panel and push Exposure to +50 and Shadows to +25. Now we need to make some local changes, so we’ll select an Adjustment Brush and run it along the length of the towpath , then push
Highlights to 65 and Exposure to 0.25. With the same brush we can lighten the canal water, too, although we may need to reduce the Exposure setting slightly.
With a new Adjustment Brush, let’s pull out some more detail from the front of the canal boat – but watch out for image degradation as we lighten shadow areas.
Finally, the colours need a boost. Increasing the Vibrance slider (+40) in the Basic Panel will bring those mossy tree branches to life , as well as helping other areas of green within the image.
My day job is waxing lyrical about cameras as a technique editor for www.digitalcameraeworld.com, but at weekends you’ll probably find me shooting
various motorsport events across the country. Photography possesses a unique ability to enrich an existing passion. And while it’s unlikely I’ll ever straddle a 200bhp superbike and compete in the British Superbike Championship, my camera allows me to get closer to the high-octane action than most.
Motorsport photography is often considered one of the most difficult genres. But while it can take years to rack up the necessary hours to master landscapes and portraits, if you head to your local track and put in the hard graft, lap after lap, you can make great strides in a matter of weeks.
When it comes to choosing equipment for sports photos, it can be tempting to focus all of your attention on cameras that house super-slick AF systems and industry-leading burst shooting speeds – but nothing’s more important than a long lens with a versatile zoom range. If it gets you close enough to the action, is light enough to handhold for long periods of time and features some form of image stabilisation, any further features will be a luxury rather than a necessity.
I’m always accompanied by a Nikon D800, proving that an outdated AF system and sluggish burst speeds needn’t stand in your way. The advantage of this ageing DSLR is its 36.3MP sensor, so if my 80-400mm lens does come up short, I have pixels to spare when cropping during editing.
Long lenses don’t come cheap – but if you’re willing to explore the second-hand market, you can find one for much less than the standard price. MPB is the world’s largest digital photography gear resale platform: it’s the perfect place to find secondhand cameras and lenses, or to trade in old gear to fund new purchases.