Old Paria

[aliciaf35]

I just started using Lightroom and I like editing pictures to correct exposure, but sometimes I am afraid of going to far - I don't want my images to be "cartoonish" or take away from the natural beauty of the landscape. I had a lot of trouble with the sun lighting up this mountain. Is there something I could do that would bring out the blue sky? What is good about this picture and what can I improve? Is there something in the Exif settings that could have helped the shot?


Camera: Nikon D3000
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

[Doug Sundseth]

Your problem here is dynamic range. Your camera can't get nicely saturated colors across the same range of brightness your eye can.

You really have three choices:

1) You can use multiple exposures and merge in post to reveal more color in both shadows and highlights. (HDR/Tonemapping)

2) You can selectively brighten or darken parts of the image in post to get the range you want. (You can start to get artifacts in your image if you do this too aggressively, but it often works well.)

3) Use can use a graduated neutral-density filter to reduce the amount of light from the brightest part of the image so you can expose for the shadows without blowing out the sky. These filters have straight edges between their light and dark parts,so if your horizon isn't pretty straight they can sometimes give you unpleasant effects near the horizon. With the right subject, though, they can work very well.

[Krusty79]

Also when you shoot closer to sunrise or sunset, the light is not as harsh and there is less dynamic range to contend with. Sometimes you can get some cool colors in the clouds at those times of day. You still might have to take some of the steps Doug described, but it should be easier to overcome at those times of the day.

[aliciaf35]

Thanks for the advice! My husband runs a tight schedule when we travel so he does not always plan for the best lighting We were at Paria around 11:00am and the sun was amazingly bright! Doug, can I lighten or darken selectively with Lightroom? I downloaded a trial before buying and I love it, but I am learning to work it through trial and error. Thanks again!

[Doug Sundseth]

LR can absolutely do targeted adjustments. The gradient tool will work well for much landscape work and the targeted adjustment brush will give you a bit more control over where you place your adjustments. (The icons are in the Develop module, on the bar above the main panels.)

I'd recommend that you take a look at KelbyTV.com, specifically at Matt Kloskowski's "Lightroom Killer Tips" video podcast, if you continue to use LR seriously.