Archive for the ‘Techniques’ Category
Posted on May 28, 2019, 10:38 pm, by QT Luong, under
Techniques.
This is the first of a possible series of posts where I explain the multiple steps and thought process that led me from initial impression to final image. At Whitmore Canyon Overlook, you face huge cliffs rising in front of you, rather than below you, like at most other Grand Canyon overlooks. My visit was […]
Posted on March 28, 2019, 11:51 pm, by QT Luong, under
Techniques.
Brightening an image in Lightroom with sliders looks like a straightforward task, yet there are two ways of doing it, and they can yield very different results, as illustrated with images and stepcharts. This framework is also used to examine the most useful Lightroom slider. Brightening an under-exposed image This image of the White Cliffs […]
Posted on March 21, 2019, 8:52 pm, by QT Luong, under
Techniques.
In this post, using images from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison for which I had described the location, I demonstrate two of the processing steps I use most frequently for high contrast scenes. Both consist of somehow counter-intuitive, but extremely simple and effective, opposite slider moves. Although this post is illustrated with Adobe Lightroom, […]
Posted on December 10, 2018, 11:04 pm, by QT Luong, under
Techniques.
Amongst the many new controls brought by digital processing, one of the simplest, and most often overlooked, is the possibility to change an image’s aspect ratio. One could do a lot of changes in the darkroom, but altering the aspect ratio by optical means was very difficult. Why would someone want to do that? When […]
Posted on September 23, 2018, 4:50 pm, by QT Luong, under
Techniques.
Summary: One of the photographer’s greatest fears is to lose a significant chunk of images from a big trip or event. In this long-form article, find out how a memory card failure caused a week of photographs to disappear, what I did to try to recover them via software, then physical data services, and the […]
Posted on August 20, 2018, 11:01 am, by QT Luong, under
Techniques.
Modern zoom lenses are quite amazing compared with what was available a few decades ago. A lens such that the Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS (reviewed here) offers a great combination of sharpness and versatility in trans-standard focal lengths, all in a relatively compact package – consistent with the appeal of their A7 series […]
Posted on June 10, 2018, 12:58 pm, by QT Luong, under
Techniques.
There is no denying that photos look great on a computer screen, because of the transmissive nature of it, like a slide or transparency. However, in an all-digital workflow, it is all too easy to produce images whose tones are too dark. Often, photographers who do not often make prints realize that their images are […]
Posted on June 3, 2018, 12:38 pm, by QT Luong, under
Techniques.
Despite a few contrarian voices, the overwhelming consensus is that the RAW format should be the choice for creative photography. A drawback is that RAW images look flat by design, so if you are shooting in RAW, you need to process the image to restore some of its brilliance. Unfortunately, when you are sitting at […]
Posted on June 21, 2017, 6:29 pm, by QT Luong, under
Techniques.
I have often been asked about the processing I apply to my digital images. For the first time, I will provide two examples. The first one exemplifies the light processing typical of most of my images, while the second one illustrates how just a few processing steps can transform a difficult capture. My processing tools […]
Posted on March 24, 2016, 11:29 am, by QT Luong, under
Techniques.
Last week, I posted three images of the Death Valley landmarks, the salt flats, sand dunes, and playas. I invited you to think about how those images, which somehow defy the conventional landscape photography wisdom of not shooting at midday, could work. In this post, I am providing my answer to the question. Most images […]
