Lightroom RAW Processing for an Idiot

[jrh]

Said idiot being me. Please bear with me as I have no idea what I am doing. My

VCR still has 12:00 flashing on its screen.

 

I have just shot my first few cards full of RAW images and imported them into

Lightroom. They look rubbish. I have never used any other RAW converter.

 

I was somehow expecting a dialog box to pop up and and give me options, but it

seems like Lightroom has dealt with my RAW images the same as my jpegs and

TIFFs. Am I missing something? Most disturbingly, the high contrast/backlit

areas of my shots have a pale blue halo around the edges. The shots are

generally just washed out. The jpegs I shot with the same camera/lens were

fine.

 

I've read the Martin Evening book on Lightroom, but its very quiet on the

subject of RAW conversion. I need a kind soul to tell me what I'm doing wrong.

 

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

 

Jonathan

[ellis_vener_photography]

To begin with, hat do you have set for preferences?

 

Raw processing is covered extensively in Evening's book: section 4 "Image

Processing", pages 111-224. that's more than 1/3rd of a 303 page book.

[jrh]

Perhaps I am thinking that the RAW conversion process is something separate from the image processing and my difficulty lies in this mis-perception. I always imagined that one first converted the RAW image and then edited the image.

 

I'll have another look through the book this evening when I get home from work.

[bryan_eamick]

Do you have a screen calibrator? I just had a problem with all of my CS3 products. When I imported photos, the photo looked like a funky negative. When I re calibrated my screen, the problem corrected itself. Just food for thought.

Bryan

[ellis_vener_photography]

raw conversion is image processing in Lightroom.

[tonybynum]

in LR you dont convert the image until you export it and even then the original raw file is never touched.

 

The issue is NOT with LR, it's with how youre use to seeing your images from the camera. the camera processor applies settings to your photos as per your direction, so, when you see the images on your lcd, or in other viewing software you see what the camera has produced, it could be what you saw and shot (color, light, etc), or it could be different.

 

The point is that it's you and your camera, not the LR program. LR does not use the in camera settings when you shoot raw. Sure, you saw the shot on the lcd and were okay with it because the camera processor is "processing" the image based on your settings, but LR does not keep those in camera settings, youre shooting raw. The images are what you captured, and sometimes, well most of the time, they need some levels a bit of contrast some color boosting, and sharpening, all can be done very very effectively and efficiently in LR.

[jrh]

I understand that the image editing is non-destructive in Lightroom and that the LCD image in my camera is essentially a jpeg created for previewing an image.

 

Does Lightroom apply any adjustments when importing into the developing module? For example, what sort of white balance will it apply? The Kelvin values for each image vary dramatically from 3400 to 6500, where does this value come from? I have also noticed that for every image the 'Brightness' slider has been shifted up to '+50'.

 

Have I missed a set-up/preferences dialog box at some stage where these values are pre-set?

[lars69]

Jonathan,

 

If you are new to RAW converting then I believe Lightroom can be slightly confusing.

 

In the good old days working with RAW was like you described. Basically the RAW converter opened the RAW file and converted it into a TIF/JPEG. Only adjustments here would be colour balance and maybe brightness/contrast. Image editing came after saving the file and opening it in another application.

Photoshop is like this, you open the RAW, convert it and then start working on it.

 

Lightrooms advantage is that is does everything in one go. The conversions step only happens when exporting the file.

 

So when you open the RAW it loads it into memory and you work on that copy. The way it displays at first is down to Lightrooms interpretation of the RAW. You then fiddle around with exposure and whitebalance until you like what you see. You then crop if you want to and export the image.

 

That is basically the workflow in a short summary.

 

The white balance number should have been saved by your camera depending on the conditions. Test setting your camera to a fixed white balance, eg sunlight, and take a few shots. In Lightroom all RAWs should now have the same number at the start.

 

As to why the exposure is +50, no clue.

 

Hope that helped,

 

Lars

[alan_olander1664878205]

The default setting for "Brightness" is 50 (that's not "Exposure", which is 0), and the "Contrast" default is 25. If you don't like these adjustments, develop a preset of your own. Lightroom can't read your in-camera settings except for white balance, so it makes it's own judgment. You probably wouldn't like the resulting image if there were no adjustments made, either. The defaults are just a starting point.

[jrh]

Thanks Lars, I think that's where a lot of my confusion has come from.

 

Does anyone know what could be causing the blue halo?

[mike_stemberg]

<i>"..the blue halo.."</i><br><br>

It's hard to visualize exactly what you mean by blue halo, but one possibility is: On the histogram window there are two symbols at the top on either side. The one on the right (if checked) will show all blown out highlights in scarlet red...and the other (if checked) would show all 'blocked shadows' in blue... ??

[jrh]

I realise that it's quite difficult to give a diagnosis without actually seeing a picture. Unfortunately I'm at work and not able to upload anything. I'll post one of the worse offenders when i get home this evening.

 

Thanks for all of the help so far.

 

J

[stephanie_b]

Hey, Jonathan. When you import into Lightroom, the only correction is the white balance as shot. From your post, it sounds like you are using auto white balance in camera. That is why you are seeing a variety of Kelvin temps. Lightroom does apply some defaults, as previously mentioned (ie contrast, brightness, etc.). All can be changed, white balance included. It appears to me that digital RAW in general needs a pretty good contrast boost on almost every photo. Just start playing around with the sliders until you get what you want. When you open up RAW in a lot of other programs you are not seeing the true RAW data, but an interpolation into jpeg or tiff based on the program's interpretation of what is needed. The great thing about Lightroom is that it allows YOU to make those decisions.

 

If you have a bunch of shots that you want to apply the same corrections to, select the first shot and then the rest you want to apply the same corrections to in the slider at the bottom of the develop module and click SYNC. A menu will pop up where you can select the corrections to apply to all the photos. This will save you some tweaking time.

 

The blue halo sounds like chromatic aberration. Near the bottom of the right side on the develop module is a slider to correct this.

 

I personally have a love/hate relationship with Lightroom. Love the control, love that it doesn't degrade the RAW file, but I have had my database corrupt a couple of times. There are a couple of bugs in Lightroom as well, one I have personally noticed is that you can't delete a file off your hard drive while it is selected by keyword. You can only delete while pics are selected in the folder.

 

Hope this helps. :-)

[stephanie_b]

Well, I suppose the delete thing is not a bug, but a minor annoyance to me and confusing to many.

[jrh]

Thanks, I'll try the chromatic aberration slider. But I'm a bit surprised that I would get this from an 'L' series lens (24-105L).

 

I think I do have the white balance turned to 'auto' on my camera so that may have answered a big question there.

 

Thanks again for the tip on batch processing.

 

J

[tonybynum]

dont be so sure about your "l" glass, i'm not knocking it, but you dont know what CA is until you see it and in LR you can. . .

 

It's more apparent in some shots than others. In the past, we mostly never really notice it, but now that it's easy to see, we notice it. I shoot the best glass made by nikon, and I'm still sometimes surprised at the CA in some shots. . .

[jrh]

OK, I've selected a bit of image from one of the offenders. The white balance is at 5200,

brightness 25 contrast 25. No other editing has been done. You'll see on the right edge a

bluish cash, while on the right it is reddish. Is this CA or is this something else?

 

Thanks,

 

J<div></div>

[stephanie_b]

I wouldn't be surprised either. Your lens may be awesome, but it is just that, a lens. Chromatic aberration can happen with any lens, it can be mitigated by better quality but no lens can produce perfection.

 

Here's a short and sweet article on CA (with examples). http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=chromatic+aberration