The Magazine for Photographers. How Much RAM? Color Temperature

Transcription

1 Pixology The Magazine for Photographers March 2014 How Much RAM? Color Temperature

2 Pixology The Magazine for Photographers CONTENTS 4 Going Backward 9 The Hand Tool How Much RAM? Step by Step: Subtle Color Color Temperature: RAW versus JPEG Risk versus Reward 34

3 From the Editor It seems to me that the time spent focusing on a hobby never (I hope) feels like time wasted. I never feel, for example, that the considerable amount of time I spend on my work is anything but time well spent. I love my work, and I love the thought that my efforts might help photographers make the most of their craft. As we transition this month from winter into spring (at least in the northern hemisphere), the notion of spring cleaning crosses my mind. I suppose that might explain some of the topics I chose to address in this issue of Pixology magazine. I often hear photographers talking perhaps complaining about the considerable time that must be spent organizing and optimizing their photographic images. Hopefully some of the articles in this issue will help you make the most of that time, so you can spend more time with your camera. As always, I welcome your feedback and thoughts via at tim@timgrey.com. Thank you, Tim Grey Editor 3

4 Going Backward Updating Metadata for Older Images By Tim Grey Chances are you have at least a basic workflow in place for managing your digital photos. That might include the use of star ratings, for example, or maybe keywords or other metadata updates aimed at making it easier for you to find the photos you need when you need them. But there s also a good chance that the system you have in place now isn t the same system you had in place when you first started accumulating digital photos. Perhaps when you first got started with a digital camera or got started scanning film captures you didn t really have a system at all other than to make use of a folder structure 4

5 for your photos. Perhaps over the years you ve also made changes to the approach you take. For example, you may have been using color labels to identify favorite images earlier in your workflow, transitioning more recently to the use of star ratings. There s isn t a single right approach to managing photos that makes sense for all photographers. But once you have a system in place, it is important to be consistent. And if you decide to make a change to your workflow (or to finally implement a workflow after ignoring this aspect of photography for a while), it can be incredibly helpful to take the time to go back and update metadata for older images. While it can take a bit of time and effort to go back and review the potentially large number of photos that have never been processed based on your current workflow, the effort can pay off. For example, when you want to locate some favorite images to put to use in a project, filtering your entire catalog of photos based on star rating won t be especially effective if in the process you re excluding every photo captured more than a few years ago. To be sure, for many photographers their most recent work is their best work. But that doesn t mean that older images should be ignored. So, presented here are some tips for revisiting older images to make sure you will find all of the photos you need when performing a search, not just your most recent photos. You can think of this as a bit of spring cleaning that may pay big dividends in your image-management workflow. Finalize your System Before spending what might be considerable time reviewing older photos to update metadata based on your current approach to managing photos, it makes sense to first review your current system and make sure it meets your needs. After all, the last thing you want to do after going back and 5

6 reviewing a large number of images is to have to go back again to apply metadata updates to an even larger number of images. It is a good idea to review your current approach to managing your digital photos, and revisit older images that may have been processed with a different approach. This may include, for example, converting existing images that were organized by color labels to the use of star ratings instead. Keep in mind that what works for other photographers may not be the best solution for you. It is important, therefore, to review recommendations about image management within the context of your own workflow needs. In short, I recommend that you take a look at your existing approach to organizing your images, consider what other metadata fields and software features might prove helpful in terms of locating specific images, and balance the available options with the amount of time required to implement a given solution. I m not suggesting you need to change your existing system for managing your images. Rather, I m suggesting that as long as you re going to spend some time updating older images based on your current system, it makes sense to evaluate that system before moving forward. Transition Existing Metadata If you ve made changes to how you identify favorite images or otherwise apply metadata updates to your images, I recommend that your first step should be to update images that were processed with a different approach so they match the approach you re taking with new images. For example, let s assume you used to simply use a red color label to identify favorite images from a given photo shoot. More recently, you may have transitioned to using star ratings, so you could apply a relative ranking to each image. In other words, you may have gone from saying, this is a good image by applying a red color label to using star ratings to identify good, better, and best images based on the number of stars you assign to a specific photo. 6

7 You can use the All Photographs option under the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module of Lightroom to view all photos, using filters to view and update metadata for all images meeting certain criteria. Whatever those changes may have been, the process of updating existing images may not require all that much effort. For example, if you decide that every image that has a red color label assigned to it should now have a onestar rating, you can simply filter images based on a red color label, select all of those images, and assign a one-star rating. In an application such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, you can perform this type of step for every image in your current catalog. Simply go to the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module and choose All Photographs. Then use the Filter Bar (if it isn t visible you can choose View > Show Filter Bar from the menu to enable it) to filter the images based on a red color label. Select all of the images that match this filter, and assign a one-star rating to the selected images. You can even remove the red color label from the images at that point to avoid confusion later. This same basic approach could be taken in Adobe Bridge, using the Filter panel to filter images based on specific criteria, and then updating that criteria based on your current approach to image management. The filter bar includes a variety of options for filtering your images, such as to show only those images to which you have previously assigned a red color label so that those images can perhaps be updated to have a one-star rating instead. If you need to apply updates based on metadata fields with greater variability, such as keywords, there may be a bit more effort involved. But by filtering existing images based on a previous approach to image management and updating the metadata for those images, you can make considerable progress with minimal effort. The result will translate into an improved ability to find specific images based on the criteria you use with your current image-management workflow. 7

8 Process Unprocessed Images Of course, the biggest challenge when it comes to updating your full catalog of photos to reflect your current approach to image management will likely be reviewing the images you never really reviewed and never applied metadata updates to. Reviewing the photos from a recent photo shoot requires a certain amount of time. Reviewing many images from many photo shoots requires considerably more time. There are a variety of approaches to working through your older photos, but the key is to be organized and consistent. There s a good chance your existing folder structure will provide a good way of working through your images. Simply start with the first folder and work your way through to the last folder. Obviously along the way you can skip folders that contain photos you ve already processed based on your current workflow. It will likely take more than one sitting to process all existing images, so it can be helpful to keep track of where you left off so you ll know where to start for your next session. I also recommend that whenever possible you should not start processing images in a new folder unless you re sure you will have time to process all of the images within that folder, so you don t need to interrupt your work mid-folder. To be sure, the task of processing what might be a large number of photos that hadn t been reviewed in the past may be time-consuming and not exactly the most exciting work you could be doing. But if you ve ever been frustrated by an inability to locate a particular photo because you hadn t fully reviewed older photos, it may be worthwhile to complete this task. And the sooner you start, the sooner you ll finish. v 8

9 The Hand Tool A Simple yet Powerful Tool in Photoshop By Tim Grey Photoshop is regarded with very good reason as a somewhat complicated application. There are many options and tools, and incredibly powerful capabilities when it comes to working with photographic images. Sometimes, however, I think all that power causes photographers to focus on the more complex capabilities, and perhaps ignore some of the more basic features. While I make use of a great many tools and features in Photoshop, it is probably safe to say that one of the tools I use the most is the Hand tool. In fact, it seems that the great majority of the time I put the Hand tool to use, I don t even realize I m using it. I also find that many photographers aren t aware of some of the small but very helpful options available for the Hand tool. 9

10 Basic Use The Hand tool is remarkably simple to use, and the basic functionality of the tool is not even remotely complicated. One common point of confusion is why the Hand tool doesn t seem to function at all in some cases. The reason is that in general the Hand tool is only aimed at allowing you to pan around an image, and that panning capability is only available when you have zoomed in on the image enough that the entire image is not visible. In other words, you ve zoomed in enough to enlarge the photo to the extent that part of the image extends beyond the available space within the Photoshop interface. When you have zoomed in on an image enough that the image does not fit within the space available in Photoshop, you can use the Hand tool to drag that image around in order to view different areas of the photo. So, after having zoomed in on the image, if you d like to pan across the photo to get a look at a different area, you can choose the Hand tool from the toolbox and then click and drag the image to move it around. The behavior is similar to the concept of moving a large print around on a table in front of you while you take a close look at a specific area. However, you actually don t necessarily need to zoom in on a photo in order to use the Hand tool to drag the image around within Photoshop. That s simply the behavior in the standard view mode. If you switch to one of the full screen view modes you can pan the image around with the Hand tool regardless of the zoom setting. To enter full screen view, simply choose View > Screen Mode from the menu and choose either Full Screen Mode With Menu Bar or Full Screen Mode from the submenu. You can also 10

11 toggle through the three view modes by pressing the F key on the keyboard until you reach the desired mode. Keyboard Shortcuts While you can select the Hand tool from the toolbox at any time, it is generally more convenient to use keyboard shortcuts to access the Hand tool. If you want to switch from whichever tool is currently active to the Hand tool, you can press the letter H on the keyboard. If you prefer to temporarily access the Hand tool without actually switching tools, there are a couple of options available for that as well. In the Full Screen view mode, even if you have not zoomed in on the current photo you can still drag it around within the display area. The approach I use is to hold the Spacebar key whenever I want to access the hand tool. For example, let s assume I m performing some image-cleanup work zoomed in relatively close on the image, and making use of the Spot Healing Brush tool. When I want to pan across the image, I can simply hold the Spacebar key 11

12 and the Hand tool is activated temporarily, until the Spacebar key is released. In addition, there is another option for temporarily accessing the Hand tool, with the specific behavior resulting from this option being dependent upon a setting in Preferences. If instead of simply pressing and releasing the letter H on the keyboard, you press and hold the H key, you will temporarily gain access to the Hand tool in much the same way the Spacebar key provides this option. However, if you have the Use Graphics Processor checkbox turned on (it can be found on the Performance page of the Preferences dialog), the behavior changes. Instead of the normal panning behavior of the Hand tool, if you have the Use Graphics Processor option turned on, holding the letter H on the keyboard will provide you with a navigation view option for the Hand tool. What that means is that while holding the H on the keyboard, dragging will cause the image to zoom out so it fits within the available display area. In addition, a rectangle will be displayed around your mouse pointer, indicating the area of the image you will be able to see if you release the mouse in that position. You may find this behavior to be a little distracting, but it can also be very helpful in terms of having better context about which area of the image you re going to get a closer look at when you stop panning. The Options Bar The Options bar provides a few options for adjusting the behavior of the Hand tool and establishing the zoom setting for the current image. The Options bar that is by default at the top of the Photoshop interface is context-sensitive, meaning the specific controls you find on the Options bar depend upon which tool you ve selected from the toolbox. When you select the 12

13 Hand tool, there are only a few options available, but those few options can be very helpful. First, you ll find the Scroll All Windows checkbox on the Options bar when you have selected the Hand tool from the toolbox. This setting only applies if you have more than one image open in Photoshop. If the checkbox is turned on and you use the Hand tool to drag your view of one image around, all images will be moved the same amount in the same direction. This is especially helpful for situations where you re comparing two images with the same basic framing of the same subject, and you want to pan around within the zoomed-in version of both images in the same way. By turning on the Scroll All Windows checkbox on the Options bar you can easily compare two (or more) similar images side-by-side, panning around both at the same time by dragging on one of the images. The other controls on the Options bar are a set of three buttons that affect the zoom setting for the current image. The first is labeled 100%, which will obviously zoom the current image to a 100% (Actual Pixels) zoom setting. The Fit Screen button will resize the image so you can see the entire image within the space available. The Fill Screen button will zoom the image just large enough to 13

14 completely consume the available space, even if that means part of the image falls outside the visible area, so there is no empty canvas area outside the image. It is worth noting that if you have used one of the options on the Window > Arrange submenu to view more than one image at a time, the Fit Screen and Fill Screen buttons won t necessarily result in an image sized so that it fits within the available space for that individual image. Rather, the zoom settings resulting from these buttons will cause the image to be resized as though it were the only image visible, such as the arrangement created by choosing Window > Arrange > Consolidate All to Tabs from the menu. Simple but Powerful The Hand tool is obviously one of the simpler tools in Photoshop, since it doesn t actually have any real impact on the contents of the current image. In fact, this is one reason I often recommend switching to the Hand tool whenever you re finished at least for the moment working with the current photo. Doing so ensures you won t cause any unintentional changes in the image. Despite the simplicity of the Hand tool, I find it to be an invaluable tool for helping evaluate images and simply move around within the image while working. As such, I think the Hand tool is one worth having a strong understanding of, so that you get to the point that you are putting this helpful tool to use without even really thinking about the fact that you re using a tool at all. v 14

15 How Much RAM? How Much Memory is Really Needed in the Digital Darkroom? By Tim Grey 2GB 4GB 8GB The question of how much random 16GB access memory (RAM) is optimal for a computer that will be used to manage and optimize digital photos has been around for a long time. It seems the only thing 2GB that has changed is perhaps the context of the question. In the earlier days of computing, RAM was downright expensive. It wasn t uncommon that upgrading a computer to include the amount of RAM considered ideal for imaging work would double the price of the computer. Today, RAM is relatively cheap, with prices generally around ten dollars per gigabyte. 15

16 As a result, instead of the question being about trying to balance cost versus performance, it is instead more about whether to put the time and effort into upgrading a computer, and which specific options make the most sense when buying a new computer. But the fact remains that the amount of RAM one should opt for in a computer to be used in the digital darkroom remains a common question among photographers. Memory is used extensively by the software employed to manage and optimize digital photos. In fact, while you are actively working on an image in Photoshop, for example, the entire image resides in memory. In addition, other information related to the photo, such as layer masks, is also stored in memory. RAM is used for all of the short term storage of information being processed by the software you use in your digital workflow, and thus has a tremendous impact on overall system performance. In other words, it is critical to have enough memory in your computer, and worthwhile to give some thought to how much memory makes the most sense for the type of work you do as well as the specific software you use. Minimum System Requirements The first thing you should keep in mind is that the minimum system requirements for a particular software application are exactly that: a minimum. Sure, Photoshop will run on 1GB of RAM, but for many photographers, the results will be painfully slow. In other words, I think of the minimum system requirements as a tool to help you determine if an old computer sitting in the back of the closet might actually be capable of running the software you use to work with your images. 16

17 The minimum system requirements for Lightroom are a little more realistic, listing a minimum requirement of 2GB of RAM but recommending 4GB as a more appropriate minimum. Apple is also realistic with the system requirements for Aperture, with 2GB to 4GB being the minimum, and 4GB recommended. But again, in my view the minimum system requirements should be thought of not as a starting point for configuring a new computer (or upgrading an existing computer), but rather as a factor in determining whether a particular application will even run on an older computer you might use as a secondary machine. A More Realistic Minimum All things considered, I consider 8GB of RAM to be a more realistic minimum amount of memory for a computer that will be the focus of your digital photography workflow. For most photographers, 8GB of RAM will provide performance that is perfectly acceptable. In fact, for many photographers there may not be much (if any) advantage to configuring a computer with more than 8GB of RAM. For example, if you are primarily using Photoshop to work with your images, and generally work on only one image at a time, there s a good chance you will never run into a situation where Photoshop needs more RAM than is available if your computer has 8GB of RAM. You can actually monitor Photoshop to determine if it requires more RAM than is currently available on your system by setting the display at the bottom of the document window to Efficiency. If the value remains above about 95%, you don t need more RAM than you currently have. I suspect for most photographers with 8GB or more of RAM, this value will rarely if ever dip below 100%. 17

18 By choosing the Efficiency option from the popup on the Status Bar at the bottom of the document window, you can monitor whether Photoshop has exceeded the amount of available memory. With applications such as Lightroom things are a bit more variable, and perhaps surprising. While 8GB of RAM is adequate for many tasks within Lightroom, some tasks will benefit tremendously from more memory. It is also important to think about scale, since many photographers are much more likely to work with a large number of photos at once when using Lightroom as compared to Photoshop. But all things considered, for many photographers with a typical workflow, having 8GB of RAM will provide a perfectly adequate (and in many cases more than adequate) amount of memory. The Sweet Spot If I had to make a single recommendation that would be suitable for nearly all photographers, without just being silly, I would recommend opting for 16GB of RAM. To me this is the sweet spot in terms of having an adequate amount of 18

19 memory available to power-hungry applications such as Photoshop and Lightroom in the context of a typical photographic workflow. Having 16GB of RAM will also generally provide adequate headroom for situations where you are running multiple applications, such as Lightroom and Photoshop, or either of these two applications along with any of the many plug-ins that are available. In addition, having 16GB of memory, which may very well be more than you need in theory, will provide a bit of a performance advantage for applications such as Lightroom. This is especially true for situations that require a bit more processing power or consume more memory, such as viewing a large number of images in one sitting with a zoom setting of 1:1 (100%) or greater. With 16GB of memory, based on a typical photographic workflow, chances are you will never actually run out of memory for the applications you use to manage and optimize your photos. In addition, you ll have an adequate amount of overhead so that applications such as Lightroom that take advantage of whatever memory is available will be able to achieve improved performance. Maxing Out Another approach to choosing how much memory to configure a computer with is to simply opt for the maximum amount of RAM the system supports. The specific amount of RAM possible for a given computer will depend, of course, on the architecture of that computer. With many laptop computers you may be limited to a maximum of 8GB or 16GB of RAM. With desktop computers the limit will generally be higher, often around 16GB to 32GB. Again, the limitation will vary based on the specific computer architecture, and with certain configurations it is certainly possible to go beyond the limits presented here. 19

20 For typical workflows, configuring your computer with the maximum amount of RAM possible may not provide any real performance gains compared to an amount of RAM that is more appropriate to your specific needs. However, more memory than you need won t have a negative impact on performance, and the extra cost for that memory won t likely be extremely high. And, of course, for some photographers it might make perfect sense to install the maximum amount of memory possible for a computer. Photographers who have started to get involved in video, for example, can most certainly make use of large amounts of RAM when editing and optimizing video clips. Memory in Isolation Considering that RAM prices have continued to decline over the years, it is certainly easier than it used to be to configure a computer with more than enough memory to suit your needs. That said, I think it is important to keep in mind that there are a variety of other factors that impact performance in addition to the amount of memory added to a computer. To begin with, you ll want to consider the processor architecture and speed as another key factor related to overall performance. The type of hard drive you choose, as well as the specific performance metrics for that hard drive, can also play a critical role, especially if you are managing a large number of high-resolution images. Still, running out of available memory can degrade performance significantly, perhaps more than any other factor of overall system performance. In fact, in many cases, adding more memory can be the most cost-effective way to significantly improve overall system performance, improving the efficiency (and reducing the frustration) of your digital photography workflow. v 20

21 Step by Step: Subtle Color By Tim Grey When the subject of black and white photography comes up, it seems the tendency is for photographers to take an approach that involves choosing one extreme or the other. Either the image is left in full color, or it is converted to a completely black and white image with no hint of the original color. In some cases a color tint might be added to the black and white image, such as would be the case with a sepia-toned image. However, I ve often found that toning down the color in an image can create an elegant effect in an image. In fact, in many cases I like to reduce color almost to the point of having a completely black and white image, but with a hint of the original color showing through. The first impression of the viewer is often that the image is black and white, and yet they have a sense of what color the various objects in the image are. This technique tends to work best for photographs that have something of a subtle or delicate quality about them. For example, I ll often use this technique for portraits or certain flower photos. That said, you could certainly employ this look for a wide variety of photographic images. 21

22 1 choose Black & White Adjustment Start by adding a Black & White adjustment layer, which enables you to create a black and white version of the image while exercising considerable control over how color values are translated into tonal values. To add the adjustment layer, click on the Add Adjustment Layer button (the half-black/half-white circle icon) at the bottom of the Layers panel, and Black & White from the popup menu. 22

23 2 Fine-tune Tonality If I were simply trying to tone down the color in an image, I could simply reduce saturation with a Hue/Saturation or Vibrance adjustment layer. However, as long as I m going to apply a strong effect on the overall color in the image I d also like to fine-tune the tonality. With a Black & White adjustment layer you have the ability to lighten or darken portions of the image based on the color in different areas. For example, you can increase the value for the Cyans and Blues sliders to brighten up the sky without affecting the greens and browns in the foreground. You can simply use the sliders to lighten or darken individual color ranges within the photo. Dragging to the right will brighten areas of the image where the dominant color matches the color assigned to the slider you re dragging, and dragging to the left will darken those areas. You can also work directly on the image rather than using the sliders. To get started simply click the on-image adjustment button (the hand with slider arrows on either side) at the top-left of the Properties panel for the Black & White adjustment layer. Then move the mouse pointer over the image to an area you want to lighten or darken. Click on that area, and then drag upward to lighten or downward to darken. The slider (or multiple sliders) reflecting the color of the area you initially clicked will be adjusted accordingly. When you re finished working with the on-image adjustment feature, simply click the on-image adjustment button again. You can then continue adjusting the sliders directly if you d like, and of course you can always return to these sliders later to refine the image further. 23

24 3 Reduce Opacity At this point you will have an image that is completely black and white, with no hint of color (unless you turned on the Tint checkbox for the Black & White adjustment layer, in which case you will have a monochromatic image consisting of a single color based on that Tint option). The key to creating the subtle color effect is to bring back some of the original color in the image. To do so, reduce the value for the Opacity slider at the top-right of the Layers panel. Make sure the Black & White adjustment layer is active (you can click on the thumbnail for this adjustment layer if it isn t active) and then click the popup associated with the Opacity value and drag the slider to the left. Note that you can also adjust the value for Opacity by clicking on the word Opacity and dragging left or right, or by simply entering a numeric value into the Opacity field. In most cases when creating this type of subtle color effect I will use an Opacity setting of around 95%, and in almost all cases I will not reduce the value below 90%. However, the most important consideration is the effect in the image. I recommend using a value that results in an image that has the appearance of a black and white photo, but with a slight degree of color showing through. 24

25 4Add a Vignette In many cases I might stop at this point, having created a nice subtle color effect in the photo. However, I often find that a vignette can add a nice touch to the image. In most cases that will translate into a lightening vignette. Such an effect creates something of a faded edge appearance in the image that generally complements the muted colors. However, you can also darken the edges of the photo if you prefer. I begin this process by using the Elliptical Marquee tool, drawing a selection from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner, so the selection extends to the outer edges of the photo. I then invert the selection by choosing Select > Inverse from the menu (or by pressing Ctrl+Shift+I on Windows or Command+Shift+I on Macintosh). Next, I add a Curves adjustment layer, and drag an anchor point upward to lighten the edges of the photo (or downward to darken). At this point the lightening or darkening will affect the edges, but with a crisp edge between the areas being adjusted and those not being adjusted. 25

26 To soften the transition for the vignette effect, first click the Masks button (the circle inside a square icon) at the top-left of the Properties panel. Then increase the value for the Feather slider. The stronger the adjustment with Curves, the larger value you ll need to use for Feather to ensure a smooth transition. You can continue to make changes to the Curves adjustment as well as the Feather slider, in order to balance the two to create the optimal effect in the image. And, of course, you can also return to the Black & White adjustment to fine-tune the adjustment and the Opacity. The result will be an image where the color is very subtle, and yet that color leaves a distinct impression with the viewer. v 26

27 Color Temperature: RAW versus JPEG By Tim Grey Most photographers seem to appreciate that capturing photos in RAW mode has the potential to yield better image quality compared to capturing in JPEG. The January 2014 issue of Pixology magazine included an article called Saved by RAW, which focused on how RAW captures can benefit when it comes to extreme exposure problems. Another significant consideration, however, when it comes to comparing RAW capture with JPEG capture, is the matter of color. 27

28 A Little Background When you capture a photo with a digital camera, the camera attempts to determine the color of the light illuminating the scene, and to compensate for that color. The color is referred to as the color temperature of the light, and is typically measured in degrees on the Kelvin temperature scale. When lighting conditions vary from scene to scene, such as cool light in the top image or warm light in the bottom image, the camera must compensate for the color component of the light in order to render accurate color. The Kelvin scale relates to color by virtue of the way temperature impacts the color emitted by an object. Imagine, for example, a piece of steel being heated significantly, to the point that the steel starts to glow with heat. When the temperature rises just enough to cause the steel to emit light, the color will initially be what we describe as a warm color, in the yellow to orange range. As the steel is heated more, the color will shift toward colors we describe as cool, such as a blue color. And ultimately, the steel might glow white hot. In much the same way, we define colors for light within the context of a digital camera based on the Kelvin scale, and we can describe color based on the color temperature of light. For example, on a clear sunny day the light might have a color temperature of around 5,000 Kelvin, while the light on an overcast day might be somewhere around 7,000 Kelvin. Again, the camera is able to compensate automatically for color temperature variations, and in most cases today s cameras do a very good job of 28

29 producing accurate color through the application of appropriate compensation for the color temperature of the light illuminating the scene. The Theoretical Benefit When it comes to comparing RAW and JPEG capture options, there is a significant difference related to color temperature. The color temperature compensation for a JPEG capture is actually applied to the image, changing the pixel values based on the calculated compensation. With RAW capture, the color temperature setting in the camera doesn t actually affect the pixel values being recorded. Instead, the color temperature compensation is stored as a White Balance value in metadata. No change in pixel values is applied until you actually process the RAW capture to create a derivative image. The white balance adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw or in other software that enables you to process RAW captures allows you to apply a color adjustment to a RAW capture with no penalty in terms of image quality. In other words, the benefit of capturing in RAW mode rather than JPEG mode is that with RAW captures you can apply color temperature adjustments after the capture with no penalty 29

30 in terms of image quality. If you capture a RAW image on a cloudy day with the camera set to a white balance preset of Tungsten, you can simply apply a compensation when processing the RAW capture and the result will be exactly the same as though the camera had been set to the correct white balance preset in the first place. With a JPEG capture, any white balance adjustments applied in-camera causes the resulting pixel values to be changed. It is still possible to apply adjustments to that JPEG image, but the adjustment will not necessarily produce the same result you could achieve with a RAW capture. This translates primarily into a risk that the adjustments will not yield the best color possible, and that a certain degree of detail and image quality may be lost in the process. The Real World It s easy to talk about theoretical risks involved with JPEG capture as compared to RAW capture, but what really matters is the final image. If you are able to achieve excellent results with a JPEG image, the benefits of RAW capture remain theoretical rather than practical. For example, while there is a theoretical benefit to RAW capture related to exposure challenges, if you always ensure you achieve a proper exposure, you aren t actually gaining a real benefit by shooting RAW, at least as it relates to exposure. Similarly, if you ensure the white balance setting on the camera is always set to an appropriate value, or if we assume the camera will always properly compensate for the color temperature of the light source, we aren t really achieving a real benefit in terms of color when it comes to RAW capture. But the real benefit in this regard applies when there are color challenges. Under mixed lighting conditions many digital cameras have a very difficult time applying a white 30

31 balance adjustment that produces accurate color. If you capture in RAW, you can apply a white balance adjustment when processing the capture, providing you with a greater chance of success. Under typical circumstances a white balance mismatch won t be extreme. For example, an image may have been captured with a Daylight white balance setting (top image) when a setting of Tungsten would have yielded more accurate color (bottom image). Even with a JPEG capture, an adjustment after the capture will likely yield good results. But if we assume more typical scenarios related to color temperature, the benefit of RAW capture actually turns out to be someone minimal. If the wrong white balance setting is used in the camera, and the lighting conditions are straightforward, only a minor adjustment in color will be necessary. That minor adjustment won t have a significant negative impact on quality of the image. If, for example, you captured an image on a cloudy day with the camera set to the Daylight white balance preset, only a minor adjustment needs to be applied to achieve accurate color. Considering the range of possible light sources, and the relatively modest differences between many of them, in typical photographic situations the issue of color temperature is a relatively minor issue. Things can obviously get much more complicated with artificial light sources, and especially with mixed sources of lighting. But the bottom line is that for many typical photographic situations the issue of color temperature isn t so significant as to make RAW capture absolutely critical from the standpoint of color. Extreme Color Challenges While an extreme white balance mismatch may be rare at least for typical photographic situations such mismatches 31

32 do occur. One of the challenges of white balance adjustments is that those adjustments are somewhat complex. Therefore, you can very easily have a situation where it is impossible to achieve good color if an image was captured in JPEG mode with a white balance setting that represents a significant mismatch for the lighting conditions. Under extreme circumstances it may be difficult or impossible to achieve accurate color for a JPEG image captured with a white balance setting that is not appropriate to the current conditions. For example, the top image here was captured with an inappropriate custom white balance setting. The bottom image reflects an attempt to adjust the color to be as accurate as possible. In most cases such a dramatic mismatch would require the use of a custom white balance setting that goes beyond the typical presets available with most cameras. If the color temperature of the actual lighting conditions and the in-camera white balance setting differ by more than a few thousand degrees Kelvin, there is a good chance a JPEG capture would reflect significant color problems. And again, white balance adjustments are somewhat complex. The result is that compensating for a capture with extreme color problems is not as simple as applying a white balance adjustment. This issue can be seen very clearly when applying strong color temperature adjustments, or even through basic testing with a sample image. For example, if you process a RAW capture with an extreme white balance adjustment and create a JPEG image based on that adjustment, applying a white balance adjustment in the opposite direction is not likely to yield good color in the image. With a RAW capture you can very easily compensate for a bad in-camera white balance setting. With a JPEG image achieving a satisfactory result under such circumstances may be impossible. 32

33 Maximizing Potential As I ve said many times, while I rarely need to take advantage of the benefits of RAW capture, I still prefer to maximize the potential quality of my images by capturing in RAW for nearly every photo. At a fundamental level, I capture in RAW to ensure that JPEG compression artifacts will not be present in my photos. However, it is also reassuring to know that should I have an image with significant problems related to the white balance setting used for the capture, the RAW capture can be processed with ease. I think it is helpful to understand the issues involved in capturing RAW versus JPEG photos. I also think it is important not to exaggerate the potential benefits of RAW capture. But those benefits do exist, and I prefer to ensure I will be able to take advantage of those benefits should the need ever arise. v 33

34 Risk versus Reward Weighing the Benefits of Promotion with the Risk of Image Theft By Tim Grey The simple truth is, your photos are never truly safe from theft if they are shared online. I suppose it is fair to say that your photos are never really safe in any form if they are visible to others. After all, even if you are sharing an image as a framed print hanging on the wall in a gallery, it is always possible to steal that photo by photographing the print. Of course, stealing a digital image that has been shared online is much easier. In fact, I would argue that it is impossible to fully protect your photos online while still providing an enjoyable experience for the person viewing your photo. More than a few photographers have challenged me on this point, and directed me to a web page 34

35 where they had posted a photo they thought I couldn t steal. I promptly ed them a copy of the photo. While I ve been telling photographers for more than a few years that photos aren t really safe from theft when shared online, I still share many of my photos through websites and other digital outlets. And I don t worry about image theft at least not too much. The Benefits of Sharing I really don t worry about someone stealing my photos. I like to joke that the reason I don t worry is that my photos aren t good enough that anyone would want to steal them. But I actually think or at least hope that my photos are indeed good enough that someone might want to steal them. Perhaps the biggest reason I don t worry about my photos getting stolen is that I simply choose not to worry about that risk. Yes, of course I would be upset if someone stole one of my photos and then managed to make millions of dollars from the image. But I do my best to not let that possibility cause me to worry. While sharing your photos on websites such as Facebook represents a certain degree of risk of image theft, it also provides an opportunity to share your images to promote your photography and to get feedback from other photographers. Instead, I focus on the benefits of sharing my photos with others, rather than focusing on the risks of those shared images being stolen. I 35

36 like to think that someone who sees one of my images might be more inclined to take a field photography workshop with me so they can learn to capture similar images. Or that someone might see a photo I captured and consider purchasing my training videos so they can learn to optimize their own images. Part of this mindset is motivated by the belief that most people who might steal my photos would never have actually paid for the photo in the first place. I also like to think that anyone who might be interested in using my photo will recognize that I deserve to be paid for my work. I m not naïve about the potential that my images might be stolen. In fact, I d be willing to bet that my images have most certainly been stolen in the past. I simply see the benefit of sharing my images to be worth more than the potential damage caused by the theft of those images. Perhaps I m a bit overly optimistic which I can assure you would be decidedly uncharacteristic of me but I just don t feel it is worth my energy to worry too much about image theft. I also feel that if I am going to share my photos with others, it is important to share those photos in a pleasing way. That means not only ensuring each image looks as good as possible, but also ensuring that steps taken to deter theft don t interfere with the enjoyment of the photo. The bottom line is that I don t think the fear of image theft should prevent you from sharing your images with others if you believe sharing will benefit you in some way. And keep in mind that the benefit of sharing isn t limited to financial gain. Getting feedback from others, for example, can help you improve your photography, which is certainly a benefit as well. There are, of course, some things you can do to help ensure you will be able to enjoy the benefits of sharing while helping to minimize the risk of image theft. 36

37 Apply a Tasteful Watermark Put simply, a watermark enables you to identify an image as being your own. In my view, any watermark you add to an image should be relatively subtle and designed in a way that does not distract from the viewer s enjoyment of the photo. I also feel that a watermark should be viewed as an opportunity to promote your brand as a photographer, not to communicate to those who view your images that you think they may be inclined to steal your photographic images. A simple watermark enables you to promote your brand as a photographer, and identify an image as your own to discourage theft of that image. As such, I feel that a watermark should be partially translucent, relatively small, and focused on your brand as a photographer. So, for example, you might add a watermark that simply features your name (or the name of your photography business) or your website address. That watermark can be placed in a lower corner of the image, set to a relatively low opacity at a relatively small size (though big enough to be read clearly), and with a font that is easy to read. 37

38 In other words, when designing a watermark you ll apply to your photos, I recommend thinking in terms of here is now you can learn more about the photographer who captured this great image instead of I think you want to steal this photo and I m watching you. For photographers using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to manage their photographic images, an article in the November 2013 issue of Pixology magazine addresses the process of creating and using watermarks in Lightroom. Add a Canvas Mark Placing a watermark outside the actual image area, onto a portion of blank canvas, allows you to identify the image as your own without obstructing the actual image in any way. A variation on a theme when it comes to watermarking your photos is to place a mark outside the actual image area. For example, you can add a basic white border around the of the image, and then add the same text you might otherwise use for a watermark on the image to that empty space. 38

39 The obvious advantage of placing your watermark text in an empty area outside the actual photographic image is that the text then won t interfere with the photo or the experience of viewing that photo. In addition, the watermark becomes easier to read, since you can better control the appearance of the watermark text and the background upon which it appears. While the watermark doesn t obstruct the actual image, it is still part of the actual image file. In other words, in order to remove the watermark someone would need to crop the image. Of course, that means the watermark can be removed without a trace very easily. The result is that you are reducing the degree of protection afforded your images compared to an on-image watermark, but gaining the benefit of a less obtrusive watermark. Update Photo Metadata Adding copyright and contact information to the metadata for your photos is perhaps the best illustration of the challenges of protecting your photos. After all, if someone is going to steal your photo, do you really think they ll bother to check the metadata to confirm the photo is not protected by copyright first? Or do you think they re not smart enough to delete the metadata from the photo in an effort to cover their tracks? Updating the metadata for your images to include copyright and contact information can help those who view your images identify you as the photographer, and may also discourage unauthorized use of your images. Just be aware that in many cases when you share images online the metadata may be removed automatically. That said, there is the possibility that someone will find one of the photos you ve shared, really like it, and want to know how to contact the photographer to hire them or otherwise pay them for their photographic work. To be sure, a visible watermark featuring your website address is probably a much more effective way to accomplish your goals here, but updating metadata can still prove helpful. Perhaps more importantly, adding copyright and contact information to the metadata for your photos can be an incredibly simple task that doesn t involve much time or effort. For 39

40 example, both Lightroom and Adobe Bridge allow you to define templates for metadata, and then add metadata based on a template to a large number of images at once. In fact, with many digital cameras you can also have the copyright information added to metadata automatically at the time of capture. Ultimately, adding your copyright and contact information may not prove tremendously effective when it comes to preventing the theft of your images, and might not lead to a significant increase in revenue for your photography business. But adding that metadata can take virtually no effort at all once you ve defined a basic template for that metadata, and therefore I highly recommend incorporating the addition of that metadata into your basic image management workflow. Read Carefully When you are sharing photos on your own website, you are able to exercise at least a certain degree of control over how those images are presented, and the methods employed to protect those images. When you will be sharing images on another website, or submitting images to others, you give up most of that control. It is important to carefully review the terms and conditions associated with any submission of your images to a third party, such as when submitting photos for a contest. I Agree Whenever you will be submitting a photo to another website or a photo contest, or otherwise making your images directly available to someone else, be sure to review the terms and conditions related to your submission. More than a few photo contests require that you essentially provide full rights to the use of your photos to those running the contest, in many cases even if you do not win a prize in that contest. Online sharing websites sometimes include less-than-ideal terms when it comes to photos you upload, including in some cases the option to use your images in paid advertisements without any compensation to you. 40

41 To be sure, the terms and conditions you must agree to often consist of many pages of legal text that may be boring to read and difficult to understand. But if you are concerned about how your photos will be used and what rights you might be giving away when sharing your photos online, it is critical to be familiar with the terms you re agreeing to. At the very least, I recommend performing a basic search to see if you can find feedback from other photographers related to the terms and conditions you re being asked to agree to when sharing your images. Use Common Sense What all of this boil down to is a need to use common sense when sharing your images. Sharing photos online or through other outlets can be a tremendously rewarding experience, providing you with feedback (and hopefully some praise) for your images, the opportunity to interact with those who enjoy your photos, and perhaps the potential to increase your revenue as a photographer. To me, the solution here is to use a bit of common sense, to not put your photos at undue risk, and to try not to worry too much either. After all, part of why we capture photos in the first place is to share our vision with others. v 41

42 Pixology The Magazine for Photographers Pixology magazine is published electronically on a monthly basis. For more information, visit: Copyright 2014 by Tim Grey. All Rights Reserved. To contact the publisher: Tim Grey 328 8th Avenue #132 New York, NY tim@timgrey.com About Tim Grey Tim has authored more than a dozen books and hundreds of magazine articles on digital imaging for photographers, and has produced over a dozen video training titles on a wide variety of subjects. He publishes the Ask Tim Grey newsletter in addition to Pixology magazine. Tim teaches through workshops, seminars, and appearances at events around the world. For more information: Every attempt has been made throughout this magazine to distinguish proprietary trademarks from descriptive terms by following the capitalization style used by the manufacturer and marking those marks as either a trademark or registered trademark. All trademarks and registered trademarks included in this book are the property of their respective owners. The publisher has made best efforts to prepare this magazine, but makes no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to the completeness or accuracy of the contents herein and accept no liability of any kind including but not limited to performance, merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose, or any losses or damages of any kind caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly from this magazine.

43 Parting Shot The sun rises over the city of Graz in southern Austria. Captured at a focal length of 200mm with an aperture of f/8 and a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second at 400 ISO.