Digging a little further into one of the new Lightroom Presets. "Polished Portrait."

 I think some readers were a bit hasty to give the human version of the images I showed yesterday a quick win. I'm not sure everyone understands that it's not a "me" versus "binary setting on the machine" contest that I was trying to communicate. What I was trying to do is to point out that the new preset is a very, very good starting point for anyone trying to retouch a portrait. And here's why:

The settings you get when you choose Polished Portrait (or any other of the new, A.I. driven presets) is not a binary setting, etched into stone that you must either accept or decline. Far from it. Rather, the preset does a lot of heavy lifting to quickly mask all the parameters you might wish to further enhance in a portrait in one smooth step. I've included a screen shot of part of a sub-menu in Lightroom from a similar test this morning. Yesterday's sample gave me back 17 different layers which allowed for corrections in small parts of the overall image. Today's sample gave me 9 layers. You can see in the screen shot that Polished Portrait gives me nine discreet, masked layers along with the option to add additional layer masks manually. The number of layer choices will vary by image and also by any work you have already done on a file. 

When one clicks on one of the masks, like "eyebrows", you get a full menu of controls like the one on the right side of the screen shot. The image of the subject shows you, via a color mask, which area you are working on. You now have many options just for eyebrows. You can increase or decrease the shadow slider which makes the eyebrows darker, and which appears to make them also look fuller. You could enhance clarity, change colors, even apply curves if you want to. The range of control and the amount of final changes to the file are limited only by your choices. But, importantly, each of the very accurately masked selections is there for you to enhance, de-enhance or ignore. The preset is there as a powerful assist, not an arbiter of style or taste. 

If I had dived more deeply into the file created yesterday I might have pulled some of the shadow out of the eyebrows since that seemed to be the area that vexed most readers. I personally liked the way the preset presented the eyebrows to me and if the image was made for myself I would have gladly left it that way --- but the point is that you have absolute control over each of the masked selections. That doesn't make my manually arrived at version "the winner." It just means I didn't make the same choices as the preset and it didn't make the same choices I did. 

There were a few things that sidetracked some readers. One being the skin color. It was suggested that the preset made the skin tone too yellow. But checking the selected mask for skin tone showed me that no changes had been make in the preset to the skin color. That was a global adjustment I made after the fact. That one is on me. 

But I think people have the tendency to want to prove automatic analysis and automatic setting suggestions like this as "not ready for prime time" and in doing so they miss the absolute value of the automation for making precise masked selections for adding overall control to image editing. 

If we divorce this time saving addition to portrait retouching in LRC from the existential angst currently being generated by generative A.I. programs like DALL-e and Midjourney, and also ChatGBT we can see that at it's core this is a method merely to identify and mask selective parts of the image and then "suggest" changes/enhancements to each individual segment. Don't want to change the eyebrows at all? Then disable that selection. Want more control over the whiteness of the subject's teeth? Well, click on that selection and get to work. 

But to couch the process as some sort of contest between a human photographer and the machine is the wrong way to look at this. It would be similar to all those early Photoshop users, myself included, who used the program before you had "command Z". There was not such thing as an "undo" command. You saved and saved and saved your work as you went. And I'm sure there were some hot shot early adapters who thought everyone who wanted an "undo" command was some sort of tyro pussy who couldn't understand the value of neolithic computing. No layers either. No...  I could go on. I usually do...

Each step forward in programming like this is a time saver and wholly welcome by the folks who already spend a lot of time retouching. And it's all under your control.

It's okay, I guess, to hate technology, and by extension, any change. But let's not assume that because you got a sample from me that you didn't like that all the fault lies with the program or that the things you didn't prefer aren't readily changeable and controllable. Now more than ever before. 

The presets are supplied to you for free. It's considered an upgrade by most. But you don't need to click on them if you prefer to do all the selections, masking and layering for yourself. It's always your choice. The thing we should be on guard against are programs that don't give you any choice. Now that would be bad.

Let's resist the temptation to toss the screaming baby out with the bathwater. Let's just learn to take advantage of some extra control delivered with less work. No contest here.

I drink coffee sometimes while I'm driving. I don't want a clutch and a manual shifter. I love the convenience of automatic transmission. YMMV.

And here is a version of Rebecca based on exactly how I would retouch the file. It's a different frame. But from the same shoot.

before.

After.

Trying out the new "Polished Portrait" preset in Lightroom Classic. Samples.

 

These two images are from the same image file. I opened the image in the developer screen of LRC and cropped it square. I saved the bottom image as it was when first opened. No changes made to the raw file. The top image had a "one click" change made to it. I selected the "Polished Portrait" preset from the preset menu. 

Lightroom automatically made 17 masked layers and applied corrections to all 17 layers without any intervention from me. I'm impressed with the changes and while I might make other decisions this preset will be one of the first I'll try on many of my portraits going forward. 

Seems interesting to me.

Studio News: Just as I was about to toss all my lights, stands and modifiers into the garbage and pull back from day to day work several clients called to book up multiple days in late April and throughout May. I thought I might accommodate them. I guess I will. After all, I have to save up money from somewhere to finance that "much needed" Q2 Monochrom. 

A thought came to me as I was struggling to lift some weight on a machine at the gym. Can a person who must shoot only with a black and white-only camera then process images on a color monitor.?While monitors can be carefully calibrated there is always some chance that color casts will "enter the picture." How does one accurately work on a monochrome image with a tri-color monitor? Is it really possible? Does the set color temperature subtly influence the way one looks at images? Actually curious.

Hope everyone is happy and well. 

Fun, great upgrades in Lightroom Classic (LRC) and a really nice firmware update for the Leica Q2. It's firmware 5.0 for both the monochrome and regular models...

Lou. In "real" black and white. Shot on film with a Hasselblad "real" medium

format camera. Not one of the "junior" MF formats.

Scanned from a handmade, double weight print.

 Let's get right to it.

I know the top priority for my readers will be the upgrades to the Leica Q2 so I'll start there. Firmware 5.0's biggest new feature is face and eye detection in AF. I tried it. It works and it's snappy. A plus is that you can use the four way touch pad on the camera to select a preferred eye. Otherwise the camera (like most others) selects the closest eye. It's pretty cool. And needed. And, NO, they can't use a firmware update to give you PDAF.

There are a few other touches such as quicker ways to lock focus in AF-C and the usual hundreds and hundreds of fixes to tiny glitches uncaught before now. It's pretty valuable to have a camera maker continue to make improvements years after a product introduction; especially fixes that obviously benefit the users so much. 

The firmware update, version 5.0, is currently available on all the global sites and ready to be downloaded. 

It may be the "placebo" effect but my Q2 camera now feels more comfortable to hold and the files seems sharper, better and more interesting than they did yesterday...

In other news Adobe announced and delivered updates to Lightroom and Lightroom classic. The one that is most interesting to me is the "Denoise A.I." which can be found in the noise reduction menu. In short the new tool analyzes the image and figures out which parts should have the most noise reduced (think skies and other less detailed swaths of image) and which parts should have noise reduction and raw image sharpening and improvements made. So, instead of just reducing noise the feature is looking at the entire image and finding places where noise has obstructed wanted detail and then gone in and fixed it.

This feature, as far as I can tell, only works on raw files, but it also has some user adjustment to increase or tame down the effects of the processing. I tried it on a 24 megapixel raw files from the Lumix S5 and it worked very well with good noise reduction, good sharpening for detailed parts of the scene and no halo effects. The image took about 20 seconds to process and it left the original file intact while creating an adjusted .DNG file in the same folder. 

A corrected image then converted to black and white.

I am quite interested to see the new presets. Especially the "Polished Portrait" preset. Should be interesting. 

I took a selfie this morning and used it for my annual senior swim pass from the city of Austin.

 Lights in Berlin. 2013.

There are a few benefits to reaching a certain age here in Austin, Texas. One is that you can pay $65, get an I.D. card with your photo on it, and have access to all the public swimming pools in the city's jurisdiction, from the end of March until the end of October. That includes Barton Springs Pool and Deep Eddy Pool. Both are landmark aquatic facilities with a rich history and the potential for some really great swims. Another reason to get a senior swim pass is that you also get, for no additional cost, a hang tag to display in your car that allows you to park for free at Zilker Park, home of Barton Springs Pool. In fact, the hang tag alone is worth the cost; especially if you like to run the hike and bike trail that goes through the park. 

I dropped by the City of Austin Aquatics offices around ten this morning to sign up. I'd forgotten that I needed to provide a photo of myself so I took one on the spot and sent it to the office's email address. Usually it takes two weeks from the time you apply for your senior pool pass until you get your I.D. card and hang tag in the mail but I smiled really nicely and reminded the person in the office that last year I was able to walk out of the offices with both. The kind young person behind the computer smiled back and told me it wouldn't be a problem to process everything on the spot. Happy me. No waiting for my valued credentials. A benefit of visiting the offices before the swim season and the attendant demand start to skyrocket. 

My selfie is not very flattering so I'm not going to show it here. It's functional. That's all I can say about it. But that's the nature of so much photography today. 

Since I'm finally through with life's two major hurdles; broken refrigerators and federal income taxes (at least for 2022....), I got around to having our yard service get up into the tall trees and clear out all the very high branches that were broken during the big ice storm at the end of January. Some branches had broken and fallen on healthier branches and were suspended precariously over our heads. I wanted to have the tree guys control the branches' descent so nothing would come crashing through the double pane glass on our double French doors. Everything went according to plan. But José, our yard guy of nearly 28 years got me up on a ladder to show me some damage to attic vents, roof shingles and a whole bunch of tortured gutters. 

Since I've prevailed on other fronts (taxes and fridge) I thought I'd try my luck with my homeowner's insurance policy. I've used the same insurance company for 32 years now and they were quite responsive and amiable on the phone. I should hear from an adjuster within 24 hours. No leaks or anything. Just damage to the roofing shingles, gutters, etc. 

The last time we sent our insurance company into action was about eight years ago after a big and mean hail storm. They ended up replacing the roof on the house as well as on the office and then, just for the heck of it they repaired the screens on our back porch and parts of the fence which they felt suffered from the hail. We'll see how it all works out this time. 

I've had fun shooting in black and white since M.J. got all riled up about the Pentax announcement. It could be that we really are seeing a resurgence in the popularity of monochrome photography. And from my point of view any resurgence of popularity in the field of photography is to be roundly applauded.

Hoping that my favorite vendor gets a Q2M in stock soon. I'd like to see what all the dedicated camera fuss is really all about with a hands-on experience. And since Leica is the granddaddy of making monochrome digital cameras I figured I might as well go straight to the source. Bon appétit. 

A follow up from Saturday's post. More monochrome sharing.

 

Questa è la mia tazza di caffè preferita di tutti i tempi

C'è qualcosa nella luce che entra nella mia cucina la mattina presto che mi fa venir voglia di fotografare. Le cose che finiscono nel lavandino hanno un aspetto particolarmente bello. Sabato, dopo aver finito il caffè a casa, ho sciacquato la tazza e l'ho messa nel lavandino. Quando l'ho guardato da un'angolazione mi ha parlato e mi sono sentito obbligato a immortalarlo. Ho preso una Lumix S5 con un obiettivo da 58 mm nella parte anteriore e ho scattato alcuni fotogrammi. Quando ho visto i risultati sui miei provini a contatto digitali (non in Capture One) ho capito che dovevo condividere la bellezza del profilo monocromatico di quella fotocamera. Quando guardo la fotografia mi viene voglia di altro caffè. E più divertenti obiettivi manuali con cui giocare. Se non ti piacciono le immagini in bianco e nero, per favore non essere uno stronzo pedante e fare qualche dichiarazione drammatica che sia offensiva. Menziona solo che ti potrebbe piacere che il colore funzioni un po 'meglio. Eh?

An interesting video about Monochrome sensor cameras by one of my favorite BW photographers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDxHq3Zlbz8

It's Summer in Austin already. It hit 94° Fahrenheit yesterday. The UV warning was pegged at 10 this afternoon. The smell of sunscreen was wafting through the air. The mannequins are ready for the heat. I knew you'd want more...

 Today it's the Sigma 90mm f2.8 lens that's getting a workout. I have to say it's an often overlooked optic but a very, very good one. For several reasons. Let's get into it.

I have the 90mm Sigma Contemporary i-Series lens chambered for the L mount cameras. There are many things about this lens that endear it to me. It's small and relatively light weight. The metal finish is both good looking and lends itself to very good handling. The lens has an aperture ring and I find that keeps me in tune with the idea of controlling depth of field. Aperture control on the camera blurs away from my consciousness and I find I've gone a while without thinking about it. The lens hood is big and useful and protective AND matches the finish of the lens. I like the 55mm filter size because I have a box filled with expensive 55mm filters that I now have some reason not to throw away. 

I like the lens even more when I use it and am reminded of both how sharp and how optically well behaved it is. Even at its fastest aperture of f2.8. But the feature I realized I liked today was the just about perfect feel and operation of the focusing ring when manually focusing. With practice it's both fast and accurate but best of all it doesn't overshoot like many other FBW lenses do. I like the feel of the focusing ring and after realizing that it would give me both accuracy and tactile happiness I switched everything to manual and spent the day shooting that way. 

Even though I don't have affiliate links and your purchases won't benefit me in the least I think every one of you should rush to your keyboards right now and order one of these. You'll thank me after you've tried it out. And....as you can see....it works in color and monochrome. 

Les mannequins sont une métaphore de la vie moderne à l'ère post-pandémique. Ils ne bougent pas donc ils sont. C'est un truc de Descartes. Mais heureusement pour nous, nous pouvons les contourner et trouver les meilleurs angles. Ce sont les petits trucs qui nous font chier mais aussi les petits trucs qui nous font plaisir. Ne détestez pas les photos de mannequin. Ils sont là pour une raison... Yeah.

An interesting video about Monochrome sensor cameras by one of my favorite BW photographers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDxHq3Zlbz8