One of the most exciting things in the world of digital
photography in 2023 has been the incorporation of artificial intelligence into
image editing programmes.
This post describes my approach to processing Raw images
from the Lumix FZ300 camera in Adobe Camera Raw which has been updated many
times in 2023.
The suggested processing schedules are based on Photoshop
24.6 (beta), Bridge 13.0.3 and Camera Raw 15.4.1.
Preamble
The Lumix FZ300 can be used to make high quality pictures in
a wide range of circumstances. However the camera uses a very small sensor
which has certain characteristics which require an approach to post processing
which differs in many ways from that which would be optimal for a larger sensor
camera.
The main issues of particular relevance to small sensor/
superzoom image quality are
* Digital noise, producing a grainy appearance in image
files. This is evident even at ISO 100 especially in lifted dark tones.
* Lack of fine detail and microcontrast in Raw images
straight out of the camera.
* Flare around highlights often with blue and green color
fringing.
My practice and recommendation for best image quality is to
always use Raw capture. I view image files in Bridge and process in Camera Raw
then Photoshop. This allows me to use an efficient workflow which is very
necessary as a day’s photography can produce over 1000 pictures.
Downloading
I get pictures from the memory card using Bridge downloader.
This lets me decide where I want to save the files and to retrieve them as
required directly from Bridge.
Camera Raw
This is where most of the post processing work takes place.
I have figured out after much trial and error that best results are achieved if
adjustments in Camera Raw are done in a specific order. This applies
particularly to steps 4, 5 and 6 below
which for reasons which will be described, work best in that order.
The six steps of Camera Raw:
1. Geometry. I like
to get this out of the way first. I use Manual Transformations, Rotate,
Vertical and sometimes Horizontal. Check
the Constrain Crop box to trim the edges.
2. Basic. Raw images
straight out of camera have a low spatial frequency and low microcontrast. They
may also, depending on original subject brightness range, appear to have very
little detail in highlights and dark tones. They may not look very promising at
all.
However if the subject has been exposed optimally at the
point of capture we can tease out a great deal of tonal and detail information
which is actually in the files but at this stage is not easily seen.
In Camera Raw, adjustments labelled Contrast, Texture,
Clarity and Sharpness each affect contrast. In other words they increase the
lightness differential across a part of the image. The Contrast slider operates
broadly across large areas of the image, Texture across smaller areas, Clarity
smaller areas again and Sharpness works at pixel level.
With most images coming off the FZ300 we need to boost Texture,
Clarity and Sharpness. The decision to increase or decrease the Contrast slider
depends on original subject brightness range. If the original subject had very
bright highlights and very dark shadows we will need to move the Contrast
slider to the left then compensate for the flat appearance which this produces
by dragging the Texture and Clarity sliders to the right.
The items I adjust most frequently in the order which works
well for most images are Temperature/Tint, Exposure, Highlights, Shadows,
Contrast, Texture, Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation.
It is often necessary, depending on original subject
brightness range, to drag the Highlights slider to the left and the Shadows
slider to the right to prevent highlights from blowing out and shadows from
blocking up completely. Watch the histogram to determine how far the sliders
need to move. With the highlights and shadows under control we can move the
Contrast slider to the right to increase or left to decrease mid tone contrast.
But wait, there’s more. Switch view to 100% then move the
Texture slider to the right. We will see small elements of the image begin to
stand out more clearly.
Now we move the Clarity slider to the right. This makes even smaller elements of the image
stand out more clearly by increasing local contrast.
I find that with images coming off my full frame cameras I
have to be very careful with the Texture and Clarity sliders or the fine
structure of the image can quickly become overcooked. But images from the FZ300
can benefit from much more assertive use of these sliders.
The precise amounts by which each slider needs to be moved
for optimum image appearance can only be determined by direct observation on
screen. The optimal solution will be different for each image.
We will usually need to experiment with combinations of
slider amounts for best effect. This process is aided by experience and a
willingness to try combinations which will not give a pleasing result with
files from larger sensors.
Lastly in the Basic tab are the color controls:
Vibrance affects mainly subtle and pastel hues
Saturation affects everything.
I find that FZ300 images often need a bit of help with both.
We do need to be careful not to over boost colors however.
3. Masking. The new masking tools in Camera Raw have
revolutionised selections and local processing options. There are many online
tutorials to help us gain maximum benefit from these new features.
Of particular relevance is Subject selection/Background
selection. Small sensor cameras have difficulty rendering backgrounds softly
out of focus. However we can select the background then reduce Contrast,
Texture and Clarity and maximize Noise Reduction for a soft background effect.
4. Detail. Every FZ300 image needs help in the Detail tab.
The main adjustment here is the Sharpness slider which can be dragged across to
the right, sometimes all the way, depending on the sharpness of the original
file. Watch the image on screen at 100% while dragging the slider.
I find that with very soft originals there can be some
benefit to increasing the Radius but most images appear not to benefit from
this.
I generally leave the Detail slider alone as increasing this
can smash the image into tiny little fragments.
Most of the adjustments we have made to this stage have
increased the amount of digital noise visible in the image file. So now we need
to get rid of the noise.
We leave Noise reduction alone in the Detail tab because we
are going to allocate that function to the enhance process.
5. Enhance. This is where we find the new and remarkable Adobe
Denoise AI which is such a boon for noisy small sensor images.
Note that we apply Denoise AI enhancement after increasing contrast and sharpness. Now the Denoise
process knows how much noise it has to deal with and can do so effectively.
In Camera Raw the bottom tab on the right side of the screen
is three little dots titled “More image settings”. Number 15 from the top is
“Enhance”. Check the “Denoise” box. I have found empirically that an amount of
40% seems about right for low ISO images and 60% for high ISO files. We can
preview the effect. Click on Enhance and the programme goes into action. After
a few seconds a new, enhanced DNG Raw file is produced, alongside the original
Raw file. We can see a very satisfying reduction in digital noise while
retaining imaging detail. The effect is particularly noticeable and beneficial
with high ISO files. I find that I can now use ISO 1600 with an expectation of
delivering a good quality, low noise output in post processing.
However Denoise AI is still a work in progress for Adobe and
in the current iteration it can produce a disconcerting increase in green color
fringing especially around highlights and at high contrast edges. This is the
reason I specify using the Optics adjustment after Enhance.
6. Optics. Note that the FZ300 has a profile for the lens
built in to the Raw file. This includes Remove chromatic aberration and Profile
corrections.
However this is ineffective at removing chromatic
aberrations which appear in many images as purple and green color fringing
around highlights and/or high contrast edges. In addition Enhance can make
green fringing worse (I don’t understand why) and in some images a lot worse.
We need to experiment. If we see blue/purple fringing we
move the purple amount to the right initially to level 5 or thereabouts, then experiment with the hue sliders, moving
them back and forth for a best result.
Unfortunately adjusting the purple sliders can exacerbate
green fringing, so now we have to move the green slider to about level 5
initially and experiment with the hue sliders.
I have found by trial and error (lots of error) that moving the left hue
slider to the left and sometimes the right hue slider to the right can often
control the green color fringing which can be quite prominent in some images.
Well I think that’s enough for now about Camera raw. My
practice is to move images along to Photoshop from here. However there is
nothing in Photoshop which is more relevant to the FZ300 and other small sensor
cameras than to any other type of camera.
Is it all too difficult ?
For those who just want nice pictures without the need for
post processing gymnastics I think a smartphone is the best way to go.
But for those who like to immerse themselves in the process
of taking photos with a proper camera then teasing out every possible bit of
image quality in post processing, the experience and the results can be worth
the effort.
And it’s not as difficult or time consuming as we might at
first imagine. It gets much easier and more streamlined with experience. I can now look at a Raw file and have a pretty good idea what I will need
to do in post processing to achieve a good final output. With that experience
also comes the confidence to make an initial
sequence of adjustments in about 20 seconds them fine tune them in 3-5
minutes.
