Choosing the Right Profile in Lightroom and ACR

Table of Contents

1:11Lesson Overview
1:43How Profiles are Similar to Film Stock
2:39The Profile Browser
7:05Choosing a Profile to Pull More Detail out of a Raw File
15:15The Difference Between Profiles and Presets
18:57Using Presets and Profiles Together
20:25The Calibration Panel is for Fine-Tuning a Profile
26:37How the Calibration Panel Changes the Parameters of a Hue
27:10Monitor Calibration vs. the Calibration Panel
27:58Lesson Summary

Profiles …

When you want to adjust your colors in Lightroom or ACR, most will typically go straight for the HSL panel….which will get you satisfactory results “most” of the time. 

Eventually, you’ll come across an outlier image that just doesn’t seem to play nice with the HSL panel. 

For example, you want to shift the reds more towards orange, but the sliders aren’t picking up on the exact pixels you wish to change. 

Or perhaps your HSL adjustments are too broad…and you’re shifting other hues close to red that you want to remain untouched. 

Either way, your color processing is off the mark…and it becomes frustrating. 

What if you could decide which pixels are considered to be a specific hue…giving you more power to include (or exclude) specific areas from your color adjustments? 

In comes profiles….which let you go “beneath the surface” and determine how the colors in your raw file area interpreted and displayed on your computer.

Now many think profiles are simply a new alternative to presets, where you can download and install these color “recipes” for your images. 

That’s technically correct, but it’s barely scratching the surface to what profiles can do for your photography…

If you’re ready to dive into the world of profiles, then this “substance over style” video will open up many doors for you in your color processing…and give you long-term results in your photography.

This lesson is a sample of what you’ll find in the creativeRAW Lifetime Membership Program. Click here for more details.

The Histogram

Table of Contents

1:09Lesson Overview
2:47Why We Use the Histogram (Passive vs. Active Tonal Protection)
6:16Deconstructing the Histogram Graph
9:06Interpreting the Histogram on an Image
10:49Using the Histogram to Identify Clipped Detail
13:46Clipping Warnings in Lightroom
16:26The Limits of Recovering Clipped Detail
17:53Why the In-Camera Histogram is not Accurate
20:13Color and the Histogram
22:21Lightness vs. Brightness in Lightroom
23:56The Myth of a “Perfect” Histogram
26:26Lesson Recap

The Histogram…

Easily one of the most useful tools in both the digital darkroom and in the field. This graph provides protective “bumpers” to help guide you to the perfect exposure, as well as prevent any damage from overprocessing.

Most of us know what a histogram is already, but knowing exactly how to interpret it can be a bit misleading.

In another “deep dive” tutorial, we’ll unpack the histogram and all of its wonderful features, so you can better use it to protect your tones and retain as much detail as possible in your images.

This lesson is a sample of what you’ll find in the creativeRAW Lifetime Membership Program. Click here for more details.

Contrast, Luminosity, and Color

Table of Contents

3:50The Definition of Luminosity
7:40Using the Histogram to Evaluate Contrast
10:05Global vs. Local Contrast (Micro-Contrast)
17:27Contrast and Depth Perception
21:05How Local Contrast is the Foundation of an Image
24:35How Texture Contrast Influences your Composition
27:13The Luminosity of Color
31:04Brightness vs. Lightness
36:27Perceived Brightness and the Computer Screen
41:41How Hue and Saturation Affects Value
43:53How Contrast, Luminosity, and Color Influence One Another
47:43Lesson Recap

Contrast, Luminosity, and Color…

These three qualities are often thought of independently, but share a very special relationship as they directly influence one another to comprise the structure of your photograph.

I’ve found that many photographers haven’t fully wrapped their heads around the differences between luminance and luminosity, lightness and brightness, global and local contrast…and will often use the terms interchangeably.

So I wanted to dig deep here with a video lesson and unpack the relationship between contrast, luminosity, and color…

Because once you understand how they influence one another, you can process your detail with more precision for a higher-quality final image.

My Best Tips for Creative Autumn Photography

Autumn is, by far, my favorite season to photograph. The first piece of foliage signals the beginning of an ethereal journey through nature as I watch it transform into vibrant hues of red, orange, and gold. Scenes that I have become familiar with morph into a mosaic of colors and tones, and the cooler air and unsettled weather contribute to the creation of a dreamscape playground.

Since autumn photography is a personal pursuit of mine, I wanted to create a list of fall foliage tips to help you navigate through this otherworldly season and harness your creative expression.

1. NATURAL LIGHT AND FOLIAGE


Landscape photographers are well aware of how important the quality of light is to an image, but it plays a particularly important role during the fall foliage season. Light creates the atmosphere and enhances the overall experience. Different types of light have particular strengths, and knowing what those advantages are will lead to a more fulfilling experience during this short window of opportunity.

Diffused Light


If your goal is to amplify the natural color of foliage, then you will find much success with the soft, diffused light of overcast days. Colors appear more saturated without the interference of direct sunlight, which can expand your creative horizons during a drizzly autumn morning. Water has the ability to amplify color as well, so foliage that has been recently dampened by a passing shower or still wet from melted frost will explode with color.

One of my favorite times to photograph the autumn foliage is on overcast, damp days as I can spend hours creating without being dictated by the angle of the sun. The mood is thick with suspense, and I find this experience to have great influence on my work as I tend to seek out moody and mysterious compositions.

Natural Light and Foliage - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 1/125 SECONDS

Remember: you can download a PDF of this article for later viewing by clicking the button above (or just click right here).

Direct Sunlight


As the season turns to autumn, the sun moves lower in the sky which results in a more pleasant light when compared to the summer months. Shadows are lengthened and highlights are intensified, and previously uninspiring scenes are now exploding with texture and depth. The image below was taken three hours before the official sunset time, but notice how low in the sky the sun is placed. Your window of textured light is expanded during the autumn months, allowing for more opportunities to create during the foliage season.

Direct Sunlight - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/16 • 1/125 SECONDS

Golden Hour Light


The golden hour light has the ability to add intense warmth and pleasing light to your scene, amplifying a sensation of comfort and happiness. Texture and depth are prime during the sunrise and sunset hours; highlights and shadows dominate the landscape, creating a mosaic of deep autumn hues and strong tones.

Golden Hour Light - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 1/8000 SECONDS

The golden hours are coveted by landscape photographers, and this unique light requires a specialized workflow to compensate for the intense highlights and shadows. Exposure blending is often needed to recover the full tonal range, and there are particular requirements in order to successfully photograph this phenomenal light.

Which is why I created an exposure blending eCourse for the creativeRAW lifetime membership program, which you can read more about right here.

Moonlight


Photographing the autumn foliage at night can prove to be just as fruitful as any daylight composition. Remember: soft, diffused light can amplify colors, so the moonlight filtered through clouds can be a prime opportunity to capture vibrant hues with a soft atmosphere.

Moonlight - CreativeRAW
Canon 24mm f/1.4L II • f/1.4 • 300 secondsCANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 300 SECONDS

This late-night photograph was a 300 second exposure taken at f/1.4, with the moonlight filtered by a very thin layer of clouds after a passing rain shower. Water increases the saturation of color, and when combined with the diffused moonlight, it can create an exemplary stage for intense autumn colors.

There was another reason for photographing this scene at night. Since foliage begins to lose its color as soon as it drops from the tree, I knew that these leaves would be less vibrant if I waited until morning. Additionally, the recent rain shower would cause the leaves to dry up and crumble, thus losing the wonderful texture and detail at this vantage point.

2. AUTUMN PERSPECTIVES


Changing your vantage point can produce stellar results, especially with fallen foliage. A simple shift in perspective can create a more captivating and versatile autumn portfolio, one that will grasp attention and satisfy your creative need for expression.

Height


It’s natural to photograph your scene at standing height, and this perspective may produce a perfectly respectable autumn photograph. However, you can instantly transform your atmosphere and add depth by shooting at a lower vantage point. I find laying flat-out to be especially successful in adding layers to an otherwise flat image, with foliage being my foreground subject. I can easily find a strong focal point during autumn, and I tend to take full advantage of the vibrant colors and textures which nature provides.

Height - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 5 SECONDS

Focal Length


Selecting a focal length for fall foliage should be a deliberate choice. Wide focal lengths add depth and a sense of otherworldliness by exaggerating distances between elements in your frame. I’m particularly fond of combining a low vantage point with a wide angle lens. Autumn is an ethereal time of year, and I find this effect to enhance the dreamlike atmosphere.

With my 24mm lens at ground level, I was able to dramatically change my perspective and add substantial depth to this mushroom that would not be possible if my camera was just 6 inches higher.

Focal Length - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 1/200 SECONDS

In contrast, long focal lengths will compact your distances, allowing you to bring forth those background elements that would be rendered indistinguishable with a wider length. The background trees and foliage in my image below were much further away than they appear. However, the reach of my 85mm lens was able to render them as having a more dominant presence.

Autumn Perspective - CreativeRAW
CANON 85MM F/1.8 • F/1.8 • 1/1250 SECONDS

Aperture and Depth of Field


Controlling your depth of field can greatly enhance the autumn atmosphere you wish to create. While more traditional images tend to adopt a deep depth of field, I find much success with a more shallow experience. For me, it amplifies the ethereal experience of autumn and can add layers of depth to an otherwise flat, unimaginative scene.

Aperture and Depth of Field - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 1/8000 SECONDS

With a shallow depth of field, you can easily isolate pieces of foliage that you find particularly interesting or powerful, allowing you to direct attention onto a subject that would otherwise be overpowered by the surrounding environment.

Shallow Depth of Field - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 1/500 SECONDS

One method I use frequently during the autumn season is to deliberately adjust my plane of focus to fall over the background or foreground; both methods provide intriguing results, and the method you use depends on your intent and creative vision.

Let’s continue on!

Foreground Point of Focus


Selecting a foreground element as your point of focus can help to redistribute the weight and balance of your frame that is altered by a shallow depth of field. Small, unnoticeable focal points (such as a fallen leaf) that would otherwise be lost in a deep depth of field now take center stage in your composition.

Foreground Point of Focus - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 1/800 SECONDS

Background Point of Focus


If you find yourself selecting a background element as your main subject, you don’t have to limit yourself to a deep depth of field to compensate. Instead, push your plane of focus back to your subject while obscuring your foreground. A background focal point with a shallow depth of field adds depth and layers, creating an atmosphere thick with a sense of discovery and exploration.

Background Point of Focus - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 1/640 SECONDS

In my image here of Duck Brook Bridge in Acadia National Park, the shrub foliage in the foreground acts as a simple atmospheric enhancement to my main subject, enveloping the bridge without distracting too much attention away from it.

Shallow depths grant you greater control over the flow of your frame, which is highly successful for those awkward compositions that need a better balance between focal points. There are several factors beyond a wide aperture that contribute to creating bokeh and a shallow depth of field, such as distances between subjects and the quality of light. In my eBook Bokeh, I explain this process in great detail.

Bokeh: Creating with Shallow Depths is a free eBook that you can download right here.

3. LONG EXPOSURES


I’ve always been drawn to the ethereal quality of long exposures, and the surreal colors of autumn provide a unique opportunity to develop stellar imagery. The unsettled autumnal winds can create painterly textures and colors as it blows through the foliage, and extended shutter speeds can create an incredible atmosphere.

Long Exposures - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/16 • 2 SECONDS

With a shutter speed of two full seconds, I was able to track the movement of fallen leaves floating downstream, rendered as the streaks you see in the water.

I frequently combine my shallow depth work with long exposures, usually with an aperture of f/1.4, which allows for a substantial amount of light to hit my sensor. To compensate, I require some intense ND filters to slow down the shutter enough to capture the windswept movement.

Polarizing Filters - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 52 SECONDS

With two ND400 filters stacked, I was able to reduce my exposure by 18 full stops and attain a shutter speed of 52 seconds at f/1.4. The autumnal winds softened my bokeh for an ethereal rendering.

Polarizing Filters


Many photographers use polarizing filters in their landscape photography, and these filters are especially beneficial for autumn foliage. Not only will one saturate the colors of your landscape, but it will reduce any color-washing glare from light reflecting off of leaves and water.

I’ve found polarizing filters to be very helpful for those unsettled autumn mornings where the sun is out but the foliage is damp from melting frost, eliminating any reflective glare. Lens flare and sun reflections have the ability to desaturate your hues, so reducing this effect on foliage is a welcomed benefit.

It’s important to note that polarizing filters will typically reduce your exposure by 1 to 2 full stops. When combined with a small aperture, this can slow down your shutter speed enough to cause camera shake and blur. As always, I recommend using a tripod and to employ a typical long exposure workflow.

When is “peak” foliage?


From a photography perspective, the foliage season is actually quite longer than what many consider to be peak color. From the first sign of autumn hues to the last fallen leaf, opportunities to create are plentiful before, during, and after the height of color. The rusty gold oak trees hang onto their color a bit longer than the more attractive reds and oranges.

Although this scene below was taken weeks after the end of peak foliage, I was still able to create one of my favorite autumn images by focusing on the scene I had in front of me rather than what I had already missed.

When is peak foliage? - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 1/640 SECONDS

It’s never too early to begin your autumn photography once you spot foliage. The early turners are often some of the most vibrant, and there are methods you can use to isolate your subject and obscure the predominantly green environment.

By using a shallow depth of field on this leaf below, I was able to focus solely on the bit of color I found, highlighting the more delicate details of autumn.

Using a Shallow Depth - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/1.4 • 1/500 SECONDS

Look Beyond the Foliage


The siren-like quality of autumn vistas may dominate your attention in the field, but try to explore other subjects – you may be pleasantly surprised with your results.

Look Beyond the Foliage - CreativeRAW
CANON 24MM F/1.4L II • F/11 • 1/6 SECONDS

Cooler temperatures and drier air bring vibrant, crisp colors and textures in the sky, especially during the golden hours. I’ve found that my most visually intriguing sunsets were captured during the autumn months.

Cooler Temperatures and Drier Air - CreativeRAW
CANON 17-40MM F/4L • 17MM • F/11 • 1/5 SECONDS

A dynamic autumn portfolio is possible simply by being aware of your environment and knowing how you want to translate it. Night or day, diffused or golden hour light, vistas or minimalistic, peak color or long past – the opportunity to create powerful autumn photographs are plentiful.

Nature determines the environment we find ourselves in, and foliage begins to fade as soon as it falls from the tree. Don’t wait for “better light”. Instead, use it as an opportunity to acclimate to the unpredictability of nature by exploring new creative methods.

Thanks for reading! And remember: if you want to save and download this article to read later, click the link below!

How to Create Crisp Sunstars and Sun Rays

Us landscape photographers have little control over the environment we photograph…so we often rely on our camera skills to create the image we want by manipulating how the scene is rendered. One powerful way to enhance interest and create a compelling focal point is to transform light sources (usually the sun) into a “sunstar”.

Create Crisp Sunstars And Sun Rays - CreativeRAW

Sunstars (sometimes called “starbursts”) refer to when you can literally see rays of light emanating from the sun (like in the image above).

Actually, any light source can potentially become a sunstar…the moon, street lights, and even reflected light, and is a technique often used to add another dimension of interest in night photography since there are so many potential light sources.

Unfortunately, creating a sunstar is not as simple as flipping a switch. Just like most techniques in our craft, there are certain conditions that need to met in order to produce this wonderful effect…both environmental and technical. Even if you’re able to create a sunstar, sometimes the rays are blurry with lots of flare…making it more of an eyesore than an enhancement.

The good news is that it’s quite simple to create a crisp sunstar…you just have to know the proper steps to enhance the clarity, sharpness and “pointiness” of those magical rays of light.

What Causes the Sunstar Effect?


To improve the quality of your sunstars, you need to know how your camera creates them in the first place.

Here’s the short version: the points of light you see are created by the aperture blades in your lens. When photographing light sources that are significantly brighter than the surrounding areas (such as the sun vs. a deep blue sky), the light that passes through where the blades intersect and create an angle will be rendered as a point. This is where diffraction comes into play (how light is altered as it passes through a small opening) and the light spreads out to create these “rays”, giving your light source a sunstar effect.

However, not every lens is created equal…some will produce spectacular sunstars, while others will be soft and weak. So let’s dive a bit deeper as to how your aperture manipulates light.

Since a sunstar is the effect of light diffraction as it passes through where your aperture blades intersect, the shape of your blades control how your sunstar looks…particularly, how sharp the angle is where the aperture blades intersect.

Smaller apertures will produce stronger sunstars since they meet at a sharper angle than wider apertures. When your aperture opens, the blades spread out and create a rounder opening to let more light in….but that means they intersect at a lower angle and will produce softer points of light.

Let’s take a look at the difference:

What Causes the Sunstar Effect? - CreativeRAW

This image was taken at f/16, which rendered the sunstar quite distinctly despite being partially hidden by the clouds.

This image was taken at f/16 - CreativeRAW

Here, my aperture was set to f/1.4, which is far too wide to create those points of light. Even though my focus is set on the foreground, the result would be quite similar here if I pushed the slice of focus to the back.

Using the smallest aperture will not give you the best sunstar though…

Following the above logic, a higher f/stop should give you the pointiest sunstar. However, shooting at f/32 is not a good idea since the light diffraction will degrade the overall quality of your photograph.

Lenses are typically their sharpest between f/8 and f/16…each lens has their own “sweet spot” so you’ll have to do your research and testing. When your f/stop goes outside of this range, the overall sharpness and clarity will drop off. This is more apparent when you use smaller apertures (higher f/stop number) as opposed to wider apertures.

This is when your personal taste and creative freedom comes into play: how sharp do you want your sunstar in exchange for image quality? Is a slightly softer image worth those crispy points?

Your decision here entirely depends on how big of a role the sunstar plays in your overall composition, and also the quality of your lens….but generally, I would not go smaller than f/22 as you’ll lose too much sharpness. Knowing your lens and how it performs at different apertures will greatly help you in setting your limit.

Keep in mind that smaller apertures will prolong your shutter speed, so make sure to use a tripod and follow the typical stabilization workflow to ensure a tack-sharp image. My guide here on stabilizing your camera will show you how.

TIP: When using a tripod, turn any “image stabilization” or “vibration reduction” off – this is only useful when your camera is handheld and can actually do more bad than good if you’re using a tripod.

So now that you know how sunstars are created, let’s go over a few important tips that will greatly improve the clarity and quality of your light.

1. Your Lens Matters – a Lot


Personally, I’m not that big of a gear nut. I only buy a new lens when I absolutely need it to achieve a certain look…and sunstars will definitely benefit from a higher-quality lens.

One way to produce crisper sunstars is to reduce the amount of lens flaring since that will soften detail and wash out color and contrast…which makes your sunstar appear soft and hazy.

Of course, you could remove flares in post-processing, but that still will not give you sharper points of light.

Higher quality lenses tend to have multi-coatings and overall better glass to reduce flaring at the source, which will give you crisper, cleaner sunstars.

The internal components of your lens will also control how many points of light are created.

Each lens has a specific number of aperture blades (typically 5 to 8) which directly correlate to how many spikes of light your image will have.

However, more aperture blades do not necessarily mean more spikes…

As we learned earlier, sunstars are created where the blades intersect (or overlap) as they open and close to control how much light is let into your camera. When you have an even number of aperture blades, the diffraction spikes are directly across from one another and cancel each other out. So a six-blade aperture produces only six points – not very good for a strong sunstar.

However, when you have an odd number of aperture blades, the diffraction points do not line up perfectly and will produce double the number spikes per aperture blade. A 5 blade aperture produces 10 spikes, and a 7 blade aperture will produce 14 spikes.

Let’s look at a few examples:

Your Lens Matters - a Lot - CreativeRAW

This lens has an even number of aperture blades (8), so only eight points of light in this sunstar.

This lens has an even number of aperture blades - CreativeRAW

This sunstar looks quite different with the additional sun rays. My lens here had a lower amount of aperture blades (7), but since that is an odd number, the diffraction points do not line up perfectly. This translates into 14 sun rays for a more powerful focal point.

Most camera retailers will list the number of aperture blades for each lens so you can make an educated decision before a purchase. You can also do a quick Google search for a particular lens to see what kind of sunstars it will produce.

This was one consideration I had when I bought my new Canon 17-40mm wide angle lens. Aside from its wide-angle capabilities and overall better quality glass, I wanted an odd number of aperture blades to produce sunstars with more diffraction spikes.

The shape of your aperture blades can also affect how your sunstar is rendered. Straight blades will give you sharper sunstars than rounder ones.

This article here compares several popular lenses and goes into more technical detail of the aperture/sunstar relationship.

2. Remove your Filters and Clean your Glass


As light passes through filters and hits the glass of your lens, additional flares and overall softening of the light source can happen…so it’s best to remove any filter (including UV filters) prior to composing your image.

Additionally, a dirty lens and/or sensor can give you a lot of extra flare removal work in Photoshop. This is especially true when working with small apertures, so make sure your glass is smudge free.

3. Compose with Contrast


There’s a reason why sunstars tend to look better at night or during the golden hours: when the contrast is stronger between the bright light source and surrounding detail, the more prominent your sunstar will be the longer your spikes will appear.

If, however, you’re photographing the sun against a bright white-ish sky (or slightly overexposing your frame), your sunstar will appear softer and smaller.

I’ll often photograph during the golden hours when the sun is close to the horizon, so strong sunstars are much easier to create. Deep blue skies will also give you more robust sunstars as opposed to those hazy white summer days.

4. Search for Hard Edges


Another way to increase the contrast between your light source and environment (thus producing a crisper sunstar) is to compose around a hard edge…such as a tree, building, or the horizon line. This tends to elongate the rays of light and make the sunstar appear more prominent.

Search for Hard Edges - CreativeRAW

In this image, notice how the sunstar appears much stronger and crisper on the bottom than the top, although the actual sun rays are very similar in size and quality. The contrast against the horizon line helps the sun rays stand out.

You can also use hard edges to control the “weight” of your sunstar, which can often overpower your composition. Light sources are generally very strong focal points that can be difficult to counterbalance…and when you add the interest of a sunstar, they can completely overhwelm the rest of your frame.

I typically use a full-on sunstar when I need to dramatically shift the balance in my composition, like when the sky is completely empty against an interesting foreground (as seen in the image above). This helps to pull some weight towards the top of my frame. However, the sky is not always empty…so we need to think of other ways to reduce the power of a sunstar when needed.

Instead, you can compose your image so that the light source is partially hidden by a tree, horizon, or any other hard edge….which will make it less alluring to the eyes.

The light source is partially hidden by a tree - CreativeRAW

In the image above, I waited until a dark cloud moved in to partially obscure the sun.

You can also use high-contrast edges to elongate rays of light across your frame. When you compose your image so that one side of the sun is against a dark foreground (like trees), the points of light tend to stretch across those darker elements…but in a very soft, complimentary way as opposed to being an eyesore.

Use high-contrast edges to elongate rays of light across your frame - CreativeRAW

In this image, you can see that the sun is lined up behind a hard edge (the tree). The sun rays on the right-hand side are nearly non-existent because the background sky is quite bright. However, the sun rays on the left side are elongated and soft, which provides some needed interest against the textured foreground. The diffraction points are more prominent on the left side because the light is cascading across a darker background.

5. Widen your Frame for Better Balance


Sunstars are fantastic for when you want to create a strong focal point and greatly enhance the interest…but this can be a dual-edged sword. Oftentimes, the power of a full sunstar can overwhelm pull all of the attention away from the rest of your composition. This is especially true when photographing the sun full on.

Widen your Frame for Better Balance - CreativeRAW

In the image above, the size and strength of the sun star is too great and completely overpowers the rest of the frame, despite the foreground being incredibly busy.

When you can’t partially mask the sun to filter out some of the strength (as seen above), simply widen your frame to render the sun smaller in your overall composition. Your sunstar will still be a prominent focal point, but not as overwhelming.

This will also help to convey depth in the image, especially when photographing multiple light sources (such as a city at night): sunstars in the foreground will be larger than those further in the background.

Wider focal lengths also tend to produce better sunstars; the larger your light source is rendered, the hazier and “broken up” the diffraction points will appear. Smaller light sources tend to give you cleaner and crisper rays of light.

In the image above, the very large sunstar is quite streaky and soft, despite photographing against a nice blue sky and following the above-mentioned tips (i.e. small aperture, high-quality lens, etc.).

However, the photo below has the sun thrown quite a ways in the distance….which resulted in a crisper sunstar (despite a little interference from the slightly hazy sky).

Focus Blending for Cleaner Sunstars - CreativeRAW

You can use a wider angle lens to exaggerate your distances and make the sun seem further in the distance…but this does not always work for the rest of your composition as it rebalances everything. Instead, what I often do is turn my image into a panorama.. capturing a few frames around my main subject and stitching them together later (like in the image above).

6. Focus Blending for Cleaner Sunstars


Focus blending is a fantastic way to overcome any variations in image sharpness…and is especially beneficial in landscape photography when we often work with wide-angle lenses and deep depths of field. By taking multiple frames of the same scene with the point of focus set on different subjects (usually one frame for the foreground, middle ground, and background), you can ensure that your image is tack-sharp from front to back.

As mentioned earlier…the smaller the f/stop, the sharper and cleaner your sunstar will appear. This often means shooting at f/22, which can also soften your entire frame due to the diffraction of light. With focus blending, you can overcome this compromise by capturing one frame for the sunstar at f/22, and blend that together with another frame set at your “sweet spot” aperture for ultimate sharpness (usually f/8 or f/11).

Just make sure to compensate for the wider aperture by increasing your shutter speed in order to match the exposure for the sunstar.

In my membership courses, I show you exactly how to blend multiple exposures together using luminosity masks…which provide the cleanest (and easiest) results.

8. Photograph Under Clear Skies (if possible)


No matter how small your aperture is, a sunstar can be completely eliminated if there are any atmospheric elements at play…such as fog, humidity, or a thin layer of clouds. The photograph below was taken at f/16, but the thin layer of clouds affected the sunstar considerably.

Photograph Under Clear Skies - CreativeRAW.com

9. Use Live View (if possible)


It can take a few moments to accurately compose and set your focus on the sun, so it’s best to not look through your viewfinder….make sure to use your camera’s live view function instead. This will also give you a general idea of what your sunstar will look like if you’re using a depth of field preview as well.

Is photographing the sun bad for my sensor?

Many have heard that exposing your sensor to the sun for long periods can burn it out, but that’s not typically an issue in landscape photography. The sun is quite small compared to the rest of your frame (especially when using wide-angle lenses), so it makes little difference.

However, if you use a telephoto lens and fill your entire frame with the sun (such as photographing an eclipse), that can certainly burn out your sensor.

Can I produce sun stars at night?


Absolutely! The sunstar effect is just as popular for night photographers (especially night cityscapes) since there are so many light sources to photograph…and the darker environment makes those points of light even stronger.

Additionally, longer shutter speeds tend to produce crisper, larger rays of light…so night photography is the perfect environment for sunstars and can add much interest to an otherwise boring scene.

Bonus tip: Don’t forget about reflected light sources!


Any light source can produce a sunstar…even reflected light. Macro photographers will often incorporate sunstars in their images by composing at an angle where the sun is reflected by dew drops, producing a sea of mini-sunstars throughout the frame that simply compliments the image rather than being a powerful focal point.

Don't forget about reflected light sources - CreativeRAW.com

In this image here, the small sunstars reflected in the water are barely noticeable by themselves, but provide some additional interest and enhance the overall atmosphere. This is quite different than the earlier images where the sunstar is typically the most powerful focal point.

Can I create or enhance sun rays in Photoshop?


You bet…but like most techniques in Photoshop, some will produce better results than others. The key to natural-looking sun rays is to use luminosity masks to tailor the result to the tonal value of your image. This prevents the sun rays from washing out your tones and colors and looking like a bad filter. I teach this technique in my membership courses.

Thanks for joining me and if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below for me to answer!

The 5DayDeal $10,000 Photography Giveaway is coming up!


It’s almost October, which means the 5DayDeal Complete Photography Bundle is coming up fast! To celebrate, they are pulling out all the stops and running a HUGE photography giveaway where you can win some incredible photo gear and prizes.

In a few weeks, you can throw your name into the hat for a (pretty good) chance of winning. It’s completely free to enter, and absolutely no hoops to jump through.

I’ll let you know when the doors open, so keep an eye out for another email from me…because you only have a few days to enter.

Dodging and Burning with Luminosity Masks

Dodging and burning in Photoshop is a powerful way to control the light and shadow of your landscape…but it can also present some unique problems, particularly flat tones and muddy detail.

Here’s the good news: luminosity masks can instantly enhance the clarity of your dodging and burning by preserving contrast and protecting detail..literally acting as a stencil that filters the quality of your brushwork.

Not only is this workflow incredibly powerful, but very simple to use…so I can not wait to show you how this works.

Luminosity masks are best learned when taught visually, so I’ve pulled a comprehensive video lesson from my membership program for you to watch. However, a video is not always the most convenient way to learn, so I’m also including the full written tutorial below.

If you’re pressed on time, make sure to download the video lesson so you can watch around your own schedule. I’m also including any practice files so you can practice right alongside this tutorial. It’s easier to grasp concepts in Photoshop when you actually do it yourself as opposed to simply watching someone else do it for you. Just fill out the form below the video and you’ll be sent a download link.

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As you already know, dodging and burning is a fantastic way to strengthen the balance of light and shadow in an image. This is especially powerful in landscape photography since we can not control the natural light in our image (like we can in a studio), so it’s up to our processing skills to enhance the balance of our composition.

Luminosity masks can help tremendously with dodging and burning since these masks will prevent (or reverse) typical problems. For example, dodging a shadow or burning a highlight can wash out detail, muddy colors, and flatten tones…but when you add luminosity masks to your workflow, you can tailor the adjustment to your image and retain contrast and detail.

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Luminosity Masks for Dodging

Let’s go back to the image of Eagle Lake we’ve been working with in the previous tutorials. I want to first dodge this tree line in order to brighten it up and pull more attention towards the right side of the frame. The bright sky behind the mountain and the dominant tree is drawing attention to the left side, so I want to fix that.

Also, by brightening up this treeline, it will create a bigger tonal gap between these trees and the darker trees on the left side…which will counter-balance each other nicely. Dodging highlights in Photoshop

Let’s start by setting up the proper environment for dodging. First, add a new solid color fill layer and sample a light, pale yellow (full brightness and a saturation around 20%)…much like we did in the first lesson where we warmed up the highlights.

Select OK to add this new adjustment layer, and then invert the layer mask to pure black by pressing CMD + I, which will hide this color fill layer entirely.

Also, make sure to set your blend mode to “soft light”, which is what I normally use for dodging.

Dodging with a soft light color fill layer in Photoshop

Grab a big, soft brush (one with 0% hardness) and set your foreground color to white with an opacity around 40% to start.

Begin to dodge the treeline by brushing over it, which will gently reveal the color fill layer we just added (but at a much lower opacity). One pass should be enough to dodge this tree line.

Next, reduce your brush opacity down to about 10% so you can fine-tune the dodging and fill in any areas you may have missed.

Dodging by brushing onto a layer mask to reveal color

As you can tell, dodging significantly like this can severely wash out your tones and flatten the contrast…and almost looks like you added fog to the treeline. This is even more apparent when you dodge over a highly textured area like this…with lots of sharp detail with bright highlights and deep shadows. You never want to dodge a shadow this dramatically, and this is why.

Luminosity masks can help tremendously here; they make your dodging more effective by allowing you to control which tonal groups your brushwork will effect. By using one of these masks to heavily remove the dodging from the shadows, we can still lighten this area without losing detail, depth, or contrast.

In order to counteract the washed-out appearance of our dodging here, I’ll add a restrictive luminosity mask to remove the dodging just from the shadows.

Let’s first turn this solid color fill layer off so I can generate a fresh set of luminosity masks based off of my original image (before we adding the dodging). Next, open up the TK Basic Panel so we can generate our masks.

Note: If you’re unfamiliar with this fantastic (and 100% free) panel for generating luminosity masks, make sure to read all about it on the first tutorial.

Hit the “composite” button to generate fresh masks, and let’s choose one that selects our highlights nicely while excluding the shadows.

The basic “Lights 1” mask does give us a nice selection of the highlights, but it’s not strong enough. If we zoom in and sample one of the brightest pixels, it is only set at 79% brightness…which means that the strongest selection of this mask is only at 79%. I want a stronger selection for my highlights, so while we are still in the “mask preview” mode, I’m going to refine this mask further in order to strengthen this selection.

Strengthen the selection of a luminosity mask by adding brightness.

Let’s add some Brightness to this “Lights 1” luminosity mask before we apply it to the dodging layer. Click on Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast and bring up the brightness by about 30 points.

Hit OK, and go back to the TK Basic Panel. Instead of choosing Apply or Layer, I’m going to press Selection which will load the luminosity mask as an empty selection (as seen above) since I first need to move some layers around before creating the mask.

This is a great way to “save” your luminosity mask to the side if you need to first create additional layers before applying it as a mask. Now you can always come back to this panel and access your most-recently created luminosity mask (even if you click off the panel)…but I sometimes find it easier to simply load it as a selection and then rearrange my layers as needed.

Now that this is loaded as a selection, I can reorganize my layers. Let’s place the solid color fill layer into its own group, then apply a mask to the group itself. Since the luminosity mask is already loaded as a selection, it is automatically applied to the mask as soon as you create it.

Load a luminosity mask as a selection

Screenshot is from the free video lesson on luminosity masks, which you can download by clicking here.

Let’s take a look at that treeline with the luminosity mask in place. We managed to remove the dodging from the shadows entirely, which leaves us with a highly refined result that would otherwise be very difficult to achieve: global dodging that retains contrast and detail. This gives you a cleaner, protected environment to dodge in and only takes a couple of clicks to create.

Depending on your image, you may need to use a Midtone luminosity mask instead of a Lights. If you remember earlier in this tutorial, I sampled one of the brightest pixels and it came in at only 79% brightness…which means that the treeline can take a bit of dodging before I start to blow out detail.

However, if my brightest highlights in the treeline were closer to 100%, dodging would increase the brightness too much and overexpose my highlights. If that was the case, I would have used a Midtone luminosity mask instead…which would remove the dodging from my brightest highlights and darkest shadows simultaneously.

Luminosity Masks for Halo Removal

Another way a luminosity mask can enhance your dodging and burning is by cleaning up the brushwork. As you’ve probably discovered yourself, it can be very difficult and tedious to brush within the lines…especially when dodging and burning since you want this effect to be very feathered and soft. By adding luminosity masks to your workflow, you can simply brush over an area generally and then use a mask to “sculpt” your brushwork to hug the unique content of your image.

Halos from dodging with the brush tool in Photoshop

Here I generally brushed over the entire treeline, which also included some sky detail that I don’t want to dodge. This resulted in a slight haloing effect in the sky that needs to be removed. It is a bit difficult to see the halos since my dodging is very light…but in other images, halos can be very apparent depending on how dramatic your adjustments are.

By adding another luminosity mask, I can restrain my dodging to just the tree detail, and have it hug every nook and cranny of those jagged pine trees. In other words, we can use a mask to separate the dodging on the treeline from the dodging on the sky…and then simply hide any dodging that spilled over onto the sky.

Although this sounds a bit complicated, it’s quite easy to do.

The first step is to place your dodging group into another group, which will allow us to add a luminosity mask to the current group (that contains the solid color dodge layer). In other words, we are taking “masking the mask” a step further by masking a luminosity mask that is controlling the solid color fill layer.

When you add this group to a new group, make sure to also add a new blank layer mask.

Adding a group within a group and a luminosity mask.

Next, let’s create a luminosity mask that will give us a nice, strong selection for the sky only. This will act as a stencil that will filter the original dodging brushwork that spilled over onto the sky detail.

Let’s open up the TK Basic Panel…and for this, we do not have to generate new luminosity masks since they were already created at the beginning of this tutorial. It’s good practice to continually update your masks so that they reflect the current tonal range of your image, but that is not needed here.

Since we want to isolate the sky from the treeline, let’s cycle through our Lights luminosity masks and choose one that gives us a strong selection between sky and treeline.

Separating sky and ground with a luminosity mask

A “Lights 2” mask gives me a solid separation between the sky and the treeline…but we do need to tailor this a bit more so that the treeline is darker and the sky is brighter. Otherwise, we’ll hide some of the dodging from the treeline as well as keeping some of it in the sky. In other words, we need to add some contrast here in order to strengthen the separation even more.

First, let’s brighten up the highlights by going to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast and increasing the Brightness to about 65 to take care of the sky.  Next, go to Image > Adjustments > Levels and let’s add some contrast in order to darken the tree line and create a stronger separation between the sky and trees.

Refining a luminosity mask with a levels adjustment

Next, load this mask as a selection by pressing the “Selection” button on the TK Basic Panel, then click on the mask thumbnail for the new group you just created. What we’re going to do here is use our brush tool to paint over the areas we want to remove the dodging from – in this case, the sky area directly above the treeline. Since we are using a luminosity selection, it’s going to control our brushwork and act as a stencil.

This is called “luminosity painting” and allows you to add a luminosity mask only to specific parts of your frame as opposed to the entire image.

Since the only problem area is right above the treeline, this will work well and will help ensure that we don’t inadvertently remove the dodging from the treeline.

Begin to paint over the sky areas with a black brush set at 100% opacity. There’s no need to worry about painting over the treetops since the luminosity selection will prevent the brush from affecting those areas, as seen below.

Luminosity painting onto a mask

When you paint over an active selection like this, it works just like a stencil. So while I brushed over this entire area with a soft, black brush set at 100% opacity…it protected the treeline from being painted in black. This gives me the exact result I want: the sky in black and tree line in white, which removes my dodging from the sky (as well as those distracting halos).

This is a highly refined and controlled environment for dodging and burning, which is perfect for a complicated adjustment like this. We have very specific areas that we want to exclude from this dodging (the sky detail and shadows in the treeline), as well as areas we want to dodge (the midtones and highlights of the tree line). Thanks to the versatility of luminosity masks, we were able to isolate these very delicate areas.

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One thing you’ll notice about this luminosity mask is that it picked some of the bright highlights along the treeline, as noted by the small dark specks in the above screenshot. These are areas of snow and reflected highlights on the tree branches. Ideally, I want the entire treeline to be completely white…but Photoshop doesn’t know the difference between a highlight on the tree vs in the sky, so I have to refine this manually.

This is why I wanted to paint the luminosity mask in with my brush tool so that I wouldn’t have too many of these areas to remove.

Correcting this is quite simple. Make sure this luminosity mask is selected and active by clicking on the thumbnail in the layers palette, and take a small white brush set at 100% opacity and manually paint over the treeline to clean this up. You don’t have to worry about painting right up against the treetops (where the sky begins to poke through the branches) since that will not be noticeable.

Manually painting white onto a luminosity mask

This is not only a great workflow for dodging and burning, but also for removing any halos that will sometimes creep up when exposure blending.

Luminosity Masks for Burning

The workflow for burning is pretty much the same as dodging, but with different goals and results.

For this image, I’d like to add a very soft vignette in order to push more attention towards the center of the image. I like to achieve that by burning the edges of my frame with the brush tool, which will give a more tailored and natural result…as opposed to using actions or other automated vignette effects.

First, let’s zoom out a bit so we can see the edges of the canvas.

Next, add a solid color fill layer – but this time, select a dark and muted blue. The saturation will still be low (under 25%), but the brightness will be at around 15%. Counterbalancing the pale yellow we used for the dodging with a dark blue for the burning will create some additional depth and interest.

Selecting a dark blue color fill for burning in Photoshop.

Screenshot is from the free video lesson on luminosity masks, which you can download by clicking here.

Hit OK to create this adjustment layer, then change the blend mode to Overlay (for burning). Next, invert your layer mask so that it’s pure black by pressing CMD + I.

Much like we did with our dodging, let’s grab a soft, white brush set at around 40% opacity to start. Begin to paint around the edges of the frame, paying attention to only burn areas that you want to minimize the most and accentuating the existing light balance.

For example, I burn the bottom left and right corners of this image the most in order to push more attention towards the bottom middle, which is already higher in brightness.

When finished, your layer mask should look something like the screenshot below…where most of the attention is still towards the center of the image, but the brushwork loosely follows the landscape and existing light and shadow.

Adding a vignette with luminosity masks in Photoshop

I find this workflow for a vignette much more successful than simply drawing an oval over the center of an image. Not only is the brushwork 100% customized to the photo, but you can easily remove the vignette from certain parts if you went too heavy. Simply switch your color to black and brush over any area you want to remove the vignette from.

We have our vignette…but as expected the tones are looking rather muddy.

Burning in Photoshop can sometimes cause muddy tones.

There are two causes for this:

  1. The burning is crushing our darker shadows. This image already has deep shadows along the edge of the frame (particularly the bottom corners and treeline on the left), and burning those areas starts to crush the shadows and block up important details.
  2. We are also burning the highlights, specifically along the sky…which is more of a distraction than an enhancement.

In order to remove this vignette from our shadows and highlights simultaneously, I’m going to add a midtone luminosity mask to this burn layer.

The first step to “masking the mask” is to place this vignette layer into its own group. Make sure to keep the group active by clicking on the group thumbnail in the layers palette.

Next, open up your TK Basic Panel and select a midtone luminosity mask (I’m using a “Midtone 3”). With your group still selected in the layers palette, press “Apply” to convert this luminosity selection into a group mask.

Adding a midtone luminosity mask to control burning in Photoshop.

This is looking much better, but I can remove this even more from the sky by adding a bit of grey to the luminosity mask. Alt + click on the mask thumbnail to bring it up on the canvas, and go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast and bring that down to about -65.

Here’s the final image with both dodging and burning:

The final result of dodging and burning a landscape photograph.

I find the resulting vignette to be very successful since it’s not obvious that you added one. Instead, your eyes are gently directed towards the center of the photograph without knowing why.

You can say the same for the entire dodging and burning workflow: the “before” image isn’t that different from the “after” above, but the entire balance of focal points and overall flow of attention has been improved greatly with just a few small adjustments to light and shadow.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found some helpful tips for your own processing in Photoshop. Luminosity masks are especially helpful with dodging and burning since these selections are complementary to any technique that manipulates light.

Don’t forget to download the video and practice files for offline learning.

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