hello I'm Robin Whalley welcome to Lenscraft today I'm
responding to a frequently requested topic can I explain how to use the photolab
local adjustments to do this I'm using an image I shot at the weekend
with my sony rx10 this is a first generation rx 10 camera which I bought
back in 2013 it's still a great camera and ideal for shooting landscapes when
your own walking if you look over at the metadata panel you can see that photolab
has recognized the camera and the lens when I checked the installed DXO
modules
I can see that I have the correct raw module installed this is important if
you want to achieve the best results from photolab
let's compare the image on screen to the uncorrected view
you can see the difference the lens Corrections making the vignette
correction also uses the lens module
with this image I think the vignette correction removes something so I'm
actually going to disable it I've also turned off the smart lighting
I don't like the effect this is having on the image and I think it's much
better without it checking the effect of Clearview module
though you can see how effective this is at removing the mist from the scene
once the default adjustments too strong I do like the effect on the trees and
will make use of that with the local adjustments
now I'm not going to change any more of the adjustments they're all at the
default and I want to keep them like that because I want to focus this video
on using local adjustments to make our change a local adjustment in photolab we
need to activate the local adjustment module you can do this by clicking the
button at the top of the screen
you then see a message telling you that you're making local adjustments there's
also a closed and reset button at the bottom of the screen along with some
mask controls to add a new local adjustment right click anywhere on the
image this displays the tool selector where you can pick the tool or feature
you want to use there's really only three types of tool that we can work
with to make selections in photolab first we have the gradient tool this is
best used for making life selections that run to the edge of the frame we
then have control points which makes circular selections this is best for
creating larger selections anywhere inside the frame it's also great for
creating natural blending adjustments finally we have the brush tools where
you can paint your selection onto the image this is good for small or large
selections that have an irregular shape you'll also see that there are two
versions of the selection tool we had the regular brush and also an auto mask
option the auto mask option selects automatically the areas based on what
you're painting over we then have some other tools to help you such as the
eraser tool we can use this to remove areas of the selection that we make if
we go wrong whilst creating our selections on masks we can use the reset
option to start over again finally there's an option to add a new
mask each time we draw a new selection we should add a new mask for that
selection the masks act like layers and we can use them to build up complex
selections and help blend our effects overall into the image I'll show you
this shortly when we're drawing the masks as not all of the tools create
masks automatically one final point that's worth mentioning is the help
option in the center this turns on the help message which can
then be useful Isham not familiar with the tool you're trying to use I'm now
going to make my first selection of the reflections in the water because this is
a rectangular area that runs off the edge of the frame I'm going to use the
graduated filter
to make the selection find the point where you want the selection to end no
you can click and draw continue to hold down your mouse as you drag and draw the
gradient when you release the mouse button the gradient ends you can now
move the selection around by clicking and dragging this point if you click and
drag the smaller point you can change the direction as well as
the size of the gradient each time I click and drag I'm going to draw a new
gradient
these then appear over on the right side of the screen in the local adjustments
panel
this was a new feature introduced in photolab 3 so you may not see it in your
version notice how each selection that I made has its own mask in this list
earlier I mentioned there's a reset button on the selection tool if I right
click on the image you can see it be careful if you decide to use this as
it deletes all the selections you've made not just the ones that you're
working on if you want to delete a single selection use the dustbin icon
over here let's go back to selecting and adjusting the reflection
to do this I'll apply the clear view adjustment
then I will increase the colors with the saturation and vibrancy sliders
if I use the compare button you can see the difference this has made
but look at the reflection of the waterfall over on the left this is no
far too clear when you consider the waterfall is more distant and higher
than the trees it should be shrouded in mist we can fix this by using the arrays
brush tool to remove part of the selection in that area of the lake
to do this I'm going to use a low-flow and opacity setting together with a high
feather
that allows me to make multiple brushstrokes carefully
you
notice how this has helped to blend the correction and makes it much more
believable
next I'm going to use a control point to select the trees along the edge of the
reservoir I'll start by adding a single control point
if I use the show mask option at the bottom of the screen I can see what's
being selected
the light areas show me what's being selected by the control point notice the
software automatically blending the selection into the areas surrounding it
the selections determined by the area that's beneath the center of the control
point as you move the control point it changes the selection
when the selections in place I'll turn off the show mask option I can now make
my adjustments using clear view and micro contrast to make the trees clearer
in this area
you
I can also increase the colors using the vibrancy in saturation sliders
you may have noticed that as I'm doing this the equalizer I'm using has three
groups of sliders we have a little light color and detail this is to help
organize the different sliders making it easier for you to find the one you want
now that I've made my adjustment to the first control point I can add additional
control points to make of the selections
unlike with the graduated filter each control point I add becomes part of the
same selection or mask this allows me to build up a selection along the edge of
the reservoir until I'm happy all the control points that I add have the same
settings to keep the adjustments believable notice that I don't go all
the way down to the left with the selection the trees there are further
from the camera so they should have a lower contrast and saturation in these
conditions finally I want to emphasize the fog on top of the hills I'll do this
by adding another graduated filter to select the area
I can then increase the exposure and reduce the contrast in color
the area's now appearing much more foggy but I had feeling that I've created to
regular a selection using the gradient I can use the eraser tool again to fix the
selection and make it appear more natural
to check the effect of just this layer I can use the visibility icon on the layer
in the local adjustments panel
the only tool that I haven't plane is the automated mask I'll use
this to adjust the grass around the center of the image here it's become a
little bit unbelievable in this bit too bright
noticed the brush has an inner and an outer circle notice the brush has an
inner and an outer circle the outer circle shows the area where you're
painting over to make a selection the center circle represents the area the
software uses to select and sunport the image and it creates a selection in the
other areas based on what it's sampled to select the grass properly I need to
first zoom in to that area so I can work more precisely
this helps make sure that I can paint over the grass with just the central
area of my brush
if I know increase the exposure you'll see what the automatic selections done
now I can adjust the grass to reduce the contrast and the saturation to make the
grass more believable
using the compare button you can check the overall effect from all the local
adjustments I'm sure you'll agree that you can create some very believable
enhancements by understanding how to use the local adjustments properly once
you're happy close the local adjustments if you decide later that you want to
make a change just click the local adjustment button again you can then go
in and select the adjustment that you want to affect and make changes if you
found this video useful please share it with others
I'm Robin Whalley you've been watching Lenscraft i'll see you next time for
another video