Martini Hour 076, In Which the Luminance Contrast Controls the Luminance Contrast

Yes, of course, we’ve covered Adobe Camera Raw in the dekeLounge before, but this episode was inspired by the particular passage in the Adobe Help file gave its name to the title of this Martini Hour. Sure, it’s succinct and…logical…I guess. But those of you who are fans of the spirit that pervades dekeWorld—where explanations should err on the side of completeness—would never be satisfied. The whole “push the button and see what happens” approach will simply not do. You need elaboration. You need clarification. In a word, you need Deke.

Martini Hour 076: Photoshop Camera Raw 6

And so, this week, Deke and I set out to explore the features and controls in ACR in a dekeApproved fashion:

Of course you know that ACR allows you to develop raw files (primarily, although you can point it at your TIFFs and JPEGs as well. Shooting raw gives you both freedom (in the form of lots of data), and with it, responsibility (in the form of having to actually process them). And Deke takes on the responsibility of guiding you through a hands on discussion of how to use ACR’s myriad features, including some newer ones that came around with Adobe Camera Raw 6.

We start with the basics, Temperature and Tone, and then take a deke’s-eye-view of the various luminance controls. We also take a look at another oft used and very familiar tab, the HSL/Grayscale, in which we discover that Deke likes his blue skys dark and daunting. But we also touch on newer features like snapshots, targeted adjustment, and the revamping of sharpening and noise reduction. It’s a hoot, and I even teach Deke a thing or two along the way. And yes, we make it to Luminance Contrast by the end of the show.

Get the clarity and completeness that comes from cocktails with Deke. Download this week’s episode. Here’s the regular-quality (128kbps) audio file. You can stream, or for best results, right-click and choose Download or Save. Or, download the high-resolution (320kbps) version, which you’ll definitely want to download to your computer.

Cheers, seekers of dekeClarity, until next week!

Next entry:Uh, Will There Be Any Deke at deke.com?

Previous entry:Martini Hour 075, In Which the Storm and the Sun Collide with Graphic Results

  • Why even have this \“Comment\” section ????

    It’s 95% useless spam and the few honest questions that do get asked rarely get any type of reply.  I’m talking about “real” questions… not newbies begging deke for custom hotkeys or some other lame whine.

    The site “might” be enhanced by a “real” interactive, well designed, forum but possibly getting questions answered here would [I assume] be seen as counter productive to Deke’s tutorial business.  Too bad since there a hundreds of relatively simple questions that just are not answered or addressed in any of the tutorials.

    Either way… this comments section simply has to go... it does nothing but cheapen the web site (just like the silly tweets),

    Surely Deke’s ego is not so fragile that he needs this section just to collect all the “atta boys” and “happy birthday” posts.

  • flying blind

    Thanks for this podcast! I think I’ve been flying blind on some of the camera raw options. I like the way you cover most of the settings from your perspective (“I’m not a fan of split toning”). What’s helpful is you (and Colleen) explain how the settings actually work on an image not just when to move the slider back and forth.

    Roger


    PhotoshopIsland

    http://www.PhotoshopIsland.com

  • really?

    I have not been active here at Deke’s place recently but I can say that in the past I did get responses to questions from others and even the man Deke himself.

    Regarding. “getting questions answered here would [I assume] be seen as counter productive to Deke’s tutorial business”. There’s plenty of great info right here (this particular podcast for example) and some free Deke stuff at Lynda.com. Plus if you have a library card there’s a good chance you can check all of Deke’s books out for free.

    I would suggest Deke or Colleen keep an eye out for spam and delete it.

    Roger


    PhotoshopIsland

    http://www.PhotoshopIsland.com

  • No virtual love = fewer visitors, more spammers.

    > I have not been active here at Deke’s place recently

    Me either, but I’m wondering how many people have not been coming here lately because they don’t know when there’s new content. I haven’t received a Deke newsletter since Mid-April, which was the #1 feature of CS5. And admittedly that was the last DekePod posted; I haven’t really gotten into the Martini Hours but I may check some out from time to time. I’m subscribed to both Deke Online News and Deke Newsletter but every time I come back I find that the subscription to Deke Online News has been unchecked.

    Anyhoo my point is that if we don’t get a gentle nudge when there’s new content (where’s the virtual love, Deke, WHERE????) it means that genuine visitor numbers may be dropping and leaving the tidal scum of spammers to occupy the comments area. (And I agree that someone needs to go through and purge those more regularly.)

    > Regarding. “getting questions answered here would [I assume] be seen as counter productive to Deke’s tutorial business”. There’s plenty of great info right here (this particular podcast for example) and some free Deke stuff at Lynda.com.

    I concur. In addition to which the potential scope of Photoshop is so huuuuuge (just count the hours of video training alone that have been done on it) I can’t see a question here or there impacting on the market for A to Z training.

  • Actions and automation

    Raw, HDR, etc. yes, last mode.

    I was introduced into JavaScript a propos scriptListener utility in that old tutorial CS2 actions and automation. Since then i have explored the posibilities of that language and developed my skils not only in Photoshop; it is a big field to invest my insane curiosity. But i’m always looking for another Deke’s illumination about this interesting and classic theme. When do you think will be the right moment to take another inmersion on it?

  • Keeping up to date

    Do you do RSS?
    I get feeds sent directly to my Outlook (you can also get RSS feeds with Hotmail and most other webmail providers). It does require that you check your RSS feeds but you can set your reader to notify you of new feeds. You can also get an RSS reader for your desktop that you can configure to notify you of any new feeds (best if you subscribe to only a few feeds).
    You can find the RSS link at the very bottom right-hand side of each page of deke.com (which I believe should be at the top of the page). I don’t know if this is the same feature as the newsletter (I think not) but, alternatively, you could also check your account settings and manage your subscriptions. Make sure the “dekeOnline news” and the “dekeOnline Newsletter” checkboxes are selected.

    You will also notice in Deke’s latest blog that he has been “remiss” in his blogging duties. I’m sure he has been virtually spanked for this indiscretion.

  • I respect your opinion

    But I will humbly disagree.

    drjack, you’ve been a frequent commenter here, so not sure where this is coming from. Maybe I missed a comment of yours? Or you’re defending the comments of others. (If the latter, good on ya.) In any case, one and all, I beg some slight forgiveness. My workload and personal life occasionally take precedent.

    My hope where the comments are concerned is that: A) I actually get around to responding (albeit tenuously, and I admit, seldom recently), B) that when I respond, everyone is privy to it, and C) if someone with a nice idea decides to chime in, we all get to participate in that response.

    I’m with ya on the spam. What the hell is one to do in a democracy? Line the spammers against the wall and gun ‘em down? Their crime is not so awful. And presumably, 2 or 3 of them have families. (Can you imagine living with such a person? There is no respect given where no self-respect exists. But alas, I talk to a vacuum.) Other than wishing them and theirs a better future, there’s nothing I can or wish to do.

    Vis-a-vis the atta-boys, I dunno, I’m human and I like them. But they are by no means required. Inasmuch as I’m out there thumping my chest on occasion (along with the chests of others that I think deserve merit), this site is intended to be me giving back. :-) And staying in touch. :-) And thumping my chest. :-) Ha! So much irony! However sporadically.

    I will try to be more attentive, as I slowly awake into the real world. But the comments will not go away.

    Meanwhile, if you have a heavy-duty question to ask, fire away. I’ll try to keep a better eye out.

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