Applying Graduated Filter with Adobe Lightroom

Alright, here's a hint to get rid of the over-exposed areas on your landscape pictures. This often happen to me when I'm taking cloudy pictures. See the example below (A random picture I took during the drift battle at Barbagello Raceway):

Cloud area over-exposed

Why did my picture turned out like this? Well, basically it is because I wanted things on the ground to look bright enough. In order to do that however, I will have to sacrifice the brightness of the clouds. There was no way for me to control the brightness of the clouds and then create a well-balanced overall picture, unless if i had a graduated filter with me.

So how do I fix this? Not a problem at all. Firstly, I had to make sure that I set the file format to RAW before taking this picture. Why RAW? RAW files are undeveloped pictures unlike JPEGs. Using the right software, you'll have absolute control over the raw files. This means that you'll get to make all the necessary adjustments to make well-balanced pictures with raw files. Ever since I've started using RAW files, I've never turned back to JPEG formats unless I'm very confident that I'll get good compositions.

Now, the simplest steps to fix this picture.
1. Transfer the RAW file into your computer.
2. Open up Adobe Lightroom 3.
3. Import the RAW file into Lightroom.
4. Click on the Develop tab (Figure - Highlighted in orange) to start editing the RAW file.
5. Then click on the Graduated Filter icon (Figure - Highlighted in red).
6. Use your mouse cursor to drag a point on your picture from top to bottom. You'll see the graduated filter coming in (The three lines on the left of the Figure below).
7. Finally, make necessary adjustments (Figure - Highlighted in blue) until you are satisfied with the overall results.
8. If you wish to make adjustments on the overall picture, click on the Graduated Filter icon again to see more controls.

Figure: Adding Graduated Filter in Adobe Lightroom

After less than 3 minutes of adjustments. This is what I get:

Final result.

Have fun!

Drift Battle (Round 1) - 10th October 2010

General Info
Date: 10/10/2010
Location: Barbagallo Raceway, Wanneroo, Western Australia.
Event: Drift Battle - Round 1

Speechless... It took approximately one hour to arrive at the raceway. Despite that, it was absolutely an awesome experience given the chance to spectate a real drift event in Perth... I have to say though, that it was a bad day for the event as it was raining on and off causing it difficult for some drivers to perform well. And the track? It doesn't have many challenging corners for drifters, and kinda big for a drift battle. In order to get good shots, I had to move from one place to another. Tiring! I moved in between two spots only, which were near to the shades in case the rain comes in again. So yeah. Worse part of the event? No chicks! Very disappointing. Oh well, here are some of the nice shots...

Category A Finalists (Second from the left is a lady driver)

Probably the best shot of the day =)

One of the best moments!

KEA Construction team. 1 male 1 female.

Smoked!

Ooooh, the pride... AE86 rules.

A very competent driver trying his best to get enough points.

Alex's car that was modified by KYP (SR20 inside)

Ford Laser TX3 (FOR SALE)

Location:
- Perth, Western Australia.

General Info:
- Two doors
- White Color
- B8 Turbo engine (1.8cc)
- Sound system included

Car condition:
- Well-maintained

Price: N/A
- Please call 0422577605 (Jimmy) for more info and best price
- Serious buyer ONLY

Some photos (click an image for larger view)...

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Just love the design of this building. I created this HDR image by taking 3 photos, each with different exposures. -1.0EV, 0EV, and +1.0EV. You can do this on cameras that include the bracketing feature. But make sure your hands are steady while taking these pictures. I would normally use burst mode and turn on my vibration reduction (VR) on my D90. The software I used? Nik HDR Efex. Thanks to Jasni for recommending the software.


Photo Description:
Location - Not sure, but I think it's along Hay Street, Perth City.
Building - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). CBA was established in 1911.
Time and date taken - 1804 hrs, 02/Oct/2010.

Comparison of digital cameras: Nikon D90 vs Lumix DMC-FZ18

Submitted an assignment which was due 1st October 2010, yesterday. After the submission, I felt bored and needed something to help me relax after all the hard work and sleepless nights. So I've decided to take some pictures, but what? After awhile, I recalled taking a low quality of the city using the Lumix DMC-FZ18. Now that I have the Nikon D90, it's time to see whether there are significant differences between the two. These two pictures were taken from South Perth Esplanade, Perth WA.

Perth City and Swan River view from South Perth Esplanade.
Date - 01/10/2010
Time - 1849 hrs
Camera - Nikon D90
Aperture - F/7.1
Shutter Speed - 2.5 seconds

Perth City and Swan River view from South Perth Esplanade.

Date - 14/06/2010
Time - 0555 hrs
Camera - Lumix DMC-FZ18
Aperture - F/5
Shutter Speed - 5.0 seconds

Notice the differences? Just look at the aperture size and shutter speed settings on the Nikon D90 and compared them with the ones on the Lumix DMC-FZ18. Then compare them based on clarity and the amount of highlights (over-exposures). After this comparison, I realised that the quality of a digital picture DOES depend on the quality of a camera in terms of image sensor size, processor, lens type, etc (technical specifications). Need I explain further? Do some research, and test different types of cameras if possible. You don't have to own one to test. Take it as part of a selection process before you purchase a camera for yourself. I chose the Nikon D90 because of what it has to offer me in increasing my photographic skills. And do remember that sometimes we do need to enhance (edit) digital photos once in a while to make them look perfect (attractive, white balancing, composition, bla bla bla), or almost perfect. Professional photographers would normally take a picture once and that's it, it is perfect! They seldom use photo editing software to enhance their pictures unless they have to. As for me, a beginner and still learning, I often use Photoshop to balance up my pictures. When I tend to be lazy, I would just process my RAW (NEF for Nikon) files and stop doing anything further. Oh well, time for bed. Till next time, g'night and have fun taking photos!