Where’ve you been, Blake? That is an email I get from quite a few people. The truth is, right here 🙂
I’m still making videos; I’m just doing them less on YouTube and more for f.64 Elite members. Every year, it gets harder and harder for me to develop course material, engage with f.6e Elite, and maintain a YouTube channel that is becoming increasingly saturated with content competing for your attention. So I’ve been putting my eggs in the basket that I know to be the most fruitful.
This month marks the 10-Year Anniversary of f.64 Elite. I never thought I’d see the day, to be honest, but here we are. So all month, I’m going to lift the veil a bit for you and show you what we do on f.64 Elite as the content is being created for the site. At the beginning of every month, I offer Elite members a Photoshop tip or technique. These tips go much deeper than I ever did on my YouTube videos, because I dont have to compete for views, I can make whatever I want.
In this tutorial, I take a closer look at the light sliders in Adobe Camera Raw and show what they actually do to an image. We’ll compare the Contrast slider, the Curve, Exposure, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, and even the luminance sliders in Color Grading to see how each one changes the tones in a photo.
You will learn why Contrast and Curves can look similar, but they are not always the same tool. I show how the Contrast slider pushes lights and darks apart, how Curves give more control, and why Exposure can sometimes be too heavy-handed when all you need is a smaller tonal fix.
The goal is to help you make better editing choices instead of just moving sliders and hoping they work. By the end, you will have a clearer idea of which slider to use, why you would use it, and how to experiment with your own images, so you can better understand your tools.
The image download is for Elite Members only 😉 Interested in f.64 Elite? Learn more here. This conversation will continue next month on f.64 Elite with the color tools.
For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
You explanation of Contrast Slider vs Curves is like the Contrast slider is more of a “Global” adjustment and Curves is more like a “Local” adjustment.
Its only local if its in a mask, in this fashion the curve is still very much global 🙂 It just gives you more global control.
Great info! would love to see future videos on the color sliders and and masks.
would appreciate a similar analysis for color
Thanks! I plan on doing the continuation tutorial next month for f.64 Elite members. You can become a member to see it next month 🙂
Thanks for this comparison with contrast. If you can do the same nerdy process with color, that’d be great!
Thanks! I plan on doing the continuation tutorial next month for f.64 Elite members. You can become a member to see it next month 🙂
Excellent presentation! Wow factor extremely high! Very helpful, useful and practical information!
This is what we do on f.64 Elite 🙂 Every month, countless times. Check it out sometime!
This was great Blake. Would very much appreciate similar treatment for Color & Masking. Your recent “Keep It Simple” presentation was very timely for me. This back to Tone Basics is exactly what the doctor ordered. Thank you very much.
Your teaching is so wonderful. Very helpful and understandable. Thank you Blake.