I know, I know the title sounds a little “Click-Baity” but I only made it that way because it’s TRUE. I have spent the better part of 10 years critiquing images from all skill levels on f.64 Elite. I have seen a common issue that I had no real explanation for until I started to dig deep.
What I’m talking about is sharpness, or the appearance of sharpness, in places that shouldn’t be sharp, like clouds or whispy fog. I’ve seen incredible scenes destroyed by overly contrasty edits with deep pockets of black and medium grey in places they don’t below.
It would be one thing if there were only one image here or one image there, but I see these marks in almost every batch of photos I download to critique. After years of digging and racking my brain about what the issue could be, I finally deduced where these technical flaws (disguised as artistic expression) are coming from.
Someone could say, “Well, maybe it’s the camera… maybe the raw file.” The EXIF data shows that many of these images came from high-end cameras that produce gorgeous raw files.
So what’s the culprit, Blake? I firmly believe it’s the misuse of Clarity, Texture, and Dehaze. Now, before the trolls come out of the woodwork, as they did on YouTube, hear me out! I’m not saying, “Never ever ever use these sliders.” I’m saying use them in a way that’s conducive to the image and the specific areas of your image.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to use these sliders more effectively locally rather than globally. I’ll also show you some excellent alternatives in Photoshop. Please keep an open mind; I think you might find some gold here.
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 are absolutely one of my favorite PS instructors! I use your techniques/methods all the time. Thank you!
Thanks so much. You have no idea how much that means to me 🙂
it’s funny I have never liked how they changed my photos, so barely use them. But, I may try some masks for skies and such. Thanks.
I love those sliders
But you are correct to go softly
They do wonderful things to fur and feathers and bricks and bark and things like that
Soft stuff like clouds and fabric and flowers probably don’t need a texture or clarity boost
As always, a Great tutorial with explanations, details and alternatives.
It’s funny, but I’ve been following your advice for so long that in ACR, I have never used the “Holy Trinity” of Texture, Clarity, and DeHaze. We do basic prep in ACR, i.e., using masks for background, sky, subjects, etc. but always move on to Ps for final refinements. The goal has always been to avoid HDR since our tacky HDR days. Now, of course, I will need to further experiment and try the new f64 9-volt battery tongue test. Blake, it is bound to go viral! 😉