When The Darkest And Brightest Parts Of A Photo Are Adjusted
Properly, The Image Will Look And Print Better
Text And Photography By Rob Sheppard
Despite the special
features of today’s digital cameras, many photographers
have found the results from camera to print disappointing. Certainly,
it’s essential to calibrate your monitor and run tests
with your printer, but that’s not enough if the blacks
of a photo aren’t set correctly. I’ve seen poor prints
from photographers puzzled by the fact that they did all the
necessary calibration and “matched” the monitor, and
still had lackluster results. I’ve even been surprised
to find this problem from top pros who are now shooting with
digital cameras.
A consistent problem
with prints from digital photos is poor blacks, the darkest
parts of the image—blacks that are dark gray, but not black.
This has a huge effect on a photo and can make the difference
between a mediocre image and one with stunning color and contrast.
Other tones, whites and grays, are important, but without a
strong black in the photo, these don’t matter as much.
Master photographer and printer Ansel Adams used to emphasize
having a solid black in a photo (he also talked about a pure
white, which also is important). According to Adams, it gave
a reference for the eye so the viewer could better understand
the rest of the tones. Although we’ve evolved from the
wet darkroom to the digital darkroom, the idea remains the same.
Black is critical to an image.
There’s a relatively easy solution to ensuring solid blacks,
yet I’ve found that even some pros don’t know this
simple trick. An important qualifier: Not all photos should
have a full range of tones from black to white, such as a shot
in the fog, but most photos should have some elements that are
solid black and white.
A digital file is now more like a negative that has the right
information, and it certainly can be interpreted differently
in the print (or other use). There will be variation from photographer
to photographer as to how much color, contrast, brightness and
other adjustments are needed for a particular image. But even
more fundamental than interpretation is getting a good image
right away from the camera’s image file.
The search for better blacks is important. Traditional darkroom
workers recognize this as a fact of life for prints. Most photos
need deep, rich blacks or the resulting images will look flat
with dull colors. This is equally true for the digital print.
Here’s the trick. The easiest way to set your blacks correctly
in an image is to use Levels and its accompanying histogram.
Levels is a chart that has little about it that looks photographic
and often will look intimidating to those who haven’t used
it. It’s important to learn, nonetheless, because its histogram
quickly tells you if the image has good blacks or not.
The histogram plots numbers of pixels against tonal values (brightness)
in the photo. The left side represents the dark parts of the
photo and the right side represents the light parts. Begin by
looking at the left side; if it shows nothing in the graph and
the “hills and valleys” of the graph start much farther
to the right, there are no blacks in the photo. We need to see
some data showing up in the black areas, so we start by moving
the black slider to the right until it’s right under the
start of the histogram data (where it slopes up). That sets
the black point.
You can go farther to the right for strong effects, but that’s
subjective. This first black point is a critical spot for the
photograph. Once you make this adjustment, you’ll see results
immediately. Turn the Preview on and off to get an idea of the
change’s effects.
You’ll notice a black eyedropper at the bottom right of
the dialog box, which you can use to set the blacks “automatically.”
I don’t like the tool, as it tends to be too clunky; it’s
difficult to hit the best spot for getting the right black,
and it rarely gives me the results I like, so I stopped using
it.
Next, set the whites—the right side of the histogram. Move
the slider to the left until it’s below the point where
histogram data ends on the graph (usually, where the slope starts
up to the left, but sometimes there are small areas of highlights
that are affected before that point). Be careful how you set
the white point, as you can quickly blow out important highlights.
There’s also a white eyedropper (which I never use for
the same reasons I don’t use the black one).
Use the middle slider (gray) to adjust the overall brightness
of this adjusted image (it affects the midtones mainly); usually,
I need to bring it back toward the slider. Watch your tones
carefully as you do this—it can be useful to see a lot
of detail in the midtones appear; too much can make your photo
seem dull. You generally need some richness in the dark areas
for a photo to have some contrast and life. The gray eyedropper
is for color, and is a separate and different adjustment.
These simple adjustments usually bring a photo into the right
range for printing and other uses. You can creatively interpret
your photo from this point, making the blacks stronger yet or
brightening the light areas. Some photographers try auto levels
or auto contrast, which can give adequate results, but they’re
never fully satisfying to me because they’re automatic
and not based on what you see changing in your image.
Good black is essential to an outstanding image. Without it,
your photos will look gray and lifeless, and the color will
be weaker.
