Technique
Behind the
print Claire Gillo shares her top tips and tricks for getting her documentary monochrome image ready for print To make the most of this image I am going to convert it to black & white.
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I will also reduce the noise in the image as it was shot at a high ISO.
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Claire Gillo
I need to bring out the detail in the shadows to create a subtle blend from dark to light.
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I don’t want to push the highlights too far so they overexpose but I also need to exaggerate the strip of light.
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Claire is a very experienced photography journalist and a former Technique Editor on AP. She now works as a freelancer from her base in Devon and enjoys taking and editing a wide range of images. For more information see her website at www.clairegillo.com
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ollectively around the globe we shoot trillions of images annually. Although many images are not worthy of printing there are some that will benefit greatly, and will transform from being a nice image on screen to a great work of art. The problem with printing your images is that it
GETTING IT JUST RIGHT
1 The basics
To make the basic edits to my image I imported it into Adobe Lightroom Classic. I then converted it to black & white, and boosted the Exposure, Contrast, Highlights and Shadow sliders to ensure the highlights and shadows had enough detail. I finally tweaked the Clarity to boost the midtone contrast. 34
2 Noise
As my image was a tad noisy I scrolled down to the Noise Reduction panel and played around with the Luminance slider. When you reduce noise it comes at the expense of losing detail, so keep zooming in and out until you are happy. It’s often a compromise between keeping the image a little grainy and maintaining fine detail.
3 Soft proofing
I don’t have a printer at home that will do my images justice, so I send my images to an external printing service. However you still need to soft proof them. Check the Soft Proofing box (in the Develop module on the bottom bar). Press Create Proof Copy so you can work on a duplicated copy and save your original.
14 March 2020 I www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
