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New user - Highlight Recovery advice

Permanently deleted user
Hi

I have just started using C1 after both LR2 and 3 and A2 and 3. I really like the colours that it produces and on the whole I think I am starting to get to grips with the programme. The user guides on You Tube and the blog are very helpful as well. However, one area where I am still finding my way is in the recovery of highlights, an area where Aperture excels. From what I can see, I can recovery highlights by:
1. Reducing exposure (and then boosting the brightness either using the brightness slider or the grey point in levels); and/or
2. Using the HDR sliders, but these seem to have weird cross effects on each other and don't work like the highlight recovery sliders in LR or Aperture; and/or
3. Use the output sliders in levels.

Is any one way better than the other. I tend to use the HDR sliders last to clear up any blown highlights introduced as a result of Clarity or sharpening. Again is this a sensible approach?

Andrew
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Comments

14 comments

Date Votes
  • Paul Steunebrink
    I think you covered the issue pretty well and your approach sounds sensible to me. What remains is personal taste both in end result as well as in type of workflow. Some prefer a Brightness slider over a grey point level adjustment.
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  • Paul Hansford
    Is Method 3 (Use the output sliders in levels) actually a highlight recovery technique. I thought it just re-mapped whatever was blown out (level 255) to some other level (say 250 for example). I am interested to know if it is actually doing something more.

    Thanks
    Paul
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  • Keith Reeder
    No, that's all the Levels adjustment does, Paul - no magic in there.
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  • Paul Steunebrink
    [quote="Keith Reeder" wrote:
    No, that's all the Levels adjustment does, Paul - no magic in there.

    Theoretically I go with Keith's statement, but I know from users that it is also used to highlight recovery to some degree. Seems to be some magic going on..?
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  • Keith Reeder
    It really doesn't recover highlights, Paul - it simply moves the tonal value of the highlight down a few notches, the same as the Levels function in any other software does.

    Highlight recovery, as you see it in (say) Raw Therapee, is far more than changing 255 to 245. Don't get me wrong, I use the Levels command to take the edge off hot highlights all the time, but it's not recovering highlights, it's just making them less obtrusive.
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  • Permanently deleted user
    Thanks for the replies. Especially about what the top levels sliders do. I guess this is one area where I find it harder to get the sort of results that some other raw convertors (eg A3) get.
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  • Zach2
    I've recently started treating the Highlights and shadows sliders as one and I'm finally getting the kind of dynamic range results I'd expect from these tools. They're weird on their own, but if you just move them together they actually get the job done. (Also check out the LLC profile trick on the phase one blog, super helpful)
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  • Permanently deleted user
    Zach2 - thanks for this tip. Do you mean setting similar values for the highlights and shadows sliders (e.g. both at 20 or whatever)? I tried this and it certainly opens out the shadows a treat, but I am still struggling on recovering highlights (i.e. the data recorded plus of a value of 255 in Raw.
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  • dougstroud
    [quote="Zach2" wrote:
    (Also check out the LLC profile trick on the phase one blog, super helpful)

    Can you provide link to article you are referring to? I searched on LCC and it returned a few different ones, HDR... but not sure if this is what you are referring to? I did a search on LCC Trick and it returned no results.


    thx
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  • Zach2


    And yes I do mean putting both to similar values. If it doesn't turn the highlights down, it probably turns the shadows up, enabling you to turn down the exposure. If you want to see how much highlight detail you could theoretically get back, turn the exposure slider down until the highlights stop coming back. Whatever that point is, that's all any tool will be able to get. Also try local exposure adjustments
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  • Rick142
    I find highlight recovery one of the hardest things to accomplish in Capture One and I used to have to take two versions into Photoshop to get good results. Thankfully the new adjustment layers are a great help but slow. If there are any Phase One people reading this, I would love to see an automatic selection based on chosen highlight values.
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  • Nicolas
    [quote="Rick142" wrote:
    I would love to see an automatic selection based on chosen highlight values.

    I second that!
    Many months ago (when S/H recovery features appeared) I made a request with similar comment in a support case I got assured it would be brung to the staff…


    Request # 82775
    14. Dec 2010 22:13
    Thank you for C1 V6 a great update!
    Some suggestions for the local adjustment tool÷
    The brush is time consuming when one wants to be precise… hence it would be nice if the following imporvement could be done:
    - Availibility to make mask by selecting highlights or midtones or shadows
    - Availibility to make mask by selecting a color with the color picker
    - Availibility to make mask by selecting with a lasso…
    And also the availibility to set a blending transparency of each mask (by %)

    Thanks again and keep the good work!


    14. Dec 2010 22:33
    Hi Nicolas,

    Thanks for the suggestions. The Local adjustment tool is still in its infancy but we will pass your requests along.

    Kind regards,
    Phase One support


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  • Zach2
    oh my that would make my year if they did that feature. If it was done right, what a time saver!
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  • Nicolas
    [quote="Zach2" wrote:
    oh my that would make my year if they did that feature. If it was done right, what a time saver!

    copy paste to a support case!
    I heard it's the only way to suggest new features… if many of us do it, we may have a chance!
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