The Digital Darkroom

Editing my images is a very tedious process.

In the beginning I had no idea what I was doing. The Books about how to use Lightroom and Photoshop were confusing.

I really loved using my Fuji Cameras because the jpegs straight out of Camera where excellent. This meant spending less time at the Computer.

Over time, I got better at understanding how to use these programmes. I practiced and it made a difference.

One thing was missing.

I needed to start shooting my images RAW.

Thanks to Scott Kelby and his fool proof 7 Point Editing System. My Raw Files transformed into magical looking images worthy of printing.

As my editing improved, so did my Photography. I began paying attention to the Light and where it was falling. I began to see the interplay and dynamic range of the Light in a scene.

The image above is a good example of my shooting now. I was in my Caffe this morning and I created this image of my friend Hamish.

As you can see, I created my exposure to preserve detail in the brightest part of the scene. This left Hamish underexposed in the shadows.

After editing this image, I could now see the Frame exactly as it occurred to me at the time I created the image.

Its amazing to think its the same photo.

I am astonished by this whole process, its very magical to me. I am in awe of The Human Eye with its ability to deal with the high dynamic range effortlessly.

Cameras can now record an image in the dark.

Shooting in Raw and editing my images in Lightroom has now become an exciting playground for me.

I create my images with the Print in mind now.

Painting with Light makes a lot more sense now.

Thanks for reading.