Digital_Camera_World_Issue_192_July_2017

Photo Answers
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resCue
What to do when mist has
flattened out your photo
MISty and murky conditions have resulted
in a flat, unappealing image, but there is a
lovely shot waiting to be brought out. First
we need to address the sloping horizon – a
tell-tale sign of a handheld ‘grab’ shot. We can
rectify this in Lightroom’s Transform panel
simply by hitting the Level button.
To put some crispness back into the hazy
buildings in the background, use the Dehaze
slider. A tweak to the right of +40 sorts this out,
before using the Tone Curve to slightly lighten
the whole image. The Dehaze filter has blocked
out some of the darker tones on the boat, so run
an Adjustment Brush over it and push the
Shadows slider to +60. Finally, it’s all a bit blue
and cool, so warm the image up using the White
Balance slider.
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The horizon isn’t straight – a classic
‘tell’ for a quick handheld shot
Mist has taken any sense of depth
and contrast from the backdrop
The darker tones in the boat need
to be preserved during editing
The Auto white balance setting
made the colour scheme too cool
After
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Before
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QUICK Q&A
Micro macro
I recently bought
what I thought was
a macro lens for my
Nikon camera, only to
find it’s a micro lens.
What’s the difference?
Susie Hughes
MIcro is just nikon’s
word for macro, so it
means the same thing –
that the lens is capable of
focusing at 1:1 ratio (lifesize).
The 40mm model you bought is a
really versatile lens for DX cameras,
and is especially useful for
portraits – but if you only
really want it for dedicated
macro use, you would
really be better with
a lens with a focal
length around
100mm. This is a
much better working
distance for subjects
such as insects.
Magic mic
I use my DSLR
for videoing
nature and need
an on-camera
microphone to
record ambient
sound. Which mic
should I use?
Keith Hooper
I’M no sound
engineer, keith,
but if you want
something simple to use that
doesn’t cost an absolute
fortune, take a look at the
smartmyk directional
microphone from Mymyk.
Just fix it onto your camera’s
hotshoe, plug it into the mic
socket on your camera and
start recording. You certainly
don’t need a degree in sound
recording to get some good
results with it.
ASK US A
qUeStion
digitalcamera@
futurenet.com
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Photo Answers)
www.digitalcameraworld.com july 2017 Digital Camera 85