The Contrast of Winter with Marc Muench

Winter light is about controlling contrast. However, just like any other time of year, in winter there are all types of scene brightness ratios. Therefore, it is just as important with winter images to set the proper range in post-production as it is with any other imagery.


There are two sliders in both Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom (that work the same in either program) that do nothing but set the range of your image file. They are the "Exposure" slider and the "Blacks" sliders. The Exposure slider controls the highlights and the Blacks slider controls the shadows. What is preferred is that both the highlights and the shadows are neither clipped nor lacking in potential.

For example, if the histogram is showing that the highlights (right side of graph) are not extended all the way to the right of the chart, then take the Exposure slider and drag it to the right until it just touches. Do the same in the opposite direction with the Blacks slider and your image file will have a much more precise contrast ratio.

Learn more from Marc in his workshop
Winter Light
with Marc Muench
February 20 - February 26, 2011


Visit his web site www.muenchphotography.com to see what he's up to.