Where do I find info on 'White Point' as noted here?

[Nancy Moran G]

Hi,
I posted a photo of a Great Blue Heron recently, and I have been trying to follow my camera settings that say it is all ok, lighting wise. The comments were that my clarity, color, composition was very good, just needed this white point....?

Then someone adjusted it using' white point' NOT white balance. The photo was much better! So at the library today, I tried searching for white point and got NO info.
Donald directed me to the tutorial here, but on my PSE 11, I do not see how to achieve it/ where to find it..?

Obviously, I am a beginner with pp :{

Any help appreciated.
I have more of the same GBH, probably needing same help.
I have Nikon 7000 and was shot with 55-300 mm lens, early morn.
Thank you all, again..
Nancy

[Shadowman]

See link.

http://www.photokaboom.com/photograp...alibration.htm

[Colin Southern]

Hi Nancy,

Generally a photo will use the full range of tones available to be displayed or it may look "flat". The full range goes from 0 (black) through to 255 (white). A flat photo may have it's darkest region at - say - 30 (more a dark gray) and it's brightest portion at - say - 230; so nothing truly black and nothing truly white.

I'm not sure of the exact means of adjusting it in PSE (I use it's big brother), but in PS you can either type Ctrl+L to bring up levels or add a levels layer. Either way one simply drags in the clipping points until they touch and (usually) go slightly beyond the ends of the histogram. What that does is take the bits at "30" (+31, 32, 33 if you go a bit beyond) and change them to 0 ... and change the "230" to 255 ... and scale everything in between.

There's also another control in the middle (mid-tones / gamma) that changes how bits in between look - just move it so the image looks it's best.

Here's a couple of examples:

In the first, I've (mis)used the numbers above - you can see how it has a "gray mist" over it (you'll get better at spotting these with practice), and the 2nd is as it should be.

Hope these help!

[Stagecoach]

Hi Nancy,

In PSE open a 'Levels' adjustment layer. Slide the 'right hand' white triangle under the histogram to the left just up to the base of the histogram.

To assist you finding the right point you can press the 'Alt' key whilst doing this. For the image in question you can also simply use the Levels 'Auto' function to see its results.

The other method as in the article John has attached the link to is very good if you have an area in the image that should be white.

Grahame

[Loose Canon]

Hi Nancy!

I adjust the white and black points in ACR as a matter of habit. I'm assuming one of your good habits is shooting RAW.

In a properly exposed shot, set your highlight and shadow clipping warnings to on and use the white and black sliders to adjust until you just get the warning colors. You can also use the "alt" key to make this adjustment and a with a little experimenting it will be self explanatory on how this works.



Depending on the shot and what (if anything) you want to let clip adjust accordingly and keep an eye on the Histogram.

Here is an example where I let a bit of clipping (both shadow and highlight). Red color is the highlight clipping, blue is the shadow.



Further adjustment, if needed, can be had as previously described once you move the shot into PSE using "Levels".

[Colin Southern]

In a properly exposed shot, set your highlight and shadow clipping warnings to on and use the white and black sliders to adjust until you just get the warning colors.

It's often the case, but I think we need to be a little careful about suggesting it for every shot; if the shot doesn't have anything that's supposed to be either black or white (eg a patch of skin) then forcing it can make the shot look awful.

[Loose Canon]

I’m merely suggesting that levels can be set in ACR Colin, which had not been suggested yet.

I’m not suggesting forcing anything to the point that the shot looks awful.

I would assume that incorrect white and black would be obvious (eg a patch of skin) and I’m confident Nancy would see this of it were pushed too hard.

I apologize if I was less than clear and left too much unsaid, but it can also be pushed too hard in PSE or PS using "Levels" much the same way.

[Colin Southern]

I’m merely suggesting that levels can be set in ACR Colin, which had not been suggested yet.

I’m not suggesting forcing anything to the point that the shot looks awful.

I would assume that incorrect white and black would be obvious (eg a patch of skin) and I’m confident Nancy would see this of it were pushed too hard.

I apologize if I was less than clear and left too much unsaid, but it can also be pushed too hard in PSE or PS using "Levels" much the same way.

One would like to think that incorrect levels would be obvious -- unfortunately we still see it all too regularly

[Loose Canon]

Agreed Colin, but it will not get any better if we don’t suggest all the options and ways to use them that we know of.

I’m kind of amazed that you didn’t suggest these adjustments in ACR yourself! This can be done in PSE's version of ACR.

In your beautiful “In Search of Santa” you didn’t address white and black points in ACR?

[Colin Southern]

Agreed Colin, but it will not get any better if we don’t suggest all the options and ways to use them that we know of.

I’m kind of amazed that you didn’t suggest these adjustments in ACR yourself! This can be done in PSE's version of ACR.

In your beautiful “In Search of Santa” you didn’t address white and black points in ACR?

There's a good reason I didn't mention adjusting in ACR ...

... It never occurred to me to mention it (hardly original I know, but that's life).

Normally I'd adjust it pretty close in ACR - although I usually leave myself a little "wiggle room" for further adjustment in PS (it's not always 100% obvious where some tones will end up when first opened in PS).

As a rule though, anything that can be done in ACR will preserve the most quality and safety margin.

[Nancy Moran G]

Thank you all!
Will try this ASAP. The more I learn, the more I need to learn ;}
Nancy