Another use for Lightroom dehaze

[davidedric]

A couple of shots taken recently (what is in the shot needs another story), but basically they were taken from a boardwalk, with a polariser - there was no possibility of a different approach or a much different angle.

The first one is out of camera, the second with just dehaze used and set to a high level. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to get a much clearer image.

Dave

[NorthernFocus]

That's an awesome result, Dave. I've also tried de-haze in a couple of non-conventional uses with surprising results. I'm not sure what it is actually doing but obviously involves contrast and saturation. I have noticed one downside when used for its conventional/intended purpose. Recently I've had a few 16-bit images show some pixilation in the sky when converted to RGB. I haven't had that issue since I started using 16-bit processing a couple of years ago. A bit of investigation points strongly towards use of the LR de-haze tool during in my PP. So it's not a panacea.

[Manfred M]

So it's not a panacea.

I totally agree Dan. I find if one pushes it too hard a colour shift towards the blues appears. When one does not push too hard it definitely has an impact on micro-contrast and saturation, almost a bit of a different spin on sharpening. It work wonders on an image, as Dave has shown here.

[Mike Buckley]

Great idea, Dave! I don't remember seeing that application of the dehaze tool.

[DanK]

I totally agree Dan. I find if one pushes it too hard a colour shift towards the blues appears. When one does not push too hard it definitely has an impact on micro-contrast and saturation, almost a bit of a different spin on sharpening. It work wonders on an image, as Dave has shown here.

My experience as well. I think the micro-contrast is 'clarity.' One can dial back the saturation afterwards, but my limited experience is that it works best when used sparingly.

[davidedric]

I normally use it sparingly, but in this case at +85 (the maximum is 100)

[bnnrcn]

Great result Dave

[rpcrowe]

I tried using NIK Viveza structure and contrast sliders...



This is it with some unsharp mask sharpening

[Shadowman]

Nicely done, I've used the tool a few times for images and it does give a nice clarity.