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Noise Reduction in Camera Raw

While you're processing your image, if you notice that your image has digital noise (those annoying red-and-green spots or splotchy patches of color), you can reduce that noiseespecially the color partfrom right within Camera Raw.

Step One

SCOTT KELBY

Open a RAW image in Camera Raw that has a digital noise issue, press Z to get the Zoom tool, and zoom in tight so the noise is easily visible. There are two types of noise you can deal with in Camera Raw: (1) high ISO noise, which often happens when you're shooting in low-light situations, especially when using a high ISO setting (hence the name ); and (2) color noise, which can happen even in normal situations (this noise is more prevalent in some cameras than others).

Step Two

Click on the Detail tab along the right side of the dialog. To decrease the amount of color noise, drag the Color Noise Reduction slider to the right. As you can see, it does a pretty fair job of removing the color noise, though it does tend to desaturate the overall color just a bit. That's why it's good to zoom out to see the preview so you don't wash out the photo. If the problem is mostly in shadow areas (high ISO noise), you can use the Luminance Smoothing slider in the same waydrag to the right to reduce the noisebut use this carefully , because it can tend to make your photo look a bit soft.

Sharpening within Camera Raw

Although Camera Raw enables you to sharpen your image at this early stage in the correction process, you have to decide if this is something you really want to do. I've heard arguments for sharpening at this stage, but many more against it, so like most corrections, it'll come down to your own personal preference. If you do decide to sharpen now (or if you want to turn off the sharpening that's on by default), here's how:

Step One

When you open an image in Camera Raw, by default it applies a small amount of sharpening to your photo. You can see how much by clicking on the Detail tab (along the right side of the dialog) and looking at the Sharpness slider. To add additional sharpness, drag the slider to the right (if you do this, first set your zoom to 100% in the pop-up menu at the bottom left of the preview so you can see the effect of sharpening).

Step Two

Now that you know how to apply more sharpness (I hate to tell you this), I recommend setting the Sharpness slider at 0% ( essentially turning it off). I recommend this for two reasons: First, because there's just one slider, you basically have to take whatever it gives you. Second, I feel sharpening should be done right before you save the file, not when you're initially creating it, so it does the minimum amount of damage to the image. If you agree (hey, it's up to you), set the Sharpness slider to 0%, then go to Camera Raw's flyout menu (it's to the right of the Settings pop-up menu) and choose Save New Camera Raw Defaults. Now when you open RAW photos, no sharpness will be applied, unless you use the slider to add it.

Bracketing with Camera Raw

If you forgot to bracket in the camera itself, you can use Camera Raw to create multiple exposures, and then open those images in Elements 4, where you can composite them together to create an image that one exposure alone couldn't capture. Here's how it's done:

Step One

SCOTT KELBY

Using the Organizer, press Control-I to open the RAW image to which you want to apply a bracketing technique. In this example, the sky's exposure looks pretty decent, but the subject (my buddy and fellow photographer Dave Moser) is almost totally in the shadows. So, using Camera Raw (and the default Auto settings), create the first photo that has the proper exposure for the sky. So even though Dave's dark, as long as the sky looks good to you, click Open to create the first version of your bracketed photo in the Elements Editor.

Step Two

In the Editor, go under the File menu and choose Duplicate to make a copy of this image. Click on the original photo and close this original image (without saving it). By doing this, we can reopen the RAW file in the next step and create a second version of this image that exposes the foreground, taking Dave out of the shadows.

Step Three

Now, go back to the Organizer, click on the thumbnail for that same RAW photo, then press Control-I to open the RAW file again. Once the photo is open in Camera Raw, drag the Exposure slider to the right until Dave (and the foreground around him) is properly exposed. This will totally blow out the sky, but just ignore that and focus on getting a good exposure for Dave, our subject. When it looks good to you, click the Open button to create this exposed version of the photo in the Elements Editor.

Step Four

Now you should have both versions of the image open in the Elements Editor: the brighter one exposed for the highlights (to bring out Dave) and the darker one exposed for the shadows (to bring out the sky). Arrange the windows so you can see both onscreen at the same time. Press V to get the Move tool, and with the shadow image active, press-and-hold the Shift key and drag-and-drop the darker version on top of the lighter version. The key to this part is holding down the Shift key while you drag between documents, which perfectly aligns the dark copy (that now appears on its own layer in the Layers palette) with the lighter version on the Background layer. (This exact alignment of one identical photo over another is referred to as being "pin registered.") You can now close the shadow document without saving, as both versions of the image are contained within the lighter version.

Step Five

Go to the Layers palette, hold down the Control key, and click the Create a New Layer icon at the top of the Layers palette. This creates a new blank layer directly beneath the photo exposed for the sky. Now, in the Layers palette, click on the photo exposed for the sky (it should be the top layer), and then press Control-G. This groups your image with the blank layer, covering it so you now only see the version of the photo that's exposed for Dave (which is on the Background layer).

Step Six

It's time to "reveal" the sky on the darker version of the photo. Here's how: First, in the Layers palette, click on the blank layer between the two image layers. Then press the letter B to get the Brush tool, and click on the down- facing arrow next to the Brush thumbnail in the Options Bar. Choose a medium- size , soft-edged brush from the Brush Picker that appears. Now, press the letter D to set your Foreground color to black, and start painting over the areas of the photo that you want to be darker (in this case, the sky). As you paint, the sky is revealed.

Step Seven

Keep going until you've painted the entire sky area in, so you have an image that your digital camera couldn't possibly have captured, because in a situation like this it's going to either expose for the ground or the sky, but not both. ( Note: If you make a mistake, press E to switch to the Eraser tool and begin erasing.) If you want this "best of both worlds ," where the sky and the subject/ground are perfectly exposed, you'll have to pull it off here in Photoshop Elements, but that's not a bad thing. In fact, it totally rocks (sorry, I mean "that's fascinating"). By taking these few extra steps, you'll wind up with an image like the one shown hereone where the subject and background are perfectly exposedit's the best of two photos combined.

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