Ron Leach

Sorry to spoil your afternoon with what one imaging expert calls a “huge” problem for those who process photos in Lightroom. But don’t despair because you’ll learn about this dilemma and how to fix it in barely five minutes.

Noise in digital photos can seriously degrade image quality, especially when shooting with budget gear, in much the same way grain is annoying in film photography. There are several editing techniques for cleaning up noisy shots, but today’s topic is banishing these ugly artifacts as much as possible in the camera.

There’s no doubt that many accessories are worthwhile. Some make photography easier and more enjoyable, while others actually enable you to capture better images. Still other others, while they may seem interesting at first glance, are eventually relegated to an ignominious spot in the back of your camera cabinet.

Improperly exposed photos are the bane of all kinds of photographers, especially those who shoot outdoors where a wide range of tones may exceed the density range of your camera. We posted a tutorial earlier today explaining a simple method to remedy this problem by using Photoshop’s Dodge and Burn tools to make dark areas lighter and light areas dark to arrive at a balanced result.