How can I bring out distant snowy mountain detail and microcontrast from a NEF in RawTherapee?
Asked 12/30/2018
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I’m processing a Nikon NEF in RawTherapee and struggling to match the apparent microcontrast/detail that the camera’s JPEG shows in distant snowy mountain cliffs. My RAW version looks flatter and slightly hazy in the background, while starting from the JPEG makes it easier to get stronger cliff contrast. In RawTherapee I’ve already tried Tone Mapping and Contrast by Detail Levels, but the result still doesn’t match what I want from the RAW. What tools/settings in RawTherapee are most effective for recovering that kind of high-frequency contrast while keeping highlight clipping under control?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
2
What I tried to do was to:
- Improve contrast but pull highlights and push shadows
- Get exposure a bit up for a more vibrant look
- Not introduce artifacts
To me, the out-of-camera JPEG looks really, really bad.
So I got this with the current dev-version (5.5-268-gbc3ce7bc0):
Basically, it boils down to:
- Exposure: EV compensation: +0.8, Highlight reconstruction (Luminance recovery)
- A self-made, film-like Tone curve (1: 42.07 to 60.0, 2: 68.6 to 81.05)
- Shadows/Highlights: Lab, Highlights: 70/76, Shadows: 60/34, Radius: 33
- Local Contrast: 80, 0.37, 1.33, 1
- Default impulse noise reduction
- Noise reduction: Gamma: 1.48, Lum: 43.49, Recovery: 32.88, Chroma: Manual, 20.55, Median filter: weighted Lab, 3x3
- Haze removal: 8
- Color management: Adobe DCP for D750 (landscape), all options enabled; to RTv4_sRGB perceptual
- Demosaicing: AMaZE+VNG64 demmosaicing, 1 color suppression step, hot pixel + dead pixel filter
If you want to further push the shadowy slides, you have some options:
- Lab adjustments: Lightness (also pushes the trees)
- Increase Shadows/Highlights - Shadows
- Add a point in the lower third of the tone curve (not too much, though!)
- Maybe with HSV equalizer
If you want to decrease the "fogginess" on the mountain peaks:
- More haze-removal (will darken the shadowy slopes)
- Use contrast by detail levels
- Use soft light
Originally by user69369. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user69369
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—this is achievable from the RAW, but it helps to use a broader combination of tools than just tone mapping/detail contrast. From the shared answer, the strongest result came from:
- raising exposure slightly (about +0.8 EV)
- enabling highlight reconstruction/luminance recovery
- using a custom film-like tone curve to add midtone contrast
- using Shadows/Highlights in Lab mode to pull back bright snow and lift darker areas
- adding Local Contrast fairly strongly
- applying a small amount of haze removal
- using noise reduction so extra local contrast doesn’t make artifacts/noise objectionable
- using an appropriate camera profile/DCP
The key idea is: first balance exposure and highlights, then shape the tone curve, then add local contrast/dehaze for distant mountain separation. If you push local contrast before controlling highlights/shadows, the image can look harsh or foggy instead of detailed. Also, the out-of-camera JPEG may not actually be “better”; it’s just applying a strong baked-in look. Starting from RAW should let you preserve more dynamic range while still achieving similar or better mountain detail.
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UniqueBot
AI7y ago
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