Would anyone be able to let me know if there’s a way of achieving the same effects as the negative values on the Clarity and Dehaze controls in LR?
Clarity and Dehaze in LR are a bit like ClearView in PL, but their sliders can be pulled into negative values (unlike ClearView which only goes upwards from 0 ).
Negative Clarity and Dehaze can be really useful in landscapes to emphasise mist, add an element of mystery, or an ethereal glow. I’ve also heard it’s useful in portraits when you want to de-emphasise blemishes. There’s a good explanation of the feature here, but essentially Clarity is contrast for mid-tones and Dehaze is contrast for low-contrast regions.
If anyone can point me in the direction of how to achieve these in PL I would be incredibly grateful.
Hello,
I would suggest to use Blur & Soft focus feature (you need to have Film Pack to see these options) as done in this tutorial: I Didn’t Realise DxO Could Do This – My New Favourite Tool
I also did not know and never used this options before but I tried and I am very satisfied from the results.
Thanks for the tip off, I’ll give this a try. Sounds like a different route to the midtones contrast and low-contrast contrast method but I’ve been looking for a reason to try out Film Pack!! Thank you
while this isn’t a direct answer to your questions (I’m still using a very old version of LR), you have several options beside FP’s Soft Focus.
globally ( but why would you want to use it globally? )
. Microcontrast
. Lens Sharpness Optimization
. Unsharp mask ( combine Intensity + Radius + Threshold )
locally
. Microcontrast
. Sharpness
. Blur ( use it VERY carefully and only with soft mask/selection edges )
Btw – remember to always check the sharpness at at least 75% magnification.
Thank you, having experimented today Microcontrast gets the best results when editing locally.
Thanks to @ pnajbar for suggesting I try FilmPack - though blur didn’t get the right results, I saw that FP includes extra contrast controls, specifically Midtones contrast which you can use to achieve similar to negative Clarity in LR.
Thanks both, your advice is massively appreciated! If anyone else has thoughts, I’m still all ears!
I’m a little late to this but am glad you also found the extra contrast controls that FP introduces.
I find them invaluable for fine-tuning the look of an image. They really do let you soften up “chunky” details while retaining sharpness at a smaller detail range, so the image doesn’t look like a soft and blurry mess.
That said, I’m excited by @pnajbar 's recommendation of the Blur tool in that YT video. Since you can essentially choose what level of detail it kicks in at, you can (again) introduce softness in some areas while retaining just that little bit of sharpness in fine details. Combined with the Microcontrast tools, that’s hugely powerful!
So in this image I’ve applied the Blur/soft focus tool with an intensity of 90 and diffusion of 80, then I’ve gone in with local masks and brought back some clarity and contrast to the fine details of the focal points of the car (wheel/tyre, the badge, and the bodywork in the lower left). I’m really happy with how it’s smoothed out everything else but let me retain that detail!
I am extremely pleased to have been able to help, although the biggest thanks go to the author of the YT channel i.e. DxFlow.
I have to admit that for me and my way of editing, the combination of these tools, i.e. microcontrast, fine contrast and soft focus/blur gives great results and allows me to edit photos in the style I want and desire.
