X Series Camera Tip - Controlling Your Shadows

Published: Wed, 10/26/16


I have a quick, but useful tip for you today. 

You already know how good the X Series JPEGs look straight out of camera, right? This is one of the things we love about the Fuji cameras. You can choose your desired film simulation, adjust your exposure and check the LCD screen, and pretty much be assured that you'll get a great looking photo with wonderfully rich colors and a high degree of tonal depth. The in-camera image processor does such a killer job with most scenes, you can get by with shooting JPEG in a wide variety of lighting conditions. 

But what about when you're shooting in really tricky light? You could shoot RAW. The Fuji RAW files contain an enormous amount of information, but shooting RAW means you have to spend time processing your photos later, at a time when you're removed from the experiences you were having when you took the original shot.

This isn't a bad thing, but there's something nice about being able to pick a film look you like, snap the photo and walk away with a great shot. 

If only there was a way you could deal with tricky light when shooting in JPEG mode...

Thankfully, there is. 

You could use the Highlight and Shadow Tone Controls found in the Q Menu. (They're notated as H Tone and S Tone.) Many Fuji shooters I talk to have never messed with these controls, but they're quite useful. 

With Highlight and Shadow Tone, you can increase or decrease your lights and darks, just like if you had post processing capabilities built right into the camera. Instead of sliders, though, you control them with the command dial. And instead of tweaking after you have taken the shot, you can make your changes beforehand, and view the results in the viewfinder or LCD. 
 



The adjustments with these controls go from +4 to -2, with "+" adding contrast, and "-" reducing contrast. This gives you a convenient way to rescue your really bright tones, and either open up the shadows a little bit, or make them even darker. 

Right now, I'll give you a quick preview of what you can do with the Shadow Tone control.

Let's say you want to increase the level of your blacks for more drama and harder contrast. Go a couple notches in the "+" side and you'll watch your shadows get darker. What if you already have a high contrast scene and you'd like to show a little more depth and detail in the shadows? Pull back to -2 on the Shadow Tone control and you'll open up your image.

Here is a forest scene shot under bright skies. This kind of scene normally presents problems with contrast and it's the kind of situation when you'd often revert to shooting RAW. 

The first image was shot straight with the Velvia film sim, which already has a higher level of contrast. For the second image, I opened up the shadows by adjusting the Shadow Tone to -2. Suddenly, I have more depth, without sacrificing any of the highlights.

It's as simple as that. And the nice thing is that there's no price to pay- you hardly see any noise or grain increase, especially at lower ISO settings. It's essentially a free bump in your shadows.

I'll show you more examples of how I use this technique in the future, but for now, I encourage you experiment with these controls on your camera.




The X-T2 is Now Shipping


After much anticipation and a very high number of preorders, the new X-T2 has been on backorder at many retailers since its release back in early September.

However, it appears that the backorders have finally been filled, and the X-T2 is finally in stock at B&H Photo and ready to ship. If you've been waiting to get one, now is the time to jump before November hits and holiday orders start coming in.

Upcoming Fuji Events

I wanted to remind you that I'll be doing a number of West Coast Fuji events during the next month: If you find yourself in Seattle, Los Angeles or San Diego, be sure and catch my presentations and come say hi! I'll be talking quite a bit about the X-T2 and also covering the tone controls in more depth.

Nov. 5-6 - Kenmore Camera Digital Photo Expo
Nov. 10 - Drink N Click with Fujifilm and Samy's Camera, Los Angeles
Nov. 12 - Samy's Photo School Presentation, Los Angeles
Nov. 15 - Nelson Photo Presentation, San Diego.

You can see details about these upcoming events on my blog.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the rest of your week!

Take care and keep in touch.

-Dan