What causes "haloing" on images

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Kennett

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Barry
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After reading critiques on here, I took a better look at my own images and noticed I am getting halos on some areas. Is there a single main cause that creates this in PP or is it more likely a combination of different things.
 
pop up an image of what you mean:
Haloing could be: CA (Chromatic Abberation) from your lens. Less expensive lenses tend to have it, but its easily fixed with an option in your editing application
also could be due to processing technique, presets/overcooked HDRs

Thats as far as I know anyway. Pop up an image and it will be easier to tell (y)
 
Basically, in the context of PP, it is generally caused by excessively aggressive application of things that apply contrast via mapping.

Usual culprit is the Clarity tool in Lightroom but is also caused by sharpening or HDR techniques.
 
In camera - chromatic aberration or sensor overload
In PP - anything which manipulates the local contrast, e.g.
  • Lightroom/ACR clarity
  • Any sharpening can - including using unsharp mask with a really wide radius
  • Lots of the sliders in Nik Silver Efex Pro - the colour filter, structure, soft contrast, dynamic brightness
  • Nik Colour Efex Pro - lots of the filters, e.g. Tonal Contrast, Bleach Bypass, Detail Extractor, others
  • Overdone tone mapping in HDR software
Topaz Clarity does a fair job of avoiding it. In PS Layers | Matting | Defringe can sometimes fix it but it's better to go back and start again.
 
Kennett said:
After reading critiques on here, I took a better look at my own images and noticed I am getting halos on some areas. Is there a single main cause that creates this in PP or is it more likely a combination of different things.
Click to expand...


You're probably over processing. Stop it. It looks crap, and you can't make a crap photo better by processing. Learn how to get as close to what you want in camera and leave the computer alone for a while. You'll be a better photographer (technically) if you do.
 
It is usually down to pushing up the shadows too far in lightroom and bringing the highlights down too aggressively. Try using the contrast curve instead.
 
juggler said:
In camera - chromatic aberration or sensor overload
In PP - anything which manipulates the local contrast, e.g.
  • Lightroom/ACR clarity
  • Any sharpening can - including using unsharp mask with a really wide radius
  • Lots of the sliders in Nik Silver Efex Pro - the colour filter, structure, soft contrast, dynamic brightness
  • Nik Colour Efex Pro - lots of the filters, e.g. Tonal Contrast, Bleach Bypass, Detail Extractor, others
  • Overdone tone mapping in HDR software
Topaz Clarity does a fair job of avoiding it. In PS Layers | Matting | Defringe can sometimes fix it but it's better to go back and start again.
Click to expand...

Interesting - I'd noticed Nik Silver Efex creating halos sooner than I'd have expected, but assumed it was just 'me'.
 
Kennett said:
After reading critiques on here, I took a better look at my own images and noticed I am getting halos on some areas. Is there a single main cause that creates this in PP or is it more likely a combination of different things.
Click to expand...

Pookeyhead said:
You're probably over processing. Stop it. It looks crap, and you can't make a crap photo better by processing. Learn how to get as close to what you want in camera and leave the computer alone for a while. You'll be a better photographer (technically) if you do.
Click to expand...

David is right in principle, but I personally believe it's something (over-processing, that is) that a lot of us need to go through. I started off with the view that my photos looked boring/flat/snapshotty and found that (over)processing made them look more "interesting". It was in doing this that I began to realise that certain things couldn't really be replicated or changed in post: the quality of the light. When I "got" this, I started shooting in better and better light conditions, using the quality and direction of light to create the tones and feel I wanted - and found my images needed less and less processing to look "interesting".

So for me, leaning quite heavily on post processing helped me see the error of my ways so it was, in itself, a beneficial tool and learning process. Therefore I'd not be quite as eager to dismiss "trying it" because it may well highlight precisely what cannot be digitally recreated - that magic light.

YMMV!
 
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