The new Select Subject and Select Sky functions in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom 4 November 2021

 

This is the first image which I used to experiment with the Select Sky command. I did not expect much due to the extreme complexity of the boundary between foliage and sky. Much to my amazement I found on close inspection that the selection is just about perfect.   I can change the lightness, color or saturation of the sky without impacting any other part of the image. This really is a game changer for many types of photo.

For several years  smartphones have lead the way when it comes to the application of artificial intelligence to computational imaging.

They are the modern embodiment of George Eastman’s 1888 slogan  which helped make Kodak famous…”you press the button, we do the rest”.

Those of us who stubbornly continue to use actual cameras have been stuck with imaging systems which are sophisticated in some ways but quite backward in others.

However there are signs that the benefits of computational imaging are slowly creeping in to the world of camera photography.

These can be applied in camera as part of the capture process or later in post processing.

One of the perennial bugbears of post processing has been selection of specific parts of the image for localised adjustments. Some subjects with clear boundaries are easy enough to select using basic tools such as the Lasso or Magnetic Lasso tools in Photoshop.

But many others have frustrated imaging enthusiasts and professionals for years. These include hair, fur, foliage and similar subjects which lack a nice clean boundary.

Now, lo and behold we have two new selection functions, located not in Photoshop itself but in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom.

Each is a largely automatic process, initiated by the click of a button.

And each, I have to say, works amazingly well.

I thought there would be no way the Select Subject command could cope with this complex subject. But, incredibly,  it does. It selected the flowers and stems. I then selected Inverse to darken the background.

 

This is the result with darkened background. The new Select Subject capability has transformed a previously near-impossible task into an easy job with just a few commands.

 Comment

When Adobe introduced the “Super resolution” feature recently it was heralded with much fanfare and many reports some of which just regurgitated the promotional blurb. I have used super resolution and found it can deliver some marginal benefit with some images.  The cost of this is huge files which can quickly clutter up one’s system memory reserves.

By way of contrast the “Select subject” and “Select sky” features appear to have slipped quietly into the Adobe imaging network without attracting much attention from reviewers.

However I find these two new features very powerful and useful to the extent that I think they take Adobe imaging to a new level.

Never before have I seen such complex selections enabled so effectively.

These features really do change the game.

There is a little band of Adobe haters out there on user forums criticising Adobe for anything and everything, but usually for "bad colors" whatever that means, and allegedly poor control of high ISO noise. They may or may not have a case but I think these new features greatly increase the appeal of  the Adobe imaging environment.

By the way I have no affiliation with or interest in any entity which makes or sells any kind of imaging hardware or sofware.