Ravindra Joisa: June 2014

Spot Healing in Lightroom - A wonderful feature to use

Spot healing has been available in Photoshop and Lightroom for quite some time. Despite the fact that there are far too many photo editing programs available, nothing beats Lightroom and Photoshop. The content aware fill and subsequent improvements have made spot healing one of the most often utilized capabilities, particularly in portrait photography.

What is Spot Healing?

You may have visited a location for sightseeing or vacation and taken some very great photographs. The first thing we do is share it with our friends or on social media, where we may enjoy the likes and comments. But what if these photographs contain a wire or plastic item in front of a stunning environment or any form of dust that might disturb your image viewers? There is a procedure known as 'spot healing' that may be used to eliminate this.

I recently returned from a week of Himalayan hiking to Alpine Lakes in Kashmir, India, where even after cleaning my camera, I saw a few dust specks in the final photograph. This was due to dust in the lens and on my camera sensor. This might have happened while changing the lens. A single dust particle was enough to detract from the entire image. I had to utilize spot healing using some of the photo editing tools to solve this.

How do you use the Spot Healing brush tool?

As shown in the image below once the image is opened in Lightroom or Photoshop it will be in your library by default. Switch to 'Develop' mode and click on the spot healing circle (marked in red circle). Once you click on this, you get more options under spot edit where you can adjust the size and opacity. Once it's set, click on the spot that is to be healed - circle A in the image below.

spot healing in Lightroom — Spot Healing using Lightroom

To select a larger region increase the circle size or just drag around the selected spot in the image. Once this is done the software will auto select another region of the image from where that part of the image is copied. If you are not happy with it then you can select another region by moving circle B to a different region. I would recommend zooming into the photo and then doing this activity and also selecting small regions instead of large circles.

Most of the photo editing tools have this feature called spot healing, but when it comes to Photoshop or Lightroom the spot healing that is done is just too good. These two tools have an algorithm called 'content awareness' using which it will look into the best match to spot that is to be healed by looking at the spot surroundings. You can also use spot healing to remove unwanted obstructions to bring in focus on the main subject.

A note of causion while using spot healing

It is wonderful to do the spot healing once or twice, but if there are too many spot healings to be done, it will be difficult to edit. It is thus preferable to have the lens cleaned or to move around the subject in order to prevent having the disruption when recording the image in the first place. When it comes to spotting healing, Lightroom does a good job.

Can I sell my modified image?

It should be noted that while this may look fine for posters, publishing, or social media, it is not permitted in photography competitions and will be regarded as modifying the original image. Furthermore, if you wish to sell photographs in reputable stock agencies or license your modified or manipulated image, not all agencies will consent to this. If it is for a wedding, or model photoshoot, then yes you can modify it as most of the work is on content aware and pot healing. This is where is mostly used and customers want to look good and you definitely need to use this feature to get better results.

Indian Wedding Candid Shots by Ravindra Joisa - Professional photographer. — *Retouched wedding photos where spot healing was used. Photo Copyright: Ravindra Joisa*

Free Lightroom Tutorials - YouTube Playlist

https://youtu.be/MpHCXX52jwM

Give it a try and leave a comment on what you think. Hope you enjoyed reading this blog post on editing photos like a Professional Photographer. Leave a comment below if you have more ideas. Buy me a coffee to support my work or you can go to my store to buy some of my images. Also, do not forget to join my FriendZone by signing up for my newsletter. Consider subscribing to my YouTube channel.

Sonamarg Valley - A place known for its beautiful landscapes

During my Kashmir Great Lakes trip, I came across this view of Sonamarg Valley early in the morning. Sonamarg is a tiny town on the route to Leh on the national highway that connects Srinagar and Leh in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Except for a few months in summer, when most hikers visit this magnificent valley, it is entirely covered in snow most of the year. Tourism and trade are the primary sources of revenue in the valley. Sonamarg, located at an elevation of 2730 meters, is a captivating hill station in Jammu & Kashmir's Ganderbal district. The valley is traversed by the Sindh River.

Sonamarg City — *Sonamarg Valley, early in the morning. Image Copyright: Ravindra Joisa*

Why is Sonamarg famous?

Sonmarg has historical significance since it was a stop on the old Silk Road, which connected Kashmir with China. It serves as a base camp for Ladakh and is strategically vital for India. Sonamarg transforms into a white gold valley in the winter, living true to its name. The road beyond will take you to Kargil, which was previously a battle zone, and then to Leh. Sonamarg derives its name from the Hindi language. Sona denotes gold, while marg denotes a meadow. The area is well-known for its valleys, which are carpeted with rich golden flowers in the spring.

Why is Sonamarg called Gold meadow?

Its name translates to 'golden meadow,' and it is rightfully so, with its breathtaking splendor of floral meadows, snow-clad peaks, glaciers, and pristine alpine lakes. The Sindh or Indus river flows across the valley, supporting exotic vegetation and lush woods of fir, pine, and silver birch. The place derives its name from the Hindi language. Sona denotes gold, while marg denotes a meadow. The area is well-known for its valleys, which are carpeted with rich golden flowers in the spring.

Best time to visit Sonamarg Valley?

Sonmarg is open all year, although the best months to visit are April through June. The valley is expected to be carpeted with an eruption of wildflowers. The Amarnath Yatra attracts a large number of pilgrims throughout the months of July and August. This is also the base camp for hikers and bikers heading to Leh. This is the starting or ending location for the well-known Kashmir Great Lakes trek and Tarsar Marsar lake trek.

How to reach Sonamarg?

The travel from Srinagar to Sonamarg is unique. It was my first Himalayan week-long trek, as well as my first trip to northern India. I had planned this hiking trip during the summer. After reaching Srinagar 2 days in advance and staying in a boathouse, our trekking organization had arranged for cabs to be waiting for us. We took this cab to Sonamarg, which was a long (half-day) drive away. To get to Sonamarg, you can take a shared cab or a public bus. If you are traveling from Leh, you may also reach this location through Kargil.

Kashmir Great Lakes Campsite

We took a left turn just before the bridge just before Sonamarg and had to walk for about 10 minutes to reach our base camp. The valley provides access to hanging glaciers, local Gujjar settlement, and many more attractions. Shitkadi, which is somewhat ahead of Sonamarg, is another campground where you may camp directly near to the river. You may even stay in an abandoned Gujjar hut or request a stay in their hut to obtain that authentic local experience.

https://youtu.be/Az8z5_ZfGXo

Hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. Buy me a coffee to support my work or you can go to my store to buy some of my images. Also, do not forget to join my FriendZone by signing up for my newsletter. Consider subscribing to my YouTube channel.

Drive to Sonamarg, the unforgettable experience

The journey from Srinagar to Sonamarg is one of a kind. It was my first Himalayan week-long hike, and it was also my first journey to northern India. I had planned this trekking adventure for the summer. So, flew from Bangalore to Srinagar early morning (reached Srinagar 2 days in advance and stayed in a boathouse). Our hiking company, Indiahikes had arranged for cabs to be waiting for us. We took this cab to Sonamarg, which was a considerable (half-day) journey away.

Going around Srinagar and Dal lake

When in Srinagar, take a walk around Dal Lake, enjoy a Shikara boat ride to the flower market early in the morning, and stay in one of the boathouses. Also, they do visit the hilltop Shankaracharya shrine. There are many other places to visit around Dal lake like the King Hari Singh fort, Mughal gardens, the carpet industry, old market, etc. With a charge of ₹1000 to 1200 a day, the local auto driver can take you around including the shrine and the fort. Fort has an entry ticket of ₹ 50 which is to be purchased at the tourism office near the Sikh temple.

The journey to Sonamarg

You may take a public bus to Sonamarg from the TRC bus stop at Dal Lake, or you can take a shared cab directly next to the bus stop. You may also take a cab from the airport, which may be costly. The drive will take about 2-3 hours. By the way, Dal lake is the starting point to another famous trek in the region - Tarsar Marsar lake, another beautiful trek.

We stopped thrice on the way to Sonamarg. One was near Dal Lake, a place where hikers gather (and this is where I joined). The second was at a village outside of town on the route to the campsite. We just contacted the local driver that we needed to stop near a medical store to pick up a few medications that we would need while hiking. And the third location was around an hour out from Sonamarg.

srinagar sonamarg highway — Srinagar Sonamarg Leh National Highway

This is where we picked up some Kashmiri apples and had tea from a nearby tea stand. The tea tastes distinctly diverse here. In comparison to regular tea, the flavor is much more akin to a combination of salt and butter. Something out of the ordinary that you should attempt. It was a whole different experience. We followed the same way back and enjoyed the famous Kashmiri Kahwa tea. Beautiful sceneries, pine trees, streams, rivers, bridges, snow patches, and so on may be found along the trip to Sonamarg next to the Sind river.

Sonamarg and its stunning scenery

Sonamarg during day time — Sonamarg during daytime

Sonamarg is a popular tourist destination recognized for its stunning scenery. The national highway continues towards the battle zone of Kargil, through some of the most perilous roads and crossings, including the Zozilla pass, the famed Lamayuru moonland, and eventually Leh. My weeklong high altitude national-level mountain biking expedition took place in Lamayuru.

Finally, just before reaching Sonamarg, we took a left turn immediately before the bridge and had to walk for approximately 10 minutes to reach our base camp. Hanging glaciers, Sonamarg village, and many more attractions are accessible from Sonamarg valley. I had some time and didn't want to spend it inside my tent, so I spent the majority of it outside photographing.

Sonamarg at night, campfire far away by the locals behind the pine trees. Long exposure shot.

At the Campsite

We arrived early in the evening and had plenty of time to explore the area. I came to a shepherd's cottage and spent the rest of my time shooting the scenery. Your memory card and batteries will always be insufficient. Fortunately, I had brought four spare camera batteries along with my camera. That's just what I needed. By the way, it is important to keep your camera gear light while traveling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUVnHb3Xzb4

By this time, everyone had arrived, and it was time for dinner. I learned about all of the hikers in our group and spent some time photographing in an unflattering light. The final photo in the video below was taken at about 2 a.m. Sonamarg valley is an ideal place to capture start trails. The next day we hiked uphill from Sonamarg to Nichnai.

Ravindra Joisa

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