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one of the most painful jobs in

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Photoshop is removing lens flare like

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you see all over this image if you had

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to go into each of these magenta problem

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areas and clone them out by hand it

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would just take a ton of time which is

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why in this video we'll use the latest

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version of Adobe camera raw to almost

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automatically remove all of this in a

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few clicks let's start by reviewing the

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traditional approach here starting with

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my raw this is my unadjusted raw I open

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it up as a smart object in Photoshop and

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I just have it here for reference and

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then from it I edit it in camera Rod to

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get to this result to just bring out the

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color and Detail in this image but of

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course I have all these little lens

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flare issues some of these are just

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normal flare bubble cuz I'm pointing in

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the sun some of this is probably a water

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spot that the water in the foreground

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probably splashed in the lens a bit some

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of this is more subtle but it's probably

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like se- spray or things like that

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there's just problems all over this that

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I need to clone out so I did this

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cloning set of adjustments here and got

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to a nice result that I'd be able to

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print but it took a lot of work and

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we'll look at that in a minute and I

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finished off the image using lenia Haze

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option where we kind of just softened up

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the sky a bit so we got to a great

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result but if we look into the Clone job

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this is just a ton of work I created all

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these additional exposures if we just

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look at this one exposure where I

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blocked the sun to get rid of the flare

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bubble and I brushed it in but like the

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color and the contrast are wrong so you

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then have to make curves adjustments and

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color adjustments and use other ones you

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blend in and more color adjustments then

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local cloning and there's just so many

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steps here so this clone job probably

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took me like a solid hour if you can do

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anything to cut that time down by half

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or more that's a huge win and that's

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exactly what we want to do in this video

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using this hack with Adobe camera raw so

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let's recreate the edit by deleting

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these and just starting over from the

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adjusted smart object so here's my raw

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smart object and if I double click it

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will open up into Adobe camera raw 17.1

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which you'll need for this edit and when

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I first edited this image I was an older

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version of camera raw and it didn't have

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the AI remove tools so my naturally go

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for the new generative AI remove for

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these kinds of flare Bubbles and that is

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a great solution which we'll use but

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there's an even easier thing you can do

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now which is the new distraction removal

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for Reflections when you turn this on

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the AI is looking for things that are

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reflecting in plate glass which is not

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the case here but nevertheless it's a

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very similar problem and it's going to

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do a great job with problems like this

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and down here to clean things up I mean

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look at that result in one click we got

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rid of of a bunch of spray and water

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drops and stuff in the corner here with

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just that one click now is it perfect no

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I mean the color is a little bit off and

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I'm sure as this continues to progress

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or especially if it gets designed for

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lens flare to get even better but take

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the win this is a nasty thing to fix

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this is not that hard to fix the color

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and detail is much closer to where you

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want to be so it's going to be a lot

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easier to clone from this than before so

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it's not a oneclick solution but with

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one one click it's a much easier manual

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job from this point forward and now we

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can tackle these other little flare

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bubbles so I'm going to work on the

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little ones first and we can come back

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to the big one so that if we have to

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refine this we can so let's just zoom in

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a little bit shrink my brush I'm using

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this generative AI remove tool and just

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click and drag over any problem areas

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like this little hexagon you know adjust

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your brush eyeses with the left and

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right bracket Keys as needed and just

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Target these little problem areas I want

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to fix these little guys here maybe a

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brush here for things like these Rays if

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you click and shift click you draw a

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straight line so that's handy for the

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rays which I like the Rays here I just

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don't like them here they're kind of

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distracting in this area so clean those

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up there's a little bit of a rainbow

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here a little bit of a flare bubble

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here there's some stuff here in the

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background which is more ghosted so lots

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of problems to be fixed and I think with

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those just general fixes let's go click

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on remove let the AI do its best work on

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all these areas and again it might not

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be perfect but the goal is less work so

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if it gets us half the way there that's

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a big

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win and I think that looks great it's

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doing a really nice job so most of this

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is kind of perfect here maybe I'd take a

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second pass and see if I can do a little

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bit better there's a little bit of a

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residual green try this one more time

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you know if it doesn't fix this you can

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use the manual approach right we don't

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have to fix everything automatically but

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and maybe try the very viations here

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we'll see yeah I think that's a little

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bit better so you know that's at least

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social media quality level and if I want

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to go even further for print I can and

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now I want to Target this big flare

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bubble this one is probably not going to

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be perfect but it's really nasty to do a

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healing brush over color and so if I can

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just get it close that's going to save a

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lot of time and this ought to be fine

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for social media right out of the gates

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that's a pretty good result let's go

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look at the

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variations um yeah I think yeah go kind

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with this third one does it match the

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full detail outside there no so for

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print I'd have to spend more time

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cleaning this up but it's going to take

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minutes to fix this as opposed to an

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hour for everything so take the win this

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has gotten us to a much better starting

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point and you can use all the

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traditional manual approaches to bring

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it home from there so say okay I'm not

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going to bother to show you all the

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manual cloning I just want to show you

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this quick job to get to this point from

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before to after see how nice it helps I

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want to show the other parts that are

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unique to this edit though because we

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did remove some of that ghosting the

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flare from before I think there's a nice

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warm quality here I'd like to

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reintroduce that here because it is

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cleaning up some real glare but I like

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that glare I just don't want these

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little bubble spots I just want this

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overall soft glare well there's an easy

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way to create that using the lumenia

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Luminosity masking panel if you just go

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to dodge under Dodge the solid fill will

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create a warm glow if you set it to soft

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light so we'll just say dodge burn with

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these settings it lets us choose our

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color but it's already set for kind of a

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warm sun color so we'll say okay and you

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see it creates that warm glow everywhere

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and so that's kind of a preview of the

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results what I want to do is click on

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the mask to make it active and now we

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can brush it in so I'm going to hit B

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for my brush take my flow down to

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something really low like 2% using white

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paint in the foreground just brush over

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these areas where I want to add in a

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little bit of that glow just kind of

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gently bring out the light in the image

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from before

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after I'm reintroducing that flare just

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feels a little bit more natural and then

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to complete the effect I want to add

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some of that Haze in the sky and that's

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another feature in lenia if we hover

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over the depth button you see that shift

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clicking will add a haze layer and

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select by depth so I'm going to shift

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click on depth it's going to

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automatically create a haze layer and

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create a selection which is biased for

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things in the distance so we can paint

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things in the distance much more than

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things in the foreground so it be very

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easy now to take a larger brush let's go

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boost our flow up to closer to like 10%

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and now just brush in these areas want

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to add a little bit more of kind of a

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hazy glowing effect in the sky and I

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think especially on this horizon line

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let's kind of soften that up a little

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bit just really make the sun feel

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powerful get rid of some of those

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distractions in these areas and you can

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see this haze from before to after just

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kind of cleans up that image and if

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you've painted more than you want you

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can go and bring the opacity down a

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little bit just dial it in the way you

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want but I think that adds a really nice

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effect

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now notice that it's using a Luminosity

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selection it's telling me there's a

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depth selection active that was created

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for me automatically if you want to see

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it you can click on the check cell

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button and you see that this is the

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selection of depth so it's Infinity for

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the sky is white the midr in Gray and

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the foreground here is kind of selected

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at different depth so it's just helping

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you automatically select by depth that's

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what I'd loaded up there for my brush I

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wasn't painting freehand I'm going to

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just get rid of that by Alt click on the

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mask you can see that it's built into

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the brush so it's automatically helping

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Target things by their distance to

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further enhance that Haze effect and

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they just built right into the depth

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button but just look at what we've done

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in just a few minutes here we've gone

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from this original raw which I had

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already edited to this state to get some

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nice color to it but then we removed all

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those distractions by just using the

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reflection removal and a couple of quick

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touch-ups then a little Dodge and burn

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to reintroduce some of the flare and

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that final Haze step to give us an

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overall adjustment that just really

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transforms the image and looks gorgeous

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now to learn more about lenia click to

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this next video

Harness the Power of Adobe Camera Raw to Remove Lens Flare

Lens flare can be a real headache when editing photos in Photoshop, requiring hours of manual cloning to clean up. But fear not! In this tutorial, we will dive into the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw 17.1 to almost automatically eliminate those pesky lens flares with just a few clicks. Let's explore how this cutting-edge tool can revolutionize your editing process.

An Arduous Cloning Task

Starting with a raw image, we usually open it as a smart object in Photoshop and then edit it in Camera Raw to enhance color and detail. However, dealing with lens flare issues like flare bubbles, water spots, or spray marks scattered across the image can be a tedious task. Traditional methods involve a labor-intensive process of cloning, adjusting curves, and making color corrections for each problematic area, consuming precious hours of your time.

Enter Adobe Camera Raw AI Tools

With the new generative AI tools in Adobe Camera Raw 17.1, removing lens flare has never been easier. The AI-powered "remove" function targets flare bubbles with impressive accuracy. Additionally, the distraction removal tool efficiently tackles reflections and other unwanted elements in just a click. While the results may not be flawless, the time-saving benefit is significant, making manual fine-tuning a breeze.

Simplifying the Editing Workflow

By utilizing the generative AI remove tool, you can swiftly address minor flare bubbles, spray marks, or unwanted elements by clicking and dragging over the problematic areas. The AI works its magic, providing a cleaner canvas for further adjustments. Even for larger flare bubbles that may require additional attention, the AI tool serves as an efficient starting point, reducing the overall editing time to minutes instead of hours.

Enhancing Image Quality

To add a warm, glowing quality back into the image post-removal, leveraging tools like Luminosity masking panel in lenia can work wonders. By applying Dodge and Burn techniques, you can reintroduce subtle flares while maintaining a natural look. Additionally, incorporating a haze effect in the sky helps create depth and mood, transforming your image into a visually captivating masterpiece.

Effortless Transformation

In just a few minutes, you can witness a remarkable transformation from a raw image plagued with lens flares to a professionally refined photo with enhanced color, reduced distractions, and a dreamy atmosphere. Embrace the power of Adobe Camera Raw's AI tools and creative techniques to elevate your editing game and produce stunning, flawless images effortlessly.

In conclusion, mastering the art of removing lens flare with Adobe Camera Raw not only saves time but also opens up a world of possibilities for enhancing your photos. Say goodbye to tedious manual cloning and hello to a streamlined editing workflow that empowers you to unleash your creativity with ease. So, embark on this editing journey, explore the possibilities, and watch your images come to life like never before.