This past week I got the same question from a few people about their photos looking a little weird, and funky in Lightroom. It’s actually a thing called “banding” and you’ll mostly find it in your sky. But here’s the thing. You won’t see it everywhere in Lightroom. In this video, I’ll show you why it’s there and how to get rid of it.
Oh.. and here’s the file in case you want to see for yourself (Click here to download)
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Matt,
Thank you for all you do.
I shoot Sony a7RIII and in the Silent mode at higher shutter speeds and some LED (or other lights) will certain frequencies, a different brand of banding occurs. They are uninformed as the frequency light is consistent.
Have you faced the situation and if so, is there a fix or a way to edit them out in the Lightroom?
Please advise.
Thank you, Matt! There was some bad advice floating around about it being due to hardware, etc. so I’m glad to find an explanation and a solution.
John Schmaus
Very helpful, Matt. This banding has bedeviled me before and now I know how to avoid it.
ANOTHER great ‘tips n tricks’ video! Thank you But then again, your videos seem to always be better than so many others on the internet. Even when others have decent content, they can be painful to watch due to the poor lighting, poor audio and clunky video. What do you use for your screen captures / video and audio that makes your work so much more enjoyable to watch?
Thanks Guy.
I use Screenflow for screen capture. I have a Sony mic and I use a Sony A6500 and a 28mm lens for my video recording.
Take care!
Appreciate the PSA….very informative!
Hello Matt! Great explanation of the “banding” issue, thank you!!
Hey Matt, thank you for your PSA/tip. I thought it was my not understanding how Lightrm worked. It made me aware that I’m
not that bad of a retoucher after all.
Keep releasing those tips.
Hi Matt, the video explains how to avoid things getting even worse in post if the image OOC is already “critical” with respect to banding. Which is really helpful, because usually as a photographer you don’t dive as deep into all these tech stuff.
However, I guess some of us would appreciate your thoughts how to avoid “banding candidates” already at the time of capture (ETTR etc).
How about a follow-up? 😉
Hi Matt,
Semi unrelated… I noticed in you “help hint” on banding, saving in JPEG the 3 options of Baseline, optimized , and progressive. What is the difference in these choices ? I have used Baseline, you had progressive.
Thanks for being sooooo helpful!!!
Hi Sarah. I don’t know exactly. Never really thought about it. It’s probably pretty techie stuff and would take a good amount of space to write it there. But I’m sure with a quick Google search you’d find a good explanation of what they mean. Thx!
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the public announcement!! Great tip! I’ve used Lightroom since version 1, but never thought Library and Develop showed the file in different quality. Thanks! Also, while you were going to PS from LR and saving as a jpeg, I’ve always wondered what the three options actually do under Format. When you have some time would you explain what each one of those options does and which one is the best option for saving a jpeg?
Thanks again!
Dennis
I think I read that some banding is caused by a mixed or variable light source, However, that was very helpfil, Matt, especially the info that previews in Library module in LR are of a lower quality.
Thanks for these infos.
I also read that we can add some grain,… when banding is still there.
correct ?
best regards
marc
If Banding is there in the actual file for print/online then yes, you can use grain. But many times banding is just a display thing.
That’s a relief. I always thought I had created an corrupted/inferior image file. Thanks Matt.
Ahhh! Really helpful. Have found this problem but never understood why. – thought it was my editing!
So a quick question is, so if I save from lightroom a jpeg version of my photo will the banding still be there or will it save how I’m seeing it in the development tab? Such as saving it for possible printing later etc or saving it so I can show it on the web even? Thank you and thank you for your tutorials too.
Hi Matt
I liked the ‘public service time travel announcements’, but thanks again for the results of a well structured and informative lesson plan.
Best wishes, David Price.