Prerequisite: master the 5-module workflow from guide I. Each recipe states the problem, the diagnosis and the exact moves. Recipe format: module → control → direction.

RECIPE 1

Blown-out sky

Beach day or landscape with a white sky RECOVER HIGHLIGHTS

Classic number 1. If the RAW still holds information (white area but not pure white), it can be recovered. The histogram gives it away: a mountain chopped off against the right edge.

First check whether there's anything left to save: press O in the darkroom (overexposure warning) — the areas marked in red are pure white beyond rescue; if the sky isn't fully marked, there's something to work with.

exposure → lower slightly (−0.3 EV) if the whole photo runs bright
filmic rgb · scene → white relative exposure → lower until the sky gets its texture back
filmic rgb · reconstruct → if a white patch remains: raise the threshold gently
color balance rgb → a touch of chroma to bring the blue back

Done when the sky has gradation and clouds where there used to be a white bedsheet.

RECIPE 2

Crushed shadows

Dark face against the light, gloomy interior LIFT SHADOWS

The opposite case: the subject came out black because the camera metered for the bright background. At low ISO, the a6000's RAW easily takes a 2-3 stop shadow lift.

Diagnosis with the histogram: mountain flattened against the left edge. After lifting shadows, noise almost always surfaces: the recipe deals with it at the end.

exposure → raise until the subject is visible (+1 to +2 EV), ignoring the background blowing out
filmic rgb · scene → white relative exposure → raise to tame the background you just blew out
shadows and highlights → shadows +20…+40 if it's still not enough
denoise (profiled) → switch on: lifting shadows always digs up grain

Done when you can see the subject's face without the photo looking like CCTV footage.

RECIPE 3

Dull colors

Grey day, bland photo CONTRAST AND COLOR

RAW files always come out flatter than the camera's JPEG: that's normal, it's raw material. This recipe is the universal "seasoning".

Order matters: first contrast (separates the tones), then color (the separated tones already look livelier and need less saturation).

filmic rgb · look → contrast → raise from 1.0 to 1.2–1.4
color balance rgb → global vibrance +10…+20 (protects skin tones)
color balance rgb · perceptual → if the greens/blues want more: global chroma +5
local contrast → switch on with the defaults: adds "presence"

Done when the developed photo beats the camera JPEG placed next to it.

RECIPE 4

High-ISO noise

Night or indoor photo at ISO 3200-6400 DENOISE

The a6000's practical limit. The goal isn't to erase all the grain (that looks plasticky), but to leave it fine and pleasant.

There are two kinds of noise: luminance (grey grain, tolerable, even pretty) and chrominance (colored specks, always ugly). Priority: kill the color noise, keep some of the grain.

denoise (profiled) → switch on (it knows the a6000's sensor)
→ mode non-local means if the default eats detail
→ strength: start at the default, lower it if skin looks like wax
100% view → always judge noise zoomed in (double-click), never on a thumbnail

Done when the ISO 6400 photo can be shown without apologising for it.

RECIPE 5

Crooked horizon and falling lines

Buildings that lean backwards PERSPECTIVE

When you shoot a building from below, the verticals converge. At 16 mm the effect is exaggerated. Darktable fixes it in two clicks.

First make sure lens correction is on (the 16-50's distortion skews the perspective). Then:

rotate and perspective → get structure (wand icon) → detects the lines by itself
→ vertical correction → apply
crop → remove the empty edges the correction leaves behind
Field trick: leave air around the building when shooting, knowing the correction will crop

Done when the buildings in your photos stand up straight.

RECIPE 6

Black and white with intent

The B&W that isn't a filter MONOCHROME

Removing the color doesn't make a good B&W photo: you have to decide which grey each color becomes. It's the most creative recipe on the list.

The best B&W candidates: backlit scenes, textures, portraits with character and photos where the color distracts instead of adding.

color calibration → grey tab → enables channel-mixer B&W
→ raising red brightens skin · raising blue darkens skies (drama)
filmic rgb · look → contrast 1.3–1.5: B&W asks for more punch than color
vignetting → subtle (−0.2), to close the eye in on the subject

Final mission of the course: pick your best photo from the last two months and develop it twice — one color version and one B&W — then argue in front of the family which of the two is "the one" and why. If you can defend a develop, you know how to develop.