Harald Benz

Benz’s post production begins before he even presses the exposure button.‭ ‬He has a clear idea of what he wants his Raw files to look like.‭ ‬Automatic features play a minor role.‭ ‬The manual white balance,‭ ‬on the other hand,‭ ‬is essential.‭ ‬In the beginning he‘d set his M8‭ ‬to automatic shutter speed but now he‘s doing it all by hand:‭ “‬To me it‘s important that the histogram kicks out to the right and includes as much highlight information as possible.‭ ‬This way I also keep the noise levels in check.‭ ‬If I run the risk of bleaching out the highlights,‭ ‬I‘ll compensate using the M8‭‘‬s exposure correction.‭ ‬The images will appear slightly overexposed,‭ ‬but this can be remedied later without loss on the computer.‭” ‬Why post production‭? “‬It‘s an innovative way to enhance the expression of an image,‭” ‬Benz explains.‭ “‬Generally speaking,‭ ‬you‘ll want your colour photographs to look authentic.‭ ‬Black‭ & ‬white on the other hand concentrates on content and takes the image to a more abstract level.‭ ‬And this is the effect I want to achieve in my colour photography.‭”