Hi there!
I posted on Facebook and Instagram Stories the other day asking if anyone would be interested in some editing step by step type post. As a result, here is my first editing post. If you find it helpful, please leave a comment and I may just create more.
The photo I will show is one of the Calgary Tower taken from Centre Street and I will attempt to show you how to get this (Above Left) from this (Above Right)
I use two different applications in my workflow; Lightroom and Nik Color Efex. I sometimes use Photoshop but rarely and only to remove things like power lines or strange things that may have gotten into the image.
- Before anything, the first step is to find an interesting subject matter that catches the eye – it can be anything. Photograph it and then look at it again and photograph it again; from many different angles. Quite often, it doesn’t always look the way you saw it. If that happens to you, don’t be discouraged. That’s what we are going to do here.
- Once you capture some images you want to work with, download them into Lightroom. This is your catalog and where you store and manage all your photos.
- Go to the Develop module to edit your photo.
- The first thing I do to any image is to increase the shadows to +100
- Then I decrease the Highlights to -100
- Sometimes, depending on the look I am going for, I will set the WB (White Balance) to Auto. Sometimes I leave it to As Shot. Remember, It’s not an exact science but a starting point. Once I’ve done those, the image will start to look like what I was envisioning.
This is already a huge change and is a very acceptable version, but it’s not quite ready. Not quite what I saw in my minds eye when I took the photo. So lets bring it into Nik Color Efex. To do this. - Right Click on your photo and chose Edit In Colour Efex Pro from the Edit In Menu
- Once the photo is in Nik, play around with the different filters to get the look you are aiming for. Once you are happy with that look, click Save to go back to Lightroom for some final tweaks.
- Once the image is back in Lightroom, I do a few more small tweaks with some presets that I have created. Play around with the existing presets that come with Lightroom and the different settings like colours, brightness etc.
- Now because this is an image of buildings, it’s important to get the verticals straight as there is always distortion caused by the lens. Go to Lens Corrections and play around with the Upright settings until you get what you are after.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little tutorial and that you get something from it. If nothing else, don’t be afraid to play with the settings to get the outcome you envisioned when you hit the shutter.
Thanks for reading….Kristina
