Where do I start? Editing is real life magic; like the sort of magic you see in Disney movies when you watch them for the first time, especially when you were younger!
You can create all sorts of effects and amazing visuals dependent on your desired outcome of how you want your art to visually look.
I personally loveeeee to use a variety of software and apps, because each software/app gives me a different reason for usage. For example, my solid favourites I’ve discovered are - Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Darkroom, Adobe Photoshop (or Photoshop Express on mobile), Adobe Express, Uplens, Facetune 2, SCRL, Template and Prequel. Of course you don’t have to use all of these at once or even use all of them, these are just my favourites I’ve discovered.
I pay for an Adobe subscription per month which gives me access to all of the creative cloud applications and more, which I invested in during the Black Friday sales (your best bet is to invest when they’re on sale, as they can be pricey and everyone is feeling the pinch). However you can also invest in their student plan, if it is applicable to you - it means you get a discounted rate on the subscription, and every little helps!
Uplens premium is £17.49 per year, Prequel is £40 per year for the premium version and Facetune 2 offers a free trial for the premium version. I am unsure how much Facetune is annually.
You absolutely do not need the premium versions, however I have invested - because I love the creative freedom I get from all of these.
Now to get into how I edit, what my tips and tricks are and how to make your photography more aligned with your vision!
I love Adobe Lightroom for the general edit of the photograph, this includes adding sharpness in the form of clarity and texture - to allow details in the image to stand out and make the image pop. I also like to add some contrast and enhance the highlights and shadows, if I feel it is appropriate - this creates dimension. Depending on the lighting conditions, I sometimes adjust the exposure down or up - to allow the image to become darker and more visually defined or brighter. And for the colour, I colour grade. I use the colour feature on Adobe Lightroom and adjust as I see fit. I move about the sliders on this options:
You can also select the colour grading mix tool and the grading tool.
This is how I visually see what suits to my vision of how I want the photograph to turn out.
In terms of cropping the image, I use the rule of thirds in order to create a streamlined effect and have it so not too much is going on in the image!
The below is an example of how I use rule of thirds, I ensure that the main image is either in the middle squared outline or on the right or left in-between either the 2nd and 3rd square or the 1st and 2nd square at the top.
I like to use Uplens or Prequel for adding visuals such as sparkles, flares or duplications of the image. I use PhotoDirector to create a mirror image from the photograph I am editing.
You can also use Photoshop for adding visuals or removing objects from the image, but in terms of removing objects - I’ve found the easiest way is to use Facetune or Lightroom. You can use the vanish tool in Facetune, or the removal tool in Lightroom.
Same goes to the fact; I find it easier using Uplens or prequel to add visual effects to the image. As my laptop is 8 years old and simply does not have the processing power to use Photoshop all of the time, to create those desired effects.
I love using SCRL and Template for creating gallery's for use for Instagram posts as it's so easy to do and you can create a number of different effects - depending on your desire outcome/s.
What editing tools do you use?
Grace <3
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