One of the cool things about learning photography is that you also get to learn how to better utilize editing software. I know that a lot of people use Lightroom, but I’ve always been partial to Photoshop. It takes a bit longer, but so far, I’ve taught myself how to remove blemishes, and wrinkles, + add color in (say if nail polish is chipped), but my ongoing challenge is still figuring out what my overall editing “style” is.
I love shooting in natural light and the best lesson I learned is, if you set it how you want it in the camera, you won’t have to do too much post-processing. For the most part, I typically only color correct and adjust levels as needed, and on occasion I’ll punch up the color. If you use Curves or Actions, though, the possibilities are endless.
I took this picture during the Everbloom Design workshop, and as I play around with the editing, I did it two ways: one where the color kinda pops off the page, and the other where it’s more subdued. I like them both for 2 totally different reasons.
this is the unedited original:
Not a huge difference (because I hate over-edited photos), but enough to change it a bit. There is a matteness that I see in so many photos that I want to learn how to recreate (Google is my friend but that’s a how-to that’s surprisingly hard to find), so I’m gonna keep tweaking around with them until I can get them just right.
Just wanted to share with you guys and get your thoughts on photo editing. If you take photos for your blog, what software do you use? What’s your biggest challenge? Do you use natural light or artificial? What would you like to learn?
Colleen says
I usually take photos with my iphone and edit with VSCOcam. I’ll be the first to admit that the photography on my blog isn’t top-of-the-line, but I think it’s good enough until I can save up for a nicer camera.
Kim Thomas says
I’ve downloaded VSCOcam but never use it (I don’t know why), however I have seen some amazing images on instagram that were edited with it. As long as you’re utilizing natural light, your photos will be fine. And go on Amazon or Ebay! I’m saving up to get a new camera body and there are some great deals there.