Editing to look professional
Discussion
Took some photos at a cousins wedding and currently trying to edit them to look give them that professional touch.
So far I have sorted the blurry/unclear ones and imported the rest into Lightroom. From there I am not really sure what to do/apply to give it a little more sharpness and make them look better.
I know there is a limit of what I can do as based on what was captured so not looking for miracles just what are the standard things people do.
So far I have sorted the blurry/unclear ones and imported the rest into Lightroom. From there I am not really sure what to do/apply to give it a little more sharpness and make them look better.
I know there is a limit of what I can do as based on what was captured so not looking for miracles just what are the standard things people do.
As long as it's in focus and the exposure is within the ballpark you have a chance.
For me, as a veteran of maybe 75,000 wedding photos...
First, calibrate your monitor otherwise you have no reference point as to what's right or not. Then...
1) Correct exposure. I use Photoshop so that's levels and curves.
2) If you still like it, is the white balance right? If not can you fix it?
3) If you still like it, are the verticals vertical? If not, fix them.
4) Cropping/composition - would the image benefit from cropping?
5) Resize if required.
Here you meet the benefits of shooting RAW - correcting white balance at a click, recovering shadow detail with least noise, and possibly hauling burnt highlights back.
For me, as a veteran of maybe 75,000 wedding photos...
First, calibrate your monitor otherwise you have no reference point as to what's right or not. Then...
1) Correct exposure. I use Photoshop so that's levels and curves.
2) If you still like it, is the white balance right? If not can you fix it?
3) If you still like it, are the verticals vertical? If not, fix them.
4) Cropping/composition - would the image benefit from cropping?
5) Resize if required.
Here you meet the benefits of shooting RAW - correcting white balance at a click, recovering shadow detail with least noise, and possibly hauling burnt highlights back.
I think TV programes like CSI give the general public the idea that unsharp/out of focus photos can be pulled back to something viewable at the touchof a computer button. There is software out there that will sharpen (Topaz)and there is a sharpen tool in lightroom - BUT there is a limit
Everyone has different styles, tastes and preferences, there's not one single "professional" look. One person's "sharp and defined" is another person's overprocessed.
Post up an example (crop out the heads if need be to protect privacy) and we can all have a go at applying what we think makes a good photo
Post up an example (crop out the heads if need be to protect privacy) and we can all have a go at applying what we think makes a good photo
Retouching is a completely different skill set to photography and is a career path in its own right. 'Looking professional' is generally a good combination of both good photography and good retouching. If you feel like you've got something really nice, don't be afraid to outsource the retouching to someone who can really bring out the best in it.
By all means learn yourself, as with anything there are tutorials and courses you can take. A good standard of retouching is much more time consuming than photography though!
By all means learn yourself, as with anything there are tutorials and courses you can take. A good standard of retouching is much more time consuming than photography though!
From my (reasonably) wide experience, it is a shallow depth of field that people often recognise as being the hallmark of a "professional" photograph.
It's no coincidence that the very latest phones have a portrait mode that attempts to replicate the look.
Other big ones are:
1 - Use flash to fill or add a bit of light, balancing it with the available light. Nothing looks worse than very bright subject, very dark background.
2 - Composition and creativity
3 - Shoot through stuff - This relates to my first point but some out of focus foreground elements can really add to an image
It's no coincidence that the very latest phones have a portrait mode that attempts to replicate the look.
Other big ones are:
1 - Use flash to fill or add a bit of light, balancing it with the available light. Nothing looks worse than very bright subject, very dark background.
2 - Composition and creativity
3 - Shoot through stuff - This relates to my first point but some out of focus foreground elements can really add to an image
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