The crop removed distracting elements and allows the strengths of the photo to shine. Wide angle produces certain unflattering distortions, but a good crop can minimize or even remove distracting or unflattering elements and create a much more pleasing result. I find this is particularly important when using a wider angle lens (this was shot with a 35mm lens). One of the key things I want to highlight here is the power of a good crop. Here is a snapshot of all the changes I made in Lightroom: The final stage in Lightroom was to add some vignetting. I then decreased the vibrance and saturation, while increasing the temperature to create a warmer photo. I added some exposure to the cat’s face along with some localized sharpness. I changed the ratio to a square crop and tightened it in to both remove the white baseboard and get us closer to the fine detail on the cat’s face. My work in Lightroom was focused on improving the technical merits of the photo. The horizon is off, there are some busy background elements, and the bright white of the baseboard tends to draw the eye. The original shot, as you can see, has a quite a few flaws. I will start with Lightroom, but you can imitate many of these steps in either a full version of Photoshop or even Elements. Best of all, I am including a coupon code for a discount copy of the software at the end of the tutorial! We are going to start with this: In today’s tutorial I want to demonstrate how that you can take an ordinary “snapshot” style photo and turn it into a handsome piece of art through the use of Alien Skin Snap Art 4. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews! Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52014 in your cart. Great News! I can now offer a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. Check out this video tutorial to see the magic happen.Ĭanon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM LensĪdobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 Software for Mac and Windows (Boxed Version)Īdobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year SubscriptionĪlien Skin Exposure 7 and Snap Art 4 (Use code “dustinabbott” to get 10% off) Best of all, using the code “ dustinabbott” will get you 10% off all Alien Skin products in their store. The use of textures and Snap Art in your post processing can both save you money and a lot of effort when shooting on location. Imagine the potential of this workflow for your portrait work! One final point for consideration: backdrops are expensive and not particularly easy to transport. To this “Formal” traditional portrait…all in about ten minutes. In this workflow tutorial we will go from the original shot here: These are both amazing pieces of software for giving your photos that extra bit of magic that help to set them apart from the crowd. In this video workflow tutorial we are going to examine how we can take a relatively simple photo of a horse with a nearly high key background due to the snow beyond and turn it into what looks like a formal oil painting using a combination of Alien Skin Exposure and Snap Art. Few people have that kind of opportunity, however, but here’s the good news: if you learn how to do a great job with post processing you can still produce stunning work that stands out even if your gear isn’t top drawer. I’m a gear guy, and as a professional lens reviewer I am fortunate enough that I am able to use gear worth tens of thousands of dollars every year that doesn’t belong to me. You also need to have some post-processing skills. But like it or not, it isn’t enough to be just a good photographer these days. I do believe that ultimately the old fashioned ingredients of talent and an eye for seeing the world in a unique and creative way are one’s greatest assets in making their work stand out (that, and being motivated enough to go the extra mile of getting out of bed early or investing a little more thought into planning and execution). One of the key challenges for the modern photographer is finding a way to distinguish their work from the homogeny of a million and one other photographers around them that are doing pretty much the same thing.
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