Unlike yesteryears, cameras aren’t privileged gadgets anymore.
Even DSLRs and professional-grade camera setups have become more affordable and accessible. Moreover, most modern smartphones are also capable of capturing some stunning shots.
However, the actual “appeal” of any photograph comes in post-processing.
Modern editing tools and applications are more than capable of modifying properties of a photograph such as contrast, brightness, depth-of-field, etc., to provide stunning end results.
Regardless of whether you’re capturing photographs from a smartphone or DSLR, there are some common tips that you can follow to make each of your capture better than the actual unprocessed image.
To help you out, we bring a list of photo editing tips that will help you create professional-looking photographs.
5 Editing Tips to Help You Become a “Pro” Photographer
Use AI-Powered Editing Tools
Artificial Intelligence has helped improve photography a lot. AI-powered editing tools utilize algorithms to enhance a photograph’s look depending on the subject(s) or type of shot.
The Luminar AI Photo Editor is one of the best examples of advanced photo editing tools out there. The new Luminar AI features preset templates that utilize Artificial Intelligence powers.
Users can select the template based on the type of photograph they’re trying to edit and get the perfect kind of results.
Moreover, one of the best features of Luminar AI is that it doesn’t try to function as only an alternative to other editing tools. Instead, you can use Luminar AI plugins with other editing software like Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom on both macOS and Windows, thus giving you access to AI-powered editing features on your favorite editing tool as well.
The AI-powered editing offered by Luminar AI software ensures that you don’t have to waste time tweaking each setting to get the best results, thus saving you a lot of time and effort. The perfect photograph is just a few clicks away!
Always Use Layer Masks
Not all filters or tweaks work on your entire photograph. For example, you may want to dodge, burn, etc., your subject without applying the changes to the whole picture.
The best way to do so is to create layer masks. By doing this, you can target edits onto specific parts of the photograph without editing other portions. Moreover, layers also make it easier to track what modifications are done on various positions if you need to modify the tweaks later.
You can explore Africa-images.com to get high-quality stock photos from professional photographers.
Thinking Of Selling Up
You’re running a business and sometimes the opportunity will just be too good to be true. Sometimes you’ll want to sell after the investment you’ve made in the property or business location. Nothing sells property like high-quality albums. Especially if you’re selling to people who aren’t close by and can’t easily visit. You can grab photo books in bulk to save you some money and to allow you to send out your property albums to everyone at the same time.
Selling up might not be something you want to do at first, but when you take into account property price rises in the area it might just be the best thing you can do.
Shoot “RAW” When Possible
Most modern DSLRs and smartphone cameras allow the option to capture photographs in RAW format.
Unlike other image file formats like JPEG or PNG, the RAW file format does not tweak any elements of your image file during capturing. Thus, you get more visual details and information to play with during editing.
The only downside to RAW format is that not all editors or devices support it. However, most modern photo editors like Luminar AI, Adobe Lightroom, and Photoshop support the RAW file format.
Always Capture Multiple Shots of the Same Subject/Scene
It is always a good idea to capture multiple shots of the same scene/subject, with some minor tweaks like changing the ISO, brightness, focus, etc.
Many factors determine the resulting photograph, such as the pose of the subject, the surrounding lighting, background, etc.
Capturing multiple shots at once with minor tweaks ensure that you have different images to edit, thus giving you better chances of creating that one perfect photograph.
Don’t Overdo Edits
Photo editing tools give you a lot of options. However, don’t try and include all the various features into a single photograph.
If you’re in the learning phase of photo editing, try out all the tools and stick to the ones that make the most positive effect on your capture.
Also, never overwrite the original image. Always save your edited image as a separate file to still have a reference to the old photo. Also, having the actual file helps you to redo the edits from scratch if needed.
Final Words
We have tried to include some essential editing tips that can help all kinds of photographers out there.
If you’d like to share your personal experience and tips in photo editing with others, feel free to leave them as comments below.
