Category: Processing
Do You Still Need to Learn Photoshop?
Most people are using Lightroom to edit their photos at this point. We’ve also seen the rise of non-Adobe products like Luminar, Capture One, and other alternatives. These will all do much of what we all used to use Photoshop for, and in many cases they are all the photographer really needs to dramatically improve… Continue reading Do You Still Need to Learn Photoshop?
How Much Editing is Too Much?
Unfortunately, there is no answer to this question. Different people have different ideas on this topic. Some people want everything to appear natural, and the tipping point for them is when their photos does not. Others couldn’t care less about that and in fact don’t want their pictures to appear natural. Neither approach is correct. … Continue reading How Much Editing is Too Much?
Which Photo Editing Software Should I Get?
One question you might have as you start your photographic journey is which photo editing software you should get. For a long time now, Adobe has been at the top of the chain, with Photoshop and Lightroom dominating the market. So complete was Adobe’s dominance, that others companies were content to market their software as mere… Continue reading Which Photo Editing Software Should I Get?
Computers for Photographers: What to Look For
If you are considering a new computer, you will want to make sure it can handle your photography needs. Even if you are content with your current machine, you might like to see how it measures up. How do you do that, when there are a million models out there? And if you start looking at… Continue reading Computers for Photographers: What to Look For
Photo Organization Made Simple
My guess is that you want your photos to be organized, but do not want to spend any time worrying about it. You want to be able to find your photos quickly. There is nothing worse than looking through a bunch of folders for a photo you know you have somewhere, but being unable to… Continue reading Photo Organization Made Simple
New Mini-Course: Learn Lightroom in Under an Hour
I’ve created a new mini-course that I call “A Flying Leap into Lightroom.” It is designed for those just getting started with Lightroom. You can learn all about it and watch the videos on this page. Enjoy!
Video: Getting Started Using Curves
Curves adjustment layers in Photoshop are super-powerful. When it comes to adjusting brightness, contrast, and color, there is no more powerful tool. But they can appear complicated and somewhat intimidating. Let me walk you though a few ways to dip your toe into the waters of Curves through this video: If you’d rather read about… Continue reading Video: Getting Started Using Curves
A Little Cleanup Can Go a Long Way
About eight or nine months ago, I took this picture of a sheep in Ireland: I really liked the picture for a lot of reasons. First of all, it isn’t that often that you can catch a relatively close-up, frontal view of a sheep like that. It certainly isn’t unheard of, but I’ve been to… Continue reading A Little Cleanup Can Go a Long Way
Banding: How to Avoid It, How to Get Rid of It.
When you have ugly bands of color in your picture, it is referred to as “banding.” It occurs where you have large portions of a single color in your picture, usually a dark color. For the outdoor photographer, that almost always means it occurs in the skies. Since we frequently have skies in our pictures,… Continue reading Banding: How to Avoid It, How to Get Rid of It.
Editing the Giant’s Causeway Photo using Lightroom
In this video, I will walk through an edit of a recent photo. The point is to show you a few things: A quick edit without a lot of explanation (ok, there is some explanation – the video runs about 8 minutes, but the edit could be done in under a minute). A fairly typical scene where… Continue reading Editing the Giant’s Causeway Photo using Lightroom
Adding Texture To Your Photos with Curves Adjustment Layers
I find that many times when people look at a photo and think that they want to take a sharp, detailed picture like the one they are looking at, what they are really seeing is a picture that has been enhanced by adding texture and clarity in post-processing. Often they do not know how to do… Continue reading Adding Texture To Your Photos with Curves Adjustment Layers
Getting Started Using Curves Adjustment Layers in Photoshop
What if I told you there was only one tool you needed to affect the lightness and darkness values of your picture? And what if I told you that the same tool was the only thing you would need for all color correction in your picture? Would you be interested in learning that tool? No… Continue reading Getting Started Using Curves Adjustment Layers in Photoshop
How to Remove Unwanted Items from Your Pictures
Mastering the Clone Stamp tool. We all confront the situation where there are people you don’t want in your picture. Or phone poles and power lines. Or imperfections in the picture. We want to get rid of them. The best way is usually the Clone Stamp tool. In the video below, I will walk you… Continue reading How to Remove Unwanted Items from Your Pictures
Best Practices for Eliminating Spots in Photoshop
In a sense, there is nothing simpler than removing unwanted spots or small items from your photos using Photoshop. You just select the Spot Healing Brush, click on the spot, and presto – no more spot. It couldn’t be simpler. But when you are shooting outdoors things can be messy and you will sometimes find… Continue reading Best Practices for Eliminating Spots in Photoshop
Free Course on Photoshop Elements
I’m writing today to let you know that I am posting a new course on editing photos using Photoshop Elements. Based on my conversations with people lately, it seems that a lot of my readers use Photoshop Elements to edit their photos. And if you are not using any photo editing software at all, Photoshop… Continue reading Free Course on Photoshop Elements