A photograph does not finish taking place in the camera. The final step is developing, or what many call (or we call) editing. As much as there are purists of the photo is taken on the cameraWe agree only up to a certain point.
It is one thing to develop a photograph and another to manipulate it. It is not the same to cut from here, put there, erase this and add that, than to adjust the exposure, contrast or straighten a crooked horizon.
No, it’s not the same.
Steps to reveal your photos
- Observe the photograph
- Analyze histogram
- lens corrections
- Transform
- Cut
- Adjust white balance
- Adjust exposure and contrast
- black and white
- highlights and shadows
- Clarity and focus
- noise reduction
Reveal or edit?
Before we continue, let’s make the differences clear and see what each concept is. Although post processing includes everything we do after taking an image (from downloading it to sending it to print or publishing it digitally), we can basically differentiate between editing and developing.
The edition (although this term is used practically for everything) is what we do when modifying an image, such as, for example, when manipulating or retouching an image, and it is what Photoshop knows how to do so well. From basic things to those miracles we see, the effects so impressive that they can be achieved even with a single click through Photoshop actions.
The revealed, Strictly speaking, it’s making the basic adjustments that the camera could make directly when taking a JPEG. Formerly, with analog photography, they did this in the laboratory. Or do you think they came out so beautifully off camera already? No way. The thing is, we didn’t know about it. We took the photos to print and they gave us all the work done. Now in the digital age this part is up to us.
And believe me, it’s not as difficult as you may be thinking.
As you can see, here there is a mixture between developing and editing, since I consider that there are some basic adjustments that do not alter a photograph itself but that must be done even if they are not related to developing, such as cropping, lens correction or straightening the lines. . Now let’s see step by step.
Once the difference between developing and editing has been introduced, let’s see one by one the steps you must take for a basic development and leave your perfect photos.
1. Look at your photography
It seems very obvious, but it is not so. Dedicate some time (as long as you deem appropriate) to observe your image and reflect on what you expect from it. What did you want to convey when you made click and if you got it Surely you stayed very close to it, but you see that the message can be improved. The important thing is that you are clear about what type of photo you want (more dramatic, brighter, darker, warm, cold…).
There is no better recipe than another, but a message and the way to transmit it, and that message can only be decided by the author. With this I also want to make it clear that there are no inflexible rules on how to edit a photograph. Each one and at each moment edits the photograph in a different way.
This is the photograph that I have taken as an example to illustrate this article. Choosing one with lines is not casual 😉 .
2. Analyze the histogram
Reading the histogram will give you a very important clue as to where the image is and where you should take it. If you have done your homework well, this should be controlled, but it is not always possible. In this case, for example, we can see that it is somewhat overexposed.
3. Lens corrections
Once we have already analyzed the photo and see what we want or need to do with it, we move on to action. The first thing is to remove the optical aberrations created by the target, if necessary. Yes, this part would not be purely revealed but I have already warned you that it was a mixture with what I considered most important.
These optical aberrations are translated into concave or convex lines, both vertical and horizontal. Surely now you understand better why I have chosen this image 😉 .
You can also find chromatic aberrations that are manifested by color irregularities. They usually appear in the contours, when there is a strong contrast between one area and another.
Both can be corrected from Lens Corrections.
You can perform lens corrections automatically or manually
In this case we focus on Activate profile corrections, that we do it automatically in the tab Profile. Although you could also use Manual in the case of not finding your target in the selection.
4. Transform
Since I am not satisfied with how the distortions have been corrected, this is because I did not take the photograph correctly, I proceed to Transform.
To do this I move the cursors from Rotate, Vertical Y Horizontal until I find the result that convinces me. The good thing is that if you make a mistake you can double click on the cursor and it returns to the original state.
5. Trim
Once you transform the photo, it is very likely that you will have to crop it because white corners and/or borders will appear.
It’s also possible that even though you haven’t done any lens corrections or turned nothing, decide to crop your photo for whatever reason. Of course, beware of excessive cuts. That the more cuts the more quality you will lose.
passing the scissors
This is the time to adjust the ratio. Normally, the prints are 3:2, like those of Full Frame cameras, but other cameras, such as compact or mobile, among others, capture in 4:3. That is why, sometimes, when asking to have it printed, you may find that it has white borders or that it has been cut out.
Yes you click in Original (where the red arrow in the previous image indicates) a window is displayed with all the format options. You can keep the original proportion, customize it, use one of the measures offered or click on the padlock and when it appears open, modify it freely.
6. White balance
We are going deeper into the most typical part of the revealed. When taking an image, if you haven’t paid enough attention, you may have captured the color of light. Sometimes it has a color that fits with what you want to convey. Others not so much.
If this is the first time you’ve heard of white balance or you’ve heard it but it sounded like turning a page, today it doesn’t happen that you reconcile with the term. Alexa reveals to you in this article all her secrets.
Let’s get on with editing. To adjust the white balance, if you did not control it when taking the photo, you can do it in several ways. Having photographed in RAW always makes the task easier. You can click where the arrow indicates and choose a preset mode. In this case, since it was cloudy, we chose that option. It brings a touch a little warmer but not too much, just enough to transmit those brown colors of autumn that was in all its splendor at the time of taking the photo.
I insist that there is no basic rule here, I may like this shade a little warmer and you would have preferred it to be a little cooler. About tastes… What’s more, I myself may, in some time, if I edit it again, I’ll do it in another way.
The second option is to regulate with the cursors of Temperature (cold or warm) and Hue (magenta or greenish). Move them left and right to give it the hue you want.
Finally, you can also use the eyedropper and put it on a neutral gray area. Everything is to try and choose the method that is most comfortable and effective for you.
white balance
7. Exposure and contrast
Fixed white balance, the next interface setting is the Exposition. This allows you to give more or less light to the entire photograph. There are those who prefer to directly adjust this parameter and then the contrast or wait to carry out the next two steps because many times with that it is already corrected.
In this case the image is somewhat overexposed, as we can see in the histogram, and we would correct it by sliding the cursor Exposition toward the left.
However, if I correct the highlights also with the cursor to the left, I like the result better, because it only corrects the overexposed area of ​​the sky.
Adjusting exposure and contrast
If you manage well with it, you can also perform this step in the section tone curve.
Once the exposure has been corrected, we proceed to contrast, in which we amplify the richness of high and low tones.
8. Black and white
As we have said, there are those who prefer to invert this step and the previous one, since when adjusting the whites and blacks we are already touching the contrast. It’s not a fixed rule, so find your favorite way to work on developing. I admit that I am a bit anarchic here and I do it based on the photo.
The good thing is that you can go back and forth and readjust everything you need. Reason why I boxed the part of Highlights, Shadows, Blacks and Whites with Exposure and Contrast. Readjust these controls until you get the desired effect.
We try to stretch the histogram so that pure blacks and pure whites appear in the image. In this way we will have a more vivid image.
Beware of spending too much. To prevent whites from burning or blacks from losing information, turn on the warning. In the left arrow you activate the warning of the blacks and when they are painted blue it is that they lose information, something that is not very convenient unless you are creatively looking for a very high contrast and you do not care if you lose all the information. The same with the whites but to the right. In this case the areas are painted red.
Here you have an example, I have modified the black and white for you to see. The ideal is to adjust so that there are not many areas colored (or nothing).
Trick: to leave it at the limit, you can double-click on the cursor while keeping the SHIFT key pressed. It adjusts itself.
Warning of zones without information
9. Highlights and shadows
Once the whites and blacks have been adjusted, we move on to the intermediate tones, highlights Y Shades.
In the example image we have already adjusted Highlights. with adjustment Shades you can lighten or darken the shadow areas while leaving the rest of the image the same.
Let’s see how the photo goes. As you can see, information has been retrieved from the sky and it has a warmer point (personal preference).
10. Clarity and focus
With Clarity we highlight the textures of the image. what it does is add contrast to the midtones. You have to be careful because if you go too far you add noise to the photo.
You also have here the option to improve the Saturation wave Intensity. The best way to give more color to your photo is to use the color adjustment. Intensity because it does not affect the entire photo, only the duller tones and it is more subtle and natural.
Further down, in the section Detail, you’ll find the fit Approach. This is another one that you must handle with care so as not to…