{"id":54,"date":"2013-11-25T14:17:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-25T14:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/guide-to-travel-photography-5-post-production-and-editing\/"},"modified":"2022-01-05T19:35:25","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T19:35:25","slug":"guide-to-travel-photography-5-post-production-and-editing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/guide-to-travel-photography-5-post-production-and-editing\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide to Travel Photography \u2013 #5: Post Production and Editing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the fifth installment of my Guide to Travel Photography series. We\u2019ve talked over a lot of basics and important things to learn and keep in mind when going out there and shooting, but now it\u2019s time to come inside and to put some work in on your images. Post-production\/editing photography is a massive subject that could easily have over 100,000 articles on its own, so bear with me as I\u2019m only focusing on some of the more common subjects, along with a few of the more popular questions that I\u2019m often asked on my blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Which Program Should You Use?<\/h2>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

While there are loads of post-production and editing programs out there for photos, I am not the best person to ask for alternatives to Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is the \u2018Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End\u2019 as far as I\u2019m concerned. Photoshop is the standard in the industry, and for good reason. It\u2019s not by happenstance that the term \u2018photoshopped\u2019 has become internationally known. The program is top-notch, offering nearly endless possibilities, tools, plugins and so much more \u2013 it\u2019s highly used for more than simply photo-editing, but it\u2019s a top choice for graphic designers and publications as well. Yes, Photoshop is expensive, but it may be one of the top things that separate your work from graduating to the next level.<\/p>\n

Basic Edits for Each and Every Travel Photo<\/h2>\n

\"Editing<\/p>\n

I find there are a few tools and a few editing techniques that pretty much every travel photo could benefit from using.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Sharpen \u2013 Every photo, no matter how steady it was shot or what equipment was used, needs to be sharpened (at least a little bit).<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Levels\/Curves \u2013 Levels and Curves are tools in Photoshop (which is often mimicked in other programs as well) that allow you to pull the darks of your image to true black and the lights to true white \u2013 this is important for this edit alone will transform your images and make them pop.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Sponge\/Dodge\/Burn \u2013 These are three separate tools available in Photoshop that each has its own uses. Sponge allows you to draw your cursor over your image where it will then saturate or desaturate certain areas \u2013 which can enhance and alter the mood of the photo, as well as where the viewer\u2019s eye will roam first. Dodge allows you to brighten certain aspects of your image. Burn allows you to darken certain areas of your photo.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Denoise \u2013 Like that of sharpening every image, each one has traces of noise and discolored pixels. It\u2019s inevitable, but it is curable. I suggest using Topaz Labs DeNoise Photoshop plugin.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Vignette \u2013 A vignette darkens the edges of a photograph, bringing in the focus of the image, effectively altering the mood and the viewer\u2019s reaction, by drawing the viewer\u2019s eye in.<\/p>\n

Related: Guide to Travel Photography \u2013 #4: Techniques for Advanced Shooters<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A Brief Look at HDR (High Dynamic Range)<\/h2>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

In my last edition, I talked briefly about the basics of HDR photography\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cBriefly, HDR is the process of blending the best pixels available from multiple exposures. So, if you were to take a photograph of a dark building, but the sky is bright (which is quite typical), then you need to take the same exact photograph in 3-5 exposures, from very dark to dark, medium exposure, and light to very light… You can do this with one single shot, if you shoot in RAW format on your camera, however shooting each of the exposures live with a tripod will yield the best overall quality. Then, pull these multiple exposures into programs like Photomatix to process them together. The point to think about is, if you blew out the sky, where it\u2019s all true white, there\u2019s no detail there \u2013 the same goes for underexposed areas in a photograph.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Other important notes on HDR \u2013 When editing your photos in Photomatix, it\u2019s important to test and to try. The program gives you a pretty solid live preview as you change the settings and move the sliders that are affecting your image, so I suggest you continue to play around with your images, rather than settling for one of the applications’ preset programs. Also, a big mistake that a lot of amateur HDR photographers make is within the details and within the clouds. If you\u2019re trying to shoot handheld HDR, you have to pay serious attention to how Photomatix blends your images together. It can also majorly alter your detail threshold to where your images will be blurry or damaged when zoomed in \u2013 if you find this happens to you, re-edit the photo with softer settings. As far as the clouds go, if you\u2019re shooting with a very bright sky, it\u2019s likely that even with lowly bracketed photos, you will still miss out on all that nice detail, and then Photomatix\u2019s HDR process will do what it thinks is best when really it\u2019s leaving a big, noticeable grey\/off-color blob in place of where a true white peak is to be expected. There are plenty of other basic mistakes and things that you have to look out for, but that\u2019s another series for another time.<\/p>\n

Recommended Plugins<\/h2>\n

There are nearly endless plugins available for Photoshop, but here are a few that I tend to use on my own photography\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Alien Skin Exposure, Bokeh<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Imagenomic Portraiture<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Nik Color Efex Pro<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Red Giant Knoll Light Factory<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Topaz Labs Adjust, BW Effects, DeNoise<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Photomatix Pro<\/p>\n

Over-Editing is For the Foolish<\/h2>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

As a final note, I thought it prudent to touch upon the subject of over-editing again, which I spoke about in #2: The don\u2019t do\u2019s<\/a>. By all means, I support playing around, learning, and then breaking the rules, but there really is a point where editing goes way too far. So, test and prod, and be creative, but take a step back before publishing your photo \u2013 make sure that you enhanced and improved, rather than ruining and destroying your image.<\/p>\n

CheapOair
\nhas partnered with Brandon Elijah Scott for a series of blog posts
\nteaching you about the finer points of travel photography. Find part 1\u00a0here, part 2\u00a0here, and part 3\u00a0here. If these photos inspire you to take a swing at travel photography, simply check out\u00a0CheapOair<\/a>\u00a0low-priced airfare! And don’t forget to learn more about travel photography at Brandon’s\u00a0Eye and Pen blog<\/a>.<\/div>\n
CheapOair
\nhas partnered with Brandon Elijah Scott for a series of blog posts
\nteaching you about the finer points of travel photography. If these photos inspire you to take a swing at travel photography, simply check out\u00a0CheapOair<\/a>\u00a0low-priced airfare! And don’t forget to learn more about travel photography at Brandon’s\u00a0Eye and Pen blog<\/a>.<\/div>\n

CheapOair has partnered with Brandon Elijah Scott for a series of blog posts teaching you about the finer points of travel photography. Find part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, and part 4 here. If these photos inspire you to take a swing at travel photography, simply check out CheapOair low-priced airfare!<\/a> And don’t forget to learn more about travel photography at Brandon’s\u00a0Eye and Pen blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you tried any of these photography tips? Let us know which ones worked for you in the comments below!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the fifth installment of my Guide to Travel Photography series. We\u2019ve talked over a lot of basics and important things to learn and keep in mind when going out there and shooting, but now it\u2019s time to come inside and to put some work in on your images. Post-production\/editing photography is a massive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":97214478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-photography","category-travel-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97214483,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions\/97214483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97214478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}