Do you love photographing stunning landscapes but get discouraged by the crowds of tourists that seem to photobomb every shot? You’re not alone! Shooting at popular tourist destinations can be a real challenge – and when you’re faced with dozens of people constantly walking in and out of your frame, it’s enough to make you wish you had just stayed home.

But fear not! With a little planning and some insider knowledge, you can capture outstanding landscape images even in the most crowded of locations. As a professional landscape photographer, I know firsthand the frustration of trying to take a picture of a breathtaking waterfall or picturesque mountain range, only to have your shot ruined by a group of tourists (or even other photographers). That’s why I’ve developed a handful of tried-and-true techniques for avoiding crowds and getting the shot you want, no matter the area.

In this article, I guide you through the process of planning and prioritizing so you can choose the right time and location to get the perfect photos without the crowds. I also discuss key techniques that you can use to eliminate people from the frame – so even if you’re stuck shooting in a tourist-filled area, you can come away with some satisfying images.

Let’s dive right in!

1. Wake up early

If you love landscape photography, you probably already know that the golden hours – around sunrise and sunset – are the best time to snap stunning shots. During these times, the sun sits low in the sky, creating soft, dreamy lighting that’s perfect for photography.

But did you know that waking up early to capture the golden hour light also helps you avoid crowds? Since most tourists prefer to sleep in and have breakfast at their hotels, we dedicated photographers can use these times to beat the rush.

So if you want to capture the beauty of popular landscapes without the annoyance of crowds, set your alarm and head out before the masses. You might come across one or two fellow photographers, but you’ll have plenty of space to take your shots and enjoy the moment without jostling for position.

And here’s a little secret: It takes about an hour or two for the first buses filled with tourists to arrive after sunrise, depending on the season. That should give you plenty of time to explore the area and capture those epic shots that’ll be nearly impossible to snap once the crowds arrive.

2. Catch the magic of sunset

If getting up early for sunrise isn’t your cup of tea, don’t worry – you can capture stunning landscape shots at popular locations during sunset instead. Although the crowds do tend to be larger during this time, particularly if you’re shooting near a bustling town, most people present will be fellow photographers.

You see, during the sunset hours, many regular tourists head back to their hotels or go out for dinner, leaving the photographers behind. And as fellow enthusiasts, photographers tend to understand the challenges of capturing the perfect shot at popular locations, which means they’ll be more considerate and mindful of one another. You’ll find that everyone makes an effort to stay out of each other’s way.

And the best part? Since everyone is looking for the best compositions, you may find that they – and you! – tend to cluster in the same areas, leaving other key spots completely empty and ready for you to snap that perfect shot.

Don’t be afraid to stick around after sunset, either. The magical blue hour that follows offers an ethereal light that can add a beautiful touch to your photos. Plus, by then, the crowds will have thinned out even further, giving you even more space to work your magic.

3. Photograph the night sky

If you’re looking for a unique and exciting way to photograph popular landscape locations, then shooting at night is definitely worth a try. Trust me, once you get a taste of it, you’ll be hooked!

Not only will you have the chance to capture awe-inspiring shots of starry skies, but you’ll also get to enjoy the locations with fewer people around. Most folks will be snuggled up in bed while you’re out exploring – and even if you do run into other night photographers, they’ll be few and far between, leaving you plenty of space to get your shot.

Another advantage of night photography is that it allows you to create images that stand out from the typical shots taken during the day. The intense darkness, the way the stars shimmer in the sky, and the eerie stillness of the landscape often create a unique and captivating atmosphere that makes for jaw-dropping photos.

However, night photography does come with some challenges. For one thing, you’ll need to sacrifice some sleep to get those perfect shots. Secondly, you’ll need to plan ahead to ensure your safety. Make sure you tell someone where you’ll be and have a solid plan for navigating in the dark. And lastly, don’t forget to bring something warm to drink – it can get pretty chilly out there at night!

4. Choose the month strategically

If you’ve already planned a trip and have the dates locked in, this tip won’t be much help – but if you’re still trying to decide when to travel, planning your visit during the off-season can make a huge difference.

Of course, it’s not always easy to take time off during non-holiday periods, and some locations are simply best during certain times of the year. For instance, if you want to snap the vibrant tulips at the PSNW (Washington/Oregon) Tulip Festival or the blooming cherry blossoms in Japan, you’ll need to visit during a specific window.

That said, if you’re not photographing a specific event, visiting during the low season is a great idea. Not only will you avoid the worst crowds, but you might also encounter unique weather and light.

I’ve gone to Iceland during the low season a few times, and I can vouch for its wonders. Sure, the harsh weather can be a challenge, but when the light is good, it’s jaw-dropping! Just make sure to do your research before you book your tickets. The last thing you want is to arrive and find it’s pitch dark 24 hours a day.

5. Use a neutral density filter

I’ve talked all about the value of timing your photoshoot for the low season, the morning, the evening, or even the night – but what if you’re not able to go during these times? Or even worse, what if you arrive only to find that the crowds still exist? Should you just give up and head back home? Of course not! There’s always a solution, so don’t worry.

If you find yourself in a busy location and you can’t wait to get your shot, try using a neutral density filter. This handy little gadget won’t cost too much and can be attached to the front of your lens.

I won’t bore you with all the technical details, but basically, the filter blocks some of the light from hitting the camera sensor, which means you’ll need to use a longer shutter speed to get a good exposure. And a longer shutter speed will blur out any moving objects in your frame, so if you’re taking a shot of a busy street or a crowded beach, you can make all the people disappear!

Just set your shutter speed to a couple of minutes, and you’ll be left with a beautiful, pristine image that’s free from any distracting elements.

And if you’re worried about camera shake, don’t be. Just make sure to bring a sturdy tripod along, and you’ll be just fine.

6. Stack multiple images

Stacking multiple images is another powerful technique that can help you remove crowds from your landscape photography shots. The idea is to take several photos of the same scene with people walking in and out. Then you blend the images together to get rid of all the people. It’s a bit more advanced than using an ND filter, but with the help of software like Adobe Photoshop, it’s easy to learn.

Here’s how to do it step by step:

1. Take a series of shots from the same position. It’s best to use a tripod to keep the frame consistent across all the images. Aim for about 20-25 shots with an interval of roughly 20 seconds between each one. This will allow any people in the frame to move around a bit between shots.
2. Import your shots into your computer.
3. Open Photoshop and click File>Scripts>Statistics.
4. Choose Median as your Stack Mode in the dialog box that appears, and check the box for Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images.
5. While Photoshop does its thing, go ahead and take a break! Watch some funny videos on YouTube, grab a coffee, or just relax for a bit.
6. When Photoshop is finished processing the images, zoom in to 100% and look for spots where the script wasn’t able to do a perfect job. If you find any, use the Spot Removal Tool to carefully heal these areas.

This technique is incredibly effective for removing unwanted people from your images. In my experience, the script works well on 99% of shots, and even on the remaining 1%, it still does a pretty good job.

So if you’re tired of crowded photos that don’t do your favorite landscape locations justice, give image stacking a try! It’s a simple yet powerful way to take your shots to the next level.

Photographing at popular landscape locations: final words

Photographing at popular landscape locations may be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right mindset and approach, you can still take stunning landscape images even in the midst of a crowded tourist spot.

Remember: Photography is not only about capturing a moment but also about enjoying the experience. With these tips, you can avoid the crowds and take images that are not only beautiful but also meaningful. Happy shooting!

Now over to you:

Which of these approaches do you plan to use? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post 6 Tips to Avoid Crowds at Popular Landscape Photography Locations appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Christian Hoiberg.

Looking to learn everything there is to know about Photoshop’s Camera Raw filter? Well, have no fear, because the ultimate guide to the CR filter is here!

If you’ve only just started out post-processing your images in Photoshop, you may worry that the CR filter is a little too advanced – but that’s a mistake. In fact, the CR filter can be a game-changer for even the most inexperienced of photographers.

In other words, you don’t have to be a Photoshop expert to use this powerful tool. And that’s where this guide comes in. We’re going to break down everything you need to know about the CR filter in a way that’s easy to understand. Specifically, we discuss:

• What the filter actually is
• How to access the filter
• A handful of ways to use it in your post-processing workflow

So if you’re ready to start using Photoshop’s CR filter like a pro, then let’s dive right in!

What is the Photoshop Camera Raw filter?

At its most basic, this filter allows you to use the functions of the Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) interface within Photoshop. You can essentially make adjustments within ACR at any time during your workflow, rather than limiting its usage to the RAW processing stage only.

It’s worth noting that if you were to import your working file into Lightroom to make the same adjustments, it would be a cumbersome step. But with the Camera Raw filter in Photoshop, you can use these tools without any extra effort.

To find the filter, simply select Filter>Camera Raw Filter, and the dialog box will pop up. However, before you do this, you may want to stamp all the layers by pressing Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Alt/Opt+E. This will combine all of your layers into a new layer from which you can work.

Camera Raw filter limitations

While the Camera Raw filter is a great tool, there are some limitations you need to be aware of.

For example, you’ll lose some functionality of the white balance adjustment in ACR because you’re not working from a RAW file. You can still make drastic changes to the temperature of your images with this tool, but it won’t be as versatile as when you’re working on a RAW file in ACR. You’ll also lose the Crop and Rotate tools that you normally have access to when working on RAW files.

It’s also important to realize that because you’re not working with a RAW file at this stage, you won’t have the same versatility that you would when editing in ACR. Instead, the process will be more like editing a JPEG file in Lightroom or ACR. This means you’ll have less information to work with.

Bottom line: If you want to make the most of the Camera Raw filter, you need to get things as close to perfect as possible in the RAW stage of post-processing. That way, you’ll have plenty of information to work with – and, consequently, added versatility – when you use the filter in Photoshop.

How can the Camera Raw filter be used?

The CR filter is packed with tools – so much so that there’s no way to make anything resembling a complete list of its effective uses. But here are a few ways I apply the filter:

• To fine-tune adjustments after RAW processing
• To apply certain adjustments that are difficult to do in Photoshop’s main interface
• To make quick adjustments that apply to certain parts of the image
• To add quick and easy vignettes
• To make final tweaks before finishing your image

Now let’s take an in-depth look at each approach:

1. Fine-tune adjustments after RAW processing

If you’re anything like me, you like to make decisions on the spot when you’re processing your RAW files. But have you ever come back to a photo after a day or two and realized that you no longer like the adjustments you made? It happens to the best of us.

The problem, of course, is that you can’t go back to ACR if you’ve already started making adjustments in Photoshop. You don’t want to lose all your hard work, after all!

Well, here’s a quick and easy solution: Stamp the layers to a new layer and run the Camera Raw filter. That way, you can make any ACR-type adjustments you want, and it won’t affect your original work.

This trick works great for quick edits like exposure, contrast, and vibrancy. It also comes in handy if you find that you want to reduce the highlights or whites before diving into more extensive editing. (I use this technique all the time!)

2. Make trickier adjustments

Photoshop might be all-powerful on its own, but ACR (and Lightroom by extension) does make a few things easier. For example, the Clarity slider is tricky to replicate in Photoshop. Using the Photoshop Camera Raw filter to make Clarity adjustments is easier and can save a lot of time.

Another example is the use of the Highlights, Whites, Darks, and Blacks sliders to make quick, intuitive global contrast adjustments. Using these tools is especially useful if you’re not yet fully familiar or comfortable with Photoshop’s Curves and Levels adjustments.

3. Apply local adjustments

When I’m using the Photoshop Camera Raw filter, one of my favorite techniques is to make targeted adjustments to specific areas, like the background. Once I’ve got the adjustments dialed in, I can use a layer mask to ensure they only affect the parts of the image I want.

This approach works great for textured backgrounds because I can tweak the clarity and contrast to my heart’s content without worrying about messing up the subject. With a well-crafted layer mask, I can rest assured that my edits won’t bleed into areas they’re not wanted.

4. Add a vignette

There are tons of ways to create a vignette in Photoshop. In my opinion, however, the Vignette tool – offered in the Camera Raw filter – is by far the easiest, fastest, and most intuitive to use.

Simply head into the Effects panel, find the Post Crop Vignetting option, then adjust the sliders until you produce an effect you like!

By taking this approach, you can create a subtle – or, if you prefer, an extreme – vignette in just a few seconds. Also, if any part of the vignette is interfering with your subject, you can always mask it out later using Photoshop’s sophisticated masking options.

5. Make final tweaks

Another handy way to apply the Photoshop Camera Raw filter? Use it to add final tweaks to your finished images.

Once you’ve edited your image in Photoshop, you can run the filter and see if there are any additional adjustments you’d like to make. Tiny shifts to the file’s exposure, contrast, clarity, and vibrance can all help give an image a little extra polish. Sure, you can apply these adjustments in Photoshop, but the CR filter – with its array of easy-to-use sliders – is faster and more intuitive.

Remember: By this point in your workflow, your image should be mostly finished. Aim to keep any adjustments at this stage small and subtle, especially since you’re not working with a RAW file.

Just the beginning

With a tool like the Photoshop Camera Raw filter at your disposal, you can apply all sorts of adjustments with relative ease.

For the most part, if you can do it in Adobe Camera Raw (or in Lightroom’s Develop module), you can do it with the CR filter inside Photoshop. Feel free to use it however you need to achieve the results that you want.

Final tip: Use Smart Objects

Using Photoshop Camera Raw filter as a Smart Object might just be the missing piece of the puzzle in your workflow. It can be a game-changer for your post-processing style, giving you the flexibility to come back and tweak any adjustments that you’ve made.

Setting up a Smart Object is simple: just right-click on the layer that you want to work with and choose Convert to Smart Object.

From there, run the Camera Raw filter as normal. Make any adjustments you want, and once you’re happy, click OK. In the Layers palette, under the layer you’re working on, you’ll see the name of the filter below the Smart Filters box. If you double-click on it, you’ll be taken back to the Camera Raw filter dialog box where you can adjust any of the settings you’ve previously tweaked.

This technique is incredibly useful if you tend to second-guess your decisions later on. Smart Objects give you the freedom to make changes without having to start all over again.

Of course, Smart Objects may not work for every photographer’s workflow. If you like to use a lot of stamped layers, you may have already created and worked on a new stamped layer by the time you see something you want to modify. In this situation, any adjustments made to a Smart Object would not be visible.

But in general, using Smart Objects can make a huge difference to your workflow. They provide flexibility and save you time in the long run, allowing you to focus on the creative process. Give it a try and see how it works for you!

The Photoshop Camera Raw filter: final words

If you’re looking to up your image editing game, the Camera Raw filter is essential. This powerful tool seamlessly integrates Adobe Camera Raw into Photoshop, allowing you to make adjustments to your images at any point in your workflow without the need to switch between programs.

While it may not be as good as the original Adobe Camera Raw application when it comes to white balance adjustments or cropping, the Camera Raw filter still offers a wide range of functionality that can help you achieve the perfect look for your photos.

So, next time you’re editing an image in Photoshop, why not give the Camera Raw filter a shot? You might be surprised at just how much it can enhance your editing capabilities!

Remember, photography is all about experimentation and trying out new techniques. Don’t be afraid to play around with the Camera Raw filter and see what kind of results you can achieve. Who knows, you might even discover a new editing trick or two along the way!

Go ahead and give it a try. Your photos (and your viewers) will thank you for it. Happy editing!

The post Photoshop Camera Raw Filter: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Color is an often overlooked element of photography, yet it can make a huge difference to your images. With careful use of color, you can attract plenty of attention, and you can add intensity and impact to your compositions.

But figuring out how to use color in your photos can be tricky. Not only do you have to find the right subjects, but you also need to ensure the colors blend well together and work with the overall mood of the piece. That’s where this article comes in. Below, I share five tips to improve your use of color in photography, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced shooter!

Let’s dive right in.

1. Find a colorful scene

If you’re looking to create photos that feature beautiful colors, you’ll need to start by seeking out vibrant scenes. While you can always work with more subtle subjects, the more color you can find in the field, the more eye-catching the result and the easier it’ll be to use the hues effectively.

So keep an eye out for lots of intense colors. The way the countryside unfolds in the summer, for example, can be a wonderful way to showcase color in a landscape. You’ll often be able to capture purple hues of lavender and/or golden wheat fields, both of which can look amazing.

You might focus on one dominant color in a scene, such as green. Alternatively, you can seek out a variety of tones, like a cool blue sky mixed with a red field; this can add some complexity to your shots and evoke different emotions. Blue often provides feelings of cold, whereas red can add warmth, energy, and excitement.

As you become better at finding colorful scenes, I’d encourage you to think of the different hues in terms of the color wheel. Colors that sit opposite one another on the color wheel – red and green, for example – are known as complementary colors, and they can create a sense of depth and visual tension when combined in a single photo.

You can also use analogous colors, which are colors that sit next to one another on the wheel, such as red and orange or purple and blue. Analogous colors tend to create a more harmonious, low-key result.

Bottom line: For the best results, make sure you find vibrant scenes, then spend some time thinking carefully about the dominant colors and how you can combine them.

2. Look for details with color

It’s easy to spend time thinking about the obvious colors present in the wider environment – but if you want a more unique composition, consider focusing on details with color. Even if the overall scene is a little drab, there may be colorful details that are just waiting to be captured!

For instance, if you’re photographing in a city, you can find colorful details in storefronts and signs. And if you’re photographing a landscape, you can zoom in on flowers in bloom.

Think about the different colors and details you might photograph, and experiment with a variety of color palettes to see what works well. (Remember to use that color wheel!) Try and find details to photograph that feature single colors, then work with combinations of colors and see which you prefer.

A dedicated macro lens can be useful here, especially if you want to really hone in on those details, but it’s certainly not a requirement. And if you like the idea of magnifying your subject, try testing out each of your lenses to see just how close they can go (you might be surprised by what you find out!).

3. Change your white balance setting

Did you know that your camera can alter the color of your images? You simply need to change the white balance from a cool setting to a warm setting (or vice versa).

Note that your camera should offer a handful of white balance presets, which are designed to quickly set the WB in the field. These correspond to specific lighting scenarios, such as shade, clouds, tungsten lighting, and fluorescent lighting, and they’re generally used to neutralize color casts – for instance, the Shade preset is designed to counteract the bluer light present in shady areas – but you can use them creatively to achieve different looks in your shots.

For instance, you can select the Shade, Cloudy, and Daylight presets to get warmer and brighter colors in your images, or you can use the Incandescent and Fluorescent presets to cool things down.

And if you require a subtler touch, note that there’s also an option to manually adjust the color temperature, which can be a nice way to achieve precise results.

4. Use a polarizer to boost color and contrast

One of the greatest accessories you can have in your photography kit – especially if you’re serious about really bringing out the colors in your photography – is a polarizing filter. A polarizer is usually placed on the front of your camera lens, and it’s a versatile piece of equipment that can minimize reflections, darken skies, and manage glare from water sources such as lakes or the sea.

So what does this have to do with color? As it turns out, dealing with reflections in water, skies, and foliage helps show off the true colors underneath. That’s why landscape photographers love working with polarizers, especially when dealing with leaves in the fall as well as any subjects containing water. Even if the unpolarized scene looks pretty colorful, pop on that polarizer, and – bam! – the color and contrast will be enhanced.

Do note, however, that your results will vary depending on the quality of your polarizer as well as the angle of the lens relative to the sun. I’d recommend reading up on polarization best practices, though if you’re more of a hands-on learner, why not grab a good polarizer and spend some time experimenting?

At the end of the day, polarizers won’t take up much space in your bag, but they’re a great way to bring out colors and are plenty useful for making your images more distinct!

5. Boost colors in post-production

In general, if you want lots of color in your images, it’s best to photograph vibrant scenes – but if you’re struggling to achieve the look you’re after, you can also use post-processing techniques to boost the intensity of any existing hues.

The simplest way to do this is by increasing the saturation, which is an option offered by pretty much every editing program on the planet. You might also try boosting the vibrance, which is like saturation but targets cooler colors when enhancing the scene.

But if you’d like to customize the effect, you can always use HSL sliders to increase the saturation of individual colors while leaving other colors alone (or even desaturating them). This isn’t an option you’ll find in basic editing programs, but Photoshop and Lightroom both offer it.

A word of advice: While it can be nice to increase colors in your photos, make sure you don’t go overboard. If you saturate the colors too much, your image may start to look rather garish. Always check the before and after views to ensure you haven’t taken the color saturation too far. It can also help to spend some time away from the computer; then, when you come back, you can evaluate the colors more objectively.

Color in photography: final words

Working with color can be a great way to enhance your images. You just have to know how to effectively incorporate colors into your images – and how you can boost color intensity without taking the effect too far.

So spend some time seeking out those colorful scenes and vibrant details. Experiment with white balance adjustments and other post-processing effects that can tweak or enhance colors, and if you want to give your scenes a boost, consider using a polarizer.

Now over to you:

Do you have any additional tips for working with color in photography? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Color in Photography: 5 Tips for Stunning Results appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.

The Photoshop twirl effect is a cool editing trick that can turn bland images into abstract art. Even if you haven’t heard of it by name, I’m sure you’ve seen it around – it’s very popular among Photoshop lovers.

But how does it work, and how can you apply it to your own photos? In this article, I explain how to create a twirl effect in Photoshop, and I also offer several tips and tricks to ensure you get the best possible results!

Let’s dive right in.

What is the twirl effect?

The twirl effect is a post-production technique that stretches and “twirls” an image, like this:

In this article, I focus on creating the twirl effect in Photoshop, but note that it’s not a PS-exclusive technique; you can apply it using a variety of comprehensive editing programs.

During the process, your image loses all detail and figurative references. First, you turn your photograph into an abstract scene formed by colored lines, which you then warp to create a twirl effect.

When is a twirl effect useful?

The twirl effect is a great way to achieve dreamy, abstract art, no matter the underlying image. I’d recommend using it whenever you’re looking to create some digital artwork; while the result won’t look natural, it’s often quite spectacular!

One of the good things about this technique is that you can apply it to pretty much any photo. You might have a few images lying around that, on their own, are nothing special. Perhaps they aren’t technically correct – for example, they’re blurry. However, by applying the twirl effect, you can create something beautiful.

How to create a twirl effect in Photoshop: step by step

It’s very easy to create the twirl effect, even if you have zero editing experience! Simply follow these steps and experiment with each filter until you get a solid result.

Step 1: Select and open your photo

Start by opening a photo in Photoshop. It doesn’t matter which image you use – the twirl effect can be applied to any subject or composition. And if you’re struggling to decide between a few different shots, why not try them all?

Step 2: Prepare a second layer

Next, you’ll want to duplicate the background layer (i.e., your photo). Drag it to the plus sign at the bottom of the Layers panel or simply choose Layer>Duplicate Layer in the menu.

Then convert the new layer to a Smart Object. You can right-click the layer and choose Convert to Smart Object, or you can choose Filter>Convert for Smart Filters.

That way, you can go back to each filter later on and make adjustments again without having to start over.

Step 3: Add a Mezzotint filter

To create the twirl effect in Photoshop, you need to apply a series of filters to your image. The first one is Mezzotint.

In the main menu, choose Filters>Pixelate>Mezzotint. This will open a dialog box. Beneath the preview window, you can open the Type menu and pick your preferred type.

At this point, choosing between the different types won’t make much sense unless you’ve done the twirl effect before. So don’t worry too much about it. You can also come back and change it once you’ve applied the next filters because you converted the layer into a Smart Object.

In this case, I’m using the Medium Strokes type, but don’t feel that you have to do the same.

Step 4: Apply the Radial Blur filter

The next filter you need to apply is a Radial Blur, so head into the menu and select Filters>Blur>Radial Blur.

In the dialog box, set the Blur Method to Zoom. As for the Quality: You can choose Draft to speed things up, or you can use Good or Best if the file isn’t too big. At this point, you still have to apply more filters, so it’s not a problem to keep the value as Draft.

I’d suggest setting the amount to 100. You can always come back later and experiment with different numbers to see how they influence the final effect.

Then add the Radial Blur filter again. When you open the Filters menu, you’ll find the last filter you used at the top, so go ahead and select it:

The Radial Blur dialog box will open once more, and it should feature the same settings as before. Simply click OK.

Finally, apply the filter a third time, but make sure you change the Quality to Best:

Step 5: Add the Twirl filter

At this point, your photo should be looking pretty abstract, which means it’s time to start the twirling process! In the main menu, select Filter>Distort>Twirl.

In the dialog box, boost the Angle slider to add the twirl effect. There isn’t a magic Angle value that works for every image. Simply move the slider until you like what you see in the preview window, then click OK.

Go ahead and duplicate your twirled layer using the same process discussed in Step 2.

Step 6: Modify the duplicated layer

Identify your duplicate layer in the Layers panel. Note that the duplicate layer will contain all the Smart Filters you’ve applied so far. So double-click on the Twirl filter to open its dialog box:

Drag the Angle slider to the left until you reach the negative of the number you previously chose. I used an initial value of 197, so I’ll use an Angle value of -197.

(Pro tip: To quickly reverse the value, just click inside the value box and type a hyphen before the number.)

Now the twirl should go in the direction opposite that of the first layer. Click OK to apply it.

Step 7: Adjust the layer blend mode

At this point, you should have two layers, each featuring opposite twirls. However, the top layer will be completely blocking the layer underneath, and we need both layers to interact.

Simply open the Blend mode menu on the Layers panel, then pick a mode! Feel free to experiment with different modes to create different effects (and if you’re using Photoshop CC, you can preview the result as you hover over different blending options).

And that’s it; your twirl effect in Photoshop is done!

Tips and tricks to improve your twirl effect images

Once you can create a nice twirl effect, try a few of these tips to improve your workflow and level up your results:

1. Create an action

Making the twirl effect in Photoshop is very easy. However, it does involve a handful of steps. If you want to streamline your workflow and quickly apply the effect to any photo, you can create an Action.

Start by opening the image you want to modify. Then open the Actions panel. At the bottom, you’ll find a Plus symbol; that’s the New Action button.

Choose a name and start recording. Then follow the steps shared above to create the twirl effect. Once you’ve finished, stop the recording.

The next time you want to apply the twirl effect to an image, simply play the Action and Photoshop will automatically follow all the steps.

2. Apply the mirror effect

The twirl effect is nice, but if you want to get even more creative, you can apply the mirror effect to your image. To do this, you flip the image and put it next to the original.

You can even create a variety of different copies of the image, each rotated and cropped, and blend them together. There’s no limit to your creativity!

3. Use a mask to reveal part of the original image

Another creative application of the twirl effect? Combine the twirled file with part of the original image. You’ll need to use a layer mask to cover and reveal the different parts. Here’s how:

Create a new Group with the two layers that have the twirl effect. You can do this by selecting the layers and clicking on the folder icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

Make sure the Group is selected, then click on the Layer Mask button. You’ll see a blank thumbnail appear next to the folder. Here, anything that you paint in black will be covered up, revealing anything that lies below (on the original background layer).

So use the Brush tool to paint black over the layer mask and reveal the unmodified shot underneath. And if you mess up while painting, don’t worry; you can always switch to a white Brush and paint over the mistake.

How to create the twirl effect: final words

I hope you liked this twirl effect tutorial! It’s a great way to produce plenty of interesting abstract effects – and you can apply them to pretty much any image, no matter their original quality.

So spend some time adding the twirl effect to your photos. Maybe even create an action. Good luck!

Now over to you:

Do you have any twirl effect photos that you’re proud of? Do you have any tips or tricks for better results? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post How to Create a Twirl Effect in Photoshop: A Quick Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Editing portraits is hard. As any experienced portraitist knows, high-level retouching requires an array of unwieldy brushes, masks, and other tools, not to mention long minutes (or even hours) spent in front of a desktop monitor, carefully smoothing and shaping the subject to look just right. And then, once you’ve finally finished editing one portrait from a session, you’ll need to do it all over again to the next photo, and the next, and the next…

It’s enough to give anyone – beginner or professional – a headache. But what if I told you there was a better way? An approach that can cut down your time spent editing while actually improving your results?

I’m talking about PortraitPro 23, the latest version of Anthropics’ highly respected PortraitPro series. Thanks to the program’s AI technology and clever development team, you can use PortraitPro 23 to achieve professional-quality results while spending only a few seconds on each file. You don’t have to be a retouching expert to work the software, either; PortraitPro’s comprehensive, slider-based toolset is remarkably accessible, and after hitting that “Buy” button, even folks with limited editing experience will have their first batch of photos processed and exported within minutes.

While the software might sound too good to be true, I promise: It’s real. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been putting PortraitPro 23 to the test, and I truly believe that it’s the fastest, most efficient, and most effective portrait editing program on the market in 2023. In this review, I cover everything you need to know before buying, including key features and use cases, pricing, and whether the program is worth purchasing if you already own PortraitPro 22. (Spoiler alert: It is.)

So if you’re ready to find out how Anthropics PortraitPro 23 can enhance your editing workflow, then let’s get started!

What’s new in PortraitPro 23?

PortraitPro 23 debuted late last fall, and while I was a huge fan of the previous version (you can read my review of PortraitPro 22 here), PortraitPro 23 raises the bar yet again. 

Not only is PortraitPro 23 faster than its predecessor, but it also boasts several very tangible upgrades, including:

• The Stray Hair Remover tool, which lets you brush away distracting hairs in seconds.
• The Backlight Lighting Brush, which allows you to increase portrait drama and three-dimensionality by painting in a realistic backlight effect.
• An Art Effects tool so you can quickly achieve a breathtaking range of artistic looks (including Pencil Sketch, Rainbow Paint, Scratches, and Cyanotype).
• Support for Apple M1 and M2 chips so Mac users can take full advantage of the software.

If you already own (and love) PortraitPro 22, these new features are likely worth the upgrade, especially if you’re serious about producing high-level edits. The Stray Hair Remover tool and Backlight Lighting Brush are powerful features for refining your images, and the Art Effects tool is a must-have option for creative editors. Finally, Mac users will undoubtedly want to grab the latest version of PortraitPro; here, Anthropics promises a performance upgrade for M1- and M2-chip devices of up to 60%.

And if you don’t yet own any version of PortraitPro, you’re in for a treat – no matter your level of experience. As I implied above, this is a program that cuts across boundaries. It’s streamlined enough for beginners, yet it offers the speed and power required by professionals. In other words, it’s an editor that’ll appeal to portrait photographers of all stripes, as I explore over the course of this review.

Layout and ease of use

PortraitPro 23 is one of the most intuitive editing programs I’ve ever used. Even if you’ve never worked with an editing program before, you’ll be able to find your way around without issue – and if you do happen to struggle, Anthropics provides a series of interactive tutorials to help you access everything you might need. 

Once you’ve downloaded your copy of the program – which you can find on the Anthropics website, either in full or (free) trial form – simply follow the installation instructions, then launch the program. You’ll see the standard home screen, which contains a full library of interactive tutorials:

I’d recommend completing the First Steps tutorial, which will show you around the program interface, though if you’re eager to dive in, you can always select the Open Single Image button in the upper right-hand corner:

(Depending on the edition you buy, you may also see a second button, Open Image Batch, which launches the batch editing dialog; I discuss this in depth below.)

Pick an image to edit, hit the Open button, then wait a few seconds while the program processes your file. The bulk of the screen will be occupied by a Before and an After version of your image, though you can set the program to show only the After version by pressing the View After Only button:

Along the top of the screen, you’ll see the main menu, as well as a minimalistic toolbar featuring four handy tools: the Touch-up tool, the Restore tool, the Stray Hair Remover tool, and the Stray Hair Restore tool. 

On the right-hand side, you’ll find the Zoom controls, which let you customize how your image appears in the main editing pane.

And slightly lower down, you should see four panels: Controls, Presets, Snapshots, and History. The most important of these is the Controls panel, which is where you’ll do the bulk of your editing work. It’s in this panel that you can access PortraitPro 23’s amazing array of tools, including the Shape tools, the Skin Smoothing tools, the Makeup tools, and so much more. 

Nearly all of the program’s editing options come in slider form, which makes it extremely easy to adjust – and re-adjust – your images. If you want to smooth the skin around a subject’s eyes, you push the Around Eyes slider in one direction, and if you want to decrease the smoothing effect, you push it in the other. And if you’re not sure whether an edit is right for an image, don’t worry; you can always save your edits, then come back to the file later on and make additional tweaks and refinements.

Note that most of these tools actually offer submenus for further customization. While you can often generate great results by sticking with the more essential “main” sliders, if you want to make additional tweaks, you can always access these fine-grained tools by clicking on the arrow icons:

If you’re looking to speed up your editing further, you’re going to love the Presets menu. It boasts literally hundreds of presets (basically filters or recipes), all designed to improve your shots in different ways – and each requiring only a single click. You can also create presets of your own, so if you tend to apply a consistent set of edits to each image, this can be a huge timesaver.

Then there are the Snapshots and History panels, which let you save and view your images in various editing states. While you may not spend too much time in these panels, they’re great for more experimental editing. You can save a series of edits as a Snapshot, then make a host of additional adjustments. If you don’t like the results, just select the relevant Snapshot, and – voila! – your image will return to its original edited form.

At the end of the day, PortraitPro 23 offers a simple, highly accessible layout that’ll suit just about anyone, and the tools are wonderfully intuitive. If you’ve tried other editing software in the past but have always quit in frustration, then I’d encourage you to give PortraitPro 23 a shot – and if you’re a more serious photographer with years of retouching experience under your belt, then working with PortraitPro 23 will feel like a breath of fresh air.

Editing capabilities

As I emphasized above, I believe PortraitPro is the best portrait editor available in 2023, and this is in part due to its impressive integration of AI technology and editing tools. 

PortraitPro is unique among software in that it adds custom edits to your files from the get-go; during image initialization, the program’s AI technology analyzes your selected photo, identifies key facial features, then applies an array of specific processes designed to improve the shot. 

You might expect these edits to be superficial, but in my experience, the initial tweaks are genuinely outstanding: powerful without being overdone, subtle without under-editing the shot. It adds a bit of everything – face reshaping, skin smoothing, teeth whitening, lip saturation, and more – plus, because the program identifies the subject’s features in advance and applies edits accordingly, all changes are hyper-realistic. (Note: These initial adjustments are modified depending on the person’s gender and age, which is automatically detected by the program but can also be selected manually.)

For some photographers, PortraitPro’s initial edits will be enough to produce a shareable, displayable image – and if you need greater control and customizability, the program offers plenty of options. Delve into the Controls panel, and you’ll find dozens of tools, all designed to create refined, natural-looking adjustments. 

First, there are the Shape tools, which allow you to modify your subject’s various facial features on a supremely detailed level. With the Face Shape slider, you can adjust the proportions of your subject’s forehead and jaw; with the Eyes, Eye Widening, and Eye Expanding sliders, you can tweak the width and height of your subject’s eyes; and with the Mouth Shape and Nose sliders, you can adjust the shape of your subject’s mouth and nose, respectively. It’s every retoucher’s dream, and while you do have to be careful about going overboard with face sculpting, the tools are certainly powerful.

Next, you’ll find the Skin Smoothing tools, which are perfect for – as you’d expect – smoothing your subject’s skin. What’s less expected, however, is the amount of control you get. PortraitPro 23 doesn’t just offer a slider or two; instead, the program features no fewer than 13 different sliders for skin smoothing, including options to remove pores, remove grease, remove shine, deal with thin wrinkles, remove fine shadows, and so much more. (And that’s only looking at the main sliders; you can access even more sliders by selecting various drop-down menus.) 

Will you need 13+ sliders for skin smoothing? Maybe, maybe not. But you can always skip over the ones you find less helpful, and the huge number of options demonstrates Anthropics’ commitment to retouching comprehensiveness.

While I won’t go into all the remaining editing tools – that could take a whole book! – I’d like to touch on some highlights, such as:

• The Lighting & Coloring tools, which let you genuinely relight your subject by dragging your cursor around an interactive model. You also get plenty of sliders for customizing the way the light falls on your subject (which is essentially dodging and burning but made far easier with the help of sliders and artificial intelligence), as well as several brushes for literally brushing on light. (It’s in this Lighting Brush section that you’ll find the new – and impressive – Backlight Lighting Brush feature.)
• The Makeup tools, which allow you to apply makeup to your subject’s face, including lipstick, mascara, bronzer, and eyeliner. (No, I’m not kidding, and yes, it really does work!)
• The Hair tools, which let you adjust the color and tones of your subject’s hair. Also worth mentioning here is the new Stray Hair Remover tool. It’s not found in the Hair tools tab – you can access it in the main toolbar at the top of the screen – but it’s a great way to clean up the area around your subject’s head, especially if you were shooting in windy conditions or they were simply having a bad hair day.
• The Eye tools, which are perfect for whitening eyes, enhancing irises, and even adding realistic catchlights by choosing from an array of catchlight shapes and sizes.
• All the options in the Tools panel, including the Crop Tool for adjusting your compositions, the Clone Tool for removing problematic areas of your photos, and the new Art Effects tool for adding all sorts of creative effects to your shots. I’m a serious fan of the latter option – adding watercolor, illustration, and oil painting effects is a ton of fun, and the products look great, too.

Regardless of the tools you use, the results are consistently excellent – and if you do notice issues with the way the edits are applied to your files, you can always manually adjust the Skin and Hair Masks in the relevant tool panels or the facial feature map in the Before view.

(By the way, while PortraitPro 23 is a portrait-focused program, it doesn’t neglect standard editing features; you can adjust image exposure, contrast, saturation, sharpening, and more in the Picture tools tab.)

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss two features that will dramatically speed up your editing: Presets and the Image Batch dialog.

As I discussed in the previous section, PortraitPro offers dozens of built-in presets, which you can use to transform your photos with a single click:

These are great if you’re aiming to achieve a specific look, they’re great if you’re a beginner and you’re not yet totally comfortable adjusting the sliders, and they’re also a lot of fun if you just have a few minutes to experiment. You can apply Global presets that rely on the entire suite of PortraitPro features, or you can select tool-specific presets that correspond to the tools in the Controls panel:

As for the Image Batch dialog, it’s an option you can access only if you’ve purchased the most expensive edition of the software – PortraitPro Studio Max 23 – but for the professional wedding or portrait shooter who needs to power through dozens or hundreds of photos at once, it’s an absolute game changer. 

You see, the Image Batch dialog allows you to select a group of images (e.g., a set of 25 select portraits from an engagement session), hit the OK button, then watch as each and every image receives PortraitPro’s standard AI editing treatment. You can apply presets to the photos (with an option to use certain presets depending on the subject’s gender and age, if you like), and you can also click from image to image and make additional adjustments using the standard editing tools.

If you’re a professional portrait or an event shooter, this feature alone will save you dozens of hours in front of the computer each month. And if you’re a more casual photographer, it’s still worth a try, especially if you have a consistent workflow you use for each shot.

Speed and Performance

PortraitPro 23 is easy to use and incredibly effective – but can it perform well, despite its power? 

Astonishingly, yes. 

I used the program on an older desktop PC, yet editing operations were lightning-fast. I noticed almost zero lag, and I was able to observe editing effects instantly, even when I was painting with brushes.

The only time you’ll need to wait is when first loading up an image (or a batch of images); it does take the AI technology a few seconds to analyze the file(s), map out facial features, and apply initial edits – but once that’s done, everything is seamless. 

Of course, performance will depend on your device, so it’s certainly worth checking out the system requirements before purchasing:

• A 2 GHz processor
• A 1280×800 display
• 8 GB RAM (with 16 GB or more RAM recommended)
• Windows 10 or Windows 11; macOS 10.13 or later

But as long as you have a decent PC that meets the requirements above, I wouldn’t anticipate any issues.

Price

Anthropics offers three editions of PortraitPro 23, and you can buy each of them for a one-off price. 

The most basic edition is PortraitPro 23, which normally costs $119.90 but is currently available for $59.95. This option comes with all the features discussed above, with the exception of the Image Batch dialog. However, it lacks the ability to process RAW files.

Next is PortraitPro Studio 23, which normally costs $179.90 but is currently available for $89.95. This option includes everything offered in the standard PortraitPro 23 package, but it can process RAW files, plus it can be integrated with Photoshop as a Smart Filter; that way, you can combine the ease of PortraitPro with the power of Photoshop for stellar results. 

Finally, you can normally grab the most comprehensive edition, PortraitPro Studio Max 23, for $359 – but the current sale puts it at $179.95. This edition includes everything in the more basic options but also offers the Image Batch dialog so you can process dozens (or hundreds) of photos at once.

The PortraitPro and PortraitPro Studio options are well-priced under normal conditions; given the current 50%-off sale, they’re absolute bargains. Note that, unless you only work with JPEGs – or you already use a RAW processor – you’ll really need to spring for PortraitPro Studio over the basic PortraitPro package. 

As for PortraitPro Studio Max 23: Yes, the price is on the expensive side compared to other programs, but the discounted price is quite reasonable, especially given the power of the batch-editing feature. 

Note that you can currently get another 15% off your purchase by entering the code AN75 at checkout – and if you’re upgrading from a previous version of PortraitPro, you get an additional 25% off. 

Who should buy Anthropics PortraitPro 23?

PortraitPro 23 is one of those rare programs that every portrait shooter should try. It’s easy to use, it offers great performance, and the editing features are spectacular. It’s also currently on sale, and by entering the special AN75 discount code, you can grab any edition of the software for an unbeatable price. 

That said, I’d argue that the program is best suited to a few specific groups:

• Beginners and enthusiasts who are looking to delve into portrait retouching but are intimidated by the difficulty of competitor programs
• Casual portrait shooters who want to make their files look great without spending hours in front of the computer
• Serious wedding and portrait shooters who want to speed up their retouching workflow while also enhancing their results

If you’re in one of the first two groups, I’d recommend grabbing PortraitPro Studio 23 (though folks keen on batch editing should consider PortraitPro Studio Max 23 instead). If you’re a professional, however, the Image Batch feature is likely essential, so make sure you purchase the Studio Max 23 edition.

One final note: I think the program is great, but you don’t have to take my word for it. Anthropics offers a free trial of the program that you can use to test out the various features, and you can download it here.

So grab your copy of PortraitPro 23 and take it for a spin. Watch as it improves your images and cuts down on your time spent editing!

All new editions and upgrades are currently on SALE at 50% OFF or better – and remember to use the code AN75 at the checkout for an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF.

Anthropics is a paid partner of dPS.

The post Anthropics PortraitPro 23 Review: The Best (and Fastest) Portrait Editor Money Can Buy appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Great news, Lightroom users: 

Adobe recently implemented its April 2023 Lightroom update, and the enhancements include several outstanding features everyone should try. Note that the upgrades discussed below apply to both Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Lightroom Classic, so you can take advantage of the changes no matter your program of choice.

What does the April update entail?

First, Lightroom now offers AI-powered noise reduction to create an unprecedentedly powerful – and effective – denoising experience. Instead of fiddling around with the Noise Reduction sliders, simply press the Denoise button, adjust the Amount slider as you see fit, and hit Enhance.

Adobe promises that the feature will “efficiently remove noise from Bayer or X-Trans RAW images while preserving all the finer details.” The biggest drawback here is the required processing time, especially if your PC isn’t very powerful; I tested the Denoise feature on my (somewhat aged) desktop, and I waited about seven minutes before I had my new noiseless DNG file. 

But if you only ever need to apply noise reduction to a few images at a time, that shouldn’t be a problem, and the AI-powered denoising has the potential to rescue images that were previously unusable. Also, if you prefer to customize your edits, you still have the option to reduce noise via the old sliders – look under the tab labeled Manual Noise Reduction. 

Next, Adobe has updated its Lightroom Masking tools, which you can access by selecting the Masking icon:

Under the People section, Lightroom still offers the option to detect and mask individuals. When you click on a person, you can then choose whether you want to separately mask the hair, iris and pupil, eye sclera, eyebrows, and more – and here, Lightroom has added several new masking options, including the ability to independently mask your selected subject’s clothing. 

And that’s not Lightroom’s only masking-related update. When you create a mask – whether with a Brush, a Gradient, or Lightroom’s AI selection tools – in addition to all your standard adjustment tools, you now have the option to apply targeted Curve adjustments:

If you’ve never used the Tone Curve before, it’s a powerful tool that lets you adjust image tones and colors with great precision (it’s also a favorite among Photoshop users). The addition of a Curve feature to the local adjustment menu may seem minor, but it’s a huge deal for folks who are looking to make careful tonal and color edits to portions of their images without affecting the whole file. 

Finally, Adobe has tweaked Lightroom’s layout in several key ways. You’ll now see an eye icon next to each editing panel; click on one of these, and any corresponding edits using tools from that panel will be temporarily deactivated. (As soon as you let go of the eye icon, the edits are reactivated.) Additionally, once you’ve made an edit using tools in a panel, the corresponding eye icon will be highlighted; that way, you can go back to old photos and quickly identify which panels have been used. 

Lightroom has been given a few more minor updates – for instance, there are some additional presets, and support has been expanded to a handful of cameras and lenses – and you can see a full list of changes to Lightroom Classic here and to Lightroom here. 

But it’s the noise reduction and masking improvements that are really going to kick things up a notch for Lightroom users, so I encourage everyone to head over to Lightroom and try them out!

Now over to you:

What do you think of these Lightroom updates? Which do you plan to use regularly? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Lightroom’s April 2023 Update Adds AI-Powered Denoise and More appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Photo editing is an essential part of every digital photography workflow. Not only is it a way to handle basic problems – such as dust spots, color casts, and lost detail – but it also allows you to enhance your files with color grading, light leaks, vignettes, and so much more. In fact, thanks to modern post-processing software, users can give their files a refined, pro-level look with only a few clicks.

But while post-processing software is powerful, it’s important that it’s used with both careful consideration and restraint. Sure, you can refine your photos in a few clicks, but you can also ruin them – and I’m afraid to say that folks do have a tendency to edit in the wrong direction, especially when they’re just starting out.

In this article, I share the five photo-editing mistakes that plague beginners’ work over and over again, and I explain how to fix them, too. Fortunately, even if you do make any of the errors that I share, they’re pretty easy to correct – so without further ado, let’s get to work!

1. Selective coloring

Sometimes, we get so obsessed with a particular element in our frame that we desperately want to highlight it. You might capture a bright umbrella, a stunning bird, or a colorful dress, yet when you look at the final image, you feel like it doesn’t stand out against the background – and that’s where selective color can enter the picture.

I’m talking about the technique where you make the entire photo black and white, except you keep one part of the image in color, like this:

As a beginner, you might be super excited by the selective color effect. After all, it looks cool and it can make key elements pop at the same time. But while there’s nothing wrong with testing out different photo-editing options to see what you can achieve, selective color is generally looked upon as a bit…amateurish.

For one, it’s compositionally lazy. If you want to highlight a particular object or color, it’s better to do it through careful composition and perspective choices, not a bit of post-processing magic. It often also feels rather gimmicky, like the photo is primarily interesting because of the selective color effect, not because of its subject, lighting, composition, etc.

Therefore, if you wish to step up your photography game and make your images look more professional, I’d encourage you to avoid selective coloring (and other, similarly gimmicky effects such as artificial background blurring) as much as possible. If you do run into a situation where you need to highlight one specific area in post-processing, try selectively boosting the exposure or saturation; it’s effective, but it’s also a lot more subtle.

2. HDR techniques

Of the five beginner photo-editing mistakes I discuss, this one has probably seen the most use – and, unfortunately, ruined the most pictures. HDR techniques aren’t as popular as they once were, but I still see a lot of problematic HDR edits, especially in landscape and interior portfolios.

Now, HDR photography isn’t inherently bad. It refers to the technique of capturing several photos at different exposures (i.e., bracketing), then blending them together in post-processing to create a final file that features detail in the highlights and shadows. It’s an approach that’s often used by professional landscape photographers to handle difficult lighting conditions, and it’s one that I encourage you to try out for yourself.

The problem is not when HDR techniques are used. The problem is when they are taken too far, either in an attempt to create an artsy look or with the purpose of showing tons of shadow and highlight detail. When you push HDR processing to a ridiculous degree, you’ll end up with unnatural-looking shots that look crispy, over-saturated, and just plain bad:

So here’s my advice:

If you do decide to use HDR processing on a photo, make sure that the results are natural. The tones in the image should align with what you saw with your eyes at the moment of capture. I’d also recommend doing your HDR processing with standard editing software (e.g., Adobe Lightroom), which is designed to create a subtle blended effect, not an eye-catching but ultimately unpleasant HDR look.

3. Oversaturating your files

We’ve all come across photos with vibrant and attractive colors, especially on photo-sharing apps such as Instagram. I get it; some of these photos look amazing.

But in trying to reproduce those results, it’s easy to boost the saturation level way too far – so much that you end up with a garish, distorted version of your original shot, one that looks worse, not better.

Check out the image on the left versus the image on the right below:

The shot on the left features vibrant reds and blues, but they don’t seem unnatural. The shot on the right, however, is so saturated that the man’s skin looks strange and his clothing has experienced a complete loss of detail, which is not at all ideal.

Unfortunately, it’s tough to get this one right. When you’ve spent several minutes (or hours) editing a single frame, you can develop a sort of blindness, where you’re unable to objectively evaluate the shot’s level of saturation.

That’s why I recommend taking a two-minute break from the screen after your final edit is complete. When you come back to your device, peek at the image and see what you think of the saturation level. You may find that the colors look far too intense, in which case you’ll need to dial back that saturation or vibrance slider. I use this process, myself – so you can trust me when I tell you that it’ll make a huge difference!

4. Using a black-and-white conversion without careful consideration

For many beginners, black and white is an artsy effect that can save nearly any image from the Rejects folder – but while a monochrome conversion can certainly improve images, it’s not a one-size-fits-all look. There are plenty of photos that are harmed by the black-and-white treatment, and it’s important that you approach each new edit with a fresh and analytical mind.

Personally, I find that images featuring lots of contrast tend to look good in black and white, whereas images that have very little contrast are damaged by the approach. Therefore, if I want to decide whether to convert to black and white, I check if the frame has contrast in it.

And even if a scene has good contrast, I also like to check if the image has any prominent colors that might add to the composition. If your shot includes a beautiful and colorful sunset, monochrome probably isn’t the way to go, even if you often do like the effect!

Of course, testing out a black-and-white look is easy – you can simply drop the desaturation slider or click the black-and-white conversion button – but the key is to be patient and analyze the image (both before and after the conversion). If you feel the colors aren’t especially appealing and the image features some nice high-contrast areas, go ahead and stick with the black-and-white effect.

One more tip: If you’re really struggling to determine whether black and white works for an image, ask a friend or family member. They don’t need to be a photographer; sometimes, all you need is someone who can be a little more objective.

5. Overuse of the vignette effect

Vignetting refers to the practice of darkening the edges of the frame to direct the viewer’s eye inward. As with a number of the other photo-editing mistakes I’ve explored in this article, vignetting isn’t necessarily bad – in fact, it can be quite effective when done correctly – but it is often overused or applied without significant restraint.

Overuse of the vignette effect will make your entire portfolio look amateurish, and if you push the effect too far in a single image, the vignette will actually detract from the subject, not emphasize it.

I myself love using a vignetting effect in photos where I want to emphasize a particular subject, but I don’t recommend using it in every image. And when I do use it, I aim to be subtle about it. The best vignettes are felt rather than seen!

Look, for instance, at the difference between these two images:

Both use a vignette, but the shot on the left is far more natural, while the vignette on the right is so obvious that it causes problems.

Also, I’d encourage you to avoid using the editing technique on landscape and interior architecture shots (and if you do wish to use it, keep it subtle so the overall beauty of the frame doesn’t get destroyed).

Photo-editing mistakes: final words

Hopefully, you’ve identified whether you’ve been making any of these mistakes yourself – and if you have, you know how to handle them.

Do remember, however, that editing is a subjective process. If you like a certain look that goes against the grain, then by all means, use it! Just make sure you’re making the choice carefully.

So head on over to your favorite post-processing program, then see if you can find some images to re-edit. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to avoid these top mistakes without any thought!

Now over to you:

Have you been making any of these five photo editing mistakes? Do you wish to add any editing mistakes to the list? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post 5 Photo-Editing Mistakes Every Beginner Should Avoid appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kunal Malhotra.

Whether the weather is cold or warm, stormy or bright, photography is an excellent way to appreciate the natural world and everything in it. Capturing gorgeous landscapes, stunning wildlife, and breathtaking flowers can also be a ton of fun – and, when you come home with memory cards full of gorgeous shots, incredibly rewarding.

But creating amazing nature photography isn’t always so easy. Professionals spend years perfecting an array of skills, including exposure, composition, natural lighting, and autofocusing – and even then, it can still be a struggle to find the right subject in the right conditions and nail the shot.

Fortunately, as an experienced nature photographer, I’m aware of all the best tips, tricks, and shortcuts you can use to improve your images and jumpstart your photographic journey. Specifically, I share:

• The right nature photography gear for consistent results
• The best settings for nature photoshoots
• How to prepare for a nature outing
• Much more!

Ready to level up your nature shooting skills? Let’s get started.

1. Do your homework before heading out

Doing nature photography is a lot of fun; in fact, it’s often totally exhilarating.

But did you know that – if you want the best results – nature shooting starts at home, long before you ever set foot outside?

First, a few days or hours prior to an outing, check the weather. Will it be cloudy? Sunny? Rainy? Make careful gear decisions depending on the forecast. And spend time thinking about the expected nature lighting and how it will affect your settings. (Cloudy light, for instance, will generally require a higher ISO for a sufficiently fast shutter speed.)

Then research the subject matter you can expect to find on your excursion. Here, Google Earth can help, especially if you’re planning to photograph landscapes. You can also do some Googling for a list of wildlife in the area, and do some more Googling to learn about the peculiarities of different wildlife subjects.

Also, pro tip: Check to see what other photos have been taken at your destination. Here, Instagram and Google Places are incredibly helpful. Use other photographers’ images to find inspiration and to determine specific subjects and areas to focus on.

Of course, you can never be totally prepared for a nature photoshoot, and that’s okay. The preparation process isn’t about choreographing your excursion down to the individual photo; instead, it’s about determining what to expect in broad terms and optimizing your time spent in the field.

2. Pack the right nature photography gear

While professional nature photographers do tend to load up on gear, you don’t need the best cameras and lenses to capture stunning shots.

Instead, you can create beautiful images with a basic camera and a lens or two, as long as you’re willing to apply plenty of patience and perseverance.

At the same time, before heading out, you should choose your equipment carefully; that way, you maximize your chances of success.

Have you done your research (see the previous tip)? Then you should know what subjects to expect. So if your goal is to capture wildlife close-ups, be sure to pack your best zoom lens so you can capture full-body and even headshots of birds and animals. I recommend at least a 300mm lens when shooting large animals, and a 400mm or 500mm lens is essential if you’re shooting skittish critters and small birds.

If your goal is to capture landscapes, pack your widest lens. A wide zoom, such as a 16-35mm lens, will be highly effective, though you can also get away with a 24-70mm lens or even a 24mm prime.

Finally, if you hope to capture tighter scenes of flowers, tree details, ice on the water, and so on, then bring a macro lens for a stunning close-up perspective.

As for cameras, any interchangeable lens model will work, though if you plan to photograph moving subjects, such as birds in flight, then the faster the autofocus system, the better. Higher-resolution sensors can also come in handy if you need to crop or create large prints, and durable, weather-sealed bodies are ideal for photographing in bad weather.

Whatever you do, though, don’t overpack. If you take too much gear, you’ll feel weighed down and you’ll struggle to find the motivation to keep shooting. Instead, while it may be difficult, it’s better to take too little gear than too much.

3. Be sure to take a good bag

Nature photographers often obsess over cameras and lenses. But while such gear does matter, it’s important to remember the little things – for instance, a good bag.

Because all the gear in the world isn’t worth much unless you can comfortably carry it with you.

There are many bags out there that are too small, are highly uncomfortable, and are liable to break after a bit of stress. Bags range greatly in price and quality, but in my experience, you get what you pay for.

So don’t skimp! Consider the largest set of gear you’d ever want to take on an outing and be sure that it all fits inside the new bag. In particular, make sure the bag is spacious enough to handle your biggest lenses.

And for added peace of mind, grab a bag that is weatherproof or at least water-resistant.

Here’s my go-to lightweight bag for nature photography. It has a rain cover that I use when things start to get dicey, as you can see in the image on the right:

These days, most photographers shop for bags online, and that’s okay – but if you do go with an online order, be sure to read plenty of reviews. Alternatively, if you have a camera store nearby, go in and try on the various options. Ask the staff what they recommend for nature photographers.

And remember: Don’t forget about comfort. Sure, a bag might not feel that bad after a few minutes on your back, but after a day of shooting while carrying an uncomfortable bag, you’ll wish you had paid extra for a better option.

And speaking of comfort:

4. Don’t forget about the little comfort items

Every nature photographer should bring a few key items – things that won’t directly improve the photography but will make everything far more pleasurable.

For instance, I highly recommend you grab a good pair of hiking shoes or boots. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that a good pair of boots is one of the most important pieces of nature photography gear that you’ll ever encounter. Grit, dirt, mud, water, insects, rocks, and creepy crawlies; you need a pair of shoes or boots that can handle all of these and more.

I also recommend you research temperatures and pack the right clothing. (When in doubt, dress in layers; that way, you can always remove outerwear if you feel too hot.)

And bring plenty of water and snacks. If you’ll be shooting all day, then it’s essential to keep your energy up and your body hydrated.

5. Prepare a checklist

Before beginning a nature photoshoot, create a mental – or, if you prefer, a physical – checklist. You don’t want to reach your prime photography location only to find that you forgot something crucial!

So ask yourself the following questions:

• Are any special permits or permissions required? Some national parks, state parks, and wildlife sanctuaries require special permits for access to certain areas, especially backcountry environments.
• Where will I park my vehicle? This is very important. If you park your vehicle in an unauthorized area, then you will be stuck with a sizeable fine – believe me. (Or worse, you’ll return to find your vehicle has been towed.)
• Are there time restraints of any kind? Most natural areas and parks have hours of operation just like a business. You might arrive expecting to shoot a great sunrise, only to find that the location you chose isn’t accessible until after daybreak. Also remember that wild creatures and critters are usually most active in the early morning and late evening, so pick a location that lets you make the most of your time.
• What are the expected weather conditions? This one is a biggie. Check the forecast on your day of departure and keep tabs on it throughout the day, if possible. Never risk endangering yourself or your equipment by venturing out unprepared for bad weather. (Even if the weather is supposed to be nice and sunny, I do recommend you bring a rain cover for your camera and backpack. Better safe than sorry, right?)
• What are the times for sunrise and sunset? Again, be sure the places you want to capture a sunrise or sunset are accessible. You also need to be aware of the sunrise-sunset schedule so that you allow enough time to reach your location and set up your gear before the magic happens.
• Are there any commonly photographed animals, landmarks, or structures? I mentioned this one in a previous tip, but it’s worth repeating. Research what is usually photographed around the area you plan to visit. Find a park ranger or staff member and ask about lesser-known spots. If you can discover what’s popular and what has been done before, you can avoid shooting scenes the same old way. Consider how you can be creative!

6. Shoot in the right nature photography lighting

Lighting is hugely important in nature photography. In my experience, good light can be the difference between a failed photoshoot and a successful one – plus, if you learn to use the light to your advantage, your images will really stand out.

So what type of light is best? That depends on your subject and the look you’re after, but I highly recommend golden-hour lighting for most nature photography endeavors, which refers to the warm, soft light produced just after sunrise and just before sunset. You can also shoot during the blue hour – the short period before sunrise and after sunset – though this tends to work better for unmoving subjects such as landscapes.

Cloudy light is especially good for forest and flower photography as it helps bring out colors and details, though you’ll want to shoot during the middle of the day to maximize the intensity of the illumination.

Really, the only type of light that you should actively avoid is harsh midday lighting, which casts unflattering shadows and rarely looks good when illuminating nature photography subjects. But no matter the light situation, it’s still important that you pay attention to the type of light you’re working with and plan accordingly!

7. Shoot in RAW

If you’re not already photographing in RAW, then head over to your camera right now and change the image format.

You see, while JPEGs are processed – and compressed – at the moment of capture, RAW images contain uncompressed data straight from your camera sensor.

Yes, RAW files are bigger and they require a bit of extra time on the computer (i.e., you can’t display RAW images directly; they need to go through a converter like Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw first).

But RAW images offer massive benefits. You can radically adjust the white balance during post-processing, you can recover lost detail in the highlights and the shadows, and you can apply major tonal and color shifts without worrying about unpleasant artifacts. Nature photoshoots are often unpredictable, which means it’s best to maximize your post-processing flexibility.

And by the way: If you don’t like the idea of processing your nature photos in a software program, you can always expedite the process by batch editing with presets. Just import your photos, apply a basic preset to the entire collection, and export them as JPEGs. It’ll only take a few minutes, and the results will look good (though I recommend you do extra editing in certain situations, such as when your files feature missing details!).

8. Keep your ISO as low as possible

Your camera’s ISO basically determines its sensitivity to light, which means that, if you crank up your ISO, you can capture bright images in relatively dark conditions (e.g., in a shadowy forest or at dusk).

Unfortunately, higher ISOs also increase image noise, which looks terrible and – when left unchecked – will ruin your photos.

So you must choose your ISO carefully.

My recommendation? Keep your ISO at your camera’s base value to start with. Then, when the light drops, raise it only as needed.

You see, as you lose light, you’ll need to take steps to keep your exposures sufficiently bright. One option is to drop your shutter speed, but you’ll need a decently fast shutter to capture sharp handheld shots. (A fast shutter speed is especially important if you’re photographing moving subjects!)

So in nature photography, the best move is often to raise the ISO – but conservatively. Don’t boost the ISO just because you can; instead, keep the ISO low in good light and boost it only when absolutely necessary.

9. Don’t be afraid of bad weather

Many beginner photographers think that shooting in bad weather is, well, bad. But nothing could be further from the truth!

You see, rain, fog, and snow all make for dramatic conditions – and rather than harm your photography, they can actually elevate it. A landscape or a bird in blizzard conditions can result in a once-in-a-lifetime shot.

You don’t want to just grab your camera and race out into tough weather, however. It’s important to keep it protected from the elements by keeping it away from falling rain and snow, and – when that’s not possible – using a rain cover. (If you’re in a pinch, you can always rely on a trash bag and rubber bands!)

Also, avoid changing lenses, batteries, or memory cards in rough conditions, and if temperatures are cold, place your equipment in an airtight bag before heading back inside to prevent condensation from forming.

10. Use the right autofocus mode to capture sharp shots

Most cameras offer two distinct autofocus modes.

1. AF-C, also known as AI Servo, tells your lens to continuously acquire focus as long as your finger half-presses the shutter button.
2. AF-S, also known as One-Shot AF, tells your lens to acquire and then lock focus when your finger half-presses the shutter button.

The right autofocus mode depends on your subject. Still subjects, such as flowers, plants, and trees, are best shot with AF-S. You can position an autofocus point over the key part of your subject, half-press the shutter button to lock focus, then carefully recompose the shot, all while remaining confident that the focus is correct.

Animals and birds, on the other hand, are constantly on the move. In such cases, AF-C is essential; otherwise, you’ll lock focus on your subject only to have them leave the focus plane before you can capture a shot.

By the way, if you can combine your AF-C mode with your camera’s tracking mode, it’ll instantly level up your images. Some of the latest mirrorless cameras even offer various forms of animal tracking; if yours offers this as an option, I’d encourage you to try it out and see what you think.

(If you’re not sure how to set the autofocus mode on your camera, check the manual. It’s full of helpful information!)

11. Practice your manual focusing skills

If you like to shoot macro or landscape subjects, it’s worth learning how to focus manually.

You see, as a landscape or macro shooter, you’ll sometimes run into scenarios where your camera and lens will struggle to focus precisely where you want it. You might need to carefully set the focus point for enhanced depth of field, or you might want to nail focus on the edge of a flower petal, and your camera’s AF system just won’t give you good results.

Manual focus, however, will help you achieve the perfect point of sharpness in your scene. It’s reasonably easy to use, too; most lenses allow you to switch off the autofocus via the AF/MF toggle on the barrel, and you then simply need to turn the focus ring (also on the lens barrel) forward and backward until your subject comes into focus. If you’re working with extremely small subjects, you might even try setting your focus point manually, then slowly moving your camera forward and backward until you get the result you’re after.

By the way, your lens’s MF setting isn’t just good for those times when you need to do precise focusing. If you’re dealing with strong backlighting or shooting in low light, your camera’s AF system may struggle – in which case your manual focusing skills can make a huge difference.

12. Don’t forget a tripod

Carrying a tripod isn’t always convenient, and there are a few subgenres of nature photography that don’t always benefit from tripod use…

…but in most cases, a tripod is incredibly helpful and will make a huge difference.

You see, nature photography is often done when the light is low – think sunrise and sunset – which means that you’ll either need to crank up your ISO or you’ll need to drop your shutter speed. Both options come with major drawbacks unless you have a tripod, in which case you can lower your shutter speed to your heart’s content!

Plus, if you’re bothered by the idea of lugging around a heavy tripod, don’t worry; there are plenty of lightweight – and compact – options out there that are surprisingly sturdy. In my view, it’s worth paying extra for a robust carbon-fiber option (plus, even a high-quality tripod will still cost less than most lenses!).

So purchase a tripod and use it as needed!

13. Learn some basic composition techniques

Composition refers to the way you arrange elements within the frame, and it’s an often overlooked method for elevating your images. By carefully composing your shots, you can create a sense of balance, lead the viewer’s eye through the frame, and more.

But what’s the easiest way to create nice compositions? I’d recommend starting with the rule of thirds, which encourages you to position elements a third of the way into the frame. It’s also important to understand the concept of leading lines – these direct the viewer throughout the image – and negative space, which gives the viewer room to breathe when observing the frame.

If you’re struggling to get started with nature photography composition, it can be helpful to study images taken by your favorite photographers. Ask yourself: What do I like about this shot? How is the main subject positioned in the photo? How does the photographer lead the eye throughout the image? Then try to use those concepts in your own shooting!

14. Remember to do some post-processing

Once you’ve captured a great nature photo or two, the work isn’t quite done! You should also spend time processing the files in your editing program of choice (such as Lightroom, Photoshop, Capture One, or ON1 Photo RAW).

Every RAW file needs a bit of processing; otherwise, it won’t match what your eyes saw in the field. I’d recommend doing some white balancing – to neutralize any color casts – and applying a bit of contrast and saturation, too. You might also add a vignette to draw attention to your subject and adjust the exposure and tones until you get a pleasing result.

Editing is pretty subjective, and there are plenty of different approaches. It’s important that you spend time experimenting until you identify a look that really works for you!

Nature photography tips: final words

Nature photography might not always seem easy, but it can yield huge artistic, personal, and even spiritual rewards.

So remember the tips I’ve shared. Consider your equipment, do the proper planning, think about lighting and composition, and don’t forget about post-processing.

Of course, the most important part is to get out with your camera and have fun doing what you love! Capture birds, wildlife, landscapes, flowers, and more.

Now over to you:

What do you plan to photograph? And which of these tips will you apply to your workflow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post 14 Tips for Gorgeous Nature Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.

Adobe Lightroom Classic and Adobe Photoshop are both powerful editing programs, but determining which to use – whether you’re a beginner, an enthusiast, or even a professional – can be tough.

And while the two programs are widely used by the photographic community, they each serve a unique purpose and feature essential differences. In other words, it’s important that you choose between Lightroom vs Photoshop carefully.

In this article, I explain everything you need to know about these two programs. I discuss key similarities and fundamental differences, and I conclude with a discussion of the best editing software for you.

Ready to pick a post-processing program? Then let’s dive right in!

Lightroom vs Photoshop: Overview

Both Lightroom and Photoshop are designed to do the same thing: edit images. How the programs go about handling that task, as well as how they’re designed to be used, is quite different – but if you are simply looking for software that will allow you to alter, tweak, and enhance your photographs, either one will suffice.

The two programs are capable of handling multiple file types such as JPEGs, PNGs, and TIFFs. Technically, Photoshop can’t edit RAW files directly, but it includes a RAW processor that’s highly sophisticated. In fact, both Photoshop and Lightroom use the Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) processing engine to handle RAW image files, so you can expect similar editing capabilities when adjusting saturation, working with curves, correcting for lens distortion, and so on.

Both programs also feature an extensive set of editing and manipulation tools allowing you to do everything from basic edits like cropping and adjusting exposure to advanced alterations such as working with brushes, tone curves, and graduated filters. You will find a variety of built-in effects that’ll allow you to instantly apply black and white, sepia, and other artistic effects.

Bottom line: Photoshop and Lightroom are highly capable image editors. I know some photographers who use Lightroom exclusively and never touch Photoshop, as well as plenty of others who spend all day in Photoshop and never open Lightroom.

That said, it’s worth exploring the benefits and drawbacks of each program so you can pick the software that best suits your needs, starting with:

Lightroom vs Photoshop: File handling

Lightroom, unlike Photoshop, doesn’t actually edit photos, nor does it move your images to different locations on your computer. Instead, your image files remain untouched, and every change you implement is kept in a separate catalog file (a sort of recipe book of instructions for how each photo should be processed).

Therefore, when you apply an edit in Lightroom – such as an exposure adjustment or a saturation boost – the software simply logs the alterations in its database while leaving the original image intact. This is known as non-destructive editing.

For example, several months ago I sent my father a photo I took of him, which I had spent some time editing in Lightroom.

But because I edited in Lightroom, the original file was left unchanged, and I can go back and re-edit the photo any time I want.

Another benefit of this approach is that the Lightroom catalog itself is generally quite small; it’ll often take up only a few hundred megabytes on your hard drive, even if you’ve imported thousands of files.

Photoshop, on the other hand, operates quite differently. When you edit a file, you’re always working on the original, unless you save a Photoshop PSD copy that is usually several dozen megabytes in size. A PSD file contains all of your edits, and in order to share the final image, it must then be saved as an easily displayable JPG, PNG, etc. In essence, if you want to perform non-destructive edits in Photoshop, you’ll end up with three separate files: the original camera RAW file, a PSD, and the final copy saved in a shareable format. The process works something like this:

To sum up, Lightroom and Photoshop’s editing processes look similar on the surface, but they come with one major difference: in Lightroom, all your edits are saved in a relatively small catalog file, while in Photoshop, all your changes are saved in unique files for every single picture you edit.

A Photoshop workflow will therefore require far more space, and you’ll end up with multiple versions of each image, too. So why would you want to choose Photoshop instead of Lightroom? In a word, power.

Photoshop vs Lightroom: Editing capabilities

Lightroom is kind of like an all-terrain farm vehicle: It’s fast, nimble, and can be used for a variety of tasks like hauling small objects and towing little trailers. But it simply cannot match the sheer power of a massive farm truck when it comes to getting big, serious jobs done like transporting bales of hay, pulling a horse trailer, or ploughing in mud and snow.

Years back, Adobe realized that not everyone needed the capability of Photoshop, particularly photographers who needed to edit hundreds of images at high speeds. What this new generation of digital photographers demanded was the core editing tools of Photoshop – without all of the fancy extras – packed into one easy-to-use program (Lightroom).

Because when it comes to editing capabilities, Photoshop is far beyond Lightroom. The program contains a dizzying array of filters, brushes, and other tools that allow you to perform hundreds of edits to your images. While Lightroom does offer a handful of excellent local editing options, Photoshop offers a level of precision that Lightroom can’t match.

But more than that, Photoshop operates by letting you create different layers on which your edits actually take place. You might use dozens of layers to edit a single image, and each layer can be modified independently of the others.

Lightroom, by contrast, works in a much more linear fashion. There are no layers, fewer editing tools, and less overall flexibility. This is great if you’re looking to make some basic edits and move on, but it’s not ideal if you’d like to spend hours carefully adjusting colors and tones in targeted portions of your images.

Note that both programs contain a History panel that lets you step back in time to any of your edits, but working with layers gives you infinitely more control over the editing process.

Let’s say you want to add a vignette to a portrait. In Lightroom, this is as simple as adjusting the Amount slider of the Post-Crop Vignetting tool, and while you can change a few basic parameters, there’s not an overwhelming number of options. It’s a quick, no-fuss solution that is incredibly useful for all sorts of photography situations, and if you want a bit more control you can always create a Radial Gradient.

In Photoshop, however, you would need to add an adjustment layer to your photo – probably Levels or Curves – and use it to darken the image. You’d then need to apply a mask to the layer so you only affect the outer edges, and you’d also have the option to modify the layer’s opacity or blend mode. That’s just the beginning, and while all these additional steps might seem hopelessly convoluted, the more you learn how to use the tools Photoshop has to offer, the greater degree of control you’ll have over the editing process.

Thanks to its huge number of options and features (including support for text, 3D graphics, and even video), Photoshop is ideal for almost any image-editing situation, but it takes longer to learn and each process requires more effort. Lightroom essentially distills Photoshop down to the tools that photographers use most, which is one of the reasons it is so appealing to shutterbugs.

Lightroom vs Photoshop: workflow and image organization

Photo organization is where Lightroom really shines – in fact, the program offers an end-to-end workflow solution for photographers. Since it’s designed specifically to address the needs of photography enthusiasts and professionals, it handles everything from importing photos from your memory card to organizing, editing, sharing, and printing.

Lightroom also has support for keywords and virtual folders to help you keep track of your images, and you can even use it to create a slideshow, a photo book, or a print. Many photographers, including professionals, go weeks or months without ever opening Photoshop because Lightroom really does it all.

On the other end of the spectrum is Photoshop, which doesn’t transfer files, won’t organize your images, and certainly can’t make slideshows or photo books. You can use the free Adobe Bridge software to handle some workflow-based tasks like importing photos and organizing the digital media on your computer, and when paired with Photoshop, it does offer a Lightroom-like workflow experience – but it’s not quite as streamlined as working in Lightroom alone.

At the end of the day, Lightroom is far and away the better choice if you’re looking for software that can handle your file organization. In fact, it’s one of the best image-organization programs on the market, and it’s often worth the subscription price for this reason alone. But if you need the power of Photoshop, then working with Adobe Bridge is definitely an option (or you can use both Lightroom and Photoshop for an integrated solution).

Lightroom vs Photoshop: Which program is best for you?

By now, you undoubtedly realize that both Lightroom and Photoshop have their advantages and disadvantages. So which program is best? That really depends on you!

If you’re serious about image editing and you want to post-process each image with pixel-level precision, Photoshop is probably the better choice (along with Adobe Bridge to manage your files). It’ll let you apply all sorts of targeted adjustments using brushes, gradients, and more, and it’ll even let you apply focus stacks and do high-level compositing.

But if you’re looking for a program that offers basic to mid-level editing and that can also take care of all your image workflow needs, then Lightroom is the way to go. Its digital asset management capabilities are outstanding, and it’ll help you keep each and every one of your images carefully organized.

One more factor to consider is price. You cannot purchase either of these programs for a single fee; instead, you’ll need to pay monthly for an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription plan. You can currently purchase Adobe’s basic Photography plan for just $9.99 per month, and it includes both Photoshop and Lightroom (as well as 20 GB of cloud storage).

So if you’re not quite sure which program to use, consider buying a Creative Cloud subscription, then try out both products and see what you think!

Now over to you:

Which program do you plan to use, Lightroom or Photoshop? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Lightroom vs Photoshop: Which Editing Program Is Best? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Affinity Photo’s RAW development has always been excellent, but the addition of non-destructive RAW editing puts the program well above many of its peers. This recent update means that photographers who want the ultimate in both power and flexibility when developing RAW files now have even more reason to look at Affinity Photo instead of more expensive, subscription-based options.

You can now open RAW files, edit them as required, and then return to those edits and make further tweaks and refinements as you work in the normal, layer-based interface. It’s an incredible addition to the software; while the process is powerful enough for working professionals, it’s also simple enough that anyone can do it.

In this article, I share the ins and outs of Affinity’s non-destructive RAW editing workflow, and I include plenty of tips along the way!

Understanding RAW

In order to see the true power of Affinity Photo’s non-destructive RAW editing, it helps to first understand a bit about the RAW format. When you take a picture in JPEG format, your camera discards much of the data captured by the image sensor (though it’s data that you probably won’t really notice). The result is an image that looks great without taking up much space on your memory card or cloud storage, but with one important caveat: you don’t have much flexibility when editing the file. If you want to tweak the colors, recover useful detail in areas that are too dark, or create brilliant HDR-style results, you can’t really do it because of the data that was tossed out when the file was created. That’s where the RAW format really starts to shine.

RAW files contain all of the data captured by your camera’s image sensor, even parts that might seem completely useless and redundant. RAW files are much larger than JPEG pictures and can’t even be opened by many software programs. Instead, RAW files need to be developed – much like film back in the days of analog 35mm cameras. RAW files are often flat, boring, and uninteresting, and this is by design; they contain no tweaks or alterations, but instead let you, the photographer, decide exactly how the end result should look.

What is non-destructive RAW editing?

Non-destructive RAW editing means that your edits are saved separately and never alter the original RAW file.

If you shoot in RAW but use a program like Lightroom or Capture One, you might be wondering why non-destructive RAW editing is such a big deal. These programs have non-destructive RAW editing built in from the ground up, and they’ve always offered the ability to re-edit RAW files years or even decades down the line. In fact, when you import RAW files into Lightroom, the images you see in your Library and Develop modules aren’t RAW files at all, but small previews that contain the instructions for your edits (which are then applied to the RAW files when you export your shots).

Affinity Photo has had the ability to develop RAW files for years, but after doing some initial RAW processing, your edits would be frozen in place. The image could, of course, still be tweaked to some degree in Affinity Photo, but any changes to exposure, highlights, shadows, lens optics, noise reduction, and a host of other parameters would be permanently baked in.

In other words: Back in the day, you had to get everything right the first time around. The introduction of non-destructive RAW editing means that you can tweak your edits later or share your files with other photographers to let them put their own creative spin on your shots!

Affinity Photo and RAW editing

When you open a RAW file in Affinity Photo, you might notice that you don’t have access to the normal suite of editing options. You can’t use layers, brushes, clone stamps, or even create selections. Why? Because the original RAW file hasn’t been developed!

Instead, you’ll see a few simple options on the left, like Pan, Zoom, and Blemish Removal. On the right, you’ll encounter a series of sliders that look similar to what you might find in Lightroom’s Develop module. These allow you to adjust a host of parameters, such as Exposure, Contrast, Saturation, White Balance, and more:

These initial limitations might lead you to conclude that RAW files in Affinity Photo are not as flexible as JPEGs or files captured in another image format. But in reality, it’s quite the opposite! RAW files are significantly more versatile than other kinds of files precisely because you have to edit the RAW files first. Since RAW files are not actually images but a collection of color and luminance data from the camera’s image sensor, that data must first be turned into a usable format before it can be edited in the traditional Affinity Photo interface.

How to do non-destructive RAW editing in Affinity

Affinity Photo RAW editing is actually quite simple.

First, open a RAW file (all major RAW formats are supported, including DNG), and use the sliders and options to edit it however you like using the Develop Persona. You can recover shadow data, reduce noise, adjust color, correct lens distortion, edit the tone curve, and even adjust the metadata. Most of the options are similar to Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW (ACR is the tool that Photoshop uses to develop RAW files). But Affinity Photo gives you some tools that surpass its subscription-based counterparts, such as a waveform view that offers deep insights into the color data of your RAW files.

In addition to displaying Before and After views so you can see the effects of your edits, you can also drag a slider from left to right that shows a moving divider between the two. This is especially helpful for looking at how your edits are being applied to specific parts of an image instead of seeing the entire shot at once.

After you finish editing your RAW file, click the blue Develop button in the top-left corner to open your image in the normal Affinity Photo editing interface. However, you need to choose one of three options for how you would like the data to be handled: Pixel Layer, RAW Layer (Embedded), and RAW Layer (Linked).

Pixel Layer means that your edits will be turned into a normal bitmapped layer that can’t be re-edited later on. Do not choose this option if you might want to re-edit the RAW file at some point, but it is useful if you need a quick-and-simple editing workflow and don’t plan on ever returning to the edited RAW for more tweaks. If you do select this option, remember that the original file will stay intact and can be re-opened and re-edited from scratch, but you won’t be able to alter any of your original edits.

RAW Layer (Embedded) creates an .afphoto file that can be opened in Affinity Photo. The file contains the original RAW image, all your edits, and all the layer-based edits applied in the normal Affinity Photo editing interface. It’s great for a more self-contained workflow; all your image data and editing history are stored in a single file, which can be moved around on your computer or sent to someone else for further editing. The main drawback is that the resulting .afphoto file tends to be roughly 10x larger than your original RAW file, which can eat up storage space on your computer if you use this option frequently. Note that the Raw Layer (Embedded) option also leaves your original RAW file untouched.

RAW Layer (Linked) is my personal favorite and the option that I recommend most often. It creates a separate .afphoto file, similar to an XMP sidecar file used by Lightroom, which stores the edits to your RAW file. This .afphoto file is very small, about 1-2 megabytes, and can be opened later to make additional changes to your RAW file as well as any layer-based edits that you may have done in Affinity Photo. However, if you use this option, you do have to be careful not to move the .afphoto file or the original RAW file from their folders or directories on your computer. If you do, you will need to re-link the original RAW file when you open the .afphoto file for further editing.

After your RAW file has been developed, you’re free to perform any edits using the normal Affinity Photo interface: adding layers and filters, creating selections, using layer masks, and more. Your original RAW file will not be altered in any way, and any changes you apply will be saved in the .afphoto file. As long as you don’t rasterize the layer that contains the developed RAW file, you can return to the Develop interface at any time by selecting the layer and clicking the Develop button at the top of the panel.

For example, I used the Develop Persona to perform some initial edits on my prairie dog RAW file. Then, after developing the file, I used the selection tool in Affinity Photo to mask out the background.

In place of the original green background, I’ve added a bright blue sky; my goal was to make the entire scene feel a bit hyper-realistic, almost like something out of a fairy tale. I imported another image into Affinity Photo and used the Layers panel to place it below the prairie dog image, then repositioned the picture so it would be in just the right location to have the new sky in the perfect spot.

The resulting image looks fine, but a bit more tweaking to the prairie dog could help elevate the composition and make everything a bit more interesting. Therefore, I selected the prairie dog layer thumbnail and clicked Develop Image to return to the RAW Develop persona.

The RAW file is now able to be tweaked and refined with all the adjustment sliders right where I had them originally – and with the addition of the new sky in the background. I made some adjustments to the Tone Curve to give the foreground a more ethereal look, and this illustrates the kind of power Affinity Photo offers.

This next image illustrates one of the best parts of Affinity Photo RAW editing:

It also shows why Affinity’s non-destructive process is so useful. Working with the RAW file by itself is one thing, but returning to the RAW Develop environment while also looking at the other layers that make up an entire composition makes this an incredibly powerful tool for photographers.

To save your edits and return to the Affinity Photo editing environment, click the Develop button in the top-left corner. This cycle can be repeated as many times as you need thanks to the flexibility of the non-destructive editing process.

When is non-destructive RAW editing useful?

Image editing is often a complicated, iterative task where things change many times on the way to a final, fully-realized composition. And any photographer who uses Affinity Photo’s RAW editing capabilities will see incredible benefits to this non-destructive workflow.

It allows you to continually tweak, refine, and polish your RAW files, instead of developing your RAW files once and then being stuck with those initial settings.

Non-destructive RAW editing is also useful for casual and hobbyist photographers who just want a bit more freedom and flexibility. It’s like working with a safety net, and it helps make the editing process much less stressful since you can return to your RAW Develop settings whenever you want.

Affinity Photo RAW editing: final words

I remember shooting with 110 and 35mm cameras when I was younger, taking the film to be developed, and excitedly opening the envelopes several days later – only to be disappointed time and time again when my images didn’t look exactly how I wanted them to appear.

Until recently, that was how Affinity Photo RAW editing worked: you had one shot to get it right, and if you wanted to re-develop your RAW files, you had to dust off the digital negatives and begin again. The addition of a non-destructive RAW workflow is a game-changer and is just one more reason to consider Affinity Photo as an alternative to other editing software!

Now over to you:

Do you plan to take advantage of Affinity Photo’s RAW workflow? How will you use it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Non-Destructive RAW Editing in Affinity Photo: A Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.