Editing Breakdown
Editing Breakdown - When it comes to breaking down the editing process let actually break it down piece by piece. We are going to chat about the main adjustments on any platforms.
Exposure - The farther you drag the pointer to the left the darker the image. The farther you drag the pointer to the right the brighter the image. Exposure does just what it says, it exposes light or takes away light. When I am going to lighten or darken an image I do not go to exposure first. Simply cause I feel like exposure coats the light or darkness on an image and does not conform to it.
Contrast - When it comes to contrast I believe that contrast strengthens or weakens elements in an image. If your goal is more stronger and sharper images than I would pull the pointer to the right. If your goal is more faded or softer images I would pull the pointer to the left. A little contrast goes a long way. I usually add a touch in all my images, especially in my product photos.
Highlights - the best way I can explain highlights is to imagine it like a highlighter for a makeup tool, you add highlight to “highlight” parts of your face. Same thing for a photo you will have to highlight an image to bring up pieces in an image. The more highlight the farther to the right with the pointer you will go. The less highlight the farther to the left with the pointer you will go. This is a tool I would totally suggest anyone working with to find their soft spot, because regardless of who you talk to or work with everyone will have a different opinion of highlights. But those parts in your image that are blown out bring your highlights down & those pieces that need more highlights bring those up. For example: if you take a selfie sometimes your cheek bones will be overly highlighted. Bring your highlights down if they are too blown out.
Shadows - this is by far my favorite tool. & I am totally biased, because if it wasn’t for shadows then I simply could not have the look that I have for my images. The farther left you bring your pointer in the shadows tool the deeper and richer the shadows become. The farther right you bring your pointer in the shadows tool the softer and brighter your shadows become. You are literally adding light into a shadow making it brighter or taking away light causing the shadow to be much darker. When I said I never start with exposure for my brightness that is truly what I mean. I start with shadows then once I have pulled up my shadows as much as they will go then I will head towards exposure. Shadows also go hand in hand with contrast. The farther right you bring shadows the more contrast you are going to want to add in, so you will not lose your details.
Whites - This tool does exactly what it is named. The farther left you go with the white pointer the duller the whites will get & the farther right you go with the white pointer the brighter they become. I always bring up a touch of white, but never too much.
Blacks - The blacks are the same things as the whites, they achieve exactly what they are named after. The farther left you go with the black pointer the deeper the darker colors will become and the farther right you go with the black pointer the softer they will become. I will always bring my blacks to the right, but never too much just like the whites.
Temp - after shadows temp and tints are my favorite tools. So as you can see the left side of the temp scale is blue and the right side is orange. If you are wanting to cool an image you will want to bring the temp pointer to the left. If you are wanting to warm an image you will bring the pointer more to the right. This is so helpful in so many ways.
Tint - The tint tool is another big favorite & as you can see the left side is green and the right side is magenta or for some reason I have always called them reds. If you notice that an image is coming off a touch too green then you will want to add a little bit of magenta into it, or if you notice that an image has too much magenta then you will want to add a bit of green. However, the temp and the tint go hand in hand. If you cool and image down, but add in more magenta then you will notice your images will become more muddy so you will want to warm the image or take away some magenta & vise versa.
Texture - yes at times the texture tool comes off like the contrast tool, but the thing about the texture tool is that it actually takes the texture of the objects in an image and either enhances that texture or completely smooths it out. If you are wanting a more stronger and detailed image then you will want to bring your texture to the right, but if you are wanting a more soft image then you will bring that texture to the left so much more. This like highlights is a total preference. All three; texture, clarity & dehaze are a total preference on how you want to edit.
Clarity - this is also true for clarity. The farther you take the clarity tool to the left the less clarity you will have an image and the farther right you take the clarity tool the more detailed the image will be. Like I said with the texture tool, texture, clarity & dehaze are all a preference & for me that preference is I would rather have my clarity up higher than my texture. I am not sure why that is, but it is something that I have always done.
Dehaze - This tool is a very interesting tool. For me this tool is super useful when I need it, but when I do not need it I do not use it. So, you know when you have haze in your image? Well this tool will help correct that haze and make it not be so strong. However, just like texture and clarity dehaze will also strengthen the details or completely take away the details.
Vibrance - Vibrance and saturation go hand and hand together, they are both connected with color. However, with vibrance the color will always stay, whereas saturation color will be strong or not at all. But as far as vibrance the farther to the left you bring the vibrance pointer to the duller and blan the colors are & the farther you bring the vibrance tool to the right the righter and stronger the colors are.
Saturation - Saturation goes with color also, but the thing about saturation is it is almost like a faucet. You turn a faucet off and you are not pouring out water, but if you turn it on then anything that goes under the faucet will become saturated with water. The more to the left you go the less color. The more to the right you go the more color.
Grain - grain is that extra edginess. Unlike the other tools where the pointer starts in the middle the grain tool will start at the left. So the more you bring it to the right the more grain your image will have in it. If your goal is to achieve more of an edgier feel to an image then the more grain you will want in your image.
Crop - This crop tool is a total lifesaver. You can crop an image, turn an image from portrait to landscape & same as landscape to portrait, but you can also flip an image.
The thing about all of these adjustments is that you can truly make them however fits your needs the best. If you want darker images then use the adjustments in more of a darker way. If you want lighter images then use the adjustments in more of a lighter way. There is no right or wrong, just simply whatever makes your heart pump in the most creative way possible. Most presets will adjust the adjustments, but you still need to adjust them to achieve your overall look. I use presets, but I still adjust the shadows, contrast, exposure, temp and tint in all images.