Sometimes I wish I could be one of those people who make images, process them, and share them all within a few days. Or even the same day! I’ve never been able to do that and I guess I’ve given up trying. My photos seem to need a period of time to rest on my hard drive before they are ready to evolve and flourish with post processing. Call it beauty sleep. These photos I … [Read more...]
Easy Cinematic Styles in Lightroom
Don’t you just love those photos with the dark gritty effects? Or the ones with the soft and dreamy look? As always in photo processing, these styles can be achieved many different ways! In this video demonstration, I will show you the easiest way to add dramatic and cinematic styles to your photos in Lightroom using split toning. The effects you will see in this … [Read more...]
Photo Editing Case Study: Shanghai
I'm not big on cities. But photographing cityscapes makes it all worthwhile! And Shanghai must have one of the prettiest skylines I have ever seen. When I visited China a couple of years ago, I had an extra day to explore Shanghai and get used to the time change. It was hot, muggy and raining. So when I processed this photo I decided to make an abstract impressionist version … [Read more...]
How to Upgrade to Lightroom Classic CC and What You Need to do First
Upgrading Lightroom can be a bit intimidating! You wouldn't be alone to worry that all the time you've put into organizing your photos into catalogs, folders and collections might suddenly go POOF! Or that maybe your whole computer might suddenly go POOF! So it's better to be prepared and feel secure that you can recover from any disaster that might occur. Not that I … [Read more...]
How to Use the Dodge and Burn Technique in Photo Processing
Dodging and burning is an easy and effective way to make portions of your image lighter or darker. So why is it so confusing to understand how it works? Because the terminology comes from the old darkroom days when processing photos was a two stage process. First we made the NEGATIVE by exposing the film to light. Just like when you make an image in your digital camera … [Read more...]
Lightroom vs. Luminar – What’s the Difference?
One question I get asked quite frequently since doing my review of Luminar 2018 is “What is the difference between Lightroom and Luminar and which is better?” While Lightroom and Luminar do have some things in common, there are more differences between them than similarities. In this video I’ll explain the similarities and differences and show you which features I use and … [Read more...]
Topaz Texture Effects Review
Topaz Labs has just come out with a new product, and it might just be their best one yet. Which is surprising given how much I like Clarity and ReStyle. But they've really hit the mark with Topaz Texture Effects. In this review you'll find out what it does, what the interface looks like, and I'll show you a bunch of examples using my own photos and give you my overall … [Read more...]
Lightroom 4 Unmasked eBook Review
[Spoiler alert: I'm about to tell you that the best image editing software package to use is Lightroom. If you're already sold on Lightroom, you might want to skip on down to the section where I reveal the best eBook for learning to use Lightroom. ] One of the most common questions people ask when it comes to processing their images is which software to use. There are so … [Read more...]