Beginners: How to make your photos pop!

[dlhartman]

I'm a firm believer that anyone can take good pictures. It just takes a willingness to learn. If you're tired of your point and shoot camera's hum drum photos then read on because I want to show you that while you may not be a pro, there are a few simple things you can do in any editing program that will make the world of difference. You don't need expensive software or extensive training. Just follow these simple tips and make your photos shine!

1) Brighten up baby! Increasing the exposure and/or brightness of a photo can do wonders, especially for a woman. It has a way of smoothing out all our wrinkles and filling in all our pores for nearly flawless looking skin.

2) Contrast - the difference between dark and light. Increasing the contrast is another quick and easy trick to really give a photo definition. It makes your images look sharp and crisp. (I'm a big fan of high contrast images.)

3) Subtle saturation. Boosting the color in an image (while keeping in mind that you don't want dear old Aunt Gertrude to look like an Oompa Loompa) can really make or break your photo's 'X' factor. This is especially true for photos taken on a cloudy day or in the shade.

4) Sharp as a tac. Ever heard of camera shake? That's the tiny amount of blur you can get from the ever so slight movement of your hands as you're snapping away. Increasing the overall sharpness of a image can help to combat this...but be careful not to over sharpen because then your photos will look pixilated.

All four of these things can be done in ANY photo editing software. Just find the default one on your computer (and if you're a PC user, you can download Photoscape for free, which I used myself quite regularly.) You don't have to spend a dime and while you may not be able to correct everything, you'll still get great results that will really make your photos pop. Though I am an avid Lightroom user, I edited this photo using only iPhoto.



I am a portrait photographer located in Fayetteville, NC. The artist in me loves to photograph women and couples while the mom in me can't get enough of my three crazy kiddos. You can view more of my work on my website, Lea Hartman Photography.

[Wooglah]

I do not want to be rude, but the second photo burned my eyes... maybe a little too bright/vibrant?

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Wooglah

I do not want to be rude, but the second photo burned my eyes... maybe a little too bright/vibrant?

No offense...but I agree. I actually looked at the histogram in CS2 and the edit is really, really blown out, with all channels blown to bits, pretty much. Your tutorial is actually pretty good, though - just maybe a tad heavy on the processing of the after image. The SOOC is actually quite good, just needs the tiniest touch of brightening and a pinch of warming.

[dlhartman]

Thank you for your input, however, to each her own. I personally tend to favor bright, sometimes blown out images. I understand if that is not to your liking, but art is about creating what is pleasing to yourself. Also, the point of the tutorial was to demonstrate that you can so SOME things in basic editing (i.e. free) software, but obviously, this was not processed using Photoshop or Lightroom so there are limits, one of them being no highlight recovery.

Thanks again for your input. Perhaps a more generic image that would appeal to the masses would've been a better choice so I have included another image which also demonstrates my point. Again, using only the edits mentioned above in iPhoto.

[wulf]

I think that there are very few photographs, certainly from those taken without the benefit of pro-level gear including lighting, which can't benefit from a bit of a wash and brush up with post-processing. You can give yourself a head start by getting a solid shot to start with (FWIW, I think your first before shot was very underexposed, which makes it hard to brighten without a lot of clipping) but there is generally room for improvement in the areas you mention.

A lot comes down to questions of taste. I prefer the second example, which is much more subtle and could almost be pushed a bit further. One of the advantages of using software which is a bit more advanced than iPhoto is that you cannot only make changes but also experiment with dialling the intensity of the effect back, including applying different levels of effect to different parts of the image.

For example, here is a self portrait I took this morning:



I probably could have found a better white balance mode than auto but I was in a bit of a rush; I couldn't have pushed the exposure up more without blowing an increasing number of highlights. Now the "developed" version:



I've tweaked the colours and contrast, which has created a much richer result. I have also applied a subtle vignette (darkening the top of the image where there is little of interest) and a high-pass sharpening filter, masked out so it only affects certain details on my face and hands (as if I had nailed focus rather than just getting pretty close). The difference between the before and after versions is night and day and all with just three or four minutes work in The Gimp.

Wulf

[dlhartman]

Thanks for that example. Proves my point perfectly.

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by dlhartman

Thanks for that example. Proves my point perfectly.

Agreed. Excellent example, Wulf.

[digger58]

It is the little things that tend to really work, i myself really like dark and moody portraits. Whenever I post them I usually get blasted for the images being too dark. So you are correct when you say each to thier own. Your second photo really does make your point
Thanks for posting

[TNH]

Originally Posted by dlhartman

I'm a firm believer that anyone can take good pictures. It just takes a willingness to learn. If you're tired of your point and shoot camera's hum drum photos then read on because I want to show you that while you may not be a pro, there are a few simple things you can do in any editing program that will make the world of difference. You don't need expensive software or extensive training. Just follow these simple tips and make your photos shine!

1) Brighten up baby! Increasing the exposure and/or brightness of a photo can do wonders, especially for a woman. It has a way of smoothing out all our wrinkles and filling in all our pores for nearly flawless looking skin.

2) Contrast - the difference between dark and light. Increasing the contrast is another quick and easy trick to really give a photo definition. It makes your images look sharp and crisp. (I'm a big fan of high contrast images.)

3) Subtle saturation. Boosting the color in an image (while keeping in mind that you don't want dear old Aunt Gertrude to look like an Oompa Loompa) can really make or break your photo's 'X' factor. This is especially true for photos taken on a cloudy day or in the shade.

4) Sharp as a tac. Ever heard of camera shake? That's the tiny amount of blur you can get from the ever so slight movement of your hands as you're snapping away. Increasing the overall sharpness of a image can help to combat this...but be careful not to over sharpen because then your photos will look pixilated.

All four of these things can be done in ANY photo editing software. Just find the default one on your computer (and if you're a PC user, you can download Photoscape for free, which I used myself quite regularly.) You don't have to spend a dime and while you may not be able to correct everything, you'll still get great results that will really make your photos pop. Though I am an avid Lightroom user, I edited this photo using only iPhoto.

I am a portrait photographer located in Fayetteville, NC. The artist in me loves to photograph women and couples while the mom in me can't get enough of my three crazy kiddos. You can view more of my work on my website, Lea Hartman Photography.

Great tips! These four things really make my photos look better.
I thought that most people got amazing pictures straight out of the camera, and didn't need to do any editing, so it makes me feel better to know that other people edit their photos on the computer, too. Thanks for making this tutorial!!

[dlhartman]

I'm really happy you found it useful!