Do’s and Don’ts of Editing Wreck Photos Whether moody or magnificent, wreck shots can be a real challenge to edit. Typically taken in less-than-optimal conditions, most wreck photos need help in post to achieve maximum impact. Lightroom and Photoshop offer an impressive array of tools to tease out texture and contrast, but missing the target…
Two Dirty Tricks that Remove Backscatter in Photoshop Ugh. Backscatter. It’s the nemesis of every underwater photographer. Many have tried, but no one’s been able to conjure the sorcery that would banish it easily in post. Using Lightroom’s clunky Spot Removal tool for any serious goo removal is anything but magic. Luckily, if you have…
Using Photoshop’s Crop Tool in tandem with Content Aware Fill, you can tack on canvas area and add a little breathing room to an otherwise cramped composition. In some cases, you might even be able to restore part of a subject got cut off by the edge of the frame. Before starting this technique, finish…
There’s nothing worse than discovering you’re missing a critical piece of gear on a long-awaited dive adventure. Most underwater photographers stress out before a trip, checking and re-checking their camera and dive equipment to make sure all the required bits and pieces are packed and in working order, but they often forget to prepare their…
Panning or rotating the camera at slow shutter speeds creates motion blur. It’s a technique that can yield exciting, evocative images, but the learning curve for producing predictable results is steep, and the percentage of keepers (in my personal experience) is low. Alternatively, Photoshop offers tons of filters that mimic in-camera effects. I’ve chosen a…
Content Aware Fill is a quasi-magical Photoshop process that removes bubbles, backscatter and bozos from your pictures. When it works as intended, Content Aware Fill is a beginner-level technique that renders stunning results in the blink of an eye. When it’s not quite on the money, a slightly more advanced knowledge of Photoshop’s other super…
As a frequent judge of underwater photo competitions, I’m tasked to evaluate thousands of competing images. It’s rare that the technical merits of an image, though critically important, are the only criteria by which contest winners are ultimately chosen. Sometimes the difference between being a winner or loser simply comes down to the judges’ taste,…
Of all the miracles Photoshop can perform, fixing soft focus isn’t one of them. There’s simply no existing post-production voodoo that can restore acceptable photographic sharpness to large out-of-focus areas. That said, if a small detail of your image – an eye, for example – is only slightly soft, an artful combination of Liquify, Smart…
Don’t wait to get good in Lightroom and Photoshop before learning a few keyboard shortcuts. Learning them is how you get good! Download my Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Lightroom here, and for Photoshop here.
I love working with wreck photos. They’re rich with all kinds of form, texture and gritty, scratchy detail. They’re dramatic and moody, and hold up surprisingly well in less-than-perfect conditions. Here are 3 tips to help make wreck images pop in post. Do Black and White right. Wreck photos shot with ambient light…
I wish I had a magic bullet for backscatter removal, but the truth of the matter is that to get spots out of your shots, you’ve got to master more than one technique. The Lightroom Spot Removal Tool In Lightroom, you’re limited to a single, rather clumsy Spot Removal tool. Click once on a piece…
Why take your RAW adjustments to eleven? Because it’s one louder than ten, as Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel so aptly puts it. The expression “taking it to eleven” refers to the act of taking something to an extreme, and although I usually don’t recommend taking post-processing to an extreme, there are times when a little…
Don’t get too excited. The techniques in this article won’t rescue your out-of-focus images. Out-of-focus photos can’t be recovered in post, but you can (and should) enhance the sharpness of properly focused pictures to maximize their potential. What is Sharpness? Without getting too technical, you might say that sharpness is edge contrast. Sharp edges have…
Let’s take a look at an advanced technique in Photoshop that purists would consider a cheat, but is a fantastic tool for those not so worried about bending reality. It’s called Puppet Warp. The goal in this example is to change the fin position of a model, but it’s great for all kinds of adjustments,…
Quick and Dirty Backscatter Removal in Photoshop There are as many ways to remove backscatter as there are to shoot it, but the technique I’m about to show you is one of my favorites for a quick and relatively easy fix. I learned it first from Photoshop guru Eddie Tapp, and although a few versions…
The fashion industry has long laid claim to Photoshop’s Liquify filter as its staple of image manipulation, but like many tools in post, it can be used for either good or evil. While it’s true there’s no end to the fun that can be had adjusting your buddy’s face or physique in post, the Liquify…
Sharks are a favorite photographic subject of mine. Over the years, I’ve developed a few post-production techniques that help to mitigate common problems and emphasize desirable details in shark images. Desaturate with an Adjustment Brush to remove unwanted cyan color on your shark. In the Develop module of Lightroom, click on the Adjustment…
I know, I know – compositing is cheating. A composited image uses elements from one part of a picture in another part, or combines multiple photos to create a single image. The reality is that if you’re not breaking someone else’s rules, or intending to deceive for personal or financial gain, then compositing is a…
I just finished judging a photo contest, and although the rules were made very clear to the contestants, a few excellent photos were still disqualified because of willful or unintentional violations. Some pictures didn’t make it because of over-zealous editing. It’s a shame to see potentially winning images get booted from a contest, but it…
I attribute the phrase “dial-a-blue” to Berkley White, shooter extraordinaire and owner of Backscatter Photo and Video. I first heard Berk use the phrase to describe a specific shooting technique, but I’ve since discovered many cool ways to also dial-a-blue during the editing process. In this tutorial, I make use of the massively powerful Hue…