Photo editing is an essential aspect of photography and can elevate your images to a professional level. It is crucial for establishing brand recognition and building trust with customers, and editors like Meg Bitton are passionate about it.
Once you have your camera and equipment set up and understand the photography basics, the next step is to learn some basic photo editing techniques. These include straightening, sharpening, and color adjustment.
Cropping
Cropping photos is one of the most basic yet essential photo editing tasks. By cutting an image down to its desired size, cropping allows you to eliminate unnecessary visual elements and adjust the composition of a photograph.
With Paint, you can use the Crop tool by selecting it from the selection tools dropdown at the top of the program window. Once selected, you can drag the blue crop outline around the part of the photo that you want to keep. You can also select any corner handles to resize and orient the crop.
You can even rotate the image by using the arrow buttons in the bottom right corner of the screen. This can be useful for fixing a skewed horizon, for example.
Sharpening
Sharpening is one of the photo editing essentials for every photographer. You may have got your focus right in the camera, but there’s always room for improvement when you take your photos through post-processing.
This includes sharpening, color adjustment, and enhancing your photos to make them look stunning. By mastering these basics, you’ll be able to tell your unique visual story and bring your viewers into the world of your photographs.
Using the sliders on your image editor will help you to adjust how much sharpness you want your image to have. You can also try other adjustments like contrast (which makes dark areas darker and light areas brighter), clarity (which increases the contrast in the mid tones of your photograph, bringing a bit of grittiness), and saturation (which heightens colors in neutral tones while keeping them intense in vibrant ones).
Color Adjustment
Color correction photos are a powerful tool for making your images more appealing. You can make several adjustments, such as saturation, temperature, and hue. By increasing the saturation of an image, you can make the colors appear more vivid and intense. On the other hand, decreasing the saturation will give your photo a more muted, dull look.
Another helpful adjustment is the Tone Curve, which allows you to adjust the tone of your photo by adjusting its dark and light levels. To do this, select the curves option in your photo editing program and drag the indicators arrows until you get the desired result. However, be careful, as dragging the arrows too far may result in a grotesque-looking image. This is why it’s important to play around with these adjustments and get a feel for them. This will help you develop your own unique style. It also helps to clearly understand what type of look you’re going for before starting.
Texturing
Texture is one of the most important aspects of a photo. It gives the subject a unique look that draws people in and makes them relate. Using texture to alter photos can be tricky, though. It’s important to remember that people will notice a fake or over-manipulated image, so it’s best to use subtle changes and ensure that the texture blends well with the rest of the photo.
You can find textures worldwide, but some of the best are in nature. Rocks, grass, sand, dirt, snow, and even skin can all provide beautiful textures for your photos. You can also find various textures online, often under a Creative Commons license.
When capturing textures, it’s important to pay attention to the lighting. It’s also a good idea to shoot in RAW to have all the information you need to edit. Also, avoiding blown-out areas is a good idea because those won’t be easy to fix in the post.
