Welcome to day 6 of 31 Days of Before & After Shots! This photo comes from our (in)courage authors’ retreat in Hilton Head last month. The shot held such potential with the subject matter, footprints, reflections in the sand, and of course the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately the sunlight was almost gone, the sky growing gray.
The Edits:
- Crop (I moved in closer and also moved the horizon line from near the center of the photograph to one-third from the top—I’m all about the rule of thirds!)
- Use the Make It Better – Auto Tone preset, a free download on Sean McGrath Free and Premium Lightroom Presets page. This boosts color saturation and contrast.
- Tweak exposure (brightness).
- For the sky, decrease exposure and increase saturation and clarity (I use a graduated filter in Lightroom—see the graduated filter tool circled below).
- Increase contrast and clarity in the sand (once again, I used a graduated filter for this).
- Add a light vignette (darken the edges).
I would love to know what software you use to edit your photos. Feel free to tell me in the comments or email it to me if you’re an email subscriber.
Find Day 1 and links to the whole series here. Be sure to subscribe for email updates either at the end of this post or over on the right above my picture to receive new posts in your inbox each day.
[Click here to read my other 31 Days series, 31 Days of Encouragement and 31 Days of Real Life.]
there is something about smooth sand and reflections that just grabs me!
my favorite editing software is PS CS4. One day I’ll upgrade… (since this is you I’m talking to, I hate to admit that I haven’t even opened Lightroom in ages. shhh… don’t tell dawn.)
Marsha, I’m so glad you’re here. Open that software, woman! :)
this is just plain fun … i’m not a photographer, but I look forward to following your 31 day journey … and will be sharing your 31 series as one of my favorites on my day 31 post.
fascinating!
Thank you, Linda! I’m so glad you think this is fun—me, too!
I love these before and after shots! Thanks for all the great photo tips … =)
Kathy K
You’re welcome, Kathy! Thanks for being here. :)
Hi Dawn, new here – jumped over from (in)courage. I’m a wanna be photographer and am currently editing photos from my iPhone for my blog with whatever random free software came with my computer. Don’t have a clue what I’m doing so it’ll be fun (and possibly make me want to go spend money on cooler software) to follow your 31 days here. Thanks for sharing! Oh… and I LOVE this picture. Super cool.
Dana, in one of my upcoming posts I’ll show a phone editing program that now has a desktop app. I’m not sure when I’ll post it, but possibly even two weeks from now. I’m trying to brainstorm how to work the posts for when I’m at the Allume conference later this month since all the photos I use are on my home computer. I thought the photo and program I’m talking about might be easier to feature at that time.
Oh, girl. Do you ever inspire me.
I use no editing software at all. Don’t own any.
Not sure I could figure it all out…. but you make me think it’s possible? And worth it…
You do beautiful work, friend… such. art.
Ann, if you’re serious about wanting to learn editing, I’d love to sit down with you and walk you through Lightroom. That’s a good reason to hide out in our rooms for a while when I see you in two weeks. ;) Or, we could do it online sometime. I think that’s possible!
I love these serious for 31 days. I really enjoy photo editing but don’t do it that often. I use Photoshop. I learned to use it back in the day when I was working as an interior designer and kind of stuck with it. I am taking photography class after 31 Days is over…can’t wait!
Kimberly, that’s awesome that you had the Photoshop experience. Enjoy your photography class!
I am learning Paint Shop ProX4. See they already came out with x5!! Wish there were more tutorials around for it. For the $40 I thought it would be enough for my needs. Love the series.
Sona, I had Paint Shop Pro once upon a time. I remember it was a lot of fun! Thanks for being here. :)
As a prefatory comment, I am a Creative Memories consultant. I love the photo editing software in both Storybook 4 (you can edit photos, zoom in with a click & create photo albums, calendars, page prints in any size 8×8, 12×12, 8×10, really any size) & CM’s Memory Manager 4 (photos are automatically stored in date order & hooray! now, there is amazing face recognition technology.
This is amazing, Dawn!