Editing An Image
(click on images to view them full size)
Starting the Editing Process.
I thought that I’d take a blog to go through some editing that I did with my Zambia images as I spent some time with our photography guide, Michael and learned a few new tricks. He also helped me to remind myself not to be so lazy and short cut on editing - sometimes I’m not the keenest editor, but it can make such a difference.
I’ll start by saying that if you shoot raw format images (as I do) - you will have to edit your images because they come out of the camera rather flat looking. This is on purpose as the camera has not applied any editing to the image - all the information is preserved and it’s up to the photographer to edit the image. Jpeg images on the other hand have computer applied edits to them and are often quite good - unless you’re working on a more dramatic edit - in which case the computer makes the image look very average..
I see editing as enhancing and bringing out the life of the image that the photographer saw when they took the image. Sometimes editing is about preserving the details as I saw them and sometimes it is about bringing out the drama and colour and just having fun with the image. It may not end up looking as I saw it in reality, but it’s my interpretation of the scene. That goes for removing things from an image - I am not precious about this as I am not making documentary images or trying to fool anyone. I use creative license when I edit - if I see something that feels like a distraction and doesn’t add to the image - I may remove it.
Dramatic sunset image of wild dogs - final edited version. (EXIF data f8, 1/2500s, 600mm, ISO560, -1EV)
Now on to the editing! I decided to take one of the ultra dramatic wild dogs images that was shot at sunset with the orange haze from the vehicles kicking up dust. Here is the final edited image and I’ll show you how we got to this in this blog post.
Crop Edits
Cropping the image means removing parts of the frame. Sometimes this is done to remove distracting or non essential parts of the image. Sometimes it is done to magnify the subject of the image. One thing that I try to remember is that cropping removes pixels or details from the image, so I try not to be overly aggressive with this step. Getting the composition close in camera is important to my workflow.
Original raw unedited image with crop grid outlined on the image. (same EXIF data)
I like to start with the crop and remove any parts of the image that doesn’t add to the composition. I feel that there is no point in editing these areas and that they will likely be a distraction. Now there is a school of thought that crops at the end of an edit which is perfectly fine too (there’s no right or wrong with editing order) - I’m the opposite of this approach as I find deciding on the crop helps me to identify what I want to do with the image and this informs the steps that I take going forward. It’s possible that I may change my mind and tweak the crop at the end of my process if my initial crop doesn’t work out, but this is my workflow.
Global Edits
Before removal of poop (bottom right corner) and bright spots. (EXIF data same)
Global edits refers to the changes that will affect the whole image and this includes things like cropping (already addressed), altering white balance, changing exposure and other items like this.
For this shot there was a lot of poop in the scene - now a purist would have left it in place in all its rim lit glory, but I found it distracting and I’m not a purist - so I removed the large poop blobs as well as the bright spots in the bottom right corner from the scene using the clone tool.
Image after global edits complete. (EXIF data same)
Next I set the white and black points using my histogram as a guide - I don’t want to blow out either which means I don’t want to lose detail in the whites or the blacks, so I hold down the option key and use the arrow keys to increase or decrease the slider (I'm a MAC user). At this point I look at the impact to the image and decide if that is the right look for the image - I then make some fine adjustments to it. The next step is adjusting highlights and shadows - again I use my histogram to see the impact on the image. This is definitely a how it feels/looks step for me than a formula.
Local Adjustments - Making the Wild Dogs Stand Out
Now the fun really begins - this is the local adjustments which means applying edits to specific parts of the image to bring out details or hide/lessen the impact of other features. For this I use the masking feature in LightRoom (LR) which is so powerful - this used to have to be done in PhotoShop, but now I do most of my editing in LR.
I applied a series of eight masks using radial gradients, linear gradients and object masking to highlight the areas I wanted to bring out or tone down. I’ve made screen shots of the mask along with the sliders that were changed for the mask.
Mask 1 used to enhance the shadows in the top half of the image and reduce the brightness in the left hand corner. (EXIF data same)
Mask 1 was a series of steps to get a radial gradient around the three wild dogs and here was a new thing that I learned from Michael - taking the radial gradient and intersecting it with a linear gradient allowed me to really focus attention on the top half of the image and tone down the highlights. I did this by bringing down the shadows in that section as indicated in this screen shot from LR.
Mask 2 showing a linear gradient from the bottom right corner. (EXIF data same)
Masks 2 and 3 are linear gradients (mask 2 from the bottom right corner and mask 3 from the top left corner) with a focus on darkening these areas so that the viewer’s eye stays in the centre and moves from the bright sunset sky to the rim lit dogs.
Mask 3 - linear gradient from the top left corner. (EXIF data same)
Making the Wild Dogs Shine
Mask 4 - highlighting the dogs with an object mask to bring out the highlights of the rim lighting and to increase their brightness. (EXIF data same)
The stars of this image are the three wild dogs crouched down and slinking along together as they advance on an impala in the distance, the outline of their fur highlighted with rim light from the setting sun behind them. The second area of focus is the setting sun through the dust which draws the eye to the dogs in the foreground.
Mask 5 - radial gradient intersected with a linear gradient to further tone down highlights in the background. (EXIF data same)
In order to do this we worked on brightening up the dogs and increasing the highlights which made the rim lighting pop. The dogs almost glow with the orange haze of the setting sun through the dust particles. The previous masks have done a good job of reducing the brightness of the foreground and the background to the left hand side - this really helps to draw the eye to the centre of the frame and focus attention on the light and the dogs.
Masks 6 and 7 are linear gradient masks which duplicate earlier masks and further tweak the darkening of the foreground and the background - this minor tweak further refines the look of the image and enhances the impact of masks 4 and 5.
Mask 8 to punch the highlights in the sunset streaming through the dust. (EXIF data same)
Mask 8 is the last mask and its purpose is to brighten up the area where the setting sun streams through the churned up dust. It’s a very dramatic part of the image and provides the source of light that results in the rim lighting around the dogs. This mask is a heavily feathered brush over the central area of brightness and it is used to increase highlights and add some final punch to this area.
Pulling It All Together
After doing all of these masks and edits to the image we let it rest overnight and then viewed it again the next day to make sure that the edits were not overbaked or overdone. I find that the biggest challenge with editing is taking things too far so that the image looks off or unnatural. I will sometimes rotate the image by 180 degrees so that I’m looking at it upside down - this helps me to view it differently and see any little things creeping in around the edges of the frame and also distractions within the frame. Somehow my brain looks at it differently this way and I find it helps.
I was even more pleased with this image after leaving it overnight. The edits really brought out the features in the image that struck in me in the moment. The chaos of the dust and the dogs creeping through the mayhem to stalk the impala. The orange haze of the setting sun streaming through the dust - it was all so surreal and almost apocalyptic looking. I was really pleased with how the image turned out and I learned some new ways to use masks in Light Room - especially intersecting radial and linear masks to refine the affected area and really pinpoint where the edit will be made.
What are your thoughts of the final edit? Would you spend this much effort editing an image or do you do other edits that might enhance this image further? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below or send me a note directly by clicking on the Connect With Me button.
Final edited image of the three wild dogs hunting an impala in the setting sun. (EXIF data f8, 1/2500s, 600mm, ISO560, -1EV)
I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.
