Everyone wants better images, right? Here are a couple of SIMPLE editing tips that will help you take your pictures from snapshots to frame-worthy prints.
Inherently, our digital photographs have less of two things than their film counterparts : CONTRAST and SHARPNESS. (I'm thinking 'sharpness' isn't a word, but let's pretend here!)
Simply put, if you add some contrast and some sharpening to your photos, they will pop a little more!
Contrast is the amount of difference between the lights and the darks in your images. More contrast equals more of a difference. (Lots of contrast is especially obvious in a black and white image.)
Sharpening is just that -- making the image more crisp or more sharp. Please note, generally speaking a blurry image can't be saved by sharpening. There is a difference between a slightly SOFT image and a BLURRY image. Generally, a soft image can be improved (rarely perfected) by sharpening, but a blurry image is not going to be improved by sharpening.
Here are the screen-by-screen steps for adding contrast and sharpening. I am using Photoshop CS3, so your editing software may look very different. However, most editing software programs will allow you to do these steps, just in perhaps a different way. Google is a good friend if you get stuck on how to do this in your particular program. :)
Here is the first image, of my little Sophie. This is straight out of camera (but is cropped).
Inherently, our digital photographs have less of two things than their film counterparts : CONTRAST and SHARPNESS. (I'm thinking 'sharpness' isn't a word, but let's pretend here!)
Simply put, if you add some contrast and some sharpening to your photos, they will pop a little more!
Contrast is the amount of difference between the lights and the darks in your images. More contrast equals more of a difference. (Lots of contrast is especially obvious in a black and white image.)
Sharpening is just that -- making the image more crisp or more sharp. Please note, generally speaking a blurry image can't be saved by sharpening. There is a difference between a slightly SOFT image and a BLURRY image. Generally, a soft image can be improved (rarely perfected) by sharpening, but a blurry image is not going to be improved by sharpening.
Here are the screen-by-screen steps for adding contrast and sharpening. I am using Photoshop CS3, so your editing software may look very different. However, most editing software programs will allow you to do these steps, just in perhaps a different way. Google is a good friend if you get stuck on how to do this in your particular program. :)
Here is the first image, of my little Sophie. This is straight out of camera (but is cropped).
(Aperture : F/2.5, shutter 1/4000, ISO 640. Shot with my 50mm lens on my D700)It's a cute image, but could use a little help!
The first thing I'm going to do is Sharpen. Personally, my favorite sharpening tool is the Unsharp Mask.
Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask
You can easily go overboard with sharpening, so be sure to use both the "zoom" box inside the pop-up box and be sure that your "Preview" box is checked (I circled it in red). That way, you can see in real time how the sharpening is affecting your image. The goal is to enhance the crisp-ness of your image, not make it look un-natural. As far as settings go, I try to keep my radius under 3.0 and my amount around 50-60%. I definitely never go over 3.0 and 100%. But generally, if my original image isn't terribly soft I will do about 1.8 or 2.2 and 55%.
In this case, it is at 59% amount and 2.8 radius.
The second part of my quick and easy editing process is Contrast. There are several ways to add contrast to your image. For simplicity sake today, I'm going to show you the most direct way to adjust Contrast.
Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast
If needed, this is also a great place to lighten or darken your image (use the Brightness sliding scale). Add contrast with a positive number on the Contrast sliding scale. Don't forget to keep your "preview" box checked and watch the change in your image!
I usually click the preview box on and off to watch the change (when it is not checked, you can see the unchanged image... so it helps to see how far away from "original" you're getting).
This number is entirely a matter of preference... you'll find that some images need more and others will need less. Just keep an eye on that preview box!
Here is the end result. It was an easy way to add a bit of pop to this image without having to do extensive editing.
A little note : To me, whenever you sharpen an image you need to be sure to prepare for the fact that everything will be sharpened and therefore more noticeable, including wrinkles, grain/noise, blemishes, etc. That is one reason to keep a light hand when sharpening your images! (After adding sharpness and contrast, I will usually do some skin-smoothing. My favorite way to do this is with MCP Action's Magic Skin action set, specifically the Powder Your Nose action.)Here is another example, again with little Sophie. This is her first time in a big-girl bath :) See if you can follow along with the steps, without the play-by-play instructions.
(Aperture : F/1.4. Shutter : 1/400. ISO 320. Shot with my 50mm on my D700)
You can see that the difference is subtle, which is what you want.
If you have any questions about this, or any other photography questions, please leave a comment! Happy Monday!
If you have any questions about this, or any other photography questions, please leave a comment! Happy Monday!
**This is a bit of a learning curve for me, I've never done screen shots before or even a step-by-step tutorial. You may have even noticed that one of my items on my menu bar at the bottom of my screen shots is a Wiki article called "How To Take a Screen Shot." Rookie mistake. Haha!**
