Close up of a woman taking photo of fruits in a bowl using a mobile phone for her food blog. Blogger capturing photo of a fruit bowl placed beside a camera and a flower pot.
There are a lot of reasons why photography is one of the most popular hobbies in the 21st century. From enhanced photo technology to popular photo-sharing platforms, photography is accessible and fun to explore.
If you’re looking for ways to improve your photography skills, it’s time to think about what happens after the photo is taken. The way that you edit images isn’t quite as important as the way you capture images in the first place, but it’s pretty close.
We’ve compiled some photo editing tips that are easy to follow and don’t require expensive software.
Read on for five pieces of great photo editing advice that you’re going to want to put to use ASAP.
1. Start With Your Best Photos
Whether you’re a pro or a hobbyist, you’re probably snapping multiple shots of your subject. This is a good impulse because it means that you can sort the great from the just-okay. When you’re practicing editing, keep in mind that no amount of editing will turn a subpar photo into a great photo.
2. Make Adjustments to Shadows and Highlights
One of our simplest photo editing tips is to tweak the shadows and highlights in your photos. Shadow and highlight edits impact how bright or dark these elements of your photo are. By playing around with these two elements, you can make your photos closer to what we see with our eyes, rather than just what the camera captures.
3. Adjust What You’ve Captured
Some professional photographers take great pride in the fact that they never crop their photos or edit out unwanted elements. The reality is that there’s nothing wrong with adjusting what you’ve captured so that your subject is the primary focus. Using tools like this background remover can enhance your photos and allow your vision to come to life.
4. Learn From Your Favorite Filters
We all use preset filters sometimes and we can actually learn a thing or two about what we’re drawn to by paying closer attention to the filters we gravitate towards. For example, are they making your photo cooler or warmer? By studying filters, we can learn to make more subtle edits on our own.
5. Resist the Urge to Over-Edit
Keep in mind that when you edit images, the goal is to enhance what’s there, not overshadow it. A lot of great photos are lost to things like over-saturation, which can make a photo of something real look like a digital rendering. A good rule of thumb is to edit only to the point that your photo looks, well, unedited.
Which Photo Editing Tips Will You Try First?
Photography is a great hobby in part because it’s easy and fun to learn new tricks. These photo editing tips will help you to enhance your photography without expensive software. Which tips will you try?
Looking for ways to enhance your photography blog or business? Take a look around for tips and tricks that focus on the marketing side of things so that people see all of your hard work.
