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travelbugraphy

I often get asked, “You seem to know the final result before you start editing. How do you do that?”

The short answer is – based on the photo’s story and potential, I decide on the mood and tone first. Once you have a clear vision, you take steps to work towards it.

Q: I bought presets before, and sadly they didn’t work as expected. I watched your tutorials on YouTube, and I had success following along. Thank you!

A: Thanks for the positive feedback! Since the lighting and colors in every photo are different, you will need to go through every panel and tweak certain sliders in order for presets to fit well. It requires some knowledge of editing at least.

Q: Do you use presets?

A: I have created my own presets. I use them occasionally. For every shoot, I like to develop a fresh look and feel, and experiment different approaches.

This image is a good example of editing highlights and shadows separately

Q: I don’t know how to edit from scratch. I’m so confused…

A: There is no right or wrong, it ultimately depends on your artistic vision.

Color grading is like flavors – you can use salt and pepper, Cajun sauce, sweet and sour, spicy, or any style you desire. But the basic adjustments are the same.

Creating your own “sauce” using tools like curves, color mixer, and color grading tool is aligning the color palette with your vision. You can choose to use store-bought sauce or make your own.

Q: Where should I begin?

A: Basic adjustments. Imagine you are cooking a chicken, you want it golden brown and crispy on the outside but juicy and tender on the inside. You will need to treat the inside and outside differently. That’s the basics of highlights and shadows.

There are 2 ways to approach it.

1/ The exposure times are the same but the “treatment” would differ.

2/ The exposure times are different, so we combine the 2 shots in post-processing. It is called HDR.

Both involve editing, whichever is easier for you.

Color grading is part of storytelling

Q: Can you elaborate a little more on color palette?

A: By limiting the number of colors in your color palette, you can establish a coherent look.

Let me give you an example. Pick a dominant color, let’s say it’s blue, then I have choices to make. It can pair with orange and create a complementary color palette. Is there a warm tone in my image? Or the saturation and hue can shift from blue to pale blue or cyan or purple.