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June 8, 2022
Jessica Goldfarb
Social Media Account Manager
From Meh to A-Meh-Zing
Photo editing is a skill that can take years to master, but what if you don’t have years? You need to post those pictures from yourlast photoshoot now, before they’re no longer relevant! Well, fear not, we’re here to share a few easy hacks that can completely change the quality of your picture and take them from “meh” to “a-meh-zing!”
1. Software, So Important
The first step to sprucing up your pictures is find
ing the right programs or apps to edit them in. There are so many photo editing softwares out there, it can be hard to choose. The truth is, there is no #1 best photo editing program. If you factor in cost, ease of use, platform, and all the tools, the best choice is going to depend entirely on your personal needs. We’ll list some out for you:
2. Crop That Bad Boy
Getting down to the actual editing, cropping is one of, if not THE most important editing hack for better photos. A good crop lets the viewer focus in on the details you want, and helps them ignore distracting objects in the background. There are several ways you can and should crop your image, depending on what the subject matter is and what you want to focus on. Play around with different crops of your image to decide what looks best!
3. Bright Photos, Bright Future
Most of the time, unless you’re shooting with professional grade lighting equipment, you’re going to need to adjust the brightness and contrast of your photos. A good rule of thumb when adjusting the brightness and contrast levels in your image is to focus on anything white. If there is something in your photo that you know is supposed to be white but has turned out a dingy gray in your pictures, raise the brightness level until it more closely matches the source. Any time you adjust the brightness, the contrast should be adjusted as well. It can take some practice to find a good balance when editing brightness/ contrast, so don’t get frustrated if your first try turns out less than perfect!
4. Spot The Spots
What? You don’t see any? That’s because we edited them out with the spot healing tool! This hack is a little bit more advanced, but is an absolute game changer for portraits and landscapes alike. The spot healing tool works by covering the selected area with a piece of a different part of your photo that is tonally similar. Usually one click will be all you need to fix, but sometimes the AI which is behind this process can get confused. If your image comes out looking a little funky, you may need to move around the selection circle. Great for unsightly zits or annoying litter!
5. Eye See It Now
Just like with any artistic process, the final step to your photo editing should be to step back from it and look away. Go do something else for a while! Read a book, watch a movie, walk your dog, and then come back to your computer and look again. Does the image still look good? Sometimes when we’re editing we can overdo it a bit. If you’re working on the same image for too long your eyes might adjust to the picture, and you may think you need to do more. It’s important to come back to your image with fresh eyes, and make sure you didn’t miss something. If you come back to it and it’s still beautiful, then congratulations, you’re ready to post!
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