Avatar photoPye Jirsa

Pye Jirsa is the co-founder of SLR Lounge and Lin & Jirsa Photography, one of Southern California's most recognized wedding photography studios. He is the creator of SLR Lounge's full educational library and has trained over 20,000 photographers since 2008 across lighting, posing, editing, and business strategy. He is also the co-creator of Visual Flow Presets and has spoken at WPPI, PPA, CreativeLive, Fstoppers, and Adorama.

5 Tips to Maximize the Shallow Depth of Field Effect In Your Portraits

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shallow depth of field effects feature

Shallow depth of field is a great way to draw focus to your subjects in your portraits. This is most often done with a prime lens with wide open aperture such as f/1.2 or f/1.8. The wide aperture creates what’s called the “Bokeh,” which are the out of focus backgrounds and foregrounds. “Bokeh” is widely used in portraits and I often get asked how to exaggerate it as much as possible. In this video, I’ll be walking through 5 easy tips to maximize your shallow depth of field effect with any lens.

Video: 5 Tips to Maximize the Shallow Depth of Field Effect In Your Portraits

Rather than a prime lens, I’ll be using the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 G2. This is to show that you can still achieve a great shallow depth of field effect with a zoom lens. I paired this lens with a Sony a7III Mirrorless Camera. The key is to always shoot at the widest open aperture.

Our model today is Kiara so be sure to visit her on Instagram. Let’s dive in.

Tip #1: Change Your Angle

Let’s begin by taking our first portrait of Kiara against the bushes. While the image isn’t bad, the scene lacks the shallow depth of field effect because the background itself isn’t very deep.

shallow depth of field effects change angles

To change this, we want to find a scene with a foreground that leads into the subject and a background that goes far back. This sidewalk is perfect as the leading lines draw our eyes right to Kiara. The distance in the background also allows it to fall off into a nice blur.

Tip #2: Backlight Your Subject

I always find that backlighting adds depth to the image. I took the photo at the widest focal length and widest aperture and got this great image.

Tip #3: When Wide, Step Close to Your Subject

When shooting wide angles, you have to be close to your subject to get that shallow depth of field. I then stepped in and got a shot from closer up using the same focal length and aperture.

shallow depth of field effects distance

Here are the two images for comparison. Notice the difference in shallow depth of field effect between the two images.

Tip #4: Exaggerate the Effect by Zooming In and Stepping Back

I took the lens up to 75mm and took an image with the same framing. At this focal length, the background is compressed and the depth is exaggerated.

shallow depth of field effects focal length differences

Here are the images side by side.

Tip #5: Add a Foreground

Adding a foreground is a great way to add to the shallow depth of field effect. Ideally, the foreground will also be backlit. I had Kiara stand in the grass and took the image through the leaves.

Putting It All Together

shallow depth of field effect final images
Edited with VF Presets > Modern

Now it’s time to put it all together. Here are the final images using these techniques to maximize the shallow depth of field effect.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this video/article. Understanding these techniques is a great way to make the most of your portraits, even when you may not have a prime lens. Even with a zoom lens, you can still get great shallow depth of field effects. Be sure to check out SLR Lounge Premium where we have courses on all things photography. In addition, check out Visual Flow for intuitive lighting based presets and retouching tools like we used in this tutorial.

Lastly, this tutorial was edited using LUT’s by Gamut, which you can find here.

Thanks for joining us this week and we’ll see you next time!

The “Day vs. Night” In Camera Special Effects Photography Technique

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in camera special effects photography

Special effects are a great way to tell compelling stories through photography. Not only that, but many great effects are actually quite simple to accomplish on location. In this video, I’ll be demonstrating one of our signature portraits, the Day vs. Night in camera special effects photography technique.

Video: The “Day vs. Night” In Camera Special Effects Photography Technique

This is a sneak peek into our new SFX Photography on SLR Lounge Premium. There, we dive into how to create our signature in camera special effects photography and portraits such as the Ring of Fire. Meanwhile, let’s dive into the technique with what you’ll need:

  1. Wide Angle Lens
  2. Tripod
  3. 3-4 Stop ND Filter
  4. Strobe Light
  5. Grid + CTO

Step #1: Composition

My composition is quite simple. I used the plain white wall while keeping perfectly centered. My choice of camera is the Canon EOS R5 with the RF 28-70mm f/2. I’m also using the Peak Design Travel Tripod.

Step #2: Ambient Light

Our approach will differ a bit here since our goal is to have half of the image bright and the other half dark. I first set the exposure for the bright side without blowing out any highlights.

in camera special effects photography nd filter effect

Then, I held the ND in front of the lens to darken the left half of the image. I’m using the Tiffen Water White 1.2.

Step #3: Modify Light

in camera special effects photography adding flash

Our next step is to add some flash onto the dark half of the image. I have a Profoto B10 Plus with the CTO and Grid kit up on a stand just out of frame. I aimed the light directly at Will’s face. The grid will keep the light focused just on him.

Step #4: Photograph

in camera special effects photography final image
Edited with VF Presets > Crush Pack

We’ll combine everything now to get our final photo. Adjust the ND filter until it’s perfectly centered and this is our final result.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article/video. As you can see, in camera special effects photography is quite simple and easy to do! Next time you’re out on a couple’s portrait shoot, give this technique a try. For an inside look on how we do all of our signature portraits, head over to SLR Lounge Premium for our SFX Photography Course. In addition, check out VF Presets for intuitive lighting based presets such as our Crush Pack that we used for our final image.

Don’t miss our next episode of Mastering Your Craft on Adorama’s YouTube channel next week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out our playlist!

Add Bokeh to Your Portraits Using Skylum’s Luminar AI

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add bokeh

Bokeh is the out-of-focus blur in a photograph from a shallow depth of field. It’s nearly ubiquitous in portraits and is useful for drawing attention straight to the subject. Great lenses such as primes can achieve incredible bokeh through their fast apertures such as f/1.2 or f/2.8. These days, having clean and beautiful bokeh is an art of its own that’s no longer limited to just lenses. Now, with Skylum’s LuminarAI, we can use their incredible software to replicate realistic bokeh. In this video, I’ll be demonstrating how to use their bokeh feature to add depth to various portraits.

Before we dive in, be sure to download the exercise file here and follow along as I edit!

Video: Add Bokeh to Your Portraits Using Skylum’s Luminar AI

How the Portrait Bokeh Feature Works

add bokeh luminar mask

The “Portrait Bokeh” feature will be in the Portrait panel of the toolkit. Right off the bat, Luminar does an excellent job masking out the subject using their AI. Now, the feature currently only detects and applies the effect to the background.

Under “Brush Control,” we refine the mask around the subject. Luminar uses this mask to determine where to apply the effect around. To add to the mask, stay on the “Focus” tab and simply paint over additional areas you’d like to keep in focus. To de-focus, go over to the “De-focus” panel and paint away the mask.

Inevitably, using only brushes to adjust the mask can lead to some mistakes. Instead of just undo-ing it all, go to the “Restore” tab on the right. Then, simply paint over your subject and Luminar will restore the original detected mask.

add bokeh blur effect

Out-of-focus blur has interesting qualities such as a slight bloom or brightening of the highlights. Luminar allows us to replicate those features under the “Background” section.

“Depth Correction” can be used in tandem with the main blur amount to get that perfect bokeh look. Lastly, “Edge Correction” can be used to tighten the mask around your subject. Note that when applied too high, it cuts into your subject and we don’t necessarily want that. I usually leave it alone or subtract the effect out.

Getting Creative With a Tilt-Shift Effect

Now that we know what all the settings do, let’s put it to practice on this image. I started right off the bat by getting my bokeh to my initial desired settings.

In order to replicate that tilt-shift effect, I simply drew a mask straight across. Be sure to use an extremely soft brush to let the effect gradually fade off.  Notice that Kiara’s face is well in focus as well as everything along the same plane. The top of the image falls away nicely into a soft blur. We don’t yet have foreground control but I anticipate the developers at Skylum will add that soon.

add bokeh final before after

Here is the final before and after.

Conclusion

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this article/video. Give this bokeh effect a try during your next photoshoot and see for yourself the intuitive power of Skylum’s LuminarAI. If you want to try out Luminarᴬᴵ you can use the code SLRLOUNGE for $10 off!

5 Mistakes Photographers Make When Going Into Business

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5 mistakes photographers make

Do you have a passion for photography you’re thinking of turning into a career? While that sounds exciting, the reality is that running a business is far different from taking photographs as a hobby. Many photographers run into obstacles and often fail when it comes to the business end of photography. In this video, I’ll be walking through 5 mistakes photographers make when turning their passion for photography into a profession.

Video: 5 Mistakes Photographers Make When Going Into Business

Let’s be honest. I’m able to give you this information because I’ve made all of these mistakes myself. Throughout my career, I’ve also seen countless other photographers fall into the same critical traps. Now, this information may be difficult to digest, but it’s important to be real and honest. Avoiding these mistakes can save you tons of time and can even save your business. Let’s jump into the first of 5 mistakes photographers make when going into business.

Mistake #1: Setting the Wrong Expectations

Undoubtedly, photography may be your passion and your work might be incredible. Your own family and friends might be asking why you aren’t a pro yet. The freedom to create to your heart’s content is the best part of any creative endeavor… as a hobby.

When photography becomes your career, it’s important to understand that you’re providing a service, not just art. Your clients will have expectations and needs that you will have to fulfill, especially when they are paying you. What this means is that you will lose much of the freedom to create as you please. Clients hire based on what they’ve seen, and they expect the style and look you’ve developed. Only rarely and for the highly established photographers, do clients give complete creative freedom.

If what you enjoy most about photography is the freedom of creating, you may consider keeping it as a hobby. Photography can be your passion, but passions don’t always have to be your profession. You can simply create photographs for your own enjoyment, and that’s perfectly okay.

Mistake #2: Lacking a Focus

You’re in it to win it but you love so many genres of photography. Let’s say you’re the jack of all trades, photographing everything from weddings and engagements to street and commercial. However, to succeed, I recommend you pick one genre to focus on.

Think about it. You’re competing with the best of the best photographers who spend all their time in very specific niches. When you try to tackle multiple genres, you’re likely not investing enough time specializing in any one genre. Clients want to hire the best, and to be the best, you need to focus in. Whether it be wedding, food, or fashion, become exceptional and outcompete your competition.

Mistake #3: Not Understanding Their Audience

This is one of the biggest mistakes photographers make when entering the business of photography. It’s crucial to know what your audience and target market wants if you’re going to be selling them your service. For example, a Jewish-Orthodox couple will have very different expectations than an adventure couple who want a wild destination wedding. The way you market your services to each couple will be completely different.

More broadly speaking, an engaged couple likely won’t be interested in editorial fashion portraits. In the same way, a family won’t care that you take commercial car photographs. Take the time to understand to a tee exactly what your target client wants and craft your message to be their solution.

Mistake #4: Getting Lost in the Technical

When we become fixated on the technical, we tend to use it as a crutch when things go wrong. In addition, we end up relying on it to sell our services. This is called “feature selling.” This could include boasting expensive gear or showing off our signature bokeh style. Don’t worry, we’ve all done it.

When we do this, we lose our ability to relate to our clients emotionally. They don’t see photography the same way we do as photographers. Our terminology will likely be foreign to them. Your clients are there for the experience you provide, and that leads to the next of the mistakes photographers make.

Mistake #5: Not Knowing Their Product

You’re not selling just a photograph or technical expertise. At least not nowadays when anybody can take a photo. You’re selling your ability to translate your client’s values into a photograph that they could then use.

For example, an advertiser is looking for a way to visually express their brand’s message and story. Likewise, your wedding clients want the memories of their cherished moments to hang on the wall. Your service as a photographer is to relate to your client. The photograph and your technical capabilities are simply the means.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article/video on the 5 mistakes photographers make when transitioning photography from a hobby to a career. Keeping these mistakes in mind and avoiding them can save you tons of time and energy when building your own business. I’ve made all of these mistakes myself so rest assured, these are coming purely from experience. Photography as a profession is highly fulfilling but understanding the unique challenges that come with it is crucial for success.

For a complete course on the business of photography, check out the Photography Business Training System on SLR Lounge Premium. Here, we dive into every aspect of building a successful business around photography. We’ve followed this model when building Lin & Jirsa into a 7 figure business, and in the course, we spill all the secrets to how you can do the same yourself.

Don’t miss our next episode of Mastering Your Craft on Adorama’s YouTube channel next week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out our playlist!

Special Effects Photography With the Ring Of Fire Technique

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special effects photography

You’ve likely already heard of the “Ring of Fire,” a special effects photography technique popularized by famous photographer, Sam Hurd. It’s a visual trick that uses a piece of copper tube and light to create a highlight reflection. It’s fairly easy to replicate and has been widely adopted by photographers worldwide. The results are beautiful and make for visually stunning photographs. In this video, I’ll be walking through the steps to create your own “Ring of Fire.”

For more tutorials from the “Master Your Craft” series, be sure to visit AdoramaTV and check out our entire playlist!

Video: Special Effects Photography With the Ring Of Fire Technique

If you’ve been following along “Master Your Craft,” you’ve likely seen our Shutter Drag Portrait tutorial. This is a glimpse into SLR Lounge Premium’s upcoming special effects photography course. We’ll be diving into how we do our signature portrait looks in a complete A-Z guide so stay tuned. Today, I’ll be showing you our take on the “Ring of Fire.” Let’s jump straight into what you’ll need:

  1. Bronze tube. You can get one at a local hardware store. I prefer 2″ long and 1-1.5″ in diameter.
  2. Flashes (2 recommended)
  3. A wide angle prime-like lens (24-35mm)

For our tutorial today, I’ll be using the Canon EOS R5 with the RF 28-70mm f/2.

Step #1: Place Your Subjects

First, I placed my subjects in front of the plain wall. They’ll be mainly lit by the large window just off camera-right.

Step #2: Dial In Your Exposure

1/200 sec, f/2, ISO 200

Following the C.A.M.P. framework, I began with the composition and ambient exposure. I had my subjects facing each other directly in the center of the frame. Then, I lowered the exposure, keeping in mind how I want the shadows to appear.

Step #3: Add In Your Flash

special effects photography setting up the flash

I used two Profoto A10 flashes with MagMod CTO Gels to add warmth to the lights. Place the lights about 4 feet behind each subject. Keep the height below their shoulders and angle the lights so they cross to the other person.

Step #4: Set Your Flash Power

special effects photography flash position

Start with low power and work your way up until you get to your desired brightness. Make sure the lights are fully hidden behind your subjects.

Step #5: The Bronze Tube

Bring in the bronze tube and hold it in front of your camera. Keep in mind that you should be shooting with a wide open aperture. This isn’t only for the flare and depth, but blur out your hands holding the tube. What creates this effect is a little bit of the flash reflecting off the inside of the tube. This creates the iconic flare that we see. I recommend using your flash’s modeling light to guide you as you shoot. Move the tube around to play with the shape and angle of the ring effect.

special effects photography final images ring of fire

After that, photograph away! Check out some of our final images, edited with Visual Flow’s Mood preset pack.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article/video. This technique is a fantastic way to completely transform your portraits. Be sure to check out Sam Hurd, the photographer who popularized this incredible effect. For more A-Z education like this, be sure to check out our SLR Lounge Premium Library. Here, you can stay tuned for our upcoming course on special effects photography!

Don’t miss our next episode of Mastering Your Craft on Adorama’s YouTube channel next week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out our playlist!

Tilt Shift Lens in Wedding Photography | When and How to Use One

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If you’ve ever experimented with tilt-shift lenses, you know that they offer photographers unique control over depth of field and perspective. They are often used for photographing architecture, landscapes, or creative portraits, but they can also work wonders for delivering amazing wedding day images. They create a soft, dream-like look, which works especially well with …

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How to Edit Black and White Landscape Images in Adobe Lightroom

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how to edit black and white

Black and white photographs have a whole language of their own. By removing the colors, the tones have to carry all the weight of the story. There’s no right or wrong way to edit black and white images. It’s all about personal preference and what carries the story forward. In this video/article, I’ll be showing you how to edit black and white landscape images using a unique method in Adobe Lightroom.

For more tutorials from the “Master Your Craft” series, be sure to visit AdoramaTV and check out our playlist! For a complete course on Lightroom editing, check out the Mastering Lightroom Course on SLR Lounge Premium!

Video: How to Edit Black and White Landscape Images in Adobe Lightroom

how to edit black and white basic

Before we begin, I wanted to show you what a typical black and white edit would look like in Lightroom. I used a simple black and white conversion on the raw file, then tweaked the basic adjustments.

how to edit black and white final edit

However, on the right is the final image we want to end up at after the editing process that we’ll walk through in a moment. Compare it to the basic edit on the left. Notice the difference in depth and details in the tones. It makes for a much more dramatic black and white image and the steps are quite simple. You can follow the same steps for any black and white image.

Before we begin, download the exercise file here and follow along. Let’s jump straight in.

Editing Steps

  1. Separate the Colors
  2. Color Calibration
  3. Convert to Black & White
  4. Basic Adjustments
  5. HSL / B&W Mixer
  6. Amplify Presence
  7. Local Adjustments

Step #1: Separate the Colors

The first step is to leave the image in color. Use the color temperature until you can see the different colors. We want the water to appear blue and the rocks to appear warm/orange. At extreme color temperatures, you’ll notice that the entire image takes on a single hue. This makes it difficult to adjust individual colors later on.

Step #2: Color Calibration

Next, I bumped up saturation and played with the channels in the color calibration panel. This further intensifies and isolates each color. We’re going to want that to directly control the brightness of each color after converting to black and white.

Step #3: Convert to Black & White

Press “V” to convert the image to black and white. I then lowered the exposure.

Step #4: Basic Adjustments

I used the basic adjustments to set the highlights and to bring details back into the shadows. Here are the final adjustments. We’ll save the presence panel for a later step.

Step #5: HSL / B&W Mixer

how to edit black and white mixer

This is where the first two steps comes in handy. The HSL panel becomes the B&W mixer, allowing us to adjust the brightness of each color. Because we separated the colors earlier, each slider will affect a different part of the image. For our image, I deepened the reds and oranges. I then darkened the sky and water using the blue and aqua sliders. See the before and after.

Step #6: Amplify Presence

Now, we’re going to add clarity and de-haze to intensify everything we just did. Notice how much more detail pops out. I then made final adjustments to my base tones to get that extra contrast.

Step #7: Local Adjustments

I used Profile Correction from Visual Flow’s Retouching Toolkit. This straightens out any distortion caused by the lens. Then, I leveled the horizon and added in a vignette.

I then used a radial filter around the wave to pull the attention toward that part of the image. I increased the highlights only to leave some contrast in the waves rather than just darkening it.

how to edit black and white graduated filter

In the Retouching Toolkit is a Sky-Cloud-Ocean Enhancing brush to intensify the sky. Make sure to feather the effect off of the waves.

how to edit black and white highlight boost

Next, I used Dodge Whites brush to pop out the bright areas of the image. This brush isolates the highlights and doesn’t affect the dark areas at all.

how to edit black and white final before after

Lastly, I used a graduated filter to burn the bottom of the image. This is to draw the attention toward the top where all the action is happening. See the final edit compared to the RAW image.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this video/article on how to edit black and white landscape images. Black and white photographs are all about precise tone control. By separating the color tones, we get complete control of specific areas of the image. This allows us to get dramatic effects we wouldn’t otherwise get using basic black and white conversion techniques. For a comprehensive editing tutorial, check out the Mastering Lightroom Course from our SLR Lounge Premium Library. Also, be sure to check out Visual Flow’s Retouching Toolkit to get access to all the intuitive tools like we used here.

Don’t miss our next episode of Mastering Your Craft on Adorama’s YouTube channel next week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out our playlist!

Creative Photography Props to Level Up Your Portraits

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creative photography props

A simple and effective way to add production value to your images is through adding props. Even simple props can add additional interest as well as story to the overall scene. In this video, I’ll be walking through how to use creative photography props to level up your portraits.

For more tutorials from the “Master Your Craft” series, be sure to visit AdoramaTV and check out our entire playlist!

Video: Creative Photography Props to Level Up Your Portraits

I want to show the creative process and how an image evolves to the final version. To do this, I’ll be starting with a basic “walk-up” shot. Then, we’ll be working step by step to make changes to the photo until we get to the final images using props.

Our model today is my friend Kiara so be sure to give her a follow on Instagram here. I’ll also be using my favorite camera setup: The Canon EOS R5 with the RF 28-70mm f/2L. Later on, I’ll be switching to my Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art lens. Let’s dive right in.

The “Before” Shot

creative photography props before

We’ll begin with this basic shot before adding in any creative photography props. We have direct sunlight on Kiara with center framing and a trail behind her. Let’s start with our first change.

Step #1: Backlight Your Subject

I wanted to backlight Kiara due to the flowy and translucent nature of her dress. With the sun lighting from behind, this would create some great highlights. Already, this is a great improvement.

Step #2: Find a Foreground Element

Even though the shot itself wasn’t bad, I thought the overall scene was a bit uninteresting and empty. To fix this, I stepped behind this backlit plant and shot through it to get this image. However, I still think the sky and background are rather plain and could use some improvements.

Step #3: Fill the Entire Frame

To cover up the areas of the shot that aren’t as interesting, I used the branches of a tree. I found a spot underneath this tree that provided a perfect amount of background detail. By having Kiara turn to her side, we get these great highlights on her face.

Step 4: Add In Your Creative Photography Props

Prop #1: The Chair

One of my favorite creative photography props to add into a scene is a piece of furniture. A tip I have for finding furniture is to rent them rather than buy them, as buying them can be quite expensive. Check around for local vendors who service events and you may find some great options for props.

I positioned this chair right where Kiara was standing and had her sit with this pose.

creative photography props before after

Here’s the final image compared with where we first started.

creative photography props final images

This is where I switched out my lens for the 35mm Sigma. Here are some of the final images from this location edited with Visual Flow’s Pastel Preset Pack.

Prop #2: Palm Frond

I placed Kiara against the clear sky and I used the palm frond to create shadows on her face, like a “Gobo.” We were working with front sunlight and I moved the palm front around to get the perfect shadow patterns.

creative photography props final collage palm fronds

Here are some of our final photos edited with Visual Flow’s Black and White Mixer.

Lastly, I wanted to use the palm front as a foreground element. We moved into direct sunlight to catch as much light on Kiara’s dress. Then, I increased my depth of field so that the palm frond isn’t completely blurred out. I held the palm frond up and composed so that the frond wraps around Kiara from above.

creative photography props final palm frond 2

Check out the final shot from this set, edited with Visual Flow’s Mood Preset Pack.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this video/article. Next time you’re out on a shoot, try following these tips and adding some creative photography props to your scene! Not only do they add production value, they can add story and help create an overall dynamic image.

Before you go, check out Visual Flow for intuitive lighting based presets to get similar looks as we did here. In addition, for complete courses on all things photography, be sure to visit SLR Lounge Premium Library.

Don’t miss our next episode of Mastering Your Craft on Adorama’s YouTube channel next week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out our playlist!

Lightroom Editing Tips for Environmental Shutter Drag Portraits

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lightroom editing tips

Last week, we walked through how to capture an environmental shutter drag portrait. A shutter drag portrait is a portrait that uses slow shutter speeds to capture movement around a subject. We followed steps to capture a final RAW image. In this video/article, I’ll be showing you my Lightroom editing tips in this full walkthrough to the final edited image! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Part 1 here.

Video: Lightroom Editing Tips for Environmental Shutter Drag Portraits

lightroom editing tips raw image
This was the final image, captured at 1/4 sec, f/16, ISO 50

Before we begin, let’s take a look at our final RAW shutter drag portrait from last week’s video.

lightroom editing tips final edited images

We’ll be sending this image into Adobe Lightroom Classic and editing a color version as well as a black and white version. I’ll walk through the entire step-by-step process to get to these final images.

Be sure to download the exercise files here and follow along as I edit!

Starting With Color

I began by leveling out the horizon using the crop tool. Then, I added de-haze. Usually, I’d work on the basic adjustments, but de-haze has an interesting component many of you might not know about. Turning up de-haze pulls out a lot of blue tones. I set it to +40 and set all my basic adjustments to create an “HDR” style look. After adding contrast using the tone curve and increasing clarity, this is our first before/after with our settings.

I played with HSL a bit to correct the blues as well as bring out some skin tones. Since I only adjusted Luminance, here are the final settings.

lightroom editing tips radial burn

Next, I used the Radial Burn brush from Visual Flow‘s Retouching Toolkit to darken around the subjects.

Then, I used graduated filters to darken the areas above and below the subjects.

I wanted to emphasize the blue in the sky and the warmth in the sand. To do this, I used a graduated filter to follow the existing colors and push the blues using the color temperature. Now this affects the entire upper half of the image including our subject’s skin tones.

To fix this, I used the Range Mask set to Color and selected the color from the sky. This limits the mask to just the areas that are already blue. I used the brush to erase the blue over the male subject’s shirt.

lightroom editing tips color edit

I then used the “Sky and Clouds” graduated filter to make the clouds pop. Here is the final before and after of our color version.

Converting to Black & White

lightroom editing tips convert to black and white

Press “V” to shift the photo to black and white. I lowered the exposure and exaggerated the graduated filters I applied in the color version. If you wanted to instantly refine the photo’s mood and style, this would be a good time to incorporate a wedding Lightroom preset.

A good trick is to flip back to color for a moment. While in color, cool down the image a touch, just until there was good separation between the warm and cool tones. Doing this step this allows for more control of each hue in the black and white mixer.

lightroom editing tips crush brush

I noticed the shadows around the eyes were a bit too deep. To remedy this, I used the “Deep Crush Skin” brush which slightly reverses the de-haze we applied earlier. I applied this on the subjects to lift the skin tones back.

On a new brush, I pulled just the whites up and applied it over the water. This lifts the highlights in the water and makes it pop just a bit more.

Final Images

After cleaning up some spots and specks, we end up with these final images.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article/video. You can apply these Lightroom editing tips to any type of photography to get great images. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out part one of this series where I walk through How to Capture an Environmental Shutter Drag Portrait. To learn more about editing on Lightroom, check out the Complete Lightroom Course on SLR Lounge Premium. In addition, be sure to check out Visual Flow for our intuitive lighting based presets as well as Retouching Toolkit.

Don’t miss our next episode of Mastering Your Craft on Adorama’s YouTube channel next week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out our playlist!

How to Get Dramatic Clouds in Overcast Lighting Conditions

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overcast lighting

When we hear overcast lighting, the first thing we think about is flat and soft lighting. Usually, this means there won’t be much detail and contrast in the environment, especially the sky. It might be easy to think that the sky is uninteresting and impossible to get a good image under these conditions. However, I want to show you that overcast days are some of the best times to capture dramatic images. In this video, I’ll be walking through how to shoot and edit dramatic clouds in overcast lighting conditions in Adobe Lightroom Mobile.

Video: How to Get Dramatic Clouds in Overcast Lighting Conditions

I’ll be demonstrating how to make clouds pop during overcast lighting on a dedicated camera as well as the iPhone. I’ll be using the Canon EOS R5 paired with the RF 28-70mm f/2L lens. After capturing the same image on the phone, I’ll be doing a full edit in Adobe Lightroom Mobile so stick around until the end! Let’s dive in.

Exposing to Preserve the Details

overcast lighting eosr5

Even though the skies appear bright and flat in overcast lighting, I promise you that the details are there. What matters is how you take the photo in-camera. First, make sure you’re shooting in RAW format to capture as much information as possible. Then take a basic composition like I did here. I focused on the rocks and composed the sky to take up the upper portion of the frame.

overcast lighting exposure

The trick to properly exposing the image is using the histogram and your camera’s highlight alert to prevent overexposure. Exposing too bright will cause the photo to lose important information in the clouds. Here is a side by side example with the final settings.

On the iPhone, the app does a great job automatically exposing the image and preserving the details, even in overcast lighting conditions. Without making any adjustments to exposure, here’s the raw photo from the iPhone.

How to Make the Clouds Pop in Adobe Lightroom Mobile

Once we’re in the app, the first thing we’re going to do is bring the detail out from the sky. Use the Graduated Filter in the “Selective Editing” section and drag over the sky. Make sure to feather the mask.

I pulled down the exposure. Then, in effects, I increased de-haze. You’ll notice the details in the clouds immediately popping out from the overcast lighting. Next, I boosted clarity. Check out the difference from just those simple adjustments.

Editing the Final Image

overcast lighting vf preset black and white

I personally love turning landscape shots during overcast lighting into black and white photos. To do this, I reset the image and applied the Black & White preset from Visual Flow’s Crush pack.

Then, I added global adjustments including lowering the exposure and turning up the de-haze as well as clarity over the entire image.

Next, I added the graduated filter and pulled the exposure down over the sky. I added more de-haze as well as clarity over just the sky.

overcast lighting final edit

For my last adjustment, I kicked up overall contrast a bit over the entire image and this is the final before and after.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article/video. Just because the sky appears flat and uninteresting during overcast lighting, doesn’t mean you can’t still capture great photos. Landscape photographers especially, can rest assured knowing there is still plenty of detail left in the sky. Try out these tips next time the sky is overcast and see what incredible photos you can end up with!

For more tips and tricks on mobile phone photography, check out Creative Photography 101 from our Premium Library. To get presets like the one I used in this video, visit Visual Flow where we have a full library of intuitive lighting based presets and retouching tools. Thanks for watching!