This shot was a bit of an experiment because I had just bought a new ND filter and I wanted to test it out. I always prefer to learn new techniques by practicing rather than by reading manuals and tutorials, and this was one of my first attempts. It didn’t come out great straight from the camera as you can see in the before, but I’ve grown to like the after version. Have an idea for the next photo in the before/after series? Let me know! You can find me over on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!
Here’s another one in the before/after set. I always advocate shooting in RAW because you can play around with the image afterwards without losing any photo quality like you would with a JPG. So, what did this photo look like straight from the camera? Use the slider below to find out! The after shot is slightly unrealistic in that it didn’t quite look like that with the naked eye, but it’s a good example of how much you can change a photo even though it may look like a dud when it comes straight out of the camera.
As a photographer, I’m always curious about how other people edit their photos and what the photo looked like before all the editing, so I’m going to start a series of before/after posts, where I show you the original photo as it came out straight from the camera and then the after photo after my editing. Let’s look at this shot of Venice Beach. You can use the slider on the image below to see the before and after shots. With this Venice Beach edit, I decided to go for a slightly retro look and I think it worked out ok. No two edits are ever the same and each one depends on the desired look and what the photo is of. Sometimes I look at a before photo and think damn, I messed up with this, but a few hours in Lightroom and you’d be surprised at how you can completely change a photo! Is there a particular photo of mine you want to see the edit of? Let me know on Facebook! For now, I’ll leave you with the most important tip of all: always shoot in RAW!
