Unleashed Edit: Zephyr's Low Key Portrait

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Zephyr was photographed during our very first Style Lab Workshop. This tunnel of trees right next to the lake provided the perfect location for backlighting and for creating a moody but warm low key image.

Captured very early in the morning, the light was warm, but low, so the ISO is high. In the edit we deal with the resulting noise and quality issues using tools in both Lightroom and Photoshop.

The colour palette is minimised to create a simple low key feel, then the pose of the dog and composition helps to guide the light distribution and final crop.

This edit has something for everyone with lots of new editing tools to add to your toolbox!

Instructor: Charlotte Reeves

Video length: 32 minutes

Software: Lightroom and Photoshop

Skill level: Intermediate / Advanced

What you'll learn

Lightroom

How to use white fur as a grey card when setting white balance
One important thing you should avoid doing when applying noise reduction and sharpening
The trick to neutralising unwanted colours in your image using Masking
Why I turn the mask overly off before making local adjustments
Why you should always double-check Lightroom’s subject masking using a different overlay mode
How to create a custom vignette using multiple Masks to develop the mood
Why it’s a good idea to re-assess the global adjustments after masking

Photoshop

A handy trick to help you identify distractions in an image
Burn, baby, burn - when this tool can be the best option for darkening a brighter area
How to fix a stubborn colour cast in a small area
Topaz Denoise vs Topaz Sharpen - which one to use and when?
When does noise even matter?

Unleashed Edit: Zephyr's Low Key Portrait

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32 minute professionally-produced editing tutorial video
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