Unleashed Edit: Opal's Storm Girl Edit

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Something a little different from my usual sunlit style, this mini shoot with my special little lady Opal took place one stormy afternoon on a rocky headland by the sea.

I love the limited colour palette and stormy tones created by the sky, water and rocks, but there’s quite a few elements in the image and it needed some work to bring attention to Opal, minimise distractions and enhance the light.

In this edit, we’ll use Lightroom’s masks to create the mood and selectively edit various parts of the image differently. Then it’s into Photoshop for the finishing touches including a virtual bath for Opal! I wish it were this easy in real life.

Instructor: Charlotte Reeves

Video length: 37 minutes

Software: Lightroom and Photoshop

Skill level: Intermediate

What you'll learn

Lightroom

Choosing an appropriate Camera Profile
When lens corrections are appropriate to use
How the data on the histogram can give you extra assistance when editing
Why it’s sometimes better to use Masking to do the majority of the tonal adjustments
How to darken a specific colour
The Masking overlay mode you should always switch to, to check how accurate the selection is
The best slider to use to bring out detail in a stormy cloudy sky
How to “neutralise” colour casts quickly and easily
How to avoid the “cardboard cutout” look when editing only the subject
What should always be the focus of the image and how to ensure that is conveyed in your edit
How to use Color Grading to clean up and brighten while also neutralising a color cast

Photoshop

Why simplifying an image can make it more successful
How to remove a bunch of little distractions all in one go
How to give a white dog a “virtual bath”
What you should always do before using Topaz DeNoise or Sharpen AI
Using a Curves adjustment to make a very specific tonal edit on the wave splashes
Exploring cropping options based on compositional rules
An effective technique to help you direct the eye around an image

Unleashed Edit: Opal's Storm Girl Edit

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