Unleashed Edit: Maggie's New Brother, Billy

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Billy and Maggie’s session amongst the wide-open, dramatic scenery of the hills above Christchurch was a first for Billy. Maggie is no stranger to my camera lens though. The session was celebrating the arrival of her new baby brother.

Because of the wide open space, the livestock all around us, and Billy’s young age, they remained on a leash for the whole session.

In my favourite shot of them together, Billy’s leash removal is simple, but Maggie's is more complicated.

In this edit, I’ll show you how I enhance the drama of the sky, and deal with those leashes, as well as share some techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop that will be a great addition to your workflow as finishing touches.

Instructor: Craig Turner-Bullock

Video length: 33 minutes

Software: Lightroom and Photoshop

Skill level: Intermediate

What you'll learn

General

BTS Timelapse footage from the shoot
Some personal favourites from the shoot
How to expose with the edit in mind
Why and how to use a centred composition

Lightroom

How to bring out RAW detail with 3 simple adjustments
How White Balance can bring life to fur
When to use Lightroom for sharpening
Why masking sharpness works best
Tips for detecting Chromatic Aberation
What are profile corrections and how they work
A quick trick for enhancing sky
How to refine select subject and another auto mask selections
How to change crop overlays
Why a few final touches make the biggest difference to your images

Photoshop

Why using the Patch Tool as a selection tool saves you time if you need to use Content-aware fill
A quick way to easily identify editing mistakes
Why removing the collar isn’t always the right thing to do
Advanced brush shortcuts
How to successfully clone fur
What not to do when fixing colour casts on fur (and what to do instead!)
Tips for making eyes sparkle on multiple dogs
How and why you should paint with light
How seeing in black and white can help edit colour images