FINALISE THE FEEL
Edit your images to enhance the mood in the digital darkroom
After the effort of capturing the best light wrapping around your subject, it makes little sense to now leave your shots unedited.
Pastel shades, monochrome palettes and earthy tones are all best perfected with some post-processing.
Portrait photographer Alexander Kuzmin is a pro at polishing his images in Photoshop or Lightroom. “I use a slightly different approach for each series depending on what I’m trying to express, and to match the mood and the theme,” he shares. “I love to experiment. I always try to shoot in a way to minimise postprocessing, so my main modifications deal with colour.” One of the best ways to invoke emotion is through colour, so brush up on your colour theory if you need to.
“Our brain is always adjusting the picture we see with our eyes. [We] make assumptions on the white balance, simplifications and shortcuts, with our own mood reflecting on how we see things, in contrast to the camera – which produces predictable and dull images,” Kuzmin says. “My aim is not to be true to life, but to reflect the mood and emotions that were there during the shoot, or maybe came to me afterwards. Most importantly, I tend to limit the colour palette, shift to complementary colours and exclude all the unnecessary detail,” he explains. Kuzmin removes or dilutes anything that won’t contribute to the mood or may distract the viewer, and this simplicity is key to editing.
“My aim is not to be true to life, but to reflect the emotions that were there during the shoot”