Enhance your images
Learn to apply a popular post-processing recipe for travel images with enhanced colour and detail
1 Perform standard lens corrections Open your RAW files in Adobe camera Raw, Lightroom or capture. select synchronize to ensure your corrections are applied to all files. use the automatic camera/ lens profile for your gear to reduce geometric distortion and chromatic aberration.
2 BRIGHTNESS FOR ATMOSPHERE The brightness of your image impacts the apparent colour saturation and can influence the tone of the scene. For shots taken early or late in the day, emphasise the ‘dark’ feel by lowering exposure or Brightness. Work in reverse for midday shots.
3 USE CLARITY The clarity slider adjusts the midtone contrast of the image and can enhance apparent detail – useful for making a subject of textured surfaces. increase global clarity to around 60%, then apply a stronger effect using the Adjustment Brush (K) where it is required, for greater flexibility.
4 ADJUST LOCAL COLOUR strong colour is a feature of many travel images, but increasing global saturation can result in unnatural effects. use the gradient Tool (g) to manipulate sky tonality and the Adjustment Brush to selectively increase or decrease saturation to smaller zones.
5 ADD LIGHT SHAPING use the Adjustment Brush to add light effects. increase the exposure, contrast and Temperature, then set a low Flow and medium Feather. Paint over an area of the scene using multiple strokes to build up the effect, then adjust the sliders to customise the effect.
6‘DIRECTION’ ADJUST FRAME EDGES Alter the of the shot, to guide the viewer’s eye towards the centre of the frame. use the Post crop Vignette slider in the effects panel to darken the periphery of the Frame, for greater depth. Alter the Roundness and Midpoint to taste.
7 CUSTOMISE SHARPENING Open the file in Photoshop, duplicate the Background layer and apply high Pass sharpening (Filter> Other>high Pass). select a Radius suitable for the resolution of your document, click OK and change the Blend Mode of the layer to soft Light. use a layer mask to remove sharpening from noise-prone zones.