How to get Vibrance & Add Contrast and Color to you image in Photoshop!

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This is the first of hopefully many tips and tutorials I plan on posting to my blog. To be clear, the "How I did it" theme doesn't mean I know something special or unique that anyone else doesn't know, but just a term to express that this is one way that I edit my photography. And with that being said...on to the info!

IMAGE OUT OF THE CAMERA (aka the Before) 

Photoshop is an amazing tool in enhancing your photography. If used correctly (in which MANY cases it is not) PS should be used to better your work, not create it. (don't believe me? click here for some wonderful examples) So first and foremost you need a good image to start with. This image was shot on a SUPER bright sunny beautiful East County San Diego afternoon (High 90's, no clouds) and we found ourselves in the middle of a new park....with no trees or shade. anywhere. With the sun blazing down on us overhead I searched the park until I found this little stage that was covered. Finding the shade allowed us to shoot in a controlled and balanced lighting situation and the kids kept cool enough that they didn't get fussy. (note: kids hate east county summers just as much as me. We cry and whine and just want to go for the AC and a Spongebob weekend marathon) 

My Camera Settings on this Shot:

Exsposure: 1/400s (dial reads 400 on your camera)

f/4

ISO 200 (shooting in bright daylight, this should be as low as your camera allows)

Lens: 24-70mm @ 55mm

OPENING THE IMAGE IN PHOTOSHOP!

I shoot exclusively in the RAW format. (check your camera manual, pretty much all DSLR cameras will shoot RAW as well as some point & shoot cameras) If you want to know more about RAW vs. Jpeg shoot me an email. (or google it.) 

When I open a RAW file into Photoshop, the Adobe RAW editor first appears and is shown above. There are four adjustments I use on almost every shot. This is just my style in how I edit my photography. Some people may use other adjustments and some not at all. The key to how I edit my images is to add as much depth and color to the image without making the image blown out. 

(listed in the order I adjust these settings) 

1. Exposure - I use this adjustment slider to set the exposure until the brightest of the highlights is at about as high as it can go without being blown out. 

2. Contrast - Depending on the image, I usually add a lot of contrast from the RAW editor. (sliding the adjustment to the right) This is usually more true with photographing children or babies. I think it brings out a lot of color and makes the photos look more crisp.

3. Brightness - Not to get confused with Expsoure, Brightness adds an overall umm...brightness to the image. I usually keep an eye on the highlights of the image when adjusting the Brightness. You have added too much if the brightest highlight looks blown out. 

4. Black - I slightly add more Blacks to the image. After adjusting or adding more brightness and increasing the exposure, adding a slight more of the blacks into the images gives it depth. (to me at least) 

NOTE: these steps CAN be done with a jpeg inside of photoshop using the Image > Adjustments tab from the top navigation area. Also if you have Adobe Bridge, you can open your Jpegs in the RAW editor as well.

FINISHING THE IMAGE

For a lot of photographers the image could be finished on the last step. But as for my style I always like to "burn" the edges of the images somewhat. I don't know why. There isn't a rule or a reason behind it other than I just like how it looks. Which since we are all creatives and enjoy making things because we like how they look then you can feel free to copy this step, ignore, or come up with something of your own that you like as well. That is photography. 


Scorch the hedges? Burn the edges? what the F&*% does that mean? Ahh my friend....the "burn" and "dodge" tool.


Burn = using a brush to make an area of an image darker
Dodge = using a brush tool to make an area of an image lighter


overuse either one of these and you will ruin your image.


When using the burn or dodge tool, you want to do so in slight increments. Meaning use a soft brush (has blurred edges not solid) and a low opacity. (I usually start around 10%) The reason behind this is because you are digitally changing your image. If you do it too strong (i.e. use a solid brush @ 100% opacity) then it will be too drastic of a change to the image for it to look natural.


Once you start using this tool more and more you will see other photographers who are completely blind to that last point.


Besides the Brush size and type and the opacity, you can also adjust what tones you want the burn or dodge to effect.


Highlights - only the bright or highlight parts of the image will be effected.
Midtones - most commonly used selection by me, only the midtones of the image will be effected.
Shadows - only the darkest parts of the image will be effected.


As you can see in the image above I am using:
Burn Tool (white hand looking tool)
Brush Size 1718 (BIG!)
Set to Midtones
Opacity 10%


From there I lightly brush a little darkness to the edges of the image in a very slight way. Look at the before and after image at the top of this post and you will probably see it a little better now.


This is "technically" a vignette. I hate saying that because I think digital vignettes are the Fanny Packs of post production editing. And again another tool that is blindly used incorrectly in a LOT of photography. Don't be that guy.


Have any questions or comments? Hit me up on facebook or shoot me an email!