Now that we’ve finished correcting color and exposure, it’s time to get creative and show off our best work. When it comes to creative editing in Lightroom, there is a lot we can do without having to jump into Photoshop. That’s exactly what I want to cover in this article, while also offering workflows for Lightroom to Photoshop for that extra level of editing.
We can all become the photographer we desire to be, but knowing what we don’t know is the first step toward that dream. Take some time, and figure out your primary areas of weakness. Then, get honest feedback from peers, judges, or those you admire, and make a plan. Keep an eye out for that knowledge you didn’t know you needed.
This has been my battle cry since my early days on Creative Live. Innovate or die—sounds sexy, but what does it really mean? Before we dive in, I need you to do some soul-searching here. Are you the type of person who just bitches about everything? Do your friends see you as a positive person? Or would they describe you as a bit of a pessimist? I know this is going to be tough for you to be honest about, but it’s crucial to your success—not only in business, but in life.
Social media marketing is one of the major ways that photographers help customers find and book their services. Many kinds of businesses are realizing that social media moves mountains when it comes to gaining recognition. At this point, most of us know that it’s necessary, but it isn’t easy, and it certainly can’t be done haphazardly if you truly want to be effective. You need the creativity to create a persona and brand that people will connect to. You need to create content that people actually find relatable, unique, and worth their time.
Storytelling is what we do as humans. It’s in the movies we see, the books we read, the music we listen to—it’s even in that commercial for your laundry detergent or favorite soft drink. Now more than ever, creating a narrative is the key to engaging an audience that is constantly bombarded by content—and more and more photographers are being hired to fabricate these stories for brands.
October 2019 Inspirations: Most Creative Image Inspiration can come when you least expect it. As photographers, we are visual artists. We express ourselves through our
Guys, sometimes I just feel like I’m being Punk’d. This is not a portrait. This is very bad. And I mean it with the nicest of sincerity. It’s just not a portrait. If you are the maker, and you submitted this, and you really want feedback, I’m going to give you feedback, okay?
You’ve got a choice to make. You always have to ask yourself, the space that’s being left when we leave some negative space, some head room, is it helping or hurting the image? And you know, when photographers get together and they start critiquing stuff like this, if it’s not helping, the argument is always made that it’s hurting, right?
A for effort here. I see what you’re trying to do, but this is poorly executed. You’re trying to drop the kids in, all to the same scene, looking the same way, and clearly our little child on the far right, who is not listening to what’s going on, is more than likely the problem child.
I feel the image is lacking expression, emotion, connection. Sometimes, as we’re doing critiques, we’re looking at the obvious. We’re looking at lighting, we’re looking at posing. Here, I’m just struggling with the connection of our subject. Maybe that’s the goal, but these are things you want to be looking at.
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