Photography is one of the major parts of travel. It is one of the best means to capture the best moments in the form of photographs. Photography doesn’t come in just one form, in fact, you can classify it into different categories such as wildlife photography, fashion photography, travel photography, etc. And speaking of travel photography, there are a countless number of avid photographers out there who travel all around the world just to take stunning pictures of different places. However, it’s not always that the pictures come out to be incredibly amazing, sometimes the colors in the pictures look a lot less bright along with several other issues. This is where photoshopping comes into the picture. There’s nothing Photoshop cannot do, it can make even the dullest picture look vibrant and out there in an instant. Whether it’s about making the photos look more intense, faking the backdrop, or even adding a text, you can do almost everything with Photoshop, however, photoshopping isn’t necessarily easy, you need to know some basics, and that’s what we are here to help you with.
We have put together a list of some tips and tricks that will enable you to make your travel photographs look more professional and stunning.
First technique- Curve tool
Sometimes pictures fail to do justice to the vibes and mood of the place, and if that’s what has happened to one of your pictures, especially cityscapes or street shots, you can Photoshop the picture into looking like an absolute dream by using the curve tool. As soon as you click on the curve tool, a pop-up box will appear on the screen, and after that, change the preset to custom and choose RGB as the channel. You can then adjust the brightness/darkness and tones of the picture by dragging the cursor arrow across the graph. Just make sure to use this curve tool carefully as it can also throw the picture off balance.
Second technique- Selection and inverse selection
Some pictures just need to be worked on certain areas, and adding some effect to the entire picture could possibly ruin everything, and that’s what selection and inverse selection tool is for. Rectangular, circular, etc. are some of the shapes you can use whilst working with this tool. Whether you have to select a large section of the picture or just a smaller part, using this tool will allow you to highlight that particular section in the image. Once you are done selecting the parts of the picture that need to be worked upon, you can click on ‘inverse’, and this will enable you to work on those areas without causing any disturbance to the initial selection.
Third technique- Contrast + brightness
This tool can work absolute wonders for your pictures, especially if the image lacks vibrancy or some sharpness. You can easily add brightness and contrast to the image to make everything look more beautiful and striking. Adding contrast to the image is one of the best ways to make the entire picture look more defined, however, you should avoid over contrasting in order to avoid deep shadows in the picture.
Fourth technique- Crop
The cropping tool is yet another great tool you can use to make the pictures look even better and composed. It’s not always possible to capture pictures from the right position or at the right time, although cropping can mess with the quality of the picture, sometimes, it’s the only chance you have to change the viewpoint of the image. You can adjust the cropping measurements in the tool bar. Also, make sure to create a copy of the picture in a folder so that you don’t end up cropping the original picture.
Fifth technique- Clone and spot healing
When used correctly, these two tools can create magic and make your pictures look a lot more captivating. If you encounter any issues with the picture and want to erase unwanted things from the images, you can use the spot healing tool to fix the problematic areas and spots. The clone tool also works in a similar way; it helps to remove undesirable things from the pictures. You can clone sections of your pictures and then place them somewhere else. Both the tools are incredibly easy to use, they could prove to be of great help in making the photos look more professional and neat.
Sixth technique- Dodge and burn tools
If you want to brighten up or darken certain sections in the image, you can use the dodge and burn tools to do the trick. For instance, if the face appears a bit darker in the picture, you can use the dodge tool to add brightness to the face. Similarly, if the picture looks overexposed, you can use the burn tool to darken the areas and make the picture look more detailed.
Tools you should use for-
Underwater photos- Underwater images tend to appear a bit faded unless you have used a high-quality digital SLR. In order to maintain the beautiful colors in the picture, especially blue waters, you can use the curves technique to add blue tones and saturation to the image.
Cityscapes- One of the best ways to make cityscapes or city scenes appear more striking and beautiful in pictures is by adding some contrast and brightness to them. You can use the curve/brightness tool to make some changes in the picture.
Sunset photos- Sunset photographs always turn out pretty amazing. However, in order to make the pictures look more stunning, you can adjust the red tones of the picture by using the curve tool. Additionally, you can add a bit of saturation to the picture to make it look more enhanced; just don’t go overboard with saturation.