Hey girl! Want to know how to edit only sections of a photo or how to get rid of that nasty blue or yellow tint?? Here are my secrets for how I do that - and more - ON MY PHONE.
There are like a billion apps out there to help you edit photos. Heck, you may even have some downloaded to your phone! But are you confident in what to do once you open the app?
The Best Editing App Ever
My very favorite app in the world is called “Snapseed.” I find it better than VSCO and all the other editing apps out there.
Best part? IT’S FREE.
First, I want to mention that this topic is the easiest to show via video, so I actually have a free 5-video tutorial series that shows how I edited five very different photos. I go much more in depth in the videos and release new techniques (like softening skin & removing spots) in each one!
In Video #1, you'll watch me edit the photo above from start to finish in 3 minutes. Just click the button below if interested. :)
In this post, I'm going to show you the three essential steps I use on almost all of my photos:
• White balance
• Tune Image
• Brush
I will go through the steps to transform the image below of me and my husband in the mountains. In my opinion, the original image (on the left) is already beautiful. But, for my style, the foliage is too yellow and the sky is too blue. I personally like dark greens and white skies.
PRO TIP: Don't just use a filter!
Filters affect the whole image, including the people, skin tones, and hair color. Those things should only be enhanced - not changed!
Here's how I edited the photo to match my brand, while maintaining the natural beauty of the original photo.
STEP 1: WHITE BALANCE
In the evening, phone photos often turn out very blue. In sunlight, they often turn out fairly yellow. Indoors, photos often turn out very yellow as well. Use the white balance tool to either warm or cool the photo.
Here, I turned the temperature down -9 to make the greens less yellow.
STEP 2: TUNE IMAGE
Every photo requires different tuning, but my go-to edits are:
↑ Brightness
↓ Saturation
↓ Ambiance
↑ Highlights
↓ Shadows
Here I turned brightness down -25, saturation -8, ambiance -18, highlights +34, shadows -55.
STEP 3: BRUSH
This feature is one of my favorites, and it doesn’t seem to be a common feature among many free editing apps. I use the brush to get the exact look I’m going for. The brush options include dodge/burn (brighten/darken), exposure, temperature, and saturation.
I usually use it to brighten or darken the edges of my photos, to lighten the sky, or to desaturate distracting parts of an image.
Here I desaturated and also brightened the sky by using the saturation and exposure brushes. This is because for my style, I like bright white skies.
White Balance, Tune Image, and Brush are definitely the three tools I use the most. I truly hope you are able to use them to their full potential to enhance your photos and create a beautiful brand. :)
Also, don't forget my treat to you - I worked so hard to make sure this video series is full of real and valuable content. I actually let my friend preview it, and this was her exact text message response:
"Ok that was SO HELPFUL! I had no idea you could brighten faces or tilt photos 😱😱 that's what I've needed!!!! Definitely one of the most honest how-to videos."
↓ FREE ACCESS TO ↓
VIDEO SERIES
