Background: I’ve been a photographer taking photos for over 10 years now. I like editing my photos to bring them more in line with the feeling of the shot, rather than keeping it closer to the journalistic style.

I have purchased presets that I never like the look of, learned what all the settings in Lightroom do (or so I thought), but somehow can’t make them do what I want them to do.

For example, I was trying to emulate the editing style of Amy Shore (car photographer), as I really like her almost ephemeral/pastel-y shadows, and bring it closer to my preferences. Went into Lightroom, edited the settings I thought most responsible for the look and ended up with… garbage.

In a typical Dunning–Kruger turn of events, I am starting to think I may need to brush up on my editing skills/knowledge. Where do I start? Who is a good youtuber?

Thanks c:

  • incidencematrix@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I’m by no stretch an expert, but looking at some of her work I suspect that her “look” is coming from a whole combination of factors: lenses, filters, camera settings, choice of light and subjects, and composition. Setting aside the usual arguments for having one’s own style, I can see why you’d want to try to emulate her - very powerful stuff! But anyway, my point is that a lot of things are going into those photos, and I suspect that no amount of post-processing is going to get you that “look.” (Her composition and use of depth of field, for instance, seems really key to a lot of her shots. The ones I looked at also make very heavy use of atmospheric/environmental effects, and probably clever use of filters. She assuredly put a lot of work into shooting at just the right time and place to make those work out, probably with a lot of test runs and a lot of failures that we don’t see. She also had models/drivers/vehicles that were very well-chosen, which had to have involved a lot of work in and of itself.)

    Since you are stuck, may I make a suggestion? I would suggest (1) going through samples of her oeuvre that you like, and (2) for each image, stopping and cataloging what you like about it. Break it down by subject, composition, lighting, perspective, etc., etc. (as much as you can). Try to figure out what she is accomplishing (that you would like to be able to accomplish), and as much as you can, what she did to accomplish it. (The “what” is for the most part not going to be post-processing, though it could involve that.) Try to be as granular as you can. After doing that, (3) compile all the examples into a master list, to see if there are some patterns (things you reliably admire about what she is doing, along with what you can determine about what may have gone into that). Then, (4) pick a few examples from your list, and think about how you could use them in your work. Now (5) go out and try to use those techniques. Assess (6) how it went, and adjust/discard/go back for more as needed.

    This has some advantages. First, it will hopefully be fun, because it’s interesting to look at someone’s work and try to unpack what was cool about it and how the tricks might have been done. Second, it will focus you more broadly on useful techniques for making better art, and not narrowly on how to use Adobe products - that gives you a lot more ways to attain your goals. Third, it gives you a way to learn from her work, without trying to copy it: when you pick up tricks you will end up making them your own. That’s probably more satisfying in the long run, and anyway you aren’t going to beat a master at her own game! And fourth, you can extend it by applying it to other artists whose work you admire.

    Probably more elaborate than you wanted, but perhaps useful to think about…