I think I prefer James' style here, myself, but it's also different subjects. Love the bright but natural look. Kind of overexposed film looking. @@VTeixex
Shadows.... I totally agree. Best advice I ever got was to embrace the shadows! Shadows simplify a scene, hide distractions, and often give a sense of mystery (because you can wonder what is in the shadows). I think people get impressed with the dynamic range of their good new camera and feel like they should raise them... and rarely does it actually improve the photo.
I love how this video is an example of how different tastes lead to different styles. I completely disagree with nearly everything you say here because this kind of editing would look horrible with my images. But with your style it totally flows. People often wonder how they develop their own style and this is it! Just do what appeals to you and eventually you will produce unique looking work.
I thought you copy pasted a comment I made on a separate video! I personally love adding a smidge on clarity (+5) and then use a luminance mask to add a bit of bloom. Best of both!
This video is excellent. I've learned more from you in 15 minutes than I have anywhere else in the 5 years I've been interested in photography. Great work!
4 ชั่วโมงที่ผ่านมา +1
This is probably the most concise and clearest video on editing I think I’ve ever watched. Thank you and keep them coming!
Your editing is refreshing with so many people trying to wring every last drop of contrast and sharpness they can out of an image. I fall into that trap too. So many people I watch go way overboard in post and it's nice to see someone with a different style showing their thinking. Thanks James, always interesting videos.
As a landscape photographer I tend to lessen the contrast the deeper into the image I go. For example, I won't use a linear gradient. Instead I'll maybe sharpen the foreground then move deeper into the photo and create a mask specifically for say, a line of hills. Then after that there may be a mountain and I'll create a mask specifically for it and so on. It can be a lot of work but I think it tends to create a more realistic effect than just a single gradient . Great video James. That snowman is you.
That tip on clarity is so simple yet I’ve never tried decreasing clarify. Felt to me like reducing sharpness. Thanks! Going to try this on all my photos immediately.
Absolutely sooo helpful especially the luminance and sharpening 👍 P. S The book is one of my favourite photo books, it's super inspirational and thank you, spotted my name in there, which made me smile 👍😊
It's the eye catching contrast and such, because often people pull the shadows and the highlights and all they have left is clarity to add midtone contrast.. I don't like that look. It was the typical "Sony" look for a good while because of the dimension range boost over Canon at the time.
I am not on my own when I say how valuable the information that you have just given us is so important to the finished picture! I am not the best editor of pictures and that's why I try and get everything right in camera when taking the picture but that is not always possible, Thank you so much for the info, now for some re editing of my pictures......
I love how this just shows that we all have different approaches to editing and that's valid. We all just have certain styles and preferences when it comes to creative outputs. I would still keep all of these in mind cuz I can see myself implementing these styles and techniques as well in certain situations.
It's refreshing to hear somebody say they don't like added clarity. It drives me bonkers when I see it used excessively in "professional" images. I always think it makes an image look "dirty"
Enjoyed this, entertaining, informative and an inspiration to try some different editing approaches. It is also refreshing to see an established photographer taking a relatively straightforward approach, and *assuring others that it's absolutely OK to do so* - as opposed to the more commonly encountered guru suggestion that a 7th Dan Black Belt in Masking and Layers is an absolute must for any and all editing work!
The one time where I do find myself using the clarity to improve an image is with some food photography. It can help bring out some details in different food items.
Interesting insight, fascinating how we all use the same tools differently. I am often a heavy editor myself, I wonder if in time we will all strip it back to be less shiny. Your video mentioning "fatigue of bright packaging" has always stuck with me.
James! I'll confess: I saw the topic, and I was thinking "ho hum" (my mood, nothing to do with you) but I'm only at 2 minutes and you made that comment about the Clarity starting at zero and ONLY going left. HOLY CATS. You're so right. I watched the rest. I appreciate you.
Incredible knowledge in this one, the contrast decreasing with distance part at the end blew my mind. Such a simple thing, but makes a huge impact. Thanks for sharing!
I tend to not like editing videos because they tend to be very generalized and not helpful at all. ""Bring up the shadows and bring down the highlights ... blah blah blah!" But there are two photographers I always enjoy editing videos from, you James and Mads PI! You two could not have any more different styles but I love them both and I appreciate bot of your editing vids. Most photographers talk about local versus global adjustments and so many photographs I see look like cut out collages or everything in the photo has an oval halo/vignette around it ... 😆 ... so anyway thank you for doing a realistic albeit slanted towards your taste/style editing video. I don't necessarily want to copy your style but it is super interesting knowing what you do to bring out your style and therefore your techniques can be futzed with to get something that is closer to my style (that is assuming I had a style 😂)!
Hmm. Negative clarity…. Is that why I like low contrast vintage lenses? I’ve never gone beyond 20-30% clarity but now you’ve got me wondering if I give it too much respect. Also totally love what you say about shadows. People get too obsessed with not blowing highlights and shadows. Both have elements of mystery within. Good video!
I’ve been shooting professionally for years, and for fun my whole life - somehow I’ve never touched the masking slider 😅 thank you so much, it’s going to be helpful
Thx for those pretty useful tips! Somewhat off topic: I‘ve literally just received your book. It‘s awesome! Following your channel for quite a while I know most of the pictures, but seeing them sequenced and printed is something else. BTW: excellent quality of the print!
Very interesting. Your editing gives you your style and your vision on photography. But luckily, everyone is searching for his/her own style and vision. That’s what art in general is all about. Each artist can say: welcome to my world.
Totally with you on “positive Clarity” there are so many ways to increase contrast and some folks actually use many of them, not sure why? I’ve always enjoyed how you correctly expose your images and I think you are one of the very best photo editors on TH-cam, it’s very obvious to me you really know your stuff! 👏😀👍 Ps people should realise also that sharpness should decrease as we go further into an image just like contrast as you mentioned!
Holler this way if ever come back to Vietnam, Lived here for 10+ years, probably could take you around to few places "not known", I think we would have a cool time. (and totally agree on clarity!!) Great series of all your images from here.
Not a huge fan or your editing style but I have learned a lot from your editing videos. Which really is huge compliment to how well you teach - making me take the concepts you use and adapt them to my own editing.
Honestly the contrast tip should be so obvious after a lifetime of observing the world around you. At some level you know it, but to have someone simply explain it, it makes me feel stupid for not actively thinking about it more!
Brilliant James ! This will be tremendously helpful in my (very amateur) image editing. Also….having looked backed at your videos through the years I swapped my Canon DSLR gear for a Lumix G9, a 12-35mm and a 45-150 mm and am absolutely loving using them - thanks again.
Very interesting insights - thanks for sharing! Would be great if you could explain your approach and thought process behind lifting the the black point and shadows in the curve in one of your next videos.
I enjoyed that. Several differences to my own routine, clearly explained with just the right amount of detail. I'm really looking forward to finding out which ideas will work out for my photos. I particularly like your thoughts about handling greens, the trickiest colour of the lot - and probably also the trickiest vegetable as you will no doubt soon be discovering. 😁 Always good to be shown new routes through the Adobe jungle. Thanks!
positive clarity is useful when doing it selectively, but yes it should never be allowed to be applied over a whole image at once. selectively add it to certain objects (pparticulatly in product photography) but otherwise never use it.
I was watching the video with a 3y old screaming in my room...so, no, I do not hear the one from your recording. I have a live performance here! 🤣 Nice video by the way with loads of value in it!
Thanks for the video, James. I actually find that I edit quite similarly to you, but I sometimes do use positive clarity if it fits the image, no more than +10 though ;D The Human Nature book arrived yesterday, I didn't manage to get all the way through yesterday, but I did today. Incredible work! I hope that I can one day fill a book like this with work that I am proud of.
Awesome video mate, as always. I was wondering about your presets: I got the full pack like 4-6 months ago and I noticed it saying "NEW Daily Collection", has it been updated since then? Thanks, Jimmy
Fascinating. I love how you use the negative clarity and dehaze and such, it's the opposite of the "Sony look" that I've seen where people get all the dynamic range in a camera and squash it into the scene and then need clarity and dehaze to get any semblance of contrast and it looks.. really weird to me. Yours look natural and fantastic and I think more than half the Sony color science thing was just people using it differently back when Sony had way more dynamic range than Canon before say 2016 ish. Less dynamic range made you keep it fairly natural or it would fall apart. Maybe that's part of the ccd craze too? Slide film only has like 5-6 stops of dynamic range and people wonder why they can't match it for look.. well..
I also dial clarity right down on my photos EXCEPT when it comes to wildlife or BIF where that dial should never be allowed into the negative side. Horses for courses I guess.
there are times when playing with the editing software can yield interesting results. other than that, i have nothing pertinent to add, and i'm merely satiating the tube'y'all's algo-deities.
Thanks James. I'm having a bit of trouble being able to toggle on and off all the different things that have been applied to the edit. Often I find myself doing an edit and then being unable to get off of that effect and go to something new.
A high-clarity image is similar to what most smartphones do in their image processing. That's why a lot of the pics appear over-sharpened and artificial.
You're obviously not a sailor or boat builder, James. If you were, the curves in the under-side of the boat would be of great interest, and a thing of beauty. Each to their own.
The clearest editing video I’ve seen from a photographer whose work I actually like 👏
For real, some gold here. James and Simon d'Entremont are my go to for Lightroom.
I think I prefer James' style here, myself, but it's also different subjects. Love the bright but natural look. Kind of overexposed film looking. @@VTeixex
@@mikafoxx2717 style notwithstanding, Simon's Lightroom tutorials are excellent
@@VTeixexYeah, Simon is great. He has mentioned James a couple times in his videos already
Came here for more, excellent, James knowledge. Stayed for the Snowman Sticker.
Shadows.... I totally agree. Best advice I ever got was to embrace the shadows! Shadows simplify a scene, hide distractions, and often give a sense of mystery (because you can wonder what is in the shadows). I think people get impressed with the dynamic range of their good new camera and feel like they should raise them... and rarely does it actually improve the photo.
I love how this video is an example of how different tastes lead to different styles. I completely disagree with nearly everything you say here because this kind of editing would look horrible with my images. But with your style it totally flows. People often wonder how they develop their own style and this is it! Just do what appeals to you and eventually you will produce unique looking work.
I thought you copy pasted a comment I made on a separate video! I personally love adding a smidge on clarity (+5) and then use a luminance mask to add a bit of bloom. Best of both!
This video is excellent. I've learned more from you in 15 minutes than I have anywhere else in the 5 years I've been interested in photography.
Great work!
This is probably the most concise and clearest video on editing I think I’ve ever watched. Thank you and keep them coming!
Your editing is refreshing with so many people trying to wring every last drop of contrast and sharpness they can out of an image. I fall into that trap too. So many people I watch go way overboard in post and it's nice to see someone with a different style showing their thinking. Thanks James, always interesting videos.
The luminance and contrast comments were brilliant to know and really help shape an image.
One of the best photography related videos I have ever watched.
Once again, loads of value here from James.
Very well done, explained & presented. Please more of this once and a while
As a landscape photographer I tend to lessen the contrast the deeper into the image I go. For example, I won't use a linear gradient. Instead I'll maybe sharpen the foreground then move deeper into the photo and create a mask specifically for say, a line of hills. Then after that there may be a mountain and I'll create a mask specifically for it and so on. It can be a lot of work but I think it tends to create a more realistic effect than just a single gradient . Great video James. That snowman is you.
That tip on clarity is so simple yet I’ve never tried decreasing clarify. Felt to me like reducing sharpness. Thanks! Going to try this on all my photos immediately.
Absolutely sooo helpful especially the luminance and sharpening 👍 P. S The book is one of my favourite photo books, it's super inspirational and thank you, spotted my name in there, which made me smile 👍😊
Once again thanks for the insight! Knowing about negative clarity is really a gift. Dont know why I 'upped' the clarity in the beginning
It's the eye catching contrast and such, because often people pull the shadows and the highlights and all they have left is clarity to add midtone contrast.. I don't like that look. It was the typical "Sony" look for a good while because of the dimension range boost over Canon at the time.
The snowman sticker is perfection.
love you James. keep up the great work.
I am not on my own when I say how valuable the information that you have just given us is so important to the finished picture! I am not the best editor of pictures and that's why I try and get everything right in camera when taking the picture but that is not always possible, Thank you so much for the info, now for some re editing of my pictures......
For my work, I add Clarity to racing cars photos or B&W portraits. And many more subjects as macro and urbex for example.
Such a useful video! Would really find more of these in the future a massive help. Thank you!
I’ve been shooting and editing for like 8 years now, thought my editing wasn’t half bad and I learned so many little tidbits from this. Great video!
Straight to the point with no BS. Loved it, especially the bit about sharpening and masking. Thanks James.
Thankful for your information this morning
I love how this just shows that we all have different approaches to editing and that's valid. We all just have certain styles and preferences when it comes to creative outputs. I would still keep all of these in mind cuz I can see myself implementing these styles and techniques as well in certain situations.
It's refreshing to hear somebody say they don't like added clarity. It drives me bonkers when I see it used excessively in "professional" images. I always think it makes an image look "dirty"
Perfect use of conflated. 🙂
This was super wonderful and very helpful. I feel like I leveled up my editing knowledge by a ton. Thanks!
Enjoyed this, entertaining, informative and an inspiration to try some different editing approaches.
It is also refreshing to see an established photographer taking a relatively straightforward approach, and *assuring others that it's absolutely OK to do so* - as opposed to the more commonly encountered guru suggestion that a 7th Dan Black Belt in Masking and Layers is an absolute must for any and all editing work!
The one time where I do find myself using the clarity to improve an image is with some food photography. It can help bring out some details in different food items.
Interesting insight, fascinating how we all use the same tools differently. I am often a heavy editor myself, I wonder if in time we will all strip it back to be less shiny. Your video mentioning "fatigue of bright packaging" has always stuck with me.
James! I'll confess: I saw the topic, and I was thinking "ho hum" (my mood, nothing to do with you) but I'm only at 2 minutes and you made that comment about the Clarity starting at zero and ONLY going left. HOLY CATS. You're so right.
I watched the rest. I appreciate you.
Brilliant, thanks very much
That was MASSIVELY helpful, James. I'd take it's my fav video of the year. Now. onwards!
Incredible knowledge in this one, the contrast decreasing with distance part at the end blew my mind. Such a simple thing, but makes a huge impact. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your time!
I tend to not like editing videos because they tend to be very generalized and not helpful at all. ""Bring up the shadows and bring down the highlights ... blah blah blah!" But there are two photographers I always enjoy editing videos from, you James and Mads PI! You two could not have any more different styles but I love them both and I appreciate bot of your editing vids.
Most photographers talk about local versus global adjustments and so many photographs I see look like cut out collages or everything in the photo has an oval halo/vignette around it ... 😆 ... so anyway thank you for doing a realistic albeit slanted towards your taste/style editing video. I don't necessarily want to copy your style but it is super interesting knowing what you do to bring out your style and therefore your techniques can be futzed with to get something that is closer to my style (that is assuming I had a style 😂)!
i think that positive clarity sometimes produce a good image. Different people different taste. But still loving your photographic style!!
Hmm. Negative clarity…. Is that why I like low contrast vintage lenses? I’ve never gone beyond 20-30% clarity but now you’ve got me wondering if I give it too much respect. Also totally love what you say about shadows. People get too obsessed with not blowing highlights and shadows. Both have elements of mystery within. Good video!
Really useful and applicable tips, thx James!
I’ve been shooting professionally for years, and for fun my whole life - somehow I’ve never touched the masking slider 😅 thank you so much, it’s going to be helpful
Thx for those pretty useful tips! Somewhat off topic: I‘ve literally just received your book. It‘s awesome! Following your channel for quite a while I know most of the pictures, but seeing them sequenced and printed is something else. BTW: excellent quality of the print!
Very interesting. Your editing gives you your style and your vision on photography. But luckily, everyone is searching for his/her own style and vision. That’s what art in general is all about. Each artist can say: welcome to my world.
Totally with you on “positive Clarity” there are so many ways to increase contrast and some folks actually use many of them, not sure why? I’ve always enjoyed how you correctly expose your images and I think you are one of the very best photo editors on TH-cam, it’s very obvious to me you really know your stuff! 👏😀👍 Ps people should realise also that sharpness should decrease as we go further into an image just like contrast as you mentioned!
James, I love you and your work. You are a delight!
Holler this way if ever come back to Vietnam, Lived here for 10+ years, probably could take you around to few places "not known", I think we would have a cool time. (and totally agree on clarity!!) Great series of all your images from here.
Not a huge fan or your editing style but I have learned a lot from your editing videos. Which really is huge compliment to how well you teach - making me take the concepts you use and adapt them to my own editing.
That was a fantastic set of questions that delved into areas you don't normally hear talked about in a lot of photo educational videos!
Honestly the contrast tip should be so obvious after a lifetime of observing the world around you. At some level you know it, but to have someone simply explain it, it makes me feel stupid for not actively thinking about it more!
Really, really good point about contrast at different depths - never really thought about it but it makes a lot of sense!
Your video is PACKED with useful content and no distractions (other than a 3-year old...)
Excellent topic and content. I truly appreciate your style of walking us through your thoughts. Thank you.
Such a great, great, great video 🙏🏻💪
so helpful, thanks James!
Great video! Love the part about contrast. Thanks for sharing.
Very good advice, thanks.
Wow these are things I’ve never even thought of when editing super helpful, particularly the foreground being more contrasty than the background…!
Hi James,
Very interresting, especially when it was about luminance.
Thank you.
Very informative, thanks!
Good stuff, thanks.
Thanks for the video, James. That was helpful!
I'd really like to see a video where you edit a few pictures from RAW to finished result.
Brilliant James ! This will be tremendously helpful in my (very amateur) image editing. Also….having looked backed at your videos through the years I swapped my Canon DSLR gear for a Lumix G9, a 12-35mm and a 45-150 mm and am absolutely loving using them - thanks again.
just came across your channel in the algorithm, great photos, subscribed
you haven't talked about this, but 15:05 is yet another example of how you split up those reds yellows and greens which is very powerful.
Bought the full pack of presets, not because i'll use them (not a fan of presets) but to contribute towards your hard work :) Keep it up sir!
Thanks! Great tips!
Nicely done, thx for the secret sauce for your blues!
Masking sharpness - why have I overlooked this??! Another tool in my editing kit. Thanks
This was so incredibly helpful!!! Many thanks😊
Very interesting insights - thanks for sharing! Would be great if you could explain your approach and thought process behind lifting the the black point and shadows in the curve in one of your next videos.
I enjoyed that. Several differences to my own routine, clearly explained with just the right amount of detail. I'm really looking forward to finding out which ideas will work out for my photos. I particularly like your thoughts about handling greens, the trickiest colour of the lot - and probably also the trickiest vegetable as you will no doubt soon be discovering. 😁 Always good to be shown new routes through the Adobe jungle. Thanks!
I've been wanting this video!
Great editing tips. Thank you!
positive clarity is useful when doing it selectively, but yes it should never be allowed to be applied over a whole image at once. selectively add it to certain objects (pparticulatly in product photography) but otherwise never use it.
Can I like a video twice? This video is so incredibly helpful thank you very much
This video is very helpful. Thank you!
I was watching the video with a 3y old screaming in my room...so, no, I do not hear the one from your recording. I have a live performance here! 🤣 Nice video by the way with loads of value in it!
Yippee James popsys uploaded!
Thanks for the video, James. I actually find that I edit quite similarly to you, but I sometimes do use positive clarity if it fits the image, no more than +10 though ;D
The Human Nature book arrived yesterday, I didn't manage to get all the way through yesterday, but I did today. Incredible work! I hope that I can one day fill a book like this with work that I am proud of.
I wonder if that fisherman could ever imagine thousands of photographers staring intently at his face on TH-cam while he busily prepared his boat.
I was so frustrated you weren’t removing the dust spot in the corner. Then I realised it was my TV. Yep, my kids have clearly thrown something at it.
Love your videos!
More editing videos, much more.
Wow, what a great video! Thank you, James!!! I have an owl sticker on my hoodie that I’m not allowed to take off, either😂
Great vid once again. I’d love to see/hear you thoughts about monitor selection and set up
Awesome video mate, as always. I was wondering about your presets: I got the full pack like 4-6 months ago and I noticed it saying "NEW Daily Collection", has it been updated since then?
Thanks,
Jimmy
Can't believe Noah is 3! Interesting tips, thank you!
Fascinating. I love how you use the negative clarity and dehaze and such, it's the opposite of the "Sony look" that I've seen where people get all the dynamic range in a camera and squash it into the scene and then need clarity and dehaze to get any semblance of contrast and it looks.. really weird to me. Yours look natural and fantastic and I think more than half the Sony color science thing was just people using it differently back when Sony had way more dynamic range than Canon before say 2016 ish. Less dynamic range made you keep it fairly natural or it would fall apart. Maybe that's part of the ccd craze too? Slide film only has like 5-6 stops of dynamic range and people wonder why they can't match it for look.. well..
Sorry James, but that last photo looks so much better with the dramatic ocean.
Really interesting video James thank you. Is the "Clarity" slider labelled as something else in other software such as DXO Photolab?
I also dial clarity right down on my photos EXCEPT when it comes to wildlife or BIF where that dial should never be allowed into the negative side. Horses for courses I guess.
there are times when playing with the editing software can yield interesting results.
other than that, i have nothing pertinent to add,
and i'm merely satiating the tube'y'all's algo-deities.
Used clarity so much in the beginning and looking back, I regret it. They definitely shouldn't allow to go past 0 😂
You automatically get a like for the ⛄️ and sharing the reason why you have it!
Thanks James. I'm having a bit of trouble being able to toggle on and off all the different things that have been applied to the edit. Often I find myself doing an edit and then being unable to get off of that effect and go to something new.
A high-clarity image is similar to what most smartphones do in their image processing. That's why a lot of the pics appear over-sharpened and artificial.
You're obviously not a sailor or boat builder, James. If you were, the curves in the under-side of the boat would be of great interest, and a thing of beauty. Each to their own.
😯
Lovely professional video, accompanied all the way by a lop-sided snowman courtesy of an insistent 3-year old. Can't beat it.
James can your presets be used in Luminar neo or just LR?
Top Sharpening tip:
Radius=0
Detail=100
Masking as needed, THEN
Amount
Courtesy of "Christian Möhrle - The Phlog Photography" channel.