Recent Post Production Articles

Dodge and Burn Skin Retouching Mistakes to Avoid

Using dodge and burn to retouch skin is one of the best ways to achieve more realistic looking results. However, like any tool, its purpose can be misunderstood or it can be misused with negative consequences. Here are five mistakes to avoid.

The Best Skin Softening Photoshop Action

Skin retouching is an art form in itself, and there are thousands of different ways to retouch skin in Photoshop. Skin retouching is such an essential part of creating the final image in the beauty and fashion industry that there is a whole industry of artists who only specialize in skin retouching.

One Tip to Improve Your Landscape Photography in Lightroom

Thomas Heaton is a travel and landscape photographer based in Northeast England. The photographer took to his YouTube channel with an audience of over 300,000 subscribers to share a tutorial on how to improve your landscape photography using Lightroom.

How to Dramatically Improve Your Boring Landscape Photograph in Lightroom

If you've often been shooting in what seems like dramatic light only to get back to your computer and realize that the images are kind of so so, then you're not alone. However, in certain situations, what seems like a dull and unimpressive image might just need a little tweaking to take it to another level.

How to Mix Slow Motion and Time-Lapse in One Shot Using After Effects

You’ve probably seen footage that creates an impossible blend of fast-flowing traffic or streaming clouds combined with someone walking slow motion and there’s some funky editing that goes into making it happen. Time-lapse photographer and filmmaker Matthew Vandeputte has put together a short tutorial on how you can create the same effect.

Using Long Exposures Without the Help of Neutral Density Filters

You can get cool results when photographing water or cloudy skies with long exposures. For that you often need a filter that reduces the amount of light that enters the lens: a neutral density filter. But what if you don’t have such a filter? In that case there is another way to retrieve almost the same results. In this article I will explain how to shoot long exposures without the help of a neutral density filter.

Proof: Sony Picture Profiles Do Affect Raw Photo Files

When shooting raw photos, many of us have come to expect we can ignore a few settings on our cameras because some of them only apply to recorded JPEGs. As it turns out, however, raw shooters do need to beware of Sony's Picture Profile settings.

Simple Lightroom Trick: Before/After Preview Key

If you've read my past articles on Fstoppers, you know that I love editing shortcuts. These quick tricks save you time and frustration, making your business more productive and profitable.

ISO Is Not Fake and Tony Northrup Is Wrong

A few days ago, camera industry guru Tony Northrup published a video arguing that in the age of digital photography, ISO is effectively meaningless and that it’s no different from dragging the exposure slider in Lightroom. Photographer Dave McKeegan has offered a response and argues that Northrup’s logic is completely wrong.

The Effect of the Background Shade in Post Processing

When processing your precious photos in Lightroom, Photoshop, or any other photo processing software, you make sure the exposure is spot on, the colors are perfect, and the contrast is pleasing. For that reason you may have a calibrated monitor, and the optimum light situation in your room. But did you think about the background shade of your photo processing software?

How to Balance Heavy Shadows and Bright Highlights in Lightroom

Golden hour or overcast skies usually offer the best conditions for capturing models while avoiding harsh shadows, but sometimes time and weather are against us and that’s when Lightroom can come to our rescue. Photographer Julia Trotti gives a quick lesson on how to balance your highlights and shadows.

Reality Versus Fantasy in Photography: Where Do You Draw the Line?

Your client’s terminally-ill grandfather is the only one not smiling in the shots of the entire family. Do you liquify his facial features to make it look like he might be smiling? Do you transform a flat gray sky in your latest landscape to a dramatic sunny one? Where do you draw the line?

Five Great Tips for Improving Your Photography

Photographers are constantly searching for ways to improve their imagery, and in this short video, landscape photographer James Popsys puts together five great tips (four plus a bonus tip) to help you think about your workflow and motivation, and how to avoid certain pitfalls.

Is This the Fastest and Easiest Way to Scan Films at Home?

If you’re a film aficionado, you’re probably used to trying to make the process of converting your negatives into print-ready digital files as painless as possible. One photographer has ditched his scanner in favor of an incredibly simple setup using his Fujifilm X-T3 and a rather unique Lightroom plugin.

Tips for Removing Those Pesky Hair Ties From Photos

Anyone with long hair is generally seen around town with hair ties worn as a bracelet. I keep many in my studio even to hold back wardrobe pieces that are not form fitting. While the best option is always to remember to have your client remove them before you start shooting, there is always that small chance you forget and it isn't seen until a few frames into the session.

Noob Astrophotography Mistakes That Will Ruin Your Nightscapes

Landscape photographers spend a lot of time outdoors at strange hours of the day to capture a few shots at sunrise and sunset. But have you considered exploring astrophotography to broaden your shoot options to include breathless starry nights?

Night Image Post-Processing Essentials: What I Did to Get the Shot

Images shot after sunset, using natural light, can be among the trickiest to post-process properly. This guide provides a walkthrough of my post-processing steps for a recent night shot, and introduces a number of techniques I find essential for optimal night photos.

Buttery Bokeh Made Easy in Photoshop

Everyone loves a soft, buttery bokeh to make their subject stand out against a busy background, but it's not always possible to make it in camera. Maybe the lighting conditions or physical environment don't cooperate, or perhaps you just haven't shelled out for that superfast f/1.4 prime yet. But all is not lost thanks to the magic of Photoshop.

Using the Targeted Adjustment Tool in Adobe Camera Raw

If you're looking for a simple tool that can yield drastic results in a quick and efficient manner while editing your images, then look no further than the targeted adjustment tool built right into Adobe Camera Raw.

The Ten Commandments of Photography

By “commandments,” I simply mean photography truths that have worked for me. Everyone has photography truths to believe in, but here are my 10.