A Complete Guide to Editing a Dramatic Portrait in Photoshop

Half of every portrait is in the edit. This awesome video will show you how to take a portrait and give it a dramatic edit in Photoshop that subtly draws the viewer's eye to the subject and showcases the emotion you're trying to convey.

If you've not seen Sean Tucker's videos before, I highly recommend you take a few minutes and browse his channel. He has a remarkable way of grasping the philosophical side of photography and talking about it in a way that resonates with most anyone, and he's excellent at posing and drawing the humanity out of his subjects. In this video, however, he turns his attention to Photoshop, walking us through the complete process of editing his shots into finished images. There are some neat tricks contained within, but I think most of all, the takeaway is that numerous subtle adjustments add up to a striking overall effect, and that a lot of the finished product lies in the nuance. 

If you're interested in seeing how the portrait came about and learning more about the shooting process itself, check out the video below:

As you can see, the lighting is simple but effective, and the edit really completes it.

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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3 Comments

This is great, I've always been a fan of the dramatic portrait vibe :)

Me too! I love what an amazing image he created from a single-light shot. He's exceedingly talented.

Love the way Mr Tucker lights his portraits, simple yet effective, you can see almost everything is done in camera, the post processing part is a breeze...