Editing digital photos is one of the most significant challenges to wrap your head around while learning photography. The most common question is where to start?
After selecting your favourite image from the set, adjust the exposure, contrast, highlights, and shadows. Using only these settings will give you a good idea of what you need to change next time you're out shooting to improve your photos.
Before you start adjusting the photo:
- Think to yourself about what you want the end image to look like.
- Set the exposure to match the most important feature in the image, making it either brighter or darker than the rest of the scene, so it grabs your attention.
- Adjust the blacks and whites of the photo to where you think they look the best providing the contrast you like.
From this point, there is a whole world of editing to discover, so play around and have fun!