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Flat photo to finished in three edits
By Lewis Whitter, wedding & events photographer (11+ years) · How we pickYour photo looks flat because you've only done half the job. Here's a before and after in three simple edits.
Before: grey sky, muddy shadows, no pop. Edit one, white balance.
Pick the eyedropper and click something that should be neutral grey. The colour cast disappears.
Edit two, tone. Pull the highlights down to bring back the sky, lift the shadows, then add a touch of contrast so it doesn't look washed out.
Edit three, a gentle radial mask on your subject with a little extra exposure. That guides the eye straight where you want it.
After: same photo, but it finally looks like what you saw. Save those three moves as a preset and you'll edit a whole shoot in minutes.
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