I’ve photographed this tree in every season but winter until this day. My objective was to somehow convey a sense of the weather at the moment this photo was taken; cold, gray and snowy. Do you think that mood comes across here?
How did I achieve this look? A preset. Presets are one button editing actions you can get for Lightroom, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements; a series of steps that have been recorded by their creator. They can make editing a very quick process as compared to going through all of the sliders yourself. A preset can be all you’ll need to edit your photo or they can be a good start towards the final edit you want.
I believe that you should know as much as you can about your editing program so that you can tell when or even if you want to use a preset or action. When I do use them I rarely leave the image as is after applying it; the majority of the time I will do some extra tweaking to achieve the final look. In this case I applied a preset from the Coffee Shop Blog (all of her stuff is free and awesome) to convert the image to B&W in Lightroom and then with an adjustment brush I increased the clarity on parts of the tree; finishing with decreasing some of the white vignette.
Do you use any presets or actions or is that not your editing thing? Do share.
Teri 📷
Images by T.Dashfield Photography 
I never use presets
What editing program do you use?
I rarely use presets in Lightroom, but am quite keen on using the film ‘look’ presets in On1. I do find presets are better as a starting point than as a final editing stage as every image is different.
I agree with you on using them as a starting point. I’ve heard good things about On1. Do you use it as your main editor?
I’m learning the ON1 photo software. For an old dude, it’s quite the learning curve for me. I’ll slowly work with Photoshop with an occasional on-line lesson. Thank you very much for your insight! Wonderful shot! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you. You are not an old dude. Older but not old 😉 It’s all a learning curve. Heck! Life is a learning curve but let’s hear it for on-line tutorials.
LOL! Amen, sist’a!
Thanks for sharing the link. Will check her presets
She has quite a lot of them. Enjoy exploring.
And a beautiful capture!
Thank you.
Lovely photo — and cold, gray and snowy (at least on the ground) comes across!
Thank you. It’s downright balmy today at 32F today unlike the single digits when this photo was taken.
Love this photo. I don’t know what it is about a lone tree or trees in the mist that I find so pleasing, but I do. I don’t use presets. I’ve tried a bunch but always prefer tweaking from step one.
Thanks, Ingrid. It will be a different edit in color tomorrow 🙂 I’ve tried a bunch but in the end found that only a few I can count on for my style of editing. They are really great if you want to go for a “stylish” image.
Shivers. The tree looks cold and needs some “clothes” on it for sure. Snorts with piggy laughter. Awesome picture my friend ❤ XOXO – Bacon
Thank you. It is wearing some leaves and a bark coat 😉
I think it needs a heavier coat… snorts with piggy laughter. XOXO – Bacon
🙂
That’s beautiful! Brings up so many thoughts.
Thank you and would you care to share any of those thoughts?