One thing this project has me concentrating on is my process. So I think I'll cover it here.
For the last few days, I've been trying to do a screencast of how I edit in Lightroom. I am a firm believer in Photoshop. I'm not a photo-journalist - I just want to make pictures I enjoy. I have no problem editing a picture to get what I want.
So here is an old picture that I really like. It is truly one of my favorites.
My process is pretty straightforward (to me).
Get the composition I want. I'll use the lens correction on the uncropped photo. Then I will crop down to the elements that I want. As a rule, I try to stick with the rule of thirds.
Adjust exposure. Depending on the photo, I usually go a little darker than normal. I don't like to rely on the exposure settings (they tend to be overkill). I like to go back and adjust it again after I am done.
Highlights/Shadows/Whites/Blacks. As I adjust each of these sliders, I hold down the option key on my Mac. Then I adjust until I start seeing a hint of anything dark or light (depending on which slider). Try this and you'll understand.
Clarity. Unless you have some specific effect you are looking for (vaseline lens, uber-crisp. I don't mess with this much.
Vibrance/Saturation. If there are no skin tones, I use saturation more (it enhances all the colors together). With skin tones, I use vibrance as it preserves people looking human.
The only other thing I did in this picture is HSL Saturation on the red dress. It's a nice way to pop out a color without messing with the whole spectrum.
And this is my result:
If you are interested in my settings for this, here is a screenshot of just that part of the screen.
