Totally agree with you. The morning my photos look underexposed, and the night with the soft light they look overexposed. Because I continuously keep adjusting my laptop brightness

Excellent, Mark. Guilty as charged on most of those mistakes.

Mark, awesome content. I've been shooting video with drones and both of these topics you mention, post processing and portfolio review, are very timely. It's a struggle but I keep pushing and learning. I just checked my monitor and confirmed it's at 70% bright. It was a great reminder to check as I've been reviewing footage in the outdoors under bright conditions. Thanks again.

Thank you Mark for listing the mistakes we all do. Your tip regarding Highlights is the most relevant to me. I often tend to lower them globally. Now I'll try to be more selective.

Great advice. Helped a lot.

I've gotten fairly component over the last few years photographing the great out doors. Found this very helpful as I've not meandered too far from a worklflo process. Some great tips here that I'll incorporate. Thank you!

Thanks for the tips!

Overly bright shadows.... that is one I keep falling into. A pro on a photo tour told me I needed to embrace the shadows! Another good video.

Great tips, I always say “if you don’t know how to edit photo, or check if it is well balanced, has 3D look etc. then check what people before you already done”. Study how painters work, adopt their techniques and you will see the diference :)

Finding the right brightness is something I struggle with. This is especially true for photos where the mid tones are not dominant, such as outdoor scenes shot at night or snow scenes. I wish there was a way in ACR (Lightroom) to limit the histogram to the subject.

Monitor brightness - especially linking it to histogram is a great tip as well as the others. Thanks Mark.

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching the video Jim!

Thanks Mark! Always good content! I realised the screen brightness issue just a while back myself! Looking at the histogram really helps 😊

Great advice Mark! Thanks again!

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Richard!

Thank you! Helpful tips.

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Melissa!

Mark, I loved this video. It's always nice to get a refresher on some things. I actually learned about the monitor brightness. I haven't even thought about it. I'll definitely be fixing it. It really matters when you go to print for sure.

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks a million Brandon!

Great points that makes you rethink :)

Thanks for these tips Mark. Very helpful. Will look at my photos with these in mind.

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks for the tips. For the waterfall photo, i prefer the sharpness of the reflection before editing. I like the rocks showing also. Art is in the eyes of the beholder.

7:44 I just love the tidy version! And I know how much tedious work it takes to clean them.

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Indeed but totally worth it👍

For Tip #1, I guess I compensate for this by having 3 monitors, or 2 monitors and a TV. My TV is set for making viewing movies more enjoyable but it tends to be darker than my other two. My main display is set at 80 which is where I do my work in photoshop, but I put my Navigation window on my secondary which is set in portrait mode (mostly for reading PDFs) which is at brightness 50. This way I can compare and contrast between what I'm editing and what I can anticipate the final result to be. I will try using the histogram to modify the two displays to find a happy medium between ease of use for me and final output.

Great tips. Thank You. Wolfgang

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thank You!

Very good tips, Mark. Thanks for all of your great content and tips.

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much Neal!

Another great video packed with tips. For the screen, I use a Spyder Calibrator that seems to do a great job and has a sensor as well to adjust for current ambient lighting. I haven’t searched you video library… How about the next challenge of making the printer match whet we see on the screen? Color profiles we should be using, how to calibrate your printer ( that’s a rough one as we may not be using a high end Cannon). But there must be some general guidance as to maybe a calibration image that could be used etc. Always great stuff from your Chanel. Thanks!

Thanks!

I use the Spyder calibration tool. I just checked my monitor brightness and it's set at 13 (out of 100). A lot depends on the monitor, the ambient light, and also the shade background in Photoshop (mine is medium gray).

@weisserth

Жыл бұрын

Exactly, same here. I also use the Spyder. My output is a lot more consistent and no more surprises when printing.

When I edit my photos, I always try to have the histogram all the way in each direction, whitout clipping any shadows/highlights. This way I get as much dynamic range as possible in a photo, from the darkest to the brightest, right or wrong.

Another useful and enjoyable video. Thanks!

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Chris!

Great video,

I highly recommend a Cyclometer to set your monitor brightness as you do calibration.

This is a very good list of suggestions. I'm glad I couldn't find anything in this video that took me by surprise. On monitor brightness, I stopped having issues once I started using a color/brightness calibration device for my screen, it comes with a sensor that brings up a notification of ambient light in the room don't match the brightness setting on the screen, requiring a recalibration. Mark, color calibration tools and their benefits - and how you do it - would be a great video. But maybe you already did that, not sure.

That first timelapse is actually in my neighbourhood 😃 When's the last time you were here? Thanks for sharing more of your tips&tricks.

Helpful as always. Great points to consider in any photograph.

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for checking out the video Jerry!

Awesome video! The content is totally relatable :) but I had to laugh at the "dirty photos" lol my mind went to the naughty side!

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much Marisa!

Thanks for an important video. Cheers

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

My pleasure!

Thanks so much. So simple yet so powerful. Ain't learning fun!

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it Bruce!

Another brilliant, thought provoking video, thanks Mark. I've been dabbling in photography for 40 years and now I'm retired, taking it up as a serious hobby. Your compositional tips are invaluable to me when I'm out there. It's almost like you're standing over my shoulder. 😁

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much Alan!

Great tips Mark!

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks John!

Very helpful. Thanks.

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!

I’ve been a working pro for 16 years and still learned from this. I see myself making the overexposed monitor error and need to pay better attention to my histogram. And the highlight recovery tool is one of my most frequently used-but I need to be more careful about using it globally! Great stuff, Mark. Thanks!

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Glad to hear you enjoyed the video Peter!

Good tips Mark. Thnx.

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!

Some really good points there, to make you think when processing your images. Thank You

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks Mark ...Great Tips

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thank you George!

I think getting and using a colorimeter is mandatory. Whether Spyder, X-Rite, whatever, get one and calibrate your monitor. Mine (a SpyderX Pro) will also check ambient light and monitor level. It's not expensive, maybe $150 as I recall, and my monitor isn't expensive (Philips 27") but it seems to have helped a huge amount.

@ronpettitt6184

Жыл бұрын

I couldn't agree more! I've calibrated many monitors and have never failed to see a difference. Very important detail.

Cheers Mark - great information. However one very common mistake is the introduction of halos in post processing. It would be useful if you made a video about this problem.

I always try to view art and photos on more sources. I don't just go from PC to posting it online, but I also always try to view it on my phone first, and on my second monitor that is turned VERY dim.

The highlight mistake is spot on for me. Thanks!

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed the video Tim!

Another great compilation of useful tips. But every time you do these, I feel compelled to go back and re-edit my catalog . . .

I really liked this video and the monitor brightness is definitely something I need to keep in mind. Its a balance of how much to lift shadows and lower whites to show as much detail as possible. How do you feel on this subject!?

I've never turned my monitor up beyond ~70% 😅 It's a good general practice as keeping it at 100% reduces it's lifespan

Great video Mark. My biggest problem with landscape photography has always been the tradeoff between sharpening and noise. I also wonder how much sharpening I should do in ACR vs. PS. If I sharpen too much in ACR, I end up with nasty noise artifacts in the sky. I can get rid of them with noise reduction, but that tends to negate the sharpening. I use unsharp mask in PS CC (which tends to leave the sky alone), but using it without having done sharpening in ACR leaves me wanting a sharper image. Wondering if you've addressed these issues in any of your lessons or videos. Thanks!

I shoot exactly zero landscape photos - yet I'm learning a ton of great information from your videos! Thanks!!

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

very helpful

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Andrew!

I've been watching lots of your videos and learnt a huge amount thanks so much! I find you very easy to listen to and there's no bs theatrics. Calm and concise! Quick question, do you crop your photos before the other edits or after?

Love these tips Mark! You should do a whole series of "mistakes" to avoid. We can all learn from them. Regarding tip #1: I thought a pro like you would be using a monitor calibration tool--those usually check for brightness and ambient lighting for you.

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Carl!

Mark, As pertains to Dirty Photos: would you brighten/fix lighten issues first then clean up the reflection or vice versa -does it matter. Just wondering if the contrast aware type fixes behave ok when doing color corrections.

Hey Mark, what editing software do you use? I love your videos and have signifigantly helped my photos.

Sorry if this has already been discussed. The question for display brightness is what is the purpose of your edit - social/internet sharing or print? If you just plan to share it online then yeah keep the brightness about where you would expect most people to have their displays at. But I find this generally creates images that are much too dark for print. Because I usually edit with printing in mind I have my display brightness somewhere between 0 and 20%. The problem with that is nobody wants a print if the image they see online doesn't look good. So what do you do, two edits of every image - one for print, one for e-display?

@carmenspratt7290

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for asking this…I’ve wondered that myself. Would like to know how others handle this?

Monitor brightness - overly bright monitors sell well in stores……. But guessing brightness seems a bit random ….. better to calibrate with a proper monitor calibration devices…. I use an EyeOne … they say that recalibration should be done regularly, but after the initial calibration it remains pretty steady on modern monitors, so renting one would be a good start. After calibrating my brightness seems to be less than 20, so we’ll below midway

Hi Mark, forgot to ask. Do you have an up to date tutorial on how you edit your photos step by step on Lightroom please? I've watched a few but they are from a few years ago so probably out of date?

Hi Mark I had a question, in your cactus desert scenic shot what did you focus on and what aperture you used? Thanks!

Watcing the histogram is one good way, the other is to make sure you have clipping warnings turned on.

On monitor brightness - the right brightness level depends on the ambient light where you're doing the editing. The more ambient light, the brighter the monitor should be and vice versa. Ideally you should always edit with the same level of ambient light to make sure you get the monitor brightness consistently right.

I'm always 2 clicks under halfway on the monitor.

Hey Mark I see you using both Lightroom and capture one in your videos. I'm curious what you actually use day to day for your work? I am a new Fuji shooter who's playing with both softwares to figure out which I like better for these files, but I'd be curious to hear if there's one you recommend over the other.

Hi, question on the histogram, I’m struggling with it on my camera, i have a sony a7iii, i know you had another sony model before using fujifilm, was that something you noticed it was off on the sony ? Like i shoot the photo look at the histogram and it says its fine and then in lightroom i see it’s too dark. Thanks

Calibrating your monitor is the best first step.

Just a thought - If most people view photos on their overly bright screens and you turn your monitor down for processing, then when they view that processed photo, wont they be overly bright on their screens. Would it be better to process for those brighter screens and then when you go to print, lower the screen brightness and adjust accordingly. HMMM!!

@WalkForFreedomOz

Жыл бұрын

My photos were coming out dark when printed. Edited on a bright screen. So I darkened the screen to get a more realistic print.

@ilesmic

Жыл бұрын

@@WalkForFreedomOz I understand- I had the same issue-- my point is that if 95% of your work is viewed on bright screens - edit for the way most screens look and then when printing adjust for that- I take thousands of photos but only print a handful-- Most of my work is viewed on social media-- Fb - IG and or Clickasnap

Hi Mark, I think your points are well made, particularly for hobbyists getting to grips with photography. I would take issue with #3. I don't think it falls into the category of post precessing 'tips'. There are serious ethical considerations when cloning/deleting elements, however small, from a photo that is conveying some element of truth or reality. Of course this may seem subjective to your individual style, but I know of many professionals who have destroyed their own careers and or reputations by doing what you showed. Steve McCurry for example

🔝📷

Like you, I did most of my editing education by the seat of my pants, and repeatedly made what now seem to be quite obvious mistakes. Thankfully, since I use Lightroom, all of those errors are correctable today. I do those repairs just by backtracking to the point where I seemed to get lost and working on that new path. In some cases, the only logical choice is to start over from scratch. Global controls are kryptonite. I use as light a touch as possible, saving any major adjustments for the masking tools.

Thanks!

@MarkDenneyPhoto

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!