Tutorial: Waiting for hair cut

There is so much to learn about photography and we want to share 500px photographers’ pro tips & tricks with you. Last time we featured great PS tutorial on how to enhance the eyes. This week Hong Kong-based photographer Desky Che shares with us editing secrets of his photo “Waiting for hair cut”.

Introduction

This photo was taken with a small digital Panasonic LX-3 camera instead of DSLR. I used manual mode and adjusted aperture so that I could capture more details in the highlight and shadow area. Then I moved on to editing the photo in Photoshop without any 3rd party plugins.

When post-processing I started with the overall balance of brightness and contrast, trying to simulate the photographic reality as seen by the human eye. After that I changed the color tune aiming to express the Vintage feel. I dimmed the highlights area and balanced the brightness with mid-tones. Also dimming the shadows, but making sure that I kept all the details. For the main subject I decided that it should be a bit lighter than the background, so that it would attract the eye of the viewer. Instead of sharpening the whole photo, I selectively sharpened the details only. Thus directing focus and points of interest.

You can try the same workflow on one of your photos and achieve a similar feel by following the step-by-step directions below. Click on photos to enlarge.

Step 1

First check that there are no over-exposed areas in the RAW image, then move on to post-processing in Photoshop. If there are over-exposed parts correct them in Camera RAW or Lightroom before proceeding with editing. Skipping this step would affect the color tone and would increase the time spent on future processing. Testing your photo for over-exposure before post-processing is a great habit.

Step 2

Add contrast in Highlights/Midtones/Shadows separately. This is what I do on regular basis when editing photos. First adjust highlights, then midtones and shadows.

Select > Color Range > Click drop-down list in Select, and choose Highlights > Adjust > Click OK button.

With this selection go to Curves Adjustments panel to add Contrast for this area.Then, select Midtones area using the above method, and make adjustments to add contrast. Adding contrast in Shadows area last.

Step 3

Dim down the entire photo by pushing down the Curves of adjustment layer in Photoshop. Making sure that you keep all the details. Then use brushes to recover the darker area, since we want to keep the details in the shadow area. By accentuating these details (e.g. the clock hanging over on the wall) you are adding more interest to your photo. 

Main subject. Any photo usually has a main subject, in my case it is the people. I have decided to make the main subject lighter than the background. Applying the principles of classical oil painting - main subject should be lighter than others in order to attract the eye focus. For highlight area, keep it lighter, but the levels should not be over the whole subject. Zoom in and out to check for any irregular adjustment areas. Then correct any irregularities using brushes.

Step 4

Change color tone. After repeating the same dim down editing twice, you could find that the photo gained a surrealistic quality. However, color tone may have changed. You can use Color Balance adjustment layer to correct that OR go to my favor color (+Red, +Yellow), and reduce the saturation.

Sharpen the details. Use Unmask Filter to sharpen the required object (e.g. people, clock, the gate, etc). Do not sharpen the entire photo because it would affect the 3D, and would not sharpen people’s skin.

And you are done :)

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