Photo of the day: Rich autumn tones before and after

I‘ve seen a lot of photographers using an edit that darkens the background and makes for warm, rich tones. I had my handsome model pose for a portrait so I could have a play. Here’s the final edit:

Tristan after

Here’s the image straight out of the camera:

Tristan SOOC

I think his face might still be a little too warm/yellow, now that I see it here. It’s a clean edit in raw in Lightroom, although my white balance might be a little too warm, and then a lot of layers in Photoshop – a bit of radial blur, masked off of him, and a couple of levels layers. One layer darkens the midtones in the background, one gives it that reddish golden tint, and I popped the contrast around his eyes a little bit. I need to figure out how to make his freckles pop more!

What do you think? Do you like the clean edit or the more creative edit? I always struggle to find a balance between the two. I love the creative edits, but wonder if people don’t find them too heavy handed. It’s still fun to play!

(Also? Pre-teen – SMILING FOR THE CAMERA!!! #win)

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

2 thoughts on “Photo of the day: Rich autumn tones before and after”

  1. I love the creative edit one – it looks like the perfect fall scene and you just kind of want to reach right in there and hug him :).

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