To my taste -- a bit? The top seems washed out, and the bottom plunged into darkness. The image kinda breaks itself into two separate parts. But then, I may very well be wrong. Many thanks for the tip about gradient masks, I can't believe I spent years without them. They do change everything.
Still working my way through your (excellent) videos, and i've found this one in particular hugely beneficial. In my own LR workflow I've been guilty of always applying changes globally to the image, and this has shown me how I can get a more natural effect on a lot of images with selective changes. Secondly, As I used to prepare images for printing, I''ve always stuck to 3:2 crops. Why - It's crazy ! let the image decide the format ! Thanks again for sharing. Your channel has really rekindled my love affair with photography
I do wildlife photography and started watching macro videos because I want to give it a try. After watching this, I want to go use these tips on my old wildlife images. It would certainly give them a new look. Well done and helpful video. Thank you 👍
This video is perfect for me at this stage of development as a macro and landscape photographer. I had already surmised some of these tips, but I find the simplicity and clarity of your workflow and thought processes invaluable.
The edit of the fly is absolutely gorgeous! But I was still impressed by the original photo too. The quality of the fly is so beautiful and crisp. Is that just the power of your camera and lens? My macro never comes out this crisp. I use a Nikon d7500 with a Nikkor macro lens
I have to give you props for the result. Very tastefully done. I'm very restrained in my own processing. Usually when I watch tutorials like this I find the result over processed. By that I mean, the results don't look like anything real, but they also don't look unreal or appealing in an artistic way. But somehow you thread the needle, and the end result is both appealing and adds context. The commentary and explanation of why you're taking certain steps adds great depth. Thanks for the learning experience!
Thanks so much for such a kind comment. I try not to take my edits 'too far' by which I mean beyond the point that I feel they're no longer natural. I like to create a 'look' with my shots and I never claim they're straight of camera but I hope to always find that balance of natural vs artistic interpretation. I'm sure I won't always get it right (and many would argue I've gone too far here, even) but it's encouraging to hear that you think I'm on the right side of things. Thanks again for watching and for taking the time to comment!
No, I think art is subjective - and you view is as you see it. I like what you did, but more importantly how and why you did it. That is the part where we can tailor how we want the viewer to feel when seeing the image. That is part of the artistry as well! Keep inspiring, Andrew!.. gonna go do some more macro work this weekend after seeing this!
Listen man, love thile channel, love the tips, and quality, but you just took our "friendship" to an all new level with the McCallans 15 in the back. Cheers lol.
Thanks for showing being flexible can change the look greatly or subtle. Where you put a linear grade on bottom to darken, I usually take the contrast down on it as well. You would liked to show a side-by-side of and edit, you can save a virtual copy of a point in the edit then compare. Sometimes I have a few virtual copies of variations for some images.
Very good indeed, removing the mystic, especially with the masking, I think this is wear landscapes, sunsets and rises, can be improved dramatically to give the ND filter look, first class! DG New Forest U.K.
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography For a long time I've been using Camera Raw in PS (which is basically the same as LR) . Over the years I was looking for a tool with more advanced features, mainly with masking in general and luminosity masking in particular. This is how I found ON1 Photo RAW and kept using it ever since. It has everything I need regarding both cataloging and post processing. I like its built-in filters and presets which are so powerful and now I can't wait for the upcoming new 2023 version expected to be released this month.
That sounds great. I'll take a look at it. I think it's good to have some lightroom alternatives but there are quite a few good ones (like affinity photo for example) that it's difficult to know what people are really using and would want to know about. I use Capture one quite often too but I don't do many videos on it anymore.
Great tut as always Andrew, just interested in your thought process for diving straight into the HSL panel rather than using the basic sliders to get the image roughly where you want it?
Thanks! HSL won't always be my first tool -- I want to make sure the image is adequately exposed first so I might adjust the highlights and shadows before going further. In this instance though the image was already quite even in its exposure which gave me a good enough baseline to work from. As I show though, I still go back and forth sometimes, adjusting bits here and there until I get the look I want. I don't always have a set order in which I approach these things and may end up going back several times to each tool to change things up. Hope that helps!
How in the world do you get multiple shots to stack by focusing on different part of the fly hand held?! I just started macro and of 40 images, got one usable.
Probably using focus bracketing in the camera that automatically moves the focus from shot to shot (you obviously neeed an autofocus lens and a camera with that feature), and then stacking using Photoshop, or better still Helicon or Zerene Stacker. You do need a high shutter speed, but IBIS (I wish I had this on my camera) helps. Maybe even using a flash to freeze any motion from hand holding. Macro is challenging and requires patience ….. I speak from experience having got many failures! Keep practicing and hopefully you will have some winners soon!
Hey Alan, this was pretty straightforward actually -- I had my camera on manual focus at the closest point and with burst mode activated I simply moved the camera forward slightly as I took my shots. I only needed five images to get the parts in focus that I wanted, as I still wanted the shallow depth of field look on the leaves and the background. As Grant says, I also sometimes use the auto focus bracketing tool on my Canon R5 and a faster shutter speed will definitely make the difference in getting a sharp image. Hope that helps!
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography Hey Andrew, thanks for your response. I'll try the burst mode, but my ability to hold my camera fairly steady is limited, my balance is not very good. My lens is manual focus (Laowa) and I don't think that my Nikon D7500 has focus bracketing, especially with a manual focus lens. I do have a focusing rail that will help with non-moving subjects. Thanks again, and I really enjoy your videos and have learned a lot! I just need to find mushrooms and other cooperating models!
A stack of Raw files await my attention. I have never used editing software and it is a bit daunting. No, it is a LOT daunting. Thanks for slightly undaunting the scary stuff. I'm going to get this Lightroom thingy and see what havoc ensues.
Good luck with it, Shane! My advice is to make a nice hot drink and try and just enjoy the process of playing around with the sliders. Don't let anyone tell you there's a 'right' way to do things, just find what works best for you!
Do you have any problems doing some of these global edits with the tiff file. I guess you tripped into Photoshop to stack before your edits. I try to do my color edits on the raw file then go to photoshop. AND no, you didn't go too far. Nice fly with a good section of environmental background.
Hey Todd, what kind of problems do you encounter? Certainly nothing has been a problem for me working from Tiff file. You're right that it's what photoshop spat out after the focus stack. But the colours, detail etc remain accurate and in terms of processing power it's handled no problem by my machine. Thanks for watching!
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography First of all I LOVE your channel and am learning a lot from you. So thanks. "Problem" might have been the wrong word. My concern is that I have much more control on color corrections, white balance, recovering shadows etc when working with the raw file in Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW. When I stack (using Zerene Stacker) I export tiff files and am also returned a tiff file. Maybe it's unwarranted, but I worry about losing some of my abilities to make global color corrections just working on the tiff file after stacking. Maybe I'm worrying for nothing, but for my workflow I try to do a lot of the color corrections in Lightroom to each image before stacking. Still a lot to learn and a lot of practice needed on my part.
Did I take my edit too far?
No!
Thanks Mario!
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography you're welcome. I think you got too far when you don't like your image the way it turned out... ;-)
No. Nice edit, really show the insect. Remove the distractions in the image.
To my taste -- a bit? The top seems washed out, and the bottom plunged into darkness. The image kinda breaks itself into two separate parts. But then, I may very well be wrong.
Many thanks for the tip about gradient masks, I can't believe I spent years without them. They do change everything.
Good quality video, a man of real discerning tastes- love the bottle of Macallan 15 on the shelf, nice touch!
Thanks Jeff! A good Macallan always helps
Still working my way through your (excellent) videos, and i've found this one in particular hugely beneficial. In my own LR workflow I've been guilty of always applying changes globally to the image, and this has shown me how I can get a more natural effect on a lot of images with selective changes. Secondly, As I used to prepare images for printing, I''ve always stuck to 3:2 crops. Why - It's crazy ! let the image decide the format ! Thanks again for sharing. Your channel has really rekindled my love affair with photography
Thanks Robin, that's all really so kind of you to say and I'm really pleased you're enjoying watching!
I do wildlife photography and started watching macro videos because I want to give it a try. After watching this, I want to go use these tips on my old wildlife images. It would certainly give them a new look. Well done and helpful video. Thank you 👍
Thanks for watching!
The comment about cropping being good for composition, I totally agree. There's been many times that cropping has saved my composition.
Thanks Robert, I think it's often a step that's overlooked by a lot of people but it really can make a huge difference to refine a composition.
God, I'm glad I found your video that helped me
Glad I could help!
tq adrew. nice tip and i definitely will apply it!
Great tips!
This video is perfect for me at this stage of development as a macro and landscape photographer. I had already surmised some of these tips, but I find the simplicity and clarity of your workflow and thought processes invaluable.
Always loved the HSL sliders.
Split toning/colour grading also interesting
They're great. Probably 90 percent of my image work happens in hsl. The rest is just faff
Thanks so much.
superb step by step explanation - can't wait to get out there with my new macro lens now and get snapping!
The edit of the fly is absolutely gorgeous! But I was still impressed by the original photo too. The quality of the fly is so beautiful and crisp. Is that just the power of your camera and lens? My macro never comes out this crisp.
I use a Nikon d7500 with a Nikkor macro lens
Exceptional tutorial. Thank you.
Thank you!
You the Man!
I have to give you props for the result. Very tastefully done. I'm very restrained in my own processing. Usually when I watch tutorials like this I find the result over processed. By that I mean, the results don't look like anything real, but they also don't look unreal or appealing in an artistic way. But somehow you thread the needle, and the end result is both appealing and adds context. The commentary and explanation of why you're taking certain steps adds great depth. Thanks for the learning experience!
Thanks so much for such a kind comment. I try not to take my edits 'too far' by which I mean beyond the point that I feel they're no longer natural. I like to create a 'look' with my shots and I never claim they're straight of camera but I hope to always find that balance of natural vs artistic interpretation. I'm sure I won't always get it right (and many would argue I've gone too far here, even) but it's encouraging to hear that you think I'm on the right side of things. Thanks again for watching and for taking the time to comment!
No, I think art is subjective - and you view is as you see it. I like what you did, but more importantly how and why you did it. That is the part where we can tailor how we want the viewer to feel when seeing the image. That is part of the artistry as well! Keep inspiring, Andrew!.. gonna go do some more macro work this weekend after seeing this!
Great tips, Andrew - and a lot of information to digest. Thank you so much.
Thank you for watching!
Amazing tips. So helpful, thanks.
Thanks for watching!
Excellent tips 👍
Thanks Tanzeel, I appreciate you watching!
Listen man, love thile channel, love the tips, and quality, but you just took our "friendship" to an all new level with the McCallans 15 in the back. Cheers lol.
Love the content, thanks 👌
Good tips 👍🏼 Thanks for the video and for the tips. Regards from Venezuela 🤜🏻🤛🏽
Thanks so much for watching, Juan, I appreciate you taking the time!
I love how you create that extra pop in these edits. I'm just starting to try more macro and really like your approach.
Thanks so much, Sally!
Hi Andrew,
thanks very much for this very inspiring video.
Thank you very much for watching it, Marco!
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography It helps me getting better with my macros 👌
This video was so helpful! I need to learn Lightroom and this gave me a good idea of what tools to use.
love it, tnx a bunch
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for showing being flexible can change the look greatly or subtle. Where you put a linear grade on bottom to darken, I usually take the contrast down on it as well. You would liked to show a side-by-side of and edit, you can save a virtual copy of a point in the edit then compare. Sometimes I have a few virtual copies of variations for some images.
Very good indeed, removing the mystic, especially with the masking, I think this is wear landscapes, sunsets and rises, can be improved dramatically to give the ND filter look, first class! DG New Forest U.K.
Thanks David!
Thanks!!!
Thanks for watching, David!
Díky moc 👍
Thanks for another informative and enjoyable video. Even though I use ON1 and not LR I do find it very helpful.
I've never actually heard of ON1 but I've just Googled it. How do you find it? Is it comparable to lightroom and do you get good results?
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography For a long time I've been using Camera Raw in PS (which is basically the same as LR) . Over the years I was looking for a tool with more advanced features, mainly with masking in general and luminosity masking in particular. This is how I found ON1 Photo RAW and kept using it ever since. It has everything I need regarding both cataloging and post processing. I like its built-in filters and presets which are so powerful and now I can't wait for the upcoming new 2023 version expected to be released this month.
That sounds great. I'll take a look at it. I think it's good to have some lightroom alternatives but there are quite a few good ones (like affinity photo for example) that it's difficult to know what people are really using and would want to know about. I use Capture one quite often too but I don't do many videos on it anymore.
Great tut as always Andrew, just interested in your thought process for diving straight into the HSL panel rather than using the basic sliders to get the image roughly where you want it?
Thanks! HSL won't always be my first tool -- I want to make sure the image is adequately exposed first so I might adjust the highlights and shadows before going further. In this instance though the image was already quite even in its exposure which gave me a good enough baseline to work from. As I show though, I still go back and forth sometimes, adjusting bits here and there until I get the look I want. I don't always have a set order in which I approach these things and may end up going back several times to each tool to change things up. Hope that helps!
"As soon as we get into the 70s it starts looking weird" Yeah, that sure was a strange looking decade. LOL
I believe you also use CaptureOne, right? I wonder how you’d do a similar edit in CaptureOne.
I do! And it'd be basically the same as the exact same tools for HSL and masking are there in C1 so very little would change for me in either program
How in the world do you get multiple shots to stack by focusing on different part of the fly hand held?! I just started macro and of 40 images, got one usable.
Probably using focus bracketing in the camera that automatically moves the focus from shot to shot (you obviously neeed an autofocus lens and a camera with that feature), and then stacking using Photoshop, or better still Helicon or Zerene Stacker. You do need a high shutter speed, but IBIS (I wish I had this on my camera) helps. Maybe even using a flash to freeze any motion from hand holding. Macro is challenging and requires patience ….. I speak from experience having got many failures! Keep practicing and hopefully you will have some winners soon!
Hey Alan, this was pretty straightforward actually -- I had my camera on manual focus at the closest point and with burst mode activated I simply moved the camera forward slightly as I took my shots. I only needed five images to get the parts in focus that I wanted, as I still wanted the shallow depth of field look on the leaves and the background. As Grant says, I also sometimes use the auto focus bracketing tool on my Canon R5 and a faster shutter speed will definitely make the difference in getting a sharp image. Hope that helps!
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography Hey Andrew, thanks for your response. I'll try the burst mode, but my ability to hold my camera fairly steady is limited, my balance is not very good. My lens is manual focus (Laowa) and I don't think that my Nikon D7500 has focus bracketing, especially with a manual focus lens. I do have a focusing rail that will help with non-moving subjects. Thanks again, and I really enjoy your videos and have learned a lot! I just need to find mushrooms and other cooperating models!
👍👍👍
A stack of Raw files await my attention. I have never used editing software and it is a bit daunting. No, it is a LOT daunting. Thanks for slightly undaunting the scary stuff. I'm going to get this Lightroom thingy and see what havoc ensues.
Good luck with it, Shane! My advice is to make a nice hot drink and try and just enjoy the process of playing around with the sliders. Don't let anyone tell you there's a 'right' way to do things, just find what works best for you!
I still confused with those menu shortcut, I'ts not showing in my Lightroom Classics UI
Do you have any problems doing some of these global edits with the tiff file. I guess you tripped into Photoshop to stack before your edits. I try to do my color edits on the raw file then go to photoshop. AND no, you didn't go too far. Nice fly with a good section of environmental background.
Hey Todd, what kind of problems do you encounter? Certainly nothing has been a problem for me working from Tiff file. You're right that it's what photoshop spat out after the focus stack. But the colours, detail etc remain accurate and in terms of processing power it's handled no problem by my machine. Thanks for watching!
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography First of all I LOVE your channel and am learning a lot from you. So thanks. "Problem" might have been the wrong word. My concern is that I have much more control on color corrections, white balance, recovering shadows etc when working with the raw file in Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW. When I stack (using Zerene Stacker) I export tiff files and am also returned a tiff file. Maybe it's unwarranted, but I worry about losing some of my abilities to make global color corrections just working on the tiff file after stacking. Maybe I'm worrying for nothing, but for my workflow I try to do a lot of the color corrections in Lightroom to each image before stacking. Still a lot to learn and a lot of practice needed on my part.
How stack?