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I want to talk today about one tool, in Lightroom and Photoshop, that is probably used on nearly every image but is not used to it’s full potential – the Crop tool.
Now, I, like most of us I would imagine, use the crop tool to make minor adjustments to the image – maybe crop out an unwanted tree or post and straighten up the image.
But what if I told you that you can dramatically change the look and feel of your image and even use it to zoom?
Modern cameras are pretty damn amazing. Charge the battery, pop in a memory card, attach a lens, switch to auto and you are good to go. Not much more work is needed to start getting decent images. But to get consistently better images you need to turn that dial away from Auto and on to Manual.
Before we begin, I believe there is absolutely a time and a place for automatic or semi-automatic modes on the camera. I have shoot over 100 weddings and most of those were on Aperture Priority for the majority of the day. The same goes for corporate events or location portrait shoots. Yes, I will ensure that my minimum shutter speed is set to 1/125 or 1/250 and I have a capped ISO (dependent on camera) but once I have done those things I only need to worry about my aperture, which for weddings and portraits, is the creative element of the exposure triangle.
I have used Lightroom for a number of years now for everything from my wedding photography to commercial work to portraits to landscapes. I use it alongside Photoshop, but for the average photographer, Lightroom will be able to handle the bulk of the work.
In this article, we are going to go through 40 ways to speed up your editing and make the most of this powerful tool.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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