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How to shoot & edit your woodland photos to give them a glowy, dreamlike, painterly look

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The real world, especially the natural real world, is filled with wonderful sights for us to capture with our cameras. The problem is, our cameras rarely capture the world exactly as we see it and particularly not how we feel it to be. That’s where editing comes in. It’s why we have tools like Lightroom and Photoshop to help us get our images where we want them to be. In the case of woodlands, that often means a dreamy painterly style.

Woodlands, particularly, are well suited to this style. It brings out those magical and mystical vibes many of us feel when we think of woodlands and the idyllic images we see in our heads. In this video, Nigel Danson walks us through his editing process in Lightroom Classic to give his woodland photos that soft and dreamy painterly feel. But this isn’t just a basic 5-minute tutorial. It’s almost half an hour long going into a lot of detail on the whole process.

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Watch how I created this highly stylized composite portrait

I always tell everybody that with only 30 minutes of practice a day you can become a master at Photoshop, all you need to be is consistent. And I honestly believe that. Most people will probably put more time in than that, I know I did for sure! But as a bare minimum, 30 mins a day would still work.

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Photographer creates painterly masterpieces inspired by the old masters

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I would probably need an infinite number of counting beads to count how many times a photographer says they are trying to capture the master painters of old in their work. But one photographer embodies this style whilst infusing it with their own master touch more than any other. Meet Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk, one of the sweetest people you will ever meet and a master of portraits! I first saw Gemmy’s work a few years ago and was blown away by the attention to detail and subtle touches. At first, I thought they were paintings until I looked closer. Her influences are worn clearly on her sleeve for all to see, but she never copies. Gemmy’s work forces you to star at it, looking for the little touches that add character, and that is where the magic lies.[Read More…]

This timelapse short film of China uses Prisma app to look like a painted animation

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Launched for iOS around five weeks ago, Prisma seems to have taken the world by storm. At least, it has if the images scrolling through my Facebook feed have been anything to go by.

According to their website “Prisma transforms your photos into artworks using the styles of famous artists”. District 7 Media have taken it to the extreme by re-shooting timelapse of China using the Prisma app.

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This is how to get the painterly look in your portraits

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I recently organised and executed a cover shoot for Uk alternative magazine Twisted Edge. It features the usual alternative lifestyle elements such as girls with tattoos, rock bands, movie reviews and various Uk alt photographers. Having read many alt magazines, I knew I wanted the images for this feature to stand out, and buck the raw, gritty aesthetic that has become synonomus with Uk alt photography.

Taking inspiration from one of my favourite non photographer artists, Dan dos Santos, I planned to do some hyper-real, stylised portraits. The models would look like they just stepped out of a graphic novel or computer game.

To achieve this painterly style, you have to mix a few different techniques together. There isn’t one global technique, apart from maybe some dodgy oil painting filter (Which I advise you not to use……ever…ever), that can create this look. It is a mix of doge and burn, painting in colour, and choosing the right colours. Not only that, it also depends on your subject, costume and the overall tone of the image. What I will do today is focus on the dodge and burn, which is the key element…..but also mention the other factors around it, to put it into context. I will also leave you a speed edit above from the same set, to show you the full editing process from beginning to end.

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