The Photo EDITING Trick EVERY Photographer SHOULD Know!

Go to squarespace.co... to get a free trial and 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
🌟Get My FREE Lightroom Colors Course🌟
markdenneyphot...
In this week’s episode, we review the photo editing trick every photographer should know. This "trick" is something I've been applying to my photos quite often recently and I'm really enjoying the focused attention it provides while at the same time creating a much more dynamic lighting situation. It's often that we receive flat lighting conditions with landscape photography - either on cloudy overcast days or days with full light, but this technique will vastly improve your photos when you get those conditions. I hope you enjoy this week's video and as always thanks so much for watching! - Mark D.
🌟UPCOMING WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
🔘geni.us/markde...
RECOMMENDED GEAR PAGE
🔘geni.us/myfavo...
📸 MY CAMERAS & LENSES
🔘 Main Camera: bhpho.to/3KZf3aa
🔘 Wide Lens: bhpho.to/3VWbPdW
🔘 Mid-Range Lens: bhpho.to/3xHbpi1
🔘 Mid-Range Lens: bhpho.to/4cyykLs
🔘 Long Lens: bhpho.to/3KXEitp
🔘Action Cam: geni.us/oRhupMT
🔘DJI Mavic 3: geni.us/nKRMkt
📺 WATCH THESE PLAYLISTS NEXT
🔘Composition Tips: geni.us/compos...
🔘Beginners Guide: geni.us/Beginn...
🔘Editing Tutorials: geni.us/Editing
🔘Tips & Tricks: geni.us/Tipsan...
As an affiliate marketer & Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I earn a small commission on the above links if you decide to purchase the item at no additional charge to you.
#landscapephotography​​ #photographer
*LETS CONNECT*
Morning Blaze: markdenneyphot...
Instagram: / markdenneyphoto
Facebook: / markdenneyphoto
Twitter: / markdenneyphoto

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

✅QUICK QUESTION: Do often use masks when editing your photos?

[@ddki9094]

All of the time. I've been trying a lot of the techniques that you have brought forth and I have to say that with all of the improvements LR has implemented over the past year, the sky selection tool has been quite transformative.

[@thorstenhausmann8743]

I use masks the most times

[@Woici]

All of the time 🙂

[@mizshellytee]

More often in more recent times.

[@DebiSenGupta]

@@MarkDenneyPhoto yes most of the time. Prefer it to general edits.

[@lucacanever]

Great tip and great video, thank you so much. And yes I do use a lot of masking. One tip on the circular mask, if you hold the alt key while dragging the mask you can make it asymmetrical.

[@dougiemilnephotography756]

I've been doing this for a few years. But rather than just bunging it in the middle of the shot, I centre it on whatever I want to draw the viewer's eye to - just to really emphasize the focal point.

[@ikkuvaljo]

Half way through the video. Are you re-inventing vignette? :D

[@Feemy]

Does seem like a roundabout way of doing that, doesn't it LOL

[@mhsch5420]

Hello Mark, Thanks for your video, which is very inspiring and a new approach to image editing. To make sure I have understood it correctly, I would like to repeat what I have learned from your video. Please correct me if I am wrong: 1. you do NOT underexpose the image in camera, you expose TTR 2. in Lightroom you do the "normal" steps (as needed) such as adjusting the white balance, using linear gradients for the foreground and/or sky, dodging and burning, removing small (distracting) objects, cropping, etc. 3. if you have edited the image to your liking, i.e. you have already started editing the image here, now reduce the exposure globally by approx. 1 stop (depending on the subject, it may be a little more or less) 4. as a final step, apply a fully feathered radial gradient mask where you increase the exposure by more or less the same value you reduced in step 3 5. from here on there is no more additional work, maybe just a few small tweaks, but usually the processing of the image ends after step 4. And many thanks not only to your sponsor, but to you for the great videos on YT; please keep up the good work! Best, Mark H.

[@stephenschmid492]

No, it sounded like Mark was intentionally underexposing in camera.

[@celinemorisset5533]

Hi Mark, really appreciate this tip on radial gradient and how easy you make it. Thank you for sharing, love it! Yes, very useful.

[@cameronfaili661]

I mean - this one is so obvious that I can’t believe I didn’t think of this all the time! Pure gold - thx bud.

[@Coatsey007]

Brilliant Mark, thank you. Even though I’ve unsubscribed from Adobe, not due to Price, but due to their shady practices, I still watch your videos because they’re useful regardless of the editing platform you use. Thank you.

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Great to hear you enjoyed it!

[@brucehart706]

Hi, what shady practices are you referring to?

[@jayfisherphoto]

​​@@brucehart706he's probably referring to Adobe using your images for AI learning. Though you can opt out of it in your account settings. Problem is though, they opted everyone in automatically without really informing you (it was hidden in their t&c's), which is pretty shady.

[@m3photo726]

I recommend Affinity Photo. One time price. None of the Adobe rip-off practices …

[@JoshChadwick1]

You started to get into this, but I feel like the first step before applying masking edits is to ask yourself "where do I want the viewer to look?" Once you have a focal point in mind, you can start to mask out exposures to help highlight the main areas you want the viewer to pay attention to. I use similar techniques to what you've shown here, but it's always interesting to see another photographer's workflow. Keep up the great content.

[@brucekraft744]

You have knocked it out of the park with this one, Mark! Thanks for posting this.

[@doncastercameraclub2471]

Great video and a great technique. I can't wait to give it a go.

[@SONNTAG10001]

Thanks Mark, love your work and look forward to your KZbin broadcasts, great of you to share your talent with us.

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thanks so much!

[@echoauxgen]

Great info and sense Lr came out with the many varied gradients it has gotten better

[@HoustonBrownPhotography]

Been doing this for a few yesrs now. It makes a huge difference to most photographs and directs where you want the focus of the image to be.

[@zezus3]

Yours 'before and after' are just a classic in photo editing. Thanks for another great video

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@jlid1]

Hey Mark, excellent video! I had quite a few pictures I took at a local park the other day, and after I watched this video, I tried this technique on quite a few shots....and it did a great job on them! Kicked them up a notch so to speak. Great tip, thanks!

[@sergioc.p.7845]

It's a very similar technique to mine, except that what I do to darken the image is not to lower the exposure, but to create an inverted radial filter on the entire image to darken it and create a vignetting effect. The second step is to do the same thing you do, a radial filter in the center to increase the exposure, so in the end, I have two concentric radials, where one is inverted to darken the background, and the other increases the luminosity in the center. Good educational video, as always. Thanks for sharing!

[@BrianKenyon]

Yeah it seems you could just use vignettes for the center exposure technique. I’ve used radial gradients quite a bit to draw and dodge focus.

[@shlomoeshet8525]

In your own word: a fantastic trick! Thanks for that and for sharing some of your gorgeous photos.

[@davidf6326]

It's hardly earth shattering. Twelve minutes to explain how to apply a vignette using a particularly inefficient method. I'm glad I've seen a number of the guy's videos and knew to skip through it to get the plot in ten seconds!

[@raymondjobin7673]

Love your enthusiasm!

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thanks Raymond!

[@user-np3zj6lx2c]

Great educational opportunity to focus the sight. Loved it!

[@kevinmcdonnell]

Mark. Been following you for several years and loved your own growth of skills, experience and ability to present. Love these videos where you share such awesome tips. Thanks from Central Coast Australia.

[@artursandwich1974]

That is a very cool trick.

[@joerichard171]

Thank you Mark. I tried this approach on a landscape photo I recently edited and thought it was ok, wrong. Your approach was clearly better

[@pederkristensen4691]

Thanks Mark for a great tip and demo. Looking forward to see some great pics from your trip.

[@jeffnigro9876]

Great tip for creating a moody image. I use the TK-9 panel for creating masks, but I really like the simplicity of this technique. The simpler, the better for me.

[@rayasiala9375]

Absolutely amazing video! I cannot wait to try this and apply it to my landscapes because they are really boring when I look at them. This trick just gonna make all the difference.

[@garygoldsmith2889]

Great advice. Thank you. Is the word you’re looking for at the beginning: “serendipity”?

[@jeffkowalski898]

Thanks!

[@acebone2]

You invented the inverted vignette ... 😲

[@TheBoatmike]

This is a tip I plan to test out and use immediately. Thanks!

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Love to hear it!

[@aaohknsn]

Heeey I was already doing this! I add a little contrast, a touch of saturation and a little clarity as well.

[@alexkublanovsky8324]

This trick is as simple as it is excellent! Thanks so much!

[@richardpesce5325]

Great tip Mark, thanks!

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

You bet!

[@WanderingSwitchback]

I love this trick! I will definitely be experimenting with this!

[@antonoat]

Very interesting Mark. On the second image I would be inclined to not allow the radial filter to lighten the central part of the sky, it just seemed to look unnatural in the sky area! Thanks for sharing the tip, I’m certainly going to give it a try! 👏👍😀

[@brucedelorme5026]

Good stuff Mark. Tried it and kind of liked the results... in the Highlsnds st present and it's rained 3 straight days hard. Still love it.

[@doubledip3181]

I love love love love your videos Mark. I used to be so hesitant to use gradients but I'm not as much now.

[@ksnmurthy4476]

Very useful information. We take advantage of your experience Mark. Thanks for sharing.

[@Racsophoto]

Great video. I do use this technique myself and would not explain it better. For those who prefer to use the inverse technique (take the picture with right exposure and use radial mask to dark periphery or vignette) let me just add that shooting underexposed is better to handle lower iso. It’s easier to recover light from dark than the opposite (when already the photo may brings a high iso).

[@fenraven]

I learned this technique from photographer Jim Nix. It can have great impact on a photo. I like how you utilized it in your pics.

[@michaelt7320]

Thanks, Mark, for such a useful tip and so well explained.

[@erwinbodo8850]

Thank you, Mark. Could you not achieve the same effect by ETTR exposure and then darken the areas you do not want to interfere with your main subject. Would not this also result in less noise?

[@tompatton2086]

"Would not this also result in less noise?" Excellent point.

[@maggnet4829]

My assumption is he already exposed to the right. Due to the bright sky the rest of the image is underexposed.

[@mazdub]

I've found myself doing something similar. The difference I do is bring up exposure to the whole photo and then use radial filter and invert and lower exposure.

[@teresababer5310]

Thanks Mark….what a GREAT tip 👍

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Great to hear you enjoyed it!

[@PhDuh42]

Thanks for the tip. I've been using subject and object masks to emphasize areas and completely forgot about the radial gradient.

[@clairerobinson2006]

Don’t you just love those “Eureka” moments!

[@johnzapell1527]

Always. I use the radial gradiant mask, the linear gradiant, and the sky mask a lot.

[@AaronFacciolini]

Hmm I generally thought most photographers did this. I don't use vignette sliders, this is the technique I've used for years. However judging by the comments I can see this has helped a ton of people so kudos Mark! Also, to add to this technique you can also subtract from it - luminosities and/or colors or use another radial filter to subtract certain areas that have light you want to keep!

[@zaqueenateatro]

Love your channel because I actually learn ❤

[@user-qw9ot3kq9l]

As usual, awesome advice Mark!

[@marvinvaughnsantos4064]

Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing

[@RayAbrahams72]

Thank you for this very informative video. I have been using the Radial filter for some time now, mostly for subtle local adjustments, but seeing what you have done here looks very interesting and will certainly give it ago with my images. Thanks once again, and I look forward to your next video

[@alanbudge]

This is a brilliant tip Mark and one that will definitely improve my work. To be fair all your tips are excellent but not all suit my style.

[@juliebaughan7533]

Mark, if using an Orton effect in photoshop, when would you apply this if editing this way? Another great video ❤

[@DJRotxy]

Vignette with extra steps

[@thorstenhausmann8743]

Interesting approach to radial filters. But what's making the difference to do it the different way, by using the radial filter to darken parts of the frame. Isn't the result the same?

[@ko300zx]

It is a nice effect but I kept thinking the same. Isn’t this just a different way to create a custom vignette?

[@lyndarodig8707]

Funny - I e been doing this for awhile. Nice to know I’m doing it right! Thanks for another great video!!! I really look forward to these, so helpful.

[@tmpart1]

I like it!

[@jimbruton9482]

Mark, Brilliant!! Thank You!

[@gscottfuller]

Nice tip Mark. Thanks. I worry about using this too much or too heavy handed. You can easily cross a line into something false looking or schmaltzy.

[@vzshadow1]

Mark, Do you use Ps at all? I often use gradients in Ps in a similar way. I also like to use solid color adjustment layers with masks. I like to use different blend modes to "alter the natures of the light that I add". Also I find that painting with masks allows you to be very specific with where you add the light.

[@CharlieHelps]

Lovely results, Mark. Thank you. I can't help wondering if the other way to achieve this lovely effect is the opposite. i.e. by keeping the original bright exposure, and adding a custom vignette. PS: what monitor are you running there?

[@richardsmith5021]

Great tip. I use the taxi Al gradient often but not in this manner. I’ll be trying it out soon. Thanks.

[@johnconaway7438]

Nice way to add a sun beam to a scene

[@davidhart922]

Thank you, great tips

[@markvanderwalle2901]

Thx ! This tip change probably my workflow 🫣

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Awesome to hear Mark!

[@Raykenn1]

Great tips thanks for posting 👍

[@stephenschmid492]

Mark, wouldn't it make more sense from an image quality and noise perspective, to correctly expose the image in camera, and then darken the areas you want darker instead of lightening an underexposed area?

[@sutv6754]

When I say this one is gold, I mean pure gold. Thank you again Mark.

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thanks so much!

[@ItsWillLee]

Subconsciously - I think that's the word you were looking for 😊 Good stuff! Cheers,

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thats it!

[@robertrayphotography]

I have almost exactly the same images! 🤣 Great video as always!

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Hahhah! Thanks Bob!

[@robertsiqueira9899]

Great tips as usually!!

[@kevinrutter4542]

I use Luminar neo but will work the same way thanks mark

[@neilboggin3346]

A similar trick on grass type shots is to reduce exposure but then lift whites & clarity.

[@jimswift2400]

Just like adding vignette effect except much more selective.

[@thomasd6592]

Seems to me a similar effect could be achieved by "inverting" your technique i.e. brighten the whole image instead of darkening it, apply the radial filter, but then "duplicate and invert" that filter. Now darken the inverted filter. Center brighter perimeter darker. What do you think?

[@davidshawe8982]

Thank you Mark, very informative. I think you have to be careful though not to over illuminate a part of the image that wouldn’t look naturally brighter. For example, in your Faroes waterfall image it looks like the light is coming from in front of you, ie backlighting, but increasing exposure too much to the central area makes the grassy area above the waterfall look a little unreal.

[@deborahcorreale352]

Quick Question: any recommendations or videos on the best way to upload photos on IMAC, do you go through Iphots then import to lightroom or set it up that you import directly to lightroom and catalog / file photos there?

[@BruiserFL]

Great tip!

[@nonamninom9344]

Great technique. I do something similar. I really do not understand what's the problem with vignetting and dark/soft corners with lens. My photos are always darker at corners and the subjects are not there too. I was wondering if I am doing something wrong because so many people say it is negative.

[@alansarpy]

Does this ever introduce noise ? I'd like to see a video on how you approach your editing with a print in mind .. I feel like these bright monitors make it hard to judge on how dark or light a final print will look , especially on metal ...

[@LEClarke-df3sf]

Brilliant!

[@marilynbettridge2889]

Hi Mark Question about expisures before using the radial gradient. Do you underexpise in the field or taje the best expisure, then bring it down in edoting before using the filter?

[@rlfisher]

Nailed it again.

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thanks Roger!

[@charlieclarke71]

Hi Mark - great video as always. Just a question on this one. I have found myself using the inverted radial frequently to add a vignette to my images - I find it much more versatile. Your tip here effectively seems to deliver the same sort of result but via a different route. Are there any specific benefits you see to your using tip over using an inverted radial? Thanks

[@rufffinoo]

Your before and after are great but I’m new to photo editing and am having trouble deciding on Lightroom or Luminar Neo. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@tjsinva]

More magic. Carry on. 👍🥂

[@Kmo1970]

Nice 👍🙏😉

[@35shooter]

How do you find that this differs from editing for your desired subject brightness then adding a radial gradient, inverting it, and darkening the outer areas of the picture?

[@rolandvanalphen4355]

Thank you Mark, great video ... again. Can you please make a video about the calibration chain concerning our beloved RAW pixels/our great screen/our high quality paperspitting photoprinter? 😉🧡🙏📷

[@rogernordgren5729]

almost always

[@blujeans9462]

So cool!

[@guymatson7731]

Great video thanks Mark

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@scottogren2796]

Hey Mark, Great vid! Trying to make the start in editing. How do you name and save your photos. With so many pics, how do you remember each one? I do load mine on a external drive. thanks in advance, Scott

[@drummerg3331]

Great video! I have a question though. On the first picture, how did you make the whole image smaller on the screen so that you could drag the filter over the entire pic, and even over the edges if you wanted?

[@eeger48]

Looks like a thinning of the clouds over that area

[@vitalisvasylius7390]

How did you enjoy shooting with the Z8?

[@guycl2381]

Great tip ... I do about the same with an inverted radial gradient, darkening the outside ... but here you can apply more tweaking inside .... Kind regards, Guy

[@mazdub]

Same here

[@DebiSenGupta]

Best tip

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Glad you think so!