Don't get me started on the art and science of taking a proper pocket shot. That'll be a tutorial for another day. As it turns out though, my very first pocket shot post also serves as a pretty great example of how I edit most of my watch photos. That's today's tutorial.
There's a certain zen-like feeling of going through the motions of editing a photo. Each one unique in its own right, yet each one fluidly rolling through the same satisfying ritual to take it from raw to Insta-worthy. Preset. White balance. Exposure. Local adjustments. A million healing points. Rinse and repeat.
For your own dose of serenity, I thought I'd share a high level breakdown of how I edited this shot and many others like it. Enjoy!
The raw
Here’s the raw photo straight out of the camera. Not bad to start, but feels pretty flat.
Lightroom
As you might guess, the process begins with importing the raw into Lightroom.
Preset
The heavy lifting is done by applying my own preset first, which I’ve been tweaking for years to suit my taste.
White balance
I then like to get the white balance sorted first sometimes so I can dial in the color tones.
Custom white balance
I find the steel of the watch often gives me the neutral grey I’m looking for.
Color mix
But I’ll also spend some time tweaking specific colors to ensure my skin and other tones are the way I want them.
Light
Over in the light panel, I might make some small tweaks but my preset takes care of most of these settings.
Tone curve
My preset also adds this custom tone curve. The black point being lifted slightly is key to my aesthetic.
Default curve
Here’s what it looks like without custom tone curve settings. The photo just looks slightly flatter.
Local adjustments
Finally, to finish things off, I’ll add a few adjustments to select parts of the photo to intensify the contrast.
Focus
This is all about helping the eye focus on what matters. Feel like I could do a whole tutorial on just creating focus.
Done!
A couple more minor tweaks and I’m done! In total, a shot like this usually takes me a few minutes to edit.
Before
A softer image with flatter shadows and saturated tones.
After
A crisper image with more dramatic shadows and saturated tones.
Thanks for joining this edition of Study Club! Have a question? Drop a comment below!