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Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just hook your mind to a TV screen to broadcast all views that you’ve seen? Well, since we don’t have this kind of immersive technology yet, we have to stick to the usual show of pictures. And since those photos will be the only glimpse into the wonderful journey, they have to be absolutely gorgeous.
But what if they don’t? Bleak colors, myriads of photobombers, weird angles and distortions – this is not the way you remember this amazing place… Don’t get discouraged just yet! There is no need to travel back to make sure that every photo captures the essence of your trip.
You can fix your images in post production. And today, we’ll tell you how. Let’s dive into the 6 ways you can make your travel pictures look awesome.
1. Fix the Dynamic Range
You wouldn’t believe how a simple tweaking of highlights and shadows can benefit a photo. So fix your photo’s dynamic range to make your picture gain more depth.
Darken overexposed areas and lighten the overly dark ones to reveal hidden details that you thought were lost from the image.
2. Make the Colors Pop
Sadly, the camera will never capture all the hues and shades a human eye can perceive.
So if you want the beauty of your destination to be translated onto the pictures, make sure to crank the colors up to eleven. Adjust the vibrance and contrast of your images or even play with the curves to try to replicate the colors you’ve witnessed. Don’t be afraid to go over the top – travel photos have to be juicy!
3. Improve the Composition
Sometimes even a seemingly perfect picture – vibrant colors, impeccable shadows and highlights – can fall flat. The reason? Poor composition.
It’s perfectly normal if you can’t quite set the best composition while shooting – there could be tons of people swarming around, bumping into you at every chance or you might be insanely exhausted to hold that camera straight. This is where post processing comes in handy.
Simply crop your pictures with a certain standard in mind – the Rule of Thirds or the Golden Ratio – to make a masterpiece out of it.
4. Keep an Eye on Geometry
Sometimes a trustworthy camera can be slightly unreliable. It’s not out of malice – once again, the camera is no match for a human eye. That is why sometimes your camera can distort your images by making them look like a fish’s eye or a pincushion.
These distortions can easily be fixed in post production. The same goes to the falling building effect.
5. Get Rid of Distractions
Unless you are vacationing on an inhabited island, chances are you’ll have random people in the frame, power lines, trash bins or anything equally distracting. Instead of tossing the photo into said trash bin, just erase all the odd objects and people in post production.
There are numerous tools to make distractions disappear without a trace, leaving only you and the magnificent nature in the frame.
6. Embrace Artistic Filters
There is just one step between a regular travel photo and a bona fide masterpiece. And this little step might have something to do with using filters. While a trite way to make yourself look prettier, filters can be immensely beneficial for landscape or architecture pictures.
Have an image of Santa Maria del Fiore? Try applying a vintage filter to it! Took a stunning picture of the Jatayu statue? Add a bit of otherworldly glow to it with a filter to highlight its magnificence.
You might have guessed that sometimes post processing of your travel photos might be just as challenging and fun as taking them. This is why you need a reliable tool. We won’t leave you stranded and will recommend to you a handful of softwares you can use.
If you know your way around photo editing, then direct your attention to Lightroom. This Adobe product is jam-packed with features that will take your images to the next level. The downside is it will take you hours to make heads or tails of this photo editor. And yes, it costs quite a lot.
You may even need to invest in a Lightroom guidance book for beginners to help with the steep learning curve.
If you don’t want to spend eternity editing images, then you’ll like quick solutions offered by PicMonkey. This is an online-based editor for slightly fixing your images right on the go – nothing fancy, nothing too complicated in execution. But to use it to its full potential, you’ll need to make sure that you have a stable Internet connection.
If you are still sort of a newbie but boast artistic aspirations, go with PhotoWorks. This is a photo editor that is both easy to operate and full of awesome pro-level features. It comes with tons of one-click solutions that will help you perfect your images, no matter their genre.
Well, now you’ve learned how to improve your travel images, don’t waste any time and turn your flawed pictures into National Geographics-level shots!
