Ten top tips for
editing bird photos
Improve your avian shots while
keeping their integrity1
Brighten catchlight use selective
adjustment brushes (in adobe camera raw or
Photoshop) if the bird’s catchlight (the little spark
in their eye) needs boosting. a bright catchlight
adds life to portraits.2
Boost vibrance if your raW image doesn’t
do the bird’s colourful plumage justice, boost
the Vibrance levels, just a little. steer clear of the
saturation sliders, though, which often end up
giving unnatural results.3
Sort the colour Modern cameras generally
do a good job of recording white balance
accurately, but it doesn’t hurt to fine-tune this
parameter to make sure that the subject appears
the same colour you saw it at the time of shooting.7
Clone out distractions Purists might
dislike the removal of objects from a wildlife
image, but unless you’re planning to enter
competitions, getting rid of branches and stray
twigs can sometimes neaten up an image.4
Preserve highlights it’s especially
important to avoid clipping the highlights
for birds with white plumage. use the histogram
in editing software to guide you as you bring the
highlight levels down.8
Add contrast The addition of an s-shaped
tone curve is a surefire way to boost the
contrast and punch of your bird shots. You might
also use the contrast sliders found in Photoshop
and Lightroom.5
Crop By cutting out wider images, you can
make the bird fill more of the frame. This is
especially useful for with small or faraway subjects.
remember to crop for creative reasons, too.9
Improve clarity raW files can often lack
definition straight out of the camera. if this is
the case, gently use the clarity slider to improve the
local contrast and increase the apparent sharpness
of the image.6
Sharpen sharpen your images to bring out
the detail of the bird, but don’t go mad, as
oversharpening can create hyperreal results and
halos around the bird. sharpen in camera raw.10
Less is more Too much editing –
especially to natural bird images – can
make for artificial results. When editing, always
make subtle and incremental changes, referring
back to your original shot if this helps.© Sean WeeklyTechniques