42 22 February 2020 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113

Technique

Fineart photographerClaireGillo

revealsthe stepsshetook togeta

rawfilereadyforprint

A

lthoughI enjoyshooting

inmanydifferentgenres

thereis something

particularlyenticing

aboutfineartphotography.There

areendlesspossibilitieswhenit

comestosubjectmatterandI

lovecreatingimagesthatnotonly

havea visualconnectionbutalsoa

conceptualone.

Thisimageis thefirstshotfroman

emergingseriescalledLayla’sgifts.

MycatLaylais a beastwhenit

comestohuntingandI findthe

‘gifts’sheleavesbehindtobeoften

botha mixtureofdisgustingand

upsetting.Thisbirdwasalready

deadbythetimeI gottoit andthere

wassomethingbeautifulandsad

aboutit atthesametime.Thatis

whatI wantedtocaptureinthe

imagebutalsoexplorethefragile

linebetweenlifeanddeath.

I alreadyhada blackblanketset

upinthecornerofmyofficeandI lit

thebirdusinga flashgunand

diffuserpanel.HadI hada little

moretimeI wouldhavespentlonger

onmylightingset-up,howeverit

goestoshowyoucanstillachieve

greatresultsina coupleofminutes

anda littleeditingknowledge.For

allmyeditingI usea combinationof

LightroomandPhotoshop.Forthis

particularimageI onlyused

Photoshop,andit workedwell.

Behind the

print

3

I want to

bring out

the exposure in

the feathers

here to match

the other side

4

The image

needs to be

gently toned and

enhanced

2

The

background

needs cleaning

up and

darkening down

1

I wanted the

image to be

square so I

cropped it to a

1:1 ratio

Claire Gillo

Claire is a very

experienced photography

journalist and a former

technique editor on AP.

She now works as a

freelancer from her base

in Devon and enjoys taking

and editing a wide range of images. For more

information on Claire and her work, see her

website at http://www.clairegillo.com

PREPARING THE RAW FILE FOR PRINTING

1 Basic raw adjustments
I opened the image in Adobe Camera Raw and
cropped to a square format with a 1:1 ratio. I
also slightly boosted the contrast and tweaked
the shadows and highlights to bring out detail
in the bird. I also added a touch of Texture to
bring out the texture in the feathers.

2 Isolated exposure

As the wing on the right was slightly darker

than the other I wanted to make them match

in exposure values. To do this I went to the

Adjustment brush in ACR and made an

isolated exposure adjustment. I then opened

my image into Photoshop.

3 Time for healing

In the main editor I started by duplicating the

background layer. That way I always have a

copy of the original image. To remove the

marks from the background on the new layer

I used the Spot Healing brush. You could also

use the Clone tool to do this job.

ALL IMAGES © CL AIRE GILLO