Freddie Ardley

Before and After: London Architecture

Created using the Lightroom preset Architecture - Dubai (Blue Glass). This really brought out the sky beautifully. To finish of the photograph, I used a clarify brush with an additional 0.2 exposure to brighten up the details of the street and building.

Photo Hint: All though it was a very sunny day, I waited till I was in the shadow of a cloud to ensure even lighting and no harsh shadows.

Download the presets at creativemarket.com/freddie.ardley

Lightroom Before and After - Details in the Dark

I want to highlight (pun I know) what details are retained in the shadows of an image when shooting towards the sun in RAW on a DSLR.

Using Lightroom I used a few graduated filters to recover the dark space of the original image to bring it out to how the scene would have looked, in terms of light distribution, without making it look like I have used any sort of ugly HDR techniques.

To make the clouds look more ethereal and heavenly, so to speak, I again used a graduated filter or two, set to negative clarity while slightly increasing the contrast so as not to wash the sky out.

I hope you find this useful for when a photograph looks to dark to use, try using graduated filters. Remember to shoot in RAW so you retain as much detail and information in the image.

NB: there are many other edits going on in this photograph, I just wanted to explain how to bring out the shadows.

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Behind the Scenes Editing: Hiding from a Storm

Here is a before and after look at my recent work, 'Hiding from a Storm'. All of my post processing work from raw image to final image is exclusively done in Lightroom 4. Mostly with dodge and burn. (hint that is how I created the street lamp glow)

I hope  you find the dramatic change and what can be achieved in Lightroom inspiring.

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My Lightroom Behind the Scenes 

A definitive look at some before and after pieces from this weekend's shooting. Again, all editing is done exclusively in Lightroom 4, with most relying on brushes such as dodge and burn. 

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Lightroom Before and After - Dodge and Burn 

Thought this would be a good example of my brush use in Lightroom. All edits in this photograph are done with Lightroom brushes only.

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Lightroom Before and After #8

The great thing about shooting in RAW, is that it gives you a greater opportunity to create an image that isn't necessarily truth and away from reality.

You can bring to life a vision of what your imagination saw and tell a story that engages the viewer in a different way than would have been possible if they had been there in that moment.

Freddie Ardley Photography

Lightroom Before and After #6

Photography is all about manipulating the light of a subject. So if it's not there, that isn't stopping you from creating the lighting you envisage.

This photograph highlights the power of Lightroom's amazing slider Clarity. We've turned some uninteresting weather into a storm of magnitude with dodge and burn, and have dramatically enhanced the lines which draw the observer into the scene along the road.

Freddie Ardley Photography

Lightroom Before and After #2

My Camera doesn't see what my imagination wants to see. So I fill in the gaps.

In these series I want to give a look into my studio so to speak. I won't be giving away my editing techniques, but instead I want to give away inspiration from what I end up with. I don't see why this should change the integrity of my work. 

In this photograph, the main element was to paint in more colour than available in reality.

Freddie Ardley Photography

Lightroom Before and After #1

I have been asked to do a before and after of one of my photographs. This one really shows the detail retained in the shadows that you may assume just weren't there. To clarify, no Photoshop CS has been used, just Lightroom 4. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Freddie Ardley Photography

Boring to Dramatic - Freddie Ardley Photography

I tried to take the most boring uninspired image to see if I could make it interesting in a before and after for those of you interested in editing.

If you'd like to know more about my editing process behind this image, message me.

I think I made it passable, tell me what you think?

Behind the Scenes of my Editing

A before and after of what started out as a pretty bland and uninspired photograph. 

By Freddie Ardley