If you aren’t familiar with the photographer Serge Remelli then I suggest you take the day off tomorrow because you’ll likely want to binge watch all of his tutorials once you start. He is one of the only photographers I still watch regularly when it comes to tutorials. Whether you are an advanced photographer or just starting there is something in his videos for you.
Take Away
Serge always impresses me with his ability to paint with light… quite literally. A brush stroke here, radial filter there, and a couple neutral density filters here and there. Adding things like this in post processing is simple enough in theory, but having the visualization to see how and where they will improve the photograph is challenging for most folks. Serge always seems to dodge and burn right where needed and increases the appeal of a photograph that may otherwise be looked over.
If you are new to post processing or still feel as if you shouldn’t do much to retain the “integrity” of your photograph then I highly recommend you start watching his videos. About half way through this video he hints at the fact that dodging and burning a photograph (the process of selectively lightening and darkening areas of a photograph) has been done since the beginning of photography, long before you were born. You are not compromising the integrity of the photograph by following Serge’s advice.
*Pay special attention to the radial filter work. I would challenge you to incorporate this into your work flow.
If you liked Serge’s tutorial you can check out lots of his videos on YouTube here, or visit his site (PhotoSerge.com) to explore the copious amounts of tutorials he has on a vast number of photography subjects. As always, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
