The camera is important. The technique is important. The editing style is most important. Any competent photographer can take a great image and ruin it in the edit. Better ones can take an OK image, and make it shine. The trick is deciding on which editing style to adopt. The decisions made can make or break an image.
For this one I wanted to use the retro look and desaturated retro style I developed previously. I saved it as a preset to speed up the process. Core edits (desaturation, white balance, highlights and shadows etc.) are now done with a click. Then, I go in and manually take charge of the final edits, adjusting to suit each specific image.
Image Specific
I think the very subtle colour and faded contrast editing style I used here evokes a retro vibe reminiscent of old black and white TV. The limited dynamic range of those older TV cameras speak to an era now long gone. A similar nostalgic look is achieved with older film stock, which has made a strong comeback in recent years.
And here we see why. This editing style reduces the complexity by reducing the exposure limits and dropping 90% of the colours. Not fully black and white, nor the dreaded ‘selective colour’ edit, this style brings out all the amazing detail in the foliage and the old silo. At the same time the eye is drawn inevitably to the two horses. Which is exactly the look I hoped to achieve. Yes, I will be using this preset again as a starting point for future edits. I like.
