# help with developing style



## matt2904 (Oct 14, 2016)

Hi

New to this forum , hope i have the right place for this. I am interested in learning to edit my photos in a particular style. Please can anybody give me any tips about what conisistencies these people's photos (attached) have, and what I should be aiming to do to acheive a similar look and tone to my images?

As a side question, i would also like to know if its possible to tell if their sun/ lens flare has been added in lightroom and if so, whats the best method for doing this to give the same effect?

thanks for any help


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## tspear (Oct 14, 2016)

Matt,

I am also a novice, but I am curious why you think there is a consistent style across the pictures.
When I review the images, I see that LA has what looks like a deliberately blown out sky, and the sharpening has been reduced on the buildings. Istanbul has a very dark/muted foreground which attempts to frame the brighter buildings, but somehow leads the eyes away from building instead. Kyoto has the lines leading to building which dominates the skyline and as has rather subtle color shift across the whole image towards the reds, with a very well done saturation. Hawaii to me looks like the developer punched up the sharpness and made the image a lot "cooler" to get the blue/green color in the water. 

Overall I like the images, but I personally do not see a lot of similarity between them (I wish I had the eye to get Kyoto, that one is just awesome!).


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## clee01l (Oct 14, 2016)

Welcome to the forum.  Lens flare can't be created in LR.  You can use a third party plugin to enhance what is already there.  There are many vendors that create and market Development presets that mimic a certain "style"  These are available for free and fee. Google for Lightroom Presets and you will find hundreds of examples.  A Develop preset is nothing more than moving the develop tool sliders in combination to produce an effect. Most begin with a RAW image, not one that has been redeveloped in a camera generated JPEG. 
A good photograph begins with a good picture.  Camera angle, aperture, exposure, "golden hour", lens filters, HDR, etc., all happen before the shutter is clicked.  Photographers do not need post processing to produce a stunning photo.  There are things that can be done in post processing to correct deficiencies in how the image was captured.  And there are "artsy" gimmicks that can be used to create an image that does not or will never exist in nature.  All of these have their place.  But good photography begins with good camera skills.  My recommendation to you is to learn to use the development tools in LR to create the best image from the photo that you shot.  Once you have done that, you may not need third party development presets.


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## Jimmsp (Oct 14, 2016)

matt2904 said:


> I am interested in learning to edit my photos in a particular style.


I'd start with what Cletus said :


clee01l said:


> But good photography begins with good camera skills. My recommendation to you is to learn to use the development tools in LR to create the best image from the photo that you shot



Then, I recommend that you shoot a lot of photos of scenes that you like (shoot in Raw) and then begin to work on them in LR to develop a look that you like. You will begin to find that over time the practice will almost become 2nd nature to you and that you will develop your own style that pleases you.
And then, practice some more. And then, shoot more. And then work with LR.
LR gives you plenty of tools and makes it fairly straightforward to duplicate your own "developing" style.
And by the way, calibrate your monitor on a regular basis.


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## matt2904 (Oct 14, 2016)

thanks alot for all the tips guys, i really appreciate it. I completely get that your most important thing is actually capturing a great photo in the first place and just getting out there and shooting as much as possible. I think i have just been struggling with my post and developing my shots affectively. I am pretty knew to photography and am just learning all of the time. I get that there's alot of differences between the photos i showed,so thanks for having a look. 

i want to develop my own style but as a starting point wanted to try and acheive something similar to a style that i like. If anybody wouldn't min'd taking a look at this guys work(link below), i would love to know what characteristics feature heavily in his work (eg high contrast ect)? Should i be going for a certain shape with the tone curves?

JAMES (@jamesrelfdyer) • Instagram photos and videos


thanks


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## clee01l (Oct 14, 2016)

matt2904 said:


> want to develop my own style but as a starting point wanted to try and acheive something similar to a style that i like. If anybody wouldn't min'd taking a look at this guys work(link below), i would love to know what characteristics feature heavily in his work (eg high contrast ect)? Should i be going for a certain shape with the tone curves?


Take a look at this article: Imitating Instagram Filters in Lightroom - Andrew S. Gibson photography blog

The Instagram look is achieved in the Instagram app on your smart phone by applying a built-in filter.  there are many available LR presets that mimic the Instagram effects.


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