Master the Art of Shadow Manipulation in your edits and watch you photos transform.

Photographers are afraid of the dark and that fear is the enemy of great photos. Overcoming it is what separates the masters from the amateurs. I teach this in every Shadow hackers classes.

This video is a mini masterclass in hope to manipulate tone in Lightroom, Capture One and other apps. Stay with me to the end because this entire video is jam packed.

I used tools like Filmist, Natural HDR and Elegance Speed Masks, but I’m also showing the manual way. Also thanks to Mark Seymour for letting me get hands on with his India Work.

Failure is rarely a photo being too dark.

We often think contrast is created by not having flat light, by pushing the slider. But contrast is really created by the tip I will mention at the very end of this video and that we go deeper on it other workshop and videos on the channel.

That is the separation of tones and how they create an illusion to our eyes. If you come to Shadow Hackers we’ll talk about doubles, halves and illusions in depth because knowing it changes how you shoot.

I’ll show you various hands on examples of how to reduce background contrast.

By letting second elements have less contrast like the plant I showed you, you can create more overall contrast and 3d pop.

Photographers were doing this long before digital but it’s a nearly forgotten method of using tone in photography and in apps like Lightroom and capture One with these mask it’s really easy to do it and to build it into a speeds mask like we used in the video.

Don’t be afraid of the dark. Stop exposing to the right and exposure correctly for your vision and use the shadow in every photo.

Most photographer don’t know they are doing this. Running from shadows, pushing sliders wrong and creating fake looking contrast.

It’s not being high key or low key. It’s not ignoring cameras exposure recommendations. It’s running from the shadows that create great photos. It’s pushing slider ever upward in this unrelenting race to be more, when less is more and darkness is the seeking of the light.

Gavin Seim

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About the Author

Glad you're here.

I'm from WA State USA and started studying photography in 97. I started work as a pro (using that word loosely because I sucked) using film at age 16. I learned fast but was not as easy to find training then. Sometimes I beat my head against the wall until I figured stuff out.

As digital dawned I went all in and got to study with masters like Ken Whitmire. In 09 I founded the Pro Photo Show podcast. I started promoting tone-focused editing. When Lightroom arrived, I started developing tools to make editing and workflow better.

20 years of study and photography around the country earned me a Master of Photography (M.Photog) from PPA. I got to see my workshops and tools featured in publications across the industry. Once I even won the prestigious HotOne award for my "EXposed" light and tone workshop.

Wanting something calmer, I moved to Mexico in 2017. It's a land of magical light. I'm here now exploring light and trying to master my weak areas. I make videos of that for my Youtube channel, sharing what I learn. I hope you'll stick around and be part of Light Hunters Tribe... Gavin

Gavin Seim

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