Today I’ll show you why. I’ll be using Lumist to show the lies of contrast and tone. But this will teach you more about tone and contrast in 30 minutes than most schools do in years of training.

You can check out Lumist 3 here and make sure you don’t miss the next LIVE Shadow Hackers. You can also de a TON with tone and LUma values using speed macks. Check out my Elegance mask videos for more on that.

Luma Masking, Tone, Zones, Contrast

What do all these mean, and do they even matter?

Honestly, these are all the same. Which is why I put it all under shadow hacking. Because that way we start seeing by the masking, masking for the light, and pulling the shadow for the contrast.

The depth of a photo…

Making a photo come alive is the first amount of emotion and soul. But the method of that is to create depth using tone. One of the problems in photography is that we have a lot of ways to overcomplicate and edit tone, but few people who can really explain tone and how to use it.

So do this…

See the shadow first. How it relates to light is how you will truly see the tone. How the separation affects the way you see the image is the contrast.

But what is the subject, where does the viewer’s eye go, and how do you control it all? That’s where they all merge, and you need to practice leading the eye with tone until it’s second nature.

I won’t type too much today. It’s all more visual in the video.

Enjoy – Gavin Seim

Photographers are not taught anymore. They buy a camera and start a channel. Tone and shadow are barely understood. I teach these Shadow Hackers. But today, we have a great example because this is barely being talked about.

I used Filmist and Natural HDR a lot in these tests. You can download FREE packs of them on their pages to play with, or try these kinds of tests manually and see what I mean.

#1 Visualize in camera

I love film for this, but it’s not essential. When you start seeing shadow and tone value like Zones in camera, your whole exposure process changes. Then your final edits start coming alive because you saw before you pressed the shutter.

#2 Start light on the edit and then…

This is one of the reasons I use film edits as I start baseline, even if I switch later to an HDR process, black and white etc. The film base keeps me grounded, and I can always truly see my edits.

#3 Reflect on the tone for real.

Ask yourself if you want lifted shadows on some darkness.. Ask what make syou feel, creates mystery and makes people want to hear more of the story.

We’ll go in depth on all of this in the video above, so definitely check out the entire thing.

Gavin Seim

Whether you’re editing for ONE final photo or a series to publish. You need to do this 3rd phase, which almost no one talks about anymore.

These sessions were mostly edited with Filmist 2, Silver 6 (free packs on each page), and some final details with PowerFlow and Pictorialist actions.

The 3-phase edit process.

Today’s video is a focus on the 3rd phase editorial edit. If you start using this, your published images will take on a new level of professionalism that really will make people see your work differently.

But to set a foundation, let’s briefly cover how the edit starts while you’re shooting, and I’ll show you how I even use film to remind me to be better at this critical step. It’s not just about slowing down. It’s about editing as you take the photo.

It’s the small things.

A grouping is about refining a set to make it have a perfect balance. It can just be connecting color and tone, a quick white balance, or maybe I did deeper edits in Alchemist or Pictorialist. But then, seeing that one image in the group is that way, and doing the rest in the same style, so they all fit together.

But that one Image…

From a strictly artistic point of view, I think we should be more like the painters, thinking about the best image. That’s the wall portrait, poster, the headline shot.

But from an editorial point of view, we branch out. IN a book, a magazine, or a great Instagram post, we often need a few more photos.

So you start the edit in camera, you find and sort the best photos in phase 2. You know your best shot. In the final phase, you take that group, and you edit them to all have the same vibe, and you create an editorial work. A mino collection. And makes people see you as the master you are meant to be.

Go try it and watch your published work improve – Gavin Seim

Does film matter. Yes, it kind of does. Especially now and here is why.

For digital, download my free film presets and see why film impacts digital edits so much. And for more magic that you learn from film and tone, come to my next FREE Shadow hackers class.

It’s just a fad….

They have been saying that for a decade now. But as a Master Photographer, I know that when I shoot film I still get better at photography.

Yes, I do shoot film a lot to improve Filmist presets. That’s why they’re amazing. But that’s not the topic of this video. I’m going to show you a bunch of film photos and cameras and explain…

It improves your digital.

Film is cool, but most don’t realize that using film helps ground you in tone and emotion. Tools like I made like Pictorialist and Silver are heavily;y influences by it. One reason they are so good, is because I study film constantly.

But Film is boring…

If something does not inspire you, maybe it’s not for you. But most serious photographers will get the film bug. Because once you feel the magic that it has to impart, it’s hard to walk away.

Just like film looks on digital improve you editing, shooting real film now and then is a pretty small investment in your skills. Look at the film photos in this video. Even on a screen, there’s something more to them that’s hard to explain but that you can feel.

Gavin Seim

In the digital era we are making photos too light. Always pushing sliders and exposure UP. But darker photos are not what you think. In today’s video I’ll show you.

Why you need DARKER photos

All of this starts in camera. But you see how I found the looks easy with tools like Filmist (get the free pack), Natural HDR (get the free pack) and Alchemist Actions.

Dark tone, not underexposed photos.

Don’t just crank down the exposure. Do this.

I don’t underexposing everything. The big secret of exposure is that your meter has no idea what it’s doing. The secret is to use darkness, shadows to reveal the luminescence in the frame.

ETTR is another bad method. It tell you to exposes right to save shadows. But the shadows don’t need saving. It’s a dated method based on negative film, not on how digital cameras work and usually promoted by people who lack experaince in tone.

I’m also not proposing ETTL either. Or that Exposing to the LEFT is a rule. Only that the awareness shadows truly transforms your photos. My exposure workshops won awards because I have studied every aspect of exposure for decades in master classes like Exposed.

Well placed shadows make light visible.

If you’ve been to one of my Shadow Hackers classes this will apply easily to your work. But if not you can go make it work right now.

You see in the video how in each photo it’s about just ab out being dark. I lean dark in the photo and the edit but I let the bright areas shine, using that shadow to make a path that leads you thru a scene or to the subject.

Your meter is clueless.

So stop doing what it tells you.

Remember that this control of shadow and tone comes from ignoring your meter. Not that you should not see your meter to read light. It ignore it in the sense that it does not know what a GOOD exposure is.

So whether you shoot manual, or use exposure compensation only YOU can take the zones, histogram and tone and decide what create the rich feeling in your image that you want. Use the meter. But YOU place the tone where it should be.

So so start with expose down a little. Edit with rich tones and darker more shadowy presets and processed. Let the light shine out of that and you will be amazed how much more drama your photos have.

Gavin Seim