On Wednesday’s episode of “The Grid” we did one our most popular episodes (an idea from our friend Terry White), where we ask our viewers to send in an unedited photo (like the Raw “before” photo seen below sent in by Fredrik Brettman). The photo is solid – very well composed, it’s a great subject, there’s just a ton to like, but when you shoot in RAW, you usually get a very flat-looking photo to start with, but as you’ll see in the short video below – you don’t have to settle for what comes out of the camera. That’s why we have Lightroom and Photoshop – to bring images like Fredrik captured to life. In this clip from ‘The Grid” below I take you from the Raw image (above left) to the after image on the right, and you see every step of the process along the way. The video starts 9-minutes and 21-seconds into the show – right where where I start editing Photo Editing Services the Raw image. It’s most Lightroom/Camera Raw, with some cool, but very easy, moves in Photoshop, and then an optional move at the end. Hope you’ll check it out below: See, that’s why we need post-processing. That’s why learning this stuff is so important, but once you learn it, it’s just so much fun watching what develops. Hope you found that informative, helpful, fun, and here’s wishing you a great, safe, healthy, happy weekend! :) -Scott P.S. Don’t forget – the Lightroom Conference kicks off next week – 2 full days (plus a pre-conference “Lightroom Crash Course” the day before), with two simultaneous training tracks, with an all-star team of instructors, and you get the entire conference archived for an entire year. Here’s the link to the full conference schedule, more info, and tickets (get yours name and save a bundle).

I get this question a lot, and so I answered it in a 60-second Photoshop Friday tip, and technically I should have shared this last Friday, but ya, stuff got in the way and all that. Anyway, here it is below: So, in short – Opacity lowers anything and everything on the layer; Fill controls just any pixels on the layer, so if you add a Layer Effect, like a drop shadow or Inner Glow, and you lower the Fill amount, the layer effect is still 100% visible. Anyway, hope you found that helpful. BTW: The new course I’m referring to is my brand new just-released (last week) Mastering Layers Course. Here’s a few of the comments from folks who have watched it: “Doggone it @ScottKelby ! Every time I think Philippines Photo Editor I know most everything about something, like layers, I watch your course just in case and 5 minutes in you teach me, or remind me, something new that helps me make better images! And you make me laugh while you are doing it – You so crazy!” “Just when I thought I was know almost everything about layers, I watch one of these courses and learn something new. I have to admit, though. One of my favorite moments of this course was when @ScottKelby made the cow noise in the blending mode part of the class. I laughed so hard! Scott, you are the greatest teacher ever! Thanks so much for making learning so fun!” “Great class. I have never been all that confident with my knowledge of layers, so this is a good review.” I hope you’ll give it a look. Have a kick butt Monday everybody! :) P.S. Today I’m teaching my “Lightroom Crash Course” Pre-conference session for The Lightroom Conference which officially kicks off tomorrow. It’s not too late to sign up. Tickets, class schedule, instructor list, and more at this link.