Asos dress, Windsor earrings, Colored Raine lippie in Tootsie and Cherry Blossom

Let’s talk photo editing!

I am sure you all know by now that a majority of instagram users edit their photos to create that perfect instagram aesthetic. Most content creators edit their photos in many different ways. Some use presets while others use different apps to make those images pop. Today I want to talk specifically about my phone editing processes and I will show an example of a before and after picture for full transparency purposes.

My instagram profile is pretty vibrant and colorful if I had to categorize it and those identifiers would be markers for the thematic layout of it. Being the kind of person I am, which is very chameleon-esque, I don’t think presets would work for me in the way they work for others. I really like to give each capture or set of images its own moment and a lot of times it isn’t a one size fits all kind of deal. What I do tend to keep constant is the editing specs from each app for all my photos. When I am editing I like to take the less is more approach for pay-off that can be humongous.

Below I will list the apps I use and explain what I use them for so let’s dive in shall we? First I’ll start with a clean image. Ideal photos are crisp and clear with great lighting so when you create content at the very least make note to capture a great image initially.

Here is that before and after. Editing melts the background and the subject into one. In the first image you can see that the background and myself are two separate things but the image on the right merged us. I used Factune, Quickshot and VSCO. Facetune I used features detail, whiten, reshape, blur (for the bottom of the shoe), didn’t need to smooth. Quickshot for the shadow and temperature and VSCO for the filter (KA3 5.5), sharpen (2.0), grain (1.0).

Applications

Facetune:

Smooth – I use this to smooth out any weird wrinkles or imperfections but do so sparingly. You don’t want the airbrush look, just the cleanup. I’m not looking for perfect skin, I’m looking for realistic skin. It’s great for makeup creases, minimizing laugh lines and getting rid of gnarly zits. Tapping is your best friend. It creates small changes.

Detail – I use this to sharpen or intensify things like eye makeup, brows, lip color, highlight.

Whiten – whitens the eyes and teeth.

Patch – I use this to remove zits if they can’t be fixed with smoothing. This is also great for concealing scarring.

Reshape – I use this the most on my hair. If my curls are popping on one side and not the other I very lightly adjust the hair. Remember you can distort the image by using too much. Less is more.

VSCO:

Filters– I pay the monthly membership for all the features for this app and you have dozens of filters to choose from. This is probably the toughest part for me because I will sift through a few filters before settling on the vibe I want. This can take forever.

Sharpen- I use this tool to make the image more crisp. I don’t go over board so I typically use 1-2.0 range for sharpness.

Grain- I will grain out about half of its sharpness for balance.

Copy/Paste edits- VSCO has a copy and paste feature so you can edit multiple photos using the same edits in seconds. This will save you so much time.

Snapseed:

Healing- I use this to fix skin blemishes, its probably the most effective of any of the apps I mentioned or have used. It doesn’t compromise texture whereas the smoothing feature in FaceTune can if you aren’t careful.

Retouch- I rarely use this because I try to keep my photo “scenes” clear of any distractions like objects or people. When I do use it however, it is great for removing objects out the frame.

Quickshot:

Shadows– I use the adjust feature to change the shadows. Sometime my hair will have a white cast over it from overexposure or the lighting so I go and adjust that slightly.

Temperature- I sometimes lose my complexion richness so when that happens I also adjust that to bring it back.

Huji:

This app is simply for nostalgic feels and I will use this in place of a filter it just depends on the vibe I’m going for.

Professional Photos:

I do not edit any professional photos as the photographers I work with edit them. I respect another creative professional's work, and I trust their vision with each project we work on.

Used same editing specs in before and after images.

Please note that I am strictly talking about IPhone editing. I am not a pro nor do I own a pro camera at the moment. I do what works for me and wanted to be a little more transparent about my images. Please also note that I do not use all of these apps at the same time, but rather a combination of these listed so it varies from picture to picture. I would say I most often use the VSCO app at any given moment. FaceTune is another application I frequently use. I hope this was very helpful for you!

XOXO Lipstickcoco

Photo Editing: 5 Applications I Use To Edit Photos