Ram V Chary: Three Simple Ways to Enhance Images

Learn the Basics of Photo Editing with Ram V Chary

It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words. And when it comes to building your brand, photos are a great way to communicate clearly with your audience. Ram V Chary shares three simple ways to edit photos and enhance them.

Cropping

There's no better way to completely transform a photo than cropping it. Cropping can remove distracting or unwanted areas, help emphasize a focal point, or improve the composition.

A word of warning: If you plan on doing significant cropping, try to start with a large image. Because the more you crop, the more you reduce your resolution and image quality. A good rule of thumb is to follow what's known as the rule of thirds. This technique breaks an image down into thirds, horizontally and vertically, with four lines (vertical and horizontal). The four points where the lines intersect form guidelines to put your focal point or the most important area of your image explains Ram V Chary.

Contrast

Increasing contrast is a great way to make an image pop and add drama.

Upping the contrast produces darker darks, lighter lights, and a wider range of tones, making your image look better than what you'd see in real life.

On the other hand, reducing contrast gives an image a more even tone.

As with saturation, too much contrast is not a good thing. Highlights can get too bright, and shadows can get too dark, which means you lose dimension and detail in those areas.

Saturation

Photographers usually adjust an image's saturation settings to improve its colors. More saturated colors are typically bolder and brighter (closer to their purest form), while less saturated colors are more faded (closer to gray). 

While any editing technique can be overdone, too much saturation can look unnatural, notes Ram V Chary. So, unless you're after a specific effect, go easy on the saturation, or you'll end up with an image with a glowing, neon look.