How to Fix the Flat Photo Problem

Do your photos look flat, lacking depth? In this premium video, Outdoor Photography Guide’s David Johnston uses post processing to add depth to flat images.

In Lightroom, he focuses on luminance values to add depth to his forest image. He selects the colors on the cypress leaves, then shifts the luminance value on each color to brighten the tones.

Moving into Photoshop, David zones in on TK luminosity masking. Working with the light gray tones, he makes a curves adjustment layer to brighten the lighter part of the image. Then, concentrating the dark gray tones, he uses the curves adjustment layer to add contrast to the colors.

Because photographers are working in a 2-dimensional surface, the goal is to create a 3-dimensional space. This is what creates depth. You can view this technique in the iconic paintings of the great masters.