Amber is a model friend of mine who recently came back from a dream vacation in Iceland. She purchased a Canon Rebel T6 — a nice entry-level DSLR. She doesn’t want to become a professional photographer, she just wants to take better photos. Armed with a few quick tips, she came back with beautiful images. Here’s how I helped her edit a good photo and made it better by removing other photographers that were in her photo.

What Software Should She Use?

Lightroom, Photoshop, Luminar, and Topaz are a few programs that have amazing tools to erase or remove unwanted objects from a photo. Remember I mentioned Amber is new to photography? Well, she’s also new to editing. Trying to teach her how to do this in Photoshop or even Lightroom would require a lot of training and it could frustrate her. I chose to show her how to do it in Luminar because it’s fast and is very intuitive.

The Trick to Making It Look Real

Fire up Luminar — or your choice of editing software — and select the Erase tool. Here’s the trick: take your time and erase a few spots first, then apply presets or filters. If you get the desired results, undo your special effects and continue to erase or remove unwanted objects. Finish off with your favorite preset or filter.

Here’s Why

Sometimes when you remove unwanted objects it looks good at first — until you apply a filter or preset. The new changes may cause a strange pattern. If this happens, switch the procedure around.  Apply the preset or filters first, then erase the unwanted object. This may produce a better result.

The key is to experiment. The next time you edit an image, try and predict results. Soon you will develop a keen editing eye that will help you produce a consistent, predictable result. It may not be perfect at first, but it will get you very close.

Sidenote: Most image editing software companies — Skylum’s Luminar, On1, Topaz — offer a free trial. Download a few and see which one works best for you.

Featured image © Copyright Amber Intelisano