Quickshot has a great feature that makes minimal edits for you on the go. The Magic tool, as it is called in the edit sessions of the application, automatically makes your images pop. Rather than heavy-handed edits that some applications use as filters, the magic effect is simply a decent, light edit. Let’s take a look at how we can use this tool in several different genres of photography.
How to actually use the Magic editing tool
The first step, as it always is with Quickshot, is to open the image of your choice in an editing session. Here is a simple portrait that I want to edit using the magic filter:
Image from https://unsplash.com/@apx90
This is what it looks like when I open the photo in a Quickshot editing session:
After opening the image, we go to the second sub-menu in the editing session, titled Magic. Now, the Magic slider is going to default to a value of 50. Pushing this up will add more of the edits to your image, and lowering it will take some of those edits out of your image. This tool automatically corrects color temperature and adds some sharpness and contrast if needed. Additionally, this tool will automatically adjust different parts of your exposure for you. I settled on a value of 55 for this image, which looks like this:
This is the final revision of this image, using only the Magic slider after some other light adjustments:
This was a simple portrait that was already well lit, but let’s look at how the magic slider works with other styles of portraits, and genres of photography!
The automatic magic edit on different portraits
Firstly, let’s take a look at how we would use the magic edit in a non-studio environment. Chances are, you are going to be more focused on using Quickshot for quick edits when you’re in a less set up environment. Here’s a good simple portrait to start with:
Image from https://unsplash.com/@joshrh19
This is the last image for this tutorial in which I am going to be going through the entire process, step by step, so here is the simple step-by-step list:
- Open image in a Quickshot editing session from the gallery view
- Click the Magic tool on the bottom row
- Use the slider to determine how much of the effect you want to apply
- Export the photo
Now, let’s do those steps for this image. Step 1:
Now, step 2 and 3 together:
There we have it, step 4 is just to export it using that button at the top right of the image above. Here is the final edit:
To see how simple it was to get a clean edit on this image, just look at the clock on my phone. Literally not even an entire minute passed while editing this image, which is great. This magic edit feature is especially useful when you have really soft natural light, like the image we just worked on. It works a lot better on these fast images than it does on images that are trying to use artificial light for effect.
If you are using artificial lighting, and want to go for this more natural and beautiful style of portraiture, choose your modifiers and placement of those correctly. Use big modifiers and light sources, and have them as close to the model as you can, without interfering with composition. Big and close light sources provide really nice soft light that makes most models look amazing.
Let’s move onto the next two styles of photographs we are going to be editing with the magic tool, landscape images, and street photography!
Landscape image adjustment with the magic edit
For our landscape images, we can use the magic effect to just get a fast edit that will both make colors pop and feel more natural. Let’s follow the steps outlined above to get this quick edit done.
Now, this is the landscape image that I will be using to showcase this:
Using the magic slider, this is what I settled on for my edit:
And, here is the final version of the image:
This makes it really easy to snap a quick landscape image while on an adventure, and have a great baseline edit on before posting it anywhere. In the image above, notice how this did nothing crazy to the photo. All that happened was an adjustment to color temperature, and some other minor edits that really made the scene more natural.
Fast street photography edits using the magic tool
Lastly, let’s take a look at one of my favorite types of photos to edit with Quickshot, street photography. The magic tool, especially, is great because it allows you to keep a simple look at images. On the other hand, you may want to stylize your images, which is where Quickshot comes in to make it really easy.
Instead of following the basic editing steps that we have above, we are going to add a step after we apply the magic effect to our image. First, let’s take a look at the street photography image we are going to edit:
Image from https://unsplash.com/@tonywang7
Then, we are going to open it in Unsplash and apply the magic filter. This is what the image looks like after the use of the magic tool:
Now, after having applied the magic filter, let’s go into the looks menu and choose some different styles we can apply to this image. Instead of taking you through the process of one specific look, here are some different street photography style looks I applied from the menu. Look at these, and see what you like, and replicate it yourself in Quickshot!
Different Magic tool + Looks tool edits for you to try
If you want to use the magic tool alongside the looks tool, make sure that you are applying the magic tool first, then the look you want. After applying the look, go back to the magic tool and change it to the level that best suits the look that you have chosen. Finally, let’s take a look at these looks!
This first edit uses a Black and White look, without applying it all the way. This means that the final image is a super desaturated version of its original self. Despite this, the pops of color that I really liked from the original are still there. Try a similar desaturated look if you are into a more minimal style.
For this edit, the look chosen kept the image relatively unchanged, with one caveat. There is a glow or super diffused light leak effect coming from the top right, putting more focus on the subject of the photo. You can add this effect on its own, through the elements or overlay tools.
This edit, on the other hand, is much more over the top. The look for this edit added a lot more color saturation, as well as a new sky, and a massive sun-like light leak in the top left. It also added some birds to the image. This is a very invasive edit and look, but it can really change an image for the better!
Lastly, we have a really cool look with some other editing on top of it. The look itself adds a lot of colors, and a cool light leak or lens flare effect. Despite this, the look was too colorful for the image. To correct this, you can go into the filter tool menu, and add a small amount of a Black and White filter to the image. This makes the image really work!
Using the magic tool as a baseline
As you can see in the image above, the magic tool can either be the full edit, or the fundamentals to an edit. It is really important that you don’t just stop editing at the magic tool. Rather, start editing with the magic tool, and then try one or two other tools. This will teach you how to edit, and let you find your own style in no time!
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