DxO PhotoLab 9 – Cinematic Winter Waterfall Photography in Harsh Light

Описание: On a freezing winter’s day I headed to Aysgarth Falls in North Yorkshire to photograph waterfalls in harsh, contrasty light. The conditions were far from ideal — flat winter colour, brown landscapes, heavy backlight and difficult dynamic range — but that’s often where creative editing makes the biggest difference.

I am part of the DxO affiliate programme. If you’re interested in DxO PhotoLab 9 you can use my link and discount code below for 15% off.

https://shop.dxo.com/en/ - Use code VINSTA360 for 15% off


Also use the following link to purchase this cinematic grading setup as a preset for £4.99 from my website.

https://www.vinsta360.co.uk/store-1/p...


In this video I break down my complete workflow in DxO PhotoLab 9 and show you how I transformed these challenging RAW files into a cinematic orange and teal grade. You’ll see three full edits from start to finish, along with additional images from the shoot, and a final example showing how this grading setup performs on a completely different scene and camera.

If you struggle with editing waterfalls, backlit landscapes, or dull winter tones, this tutorial will show you how to:

• Recover detail in harsh light
• Control contrast without creating an over-processed HDR look
• Use HSL and tone curves for cinematic colour grading
• Balance warm highlights with cool shadows
• Create a repeatable look you can apply to multiple images

This is real-world landscape photography — not perfect conditions, not golden hour — but practical editing decisions that elevate difficult files.



About the Creator

I’m Craig Vinnie Whitehead photographer, filmmaker, musician, dad, ice hockey player, and all-round creative with a passion for both 35mm film and digital photography I mainly shoot street photography but also enjoy a bit of urban and landscape photography.

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🌍 Website: https://www.vinsta360.co.uk
📸 Instagram:   / vinsta360  

00:00 - Intro
01:08 - Arriving at Aysgarth Falls
02:08 - Composting the first image
02:38 - Editing the first image in PhotoLab 9
06:31 - Composting the second image
06:56 - Editing the second image in PhotoLab 9
08:04 - Composing the fourth image
08:31 - Composing the fifth image
08:52 - Editing the fifth image in PhotoLab 9
10:43 - Heading to the upper falls
11:07 - Composing the sixth image
11:31 - Composing the seventh image
12:06 - Download the preset
12:35 - I need some new boots