Adobe Photoshop

Add light and remove distractions.

Take care of tiny imperfections and bring out the beauty in your portraits. Watch the short video above with Katrina Williams and follow the steps to try it for yourself.

Brighten up.

Start by adding a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer from the Layers panel. Then increase brightness and contrast to bring light to a scene.

Remove distractions.

Choose the Spot Healing Brush tool. Zoom into an area with a small imperfection, and then click or scrub to remove it — just like that.

Even out the details.

Use the Spot Healing Brush to clean up any other small objects, spots, or imperfections that you want to remove.

Clean up larger areas.

Select a new area to erase using the Lasso tool. Right-click the area and choose Fill and then Content-Aware from the dropdown menu to make it disappear.

Try more tutorials.

See more tips from Katrina Williams for editing family photos.

Katrina Williams

Katrina Williams is a photographer based in Durham, North Carolina, who founded Fifty Two Hundred Photo + Film to help families celebrate the everyday moments in their lives. Learn more

Katrina Williams

Katrina Williams is a photographer based in Durham, North Carolina, who founded Fifty Two Hundred Photo + Film to help families celebrate the everyday moments in their lives. Learn more

“The camera allows me into spaces that I otherwise wouldn’t be invited. It opens me up to meeting different kinds of people and being a part of these special moments in their lives.”