Flying Scots Girl

Ok I have to be honest, for a long time I’ve thought I don’t want to use other people’s presets because no matter how great they might look I’ve been too proud. I’ve wanted all of my photos to be totally mine – taken by me (or at least guided by me when I’m in them) and edited by me. Recently, Wander with Presets shared their preset collection with me to edit my photos. I was a little skeptical but thought why not give it a go!

Sorry, I should back up. Before I go any further I should probably explain exactly what a preset is in case you’ve never heard of them before! A preset is a way to edit a photo and most bloggers or Instagrammers use them to give their feed a specific aesthetic ie it sets all the photos to a similar look even if they start off pretty different. You may be thinking isn’t that just a filter?! Well…a preset is much like a filter BUT you have more control and can edit the preset (increasing brightness etc) whilst a filter you can usually just increase or decrease the overall effect of that vibe.

Many influencers use presets as part of their business by selling them to their followers. They’re often sold as a bundle where you receive a few presets on a theme but with variations depending on the photo you’re adding them to. There’s a reason many of these people have thousands and sometimes millions of followers and it’s often because their feed has a togetherness that they’ve put a lot of time in to collate and perfect. It can take hooooours to edit photos so to have their tools at your finger tips can actually make the editing process a whole lot easier and a whole lot quicker (so you can spend more time interacting and engaging with your followers and the grammers you love best!).

I’ve learnt a lot in just a short amount of time using the Wander with Presets. Firstly some of the photos I thought I would never share because I couldn’t get the edit right have been TRANSFORMED! I mean seriously I can’t get over how spot on some of the presets have been for these photos! Secondly I have a lot still to learn on editing especially when it comes to colour editing. And thirdly for some photos your own edit is still the perfect one – it really depends what you’re looking for from a particular shot or scene!

Wander with Presets currently have 8 different preset collections each designed with a specific theme from Foodie (to make every meal look drool worthy) to Portrait to Bali (adding some dreamy tropical island vibes) which you can buy as individual bundles or the whole darn collection! If you fancy a cheeky 10% discount then use the code cat at the checkout if you are buying any 😉

So. Here we go…here are 7 before and afters that show the wonders a preset can do for your snaps! Which is your favourite edit?

1. Santa Barbara using Bora Bora

I really loved the photos my brother took for me here in Santa Barbara (got a great tan on my legs 😝) but blue photos are my editing nemesis and I can never seem to get them to pop without them looking too much! This Bora Bora filter made me so happy because it just sorted out those blues but kept my tan looking sweet!

2. Castleton using Fashion

Castleton is one of my favourite villages in the Peak District with plenty of cute little corners. This was another shot that I liked but was struggling with getting the colours and hue right when I was editing it myself. Quite a lot of the Wander with Presets worked with this but I had to use this Fashion filter because of the golden colours and nice soft contrast.

3. Edinburgh using Summer Gold

Edinburgh is a notoriously grey and gothic city which suits it very well – a lot of my Edinburgh shots conform to its moody image. Using this Summer Gold preset on Scotland’s capital city turns it into a dreamier look and The Vennel seems to be catching a rose gold light with this edit 😍

4. Santa Monica using Portrait

Arriving in Santa Monica just before the sun was ready to set gave us a great golden hour glow which already started this picture with good tones but the Portrait preset I used on it softened everything and added some contrast in all the right places 👌

5. Prague using Moody

Hotel U Prince in Prague has an absolutely stunning view across the historic Old Town Square (the entrance fee includes a drink to enjoy as well 😉) so it’s a perfect spot for a picture for Instagram! The day we visited the weather had been really dull and cloudy all day. This moody preset lifts it so well so that it’s still moody but with some more depth and some real needed vibrancy!

6. Seychelles using Bali

The Seychelles are so beautiful they don’t really need any editing but this Bali preset makes this early morning beach scene on Praslin look like it was taken at the opposite end of the day. The sand looking as though it’s been transformed into gold by the setting sun with the soft tones and warmth from using this preset!

7. Munich using Foodie

Munich was amaaaazing for food and drink, from pretzels to beer steins and schmalznudel but it’s not necessarily in my niche to get good photos of them! The Foodie filters are great for turning average food pics into virtual deliciousness.

A lot of my photos are taken in the early morning to get what I’m going to say is my natural preset 😉 so click the photo below to convince you why morning is a great time for pics…📷

Cat x