Lightroomand Capture One are now so powerful that many landscape
photographers don’t use anything else
Processing RAW files in Lightroom
ProcessingaRAWfile to completion can take
aslittleas 20 seconds or as long as several
days!Itdependsonthe photo itself and what
youwanttopresentto your audience. It also
dependsonwhatyouwant your landscape
photographtosay–and that’s often where
thetimeisspent,experimenting with different
approaches.Doesthe photo look better
whenit’slighter,darker or with less contrast?
Shouldyoulightenthe subject or darken down
thesurroundings?There are many subtle
thingsyoucanconsider – if you want to.Some photographers like to keep their
photographs as close to reality as possible, so
the number of edits they will need is limited.
Other photographers delight in exploring the
creative possibilities with perhaps hundreds of
changes. However, while there isn’t a ‘standard’
workflow, there is a number of steps all
photographers should consider when editing
their photos.
Today, powerful RAW processors like
Lightroom and Capture One can do most
of the processing chores we used to do inPhotoshop, so you may never use Photoshop
at all. And if you do open a RAW file in
Photoshop, then you automatically go through
Adobe Camera Raw, which uses the same
‘engine’ as Lightroom.
One of the benefits of working with
Lightroom or Capture One is that editing
changes are non-destructive, meaning the
photo file you’re working on isn’t changed
directly so you never lose or write over the
original. Think of it as always working on a
copy image.EDITINGSTEP
SETGLOBAL
EXPOSURECOLOUR
BALANCEGLOBAL
CONTRASTHIGHLIGHTS
&SHADOWSCROP
TONAL
MAPPINGCOMPOSITES
&MERGESSPECIAL
SAUCESSPOTTING&
RETOUCHINGSHARPENING
&ENHANCINGLIGHTROOM
LIGHTROOM
LIGHTROOM
LIGHTROOM
LIGHTROOM
LIGHTROOM/
PHOTOSHOPPHOTOSHOP
LIGHTROOM/
PHOTOSHOPLIGHTROOM/
PHOTOSHOPLIGHTROOM/
PHOTOSHOPSetstheoveralltonality
oftheimage.Canremoveunwantedcolour
castsandproduceamorenatural
colourrendering.Contrastcanhelptodefine
themoodofyourlandscape–
sereneordramatic.Returndetailtoshadowandhighlight
areasthattheexposurecan’tdoalone.Strengthenthecompositionand
eliminateunwantedelements.Selectivelylightenanddarkenpartsof
theimagetocreateastrongerwhole.
Thisisthecreativepart!Somelandscapesneedabetter
skyoranimprovedforeground–
compositingcanhelp.Usingeffectsandfilterscanenhance
yourimageandhelptocreateyourown
style–therearetoomanytolisthere.Unsightlydustspotsandunwanted
highlightsshouldberemoved.Toolslikeclarityandsharpeningcan
bringthedetailsinyourphototolife.Ensureyouhaveamonitorthat’scorrectly
calibratedsoyoucanmakegooddecisions
abouthowlightordarkyourphotosare.Don’tbetooclinicalaboutsetting‘correct’
colourbalance.Whatyouwantiscolour
that’sappropriate.Toomuchcontrastcanblockupshadow
detailsandcreatewhitehighlights.Toolittle
contrastcanmakeyourphotolookflat.Toomuchshadoworhighlightrecovery
cancreateanunnaturalrendering.Don’tignoretheimportanceof
cropping–mostphotographersbelieve
appropriatecroppingisessential.Thinkof‘invisibleediting’sothatviewers
can’tseeyourtechniqueorwhere
adjustmentsstartandfinish.Again,thinkof‘invisibleediting’.
Ifyouusecomposites,your
techniqueshouldbeinvisible.Effectsandfiltersshouldbeusedbecause
theysuitthesubject,notjustbecauseyou
wanttoaddsomethingtoyourphoto.Don’tletpeoplethinkyoudon’tcare
aboutyourwork–spottingisessential
andisgenerallyquickerinPhotoshop.Don’toveruse,asyoucancreate
unsightlyhaloesaroundyoursubjects.WHYISIT
IMPORTANT?COMMONPITFALLS
TOAVOIDBESTINLIGHTROOM
ORPHOTOSHOP?TECHNIQUES