Digital Photographer - UK (2020-05)

Using Lightroom

1

UseautosettingsWhileautosettings

maynotgiveyouaperfectresult,it

oftenproducesaprettygoodstartingpoint

forexposure,contrastandcolour.Ifyou

don’tliketheresult,youcanundoitand

startagain.

2

AdjustexposureandcontrastNow

thatyou’veseentheautoresult,make

yourownchanges.Doesyourimagelook

betterwithmoreorlessexposure,moreor

lesscontrast,andcanyouimprovetonality

withShadowandHighlightsliders?

3

CorrectcolourbalanceColour

andwhitebalancecanbethought

ofinterchangeablyforpost-production.

SettingsincludeAsShot,Autooryour

owncustomsettingstoachievetheoverall

colourcastorcolourneutralityyouwant.

4

CropforimpactJust as important
as what is included in the photograph
is what you leave out, so cropping out
unwanted elements is an essential step.
There’s also a matter of compositional
balance, which a good crop can improve.

5

UsetonalmappingLighten ordarken

specific areas of a photo (to re-map

the tonal values), so that they lookbetter

or make more sense. This is whereyour

creativity begins. Use adjustmentbrushes,

linear and radial gradients.

6

FinishoffTherearesomanyoptions

forfinishingyourimages.Removing

spotsanddustisessential,andmaybea

littlesharpeningisneeded,butdon’tforget

toconsiderusingtexture,clarity,dehaze,

vignetting,grainorblackandwhite!

Left

Improveresults

Inaperfectworld,

thephotographer

wouldhave

campedatthis

locationandwaited

fortheideallight,

butsincethat

wasn’tpossible,

simpleediting

stepsinLightroom

havegreatly

improvedtheresult

There are several workflow steps thatallimagesrequire

Applicationsandplugins(likeLuminar,Affinity

Photo,NikSoftware,ON1)canmakeprocessing

yourphotosveryquickandeasy,butwhoiscreating

yourwork–youorasoftwareprogrammer?Many

photographersthinkthebestapproachistousethe

automaticfeaturestostarttheeditingprocess,and

thentofine-tunetheresultwithmanualeditssothey

‘own’thefinalcreativeresultthemselves.

CanIuseautomatic?

Useautomationifitgivesyouagoodresult

AFTER

BEFORE

EDITING LANDSCAPES