In the post-production process, it's very easy to get carried away and go a little too far with our edits. But sometimes, it's hard for us to tell if we've actually overdone things. This under-used Lightroom tool is great for exposing over-edited images.
Lightroom presets sometimes have a bad reputation, but they are a tremendously useful tool and time-saver when used properly. One of the best ways to use them is to create your own, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you how to do just that.
Topaz Labs Photo AI has been officially released, so take a look here to see what it is, how to use it, and how well it sharpens a blurry photograph.
Though we often think of Photoshop as the complex behemoth, Lightroom has plenty of little nuances and hidden features as well. One of the least discussed is the Camera Calibration tab, which sits at the bottom of the Develop module and can give your photos the kind of subtle boost that takes them to the next level. This excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about what the Camera Calibration tab does and how to use it.
There are often multiple ways to go about achieving the same result when editing photos, and that is particularly true when it comes to editing the tones of an image. One of the most powerful and efficient tools for doing this in Lightroom is the tone curve. If you are new to the tool and wondering how to use it, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you an introduction to the tone curve and how to use it to create better edits.
Lightroom is one of the most common applications in the photo industry, used by millions of photographers for cataloging their images and performing basic to intermediate edits on them. As the foundation of many photographers' workflows, it is important to ensure that you are using Lightroom correctly. This excellent video tutorial discusses three common mistakes photographers make when using the application and how to correct or avoid them in the first place.
It might seem oxymoronic to talk about using color to improve your black and white photography, but understanding this process will take your imagery to new levels.
Do you want to get pin-sharp photos with amazing dynamic range every time? Then, use this very simple technique.
A true master of a craft is someone who knows the right tools for the job and how to use those tools to maximize their capabilities in any given situation. Learn the best ways to use some of Lightroom's most mystifying yet vital tools.
Digital camera technology has reached a point where even our phones can produce images that can be mistaken for a “real camera” to the untrained eye. Photographers have never had more affordable access to image-making tools that can produce crisp, high-resolution images, rivaling those of professional gear from not very long ago. So, why then have objectively inferior vintage digital cameras been making a sudden comeback?
Two of the most fundamental tasks you will perform in Lightroom are importing and exporting images. When you are working with large batches, both processes can take a significant amount of time, and as such, it is well worth taking the time to establish a consistent and efficient system. This excellent video tutorial will show you an effective system to ensure that you are not wasting any time when importing and exporting photos in Lightroom.
Lightroom is the sort of program that you can spend years using, only to discover something you had never seen before. Whether you are new to the program or a seasoned user, this great video tutorial is likely to have a useful nugget of information in it sure to improve your images and make your workflow easier and more efficient.
As someone who spends nearly every day working in Lightroom, I've discovered a few features that most people might not know about. From organization to editing techniques, there's likely something in here you didn't know you could do in Lightroom.
It’s one thing to have a dedicated graphic tablet for editing and a whole world of convenience to have a versatile editing console. Let’s check out why the Inspiroy Dial 2 can be considered more than just a tablet.
This Lightroom slider is not hidden in the sense that there is some special secret to finding it, but it is in a place where you probably would not think to look for it. This great video tutorial will show you how to take advantage of it to make your photos pop quickly and easily.
It used to be that Lightroom was for cataloging and basic edits and Photoshop was reserved for the more serious work, but in the last few iterations, the former has made some major strides. You can now do some impressively complex edits without ever leaving Lightroom. This helpful video tutorial will show you three advanced tools in Lightroom that will make your edits more efficient and help you create better images.
Lightroom has become quite an impressively capable editing program, able to tackle many advanced post-processing tasks that used to be reserved exclusively for Photoshop. As such, it can easy to overlook some of its tools. This excellent video tutorial will show you a lesser-known tool, what it does, and how to use it to create more precise edits.
Most newer photographers will begin their editing journey in Lightroom rather than Photoshop, and even as you become more advanced, you will notice that you can still do a lot or even most of your editing in the former, only needing to resort to the latter for truly complex post-processing tasks. If you are a beginner and looking to understand how the various editing functions in Lightroom work, check out this great video tutorial that will have you up and running in no time at all.
If you're still not sure exactly how to use masking in Lightroom, this will answer all your questions.
Is it just me, or is Lightroom Classic getting more powerful as a standalone editing tool with every update? Learn how to use some of its wonderful tools to create gorgeous, rich sunset tones in your images.
For most photographers color is a crucial element of their work and one that can have a huge influence on the quality of the final result. There are many ways to manipulate color in post-production, so here is a simple guide for using Adobe Lightroom for that purpose.
Knowing how to light, compose, and pose a portrait is only half of what it takes to create a finished image. The other half is retouching, and it takes a variety of techniques and a delicate touch to create a compelling result. This excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to edit a portrait using both Lightroom and Photoshop.
It used to be that you generally used Lightroom for organization and light adjustments and Photoshop for heavier editing. However, in recent years, Lightroom has taken some remarkable steps forward, and you can now perform major edits without having to leave the program. This great video tutorial will show you how to use some of Lightroom's tools to add atmosphere to an image.
With every new update that's released, it seems that Lightroom is becoming ever more powerful as an editing tool. Learn how to use Lightroom to target specific elements in your image and easily change colors.
When it comes to portraits, perhaps no feature is more important than the eyes, and as such, giving them a little extra attention in the post-processing stage can help you take your images to the next level. This great video tutorial will show you how to edit eyes using only Lightroom.
Lightroom presets come with a mixed bag of acceptance. Some think they are an abomination to a learned skill and craft and should never be used, whereas others enjoy the look and feel they provide to their images. It's not just as black and white as that, and it's down to the individual whether to use them or not, but one thing to make no mistake about is the time it takes to create them.
Almost every landscape photo requires some degree of editing to create a finished product. Lightroom is far more powerful than it used to be and offers some impressively capable and efficient tools for editing your images. This excellent video tutorial will show you five tips that will make your Lightroom landscape image editing both easier and better.
Lightroom is more powerful than ever before, and it is entirely possible to edit a landscape photo from start to finish without having to switch over to Photoshop. If you would like to learn how to do so and pick up some useful tips along the way, check out this great video tutorial that will show you one such edit done entirely within Lightroom.
Lightroom recently rolled out a new and far more powerful masking panel, and if you have not taken the time to incorporate it into your workflow yet, you are missing out on some highly useful tools. One particular function, Intersect, is a bit strange and not necessarily intuitive, but once you get the hang of it, it enables quick and powerful edits, and this excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about it.
The film look continues to gain popularity, and whether you use it as part of your personal aesthetic or for clients, knowing how to create it from digital images is a good skill to have. This helpful video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to create the look using nothing but Lightroom.
Color grading is a good chance to add your personal touch to an image and to take it from good to memorable. It is a deceptively complex thing, though, and it takes a good eye and light touch to do it effectively. This helpful video tutorial will show you some great first steps and techniques for color grading images that are sure to get you up and running in no time.
Even if you follow all the guidelines for keeping your sensor free of dust, it is something that will probably happen to you at one time or another, and worse yet, you might not notice it until you are at home, looking at your images on your computer. Thankfully, though, it is not very difficult to take care of it using Lightroom, and this helpful video tutorial will show you how to quickly and easily take care of it.
Lightroom has more than one way of keeping tracking of the edits you make to your images, and the various methods have pros and cons that you should be aware of as your catalog grows. This helpful video discusses the usefulness of XMP files and why you should consider using them.
I've never been a huge fan of photo editing in Lightroom. In the past, I used it to organize my photos and for basic raw processing. But since the introduction of the new masking feature, I do a large part of my post-processing in Lightroom. Here, I share two videos, in which I show how I use Lightroom masks.
Cinema has perhaps the most thoughtful post-processing workflow of any visual medium, and so there is a lot that can be learned from it. In this video, learn how to make your photographs look more cinematic using just Adobe Lightroom.
The beauty of artificial lighting is that you can create fantastically creative and compelling shots that simply would not be possible with only natural light. Using a snoot and gobo is one such possibility, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how one photographer lit, shot, and edited such images using them.
Most of us use only two or three view modes while working in Lightroom, but the program actually has eight in total, and they are highly useful for both culling and organizing your photos as well as editing them. If you are unfamiliar with all eight view modes, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you where to find them and how to incorporate them into your workflow.
Photoshop and Lightroom are tremendously complex and intricate applications, and there are many different ways to accomplish any specific task. If you are always looking for new ways to improve and expand your workflow, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features some lesser-known tips and techniques for working in both Photoshop and Lightroom.
Modern cameras can handle low light quite impressively, but high ISOs will still introduce some noise into your images. So, what can you do when that happens? This excellent video tutorial will show you how to process high-ISO images in Lightroom to reduce the appearance of noise while still maintaining sharp results with plenty of detail.
I have to admit it: I’ve never been on team Lightroom. This may be a bit of a low blow, but Lightroom has always seemed like the sandbox for those who couldn’t play on the big-boy playground: Photoshop, of course.
I must confess, I don't use Adobe Lightroom to anywhere near its full potential. In this video, Nigel Danson walks through a lesser-known tool that is now a staple in his landscape photography.
Composition is one of the more difficult things to learn. There are many rules and guidelines that can make a good composition. The crop tool inside Lightroom and Photoshop offers a bit of help to learn about composition and even helps you achieve the best possible composition in post.
One of Lightroom's simplest features is also one of its most useful: the before/after function. This goes much deeper than simply switching back and forth between edited and unedited versions of your photos, though. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to get the most out of the feature, as well as a nifty hidden trick that makes it all the more useful.
Lightroom is more powerful than ever, and you can complete quite a few edits in the application without needing to switch to Photoshop. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to edit wedding portraits using a wide variety of techniques, all in Lightroom.
Landscape photography often takes at least a bit of editing to produce a completed image, and as such, you will usually be doing some kind of editing work on the sky. Lightroom's newest version has a wide range of useful tools for doing this, and this excellent video tutorial will show you some of the options for selecting and adjusting a sky and the pros and cons of each.
Lightroom is a more powerful and nuanced application than we sometimes give it credit for, and there are some useful features that are easy to overlook. This awesome video tutorial will show you five hidden features in Lightroom that can make your work life a lot easier and more efficient and even improve the quality of your images.
A few weeks ago I published an article here on Fstoppers about handheld focus stacking. In this article I share my in-the-field workflow, as well as the automatic stacking option Photoshop offers to put all images together during photo editing. This option has its limitations though and because I lately had to work on some very complex stacks, I had to look for a better solution. And with Helicon Focus I found it.
It’s important to have a subject in your photo. Without a subject, a photo may be less interesting to look at. Sometimes, the subject is easy to spot, but at other times, it might be more difficult. You can get some help from Lightroom to check if your photo has a subject.
Landscape photography often relies on rather complex and involved edits that go deep into Photoshop, but you do not have to make deep edits to create a compelling image. In fact, you can often skip Photoshop altogether and rely solely on Lightroom. This excellent video tutorial shares some simple but helpful tips for creating better landscape image edits using Lightroom.
DxO PureRAW is a permanent part of my photographic workflow. Before anything else, I take my raw files from my mirrorless camera and my drone through PureRAW first. It checks my camera and lens data and outputs a raw file with corrections that eliminate lens distortions, vignetting, noise, and a host of other issues specific to my hardware. Here's my review of what was a must-have the last time around.
