These LIGHTROOM SETTINGS will make Your Photos POP!

Summary

This Lightroom tutorial demonstrates how to transform a raw image into a dramatic golden hour scene through a series of tonal adjustments. The instructor guides viewers on how to enhance contrast, manage exposure, and utilize basic and local adjustments to emphasize specific areas like the mountain peak and clouds. Techniques such as color range masks, gradients, and color grading are employed to create depth and warmth, concluding with sharpening and spot removal to finalize the image.

Takeaways

• 📷 Start with a base crop adjustment to enhance composition, making the mountain peak more prominent.
• 🔧 Use the basic panel in Lightroom to adjust contrast, exposure, and shadows to create a dramatic and darker image.
• ⚪ Hold the ALT key while adjusting sliders to check for underexposure and avoid losing important details.
• 🌄 Increase whites and contrast to further enhance the image, but be mindful not to overexpose snow patches.
• 🌅 Adjust white balance to introduce a golden hour effect, raising temperature and tint for a warmer look.
• 🔍 Reduce clarity and dehaze to add a dreamy effect and prevent the image from appearing too sharp or bright.
• 🖼️ Utilize local adjustments with masks to selectively darken the sky and foreground, enhancing contrast and focus.
• ✨ Introduce radial gradients to simulate light sources and create a vignette effect, drawing attention to the center.
• 🌈 Use color range and luminance range masks for precise selection and adjustment of specific areas like clouds.
• 🎨 Adjust hue, saturation, and luminance in the color mixer to achieve a golden hour color grading.
• 🔧 Apply sharpening and remove sensor spots in the details tab for final image refinement.

Q & A

What is the starting point for the Lightroom tutorial described in the script?

The starting point is a raw file that has already had some cropping applied to make the mountain peak appear larger.

Why does the instructor change the profile from Adobe color to Adobe standard in the basic panel?

The instructor changes the profile to lessen the overall contrast, allowing for more control over the exposure adjustments.

What is the purpose of bringing down the exposure in the basic panel of Lightroom?

The purpose is to make the image darker and more dramatic without losing details, which helps in creating a more striking visual effect.

How can underexposure be identified when adjusting the Shadows and Blacks sliders in Lightroom?

Underexposure can be identified by the appearance of tiny blue areas in the image, which indicate loss of detail in the shadows.

What is the effect of bringing up the Highlights and Whites sliders in Lightroom?

Bringing up the Highlights and Whites increases the contrast and brightness in the brighter areas of the image, but care must be taken to avoid overexposing certain areas like snow patches.

Why does the instructor want to adjust the white balance for a golden hour light effect?

Adjusting the white balance helps to mimic the warm tones often associated with golden hour lighting, enhancing the mood and atmosphere of the image.

What is the purpose of adding texture and reducing clarity in the basic adjustments?

Adding texture makes the image look sharper, while reducing clarity adds a dreamy effect, contributing to the overall desired aesthetic of the image.

How does the instructor use color range masks in the masking panel of Lightroom?

The instructor uses color range masks to select and adjust specific areas of the image, such as the sky, to make it darker and introduce more saturation for contrast.

What is the effect of using a linear gradient mask on the top of the image?

A linear gradient mask on the top of the image is used to bring down the blacks, making the sky darker and creating a vignetting effect that leads the viewer's eye towards the center of the image.

How does the instructor use radial gradients to introduce light from the right side of the image?

The instructor creates a large radial gradient, placing its center outside the image, and adjusts the exposure, whites, and blacks to introduce light and create a glow effect.

What adjustments does the instructor make to the cloud using a luminance range mask?

The instructor uses a luminance range mask to selectively brighten the cloud, increase its contrast with the blue sky, and add warmth by adjusting the temperature and tint.

How does the instructor approach color grading to achieve a golden hour scene?

The instructor works on the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance tabs in the Color Mixer to adjust the color tones of the mountain and sky, and uses split toning in the Color Grading panel to add warmth to the highlights and midtones.

What final adjustments does the instructor make to the image in the Details tab?

The instructor reduces the radius, increases the details, and adds masking to apply sharpening primarily to the mountain, and also cleans up sensor spots using the spot removal tool.

Outlines

00:00

📸 Lightroom Editing Basics: Enhancing Contrast and Drama

This paragraph introduces a Lightroom tutorial focused on transforming an image through basic adjustments. The process begins with a raw file, where the instructor applies a crop to emphasize the mountain peak. The main goal is to increase contrast, particularly on the mountain and clouds. The instructor suggests changing the profile to Adobe Standard to gain more control over contrast and exposure. The exposure is reduced to darken the image, while carefully monitoring the histogram to avoid underexposure. Shadows and blacks are also adjusted to increase contrast without losing important details. The instructor emphasizes the importance of avoiding overexposure on the snow patches and suggests using the Whites and Contrast sliders to achieve the desired effect. Finally, the instructor introduces the idea of adding a golden hour light effect by adjusting the white balance and adding texture and clarity for a dreamy effect.

05:02

🌄 Advanced Masking Techniques for Local Adjustments

The second paragraph delves into advanced masking techniques in Lightroom to make local tonal adjustments. The instructor starts by using a color range mask to select the sky and darken it further, adding saturation for blue tones. The aim is to make the mountain peak stand out against the darker sky. A linear gradient is applied to the top right of the image to create a vignette effect, drawing the viewer's eye towards the center. Another linear gradient is used on the foreground to darken it without underexposing the area by adjusting the Whites. The instructor also discusses the use of radial gradients to introduce light from the right side and to enhance the visibility of the highlights on the mountain. The paragraph concludes with the use of a luminance range mask to selectively brighten a cloud, adjusting its clarity, temperature, and tint to create separation from the blue sky.

10:03

🎨 Color Grading and Sharpening for a Golden Hour Effect

In the final paragraph, the focus shifts to color grading and sharpening to achieve a golden hour look. The instructor adjusts the Hue and Saturation in the Color Mixer to give the mountain a reddish tone and the sky an aqua hue. Orange saturation is increased to make the peak glow, while yellow is reduced to keep the snow white. The instructor also lowers the blue saturation and luminance for a darker sky. Split toning is used to warm the highlights and midtones, enhancing the golden hour effect with high saturation. Calibration adjustments are made to the blue, green, and red hues and saturation to fine-tune the color grading. The sharpening process involves reducing the radius, increasing details, and applying masking to sharpen the mountain while avoiding over-sharpening other areas. Sensor spots are removed to complete the polished image. The instructor wraps up the tutorial, inviting feedback and questions from viewers.

Keywords

💡Lightroom

Lightroom is a photo editing software developed by Adobe Systems. It is widely used by photographers for non-destructive editing of raw images, allowing for adjustments such as exposure, contrast, and color grading. In the video, Lightroom is the primary tool used to transform the image, with the script detailing the step-by-step process of editing a raw file within the software.

💡Tonal Adjustments

Tonal adjustments refer to the process of modifying the lightness or darkness of different areas within an image. This includes changes to exposure, shadows, whites, and blacks. In the context of the video, the instructor uses tonal adjustments to create a dramatic and darker look, emphasizing the contrast between the mountain peak and the sky.

💡Contrast

Contrast is the difference in brightness levels between the light and dark areas of an image. It helps to define the visual elements and can enhance the overall impact of a photo. The video focuses on adding more contrast to specific areas of the image to make the mountain peak and clouds stand out more prominently.

💡Histogram

A histogram is a graphical representation of the distribution of tonal values in a digital image. It shows the number of pixels for each tonal value, from the darkest (on the left) to the lightest (on the right). In the script, the instructor mentions using the histogram to avoid underexposure while making the image darker, ensuring no loss of detail.

💡White Balance

White balance is the process of adjusting the colors in an image so that they appear natural under a given light source. It is used to correct the color temperature to match the lighting conditions. In the video, the instructor adjusts the white balance to mimic the warm light of a golden hour, enhancing the overall mood of the scene.

💡Texture

Texture in photography refers to the visual representation of the surface quality of an object or scene. Adding texture can make an image look sharper and more detailed. The script mentions increasing texture to enhance the sharpness of the image while also creating a dreamy effect by adjusting clarity.

💡Clarity

Clarity in photo editing is a measure of the sharpness and detail of an image. It affects the mid-tones, making them appear more defined. In the video, the instructor reduces clarity to add a dreamy effect, then increases it later to make a specific cloud stand out more against the sky.

💡Dehaze

The dehaze feature in Lightroom helps to reduce the effect of atmospheric haze in an image, making it appear clearer. It can also brighten the overall image if reduced. The script mentions using dehaze to adjust the brightness and clarity of the image, particularly when creating a vignette effect or enhancing specific areas.

💡Masks

In photo editing, a mask is a tool that allows for localized adjustments to an image. Masks can be used to selectively apply effects to certain areas while leaving others untouched. The video script describes using color range masks and luminance range masks to adjust specific parts of the image, such as the sky and a cloud, to enhance contrast and detail.

💡Color Grading

Color grading is the process of altering and enhancing the color of an image to achieve a particular look or mood. It often involves adjusting hues, saturation, and luminance. In the video, color grading is used to transform the scene into a golden hour setting, with adjustments made to the hues and saturation of different color channels.

💡Sharpening

Sharpening is the process of enhancing the contrast along the edges within an image to make it appear more defined. It is often one of the final steps in photo editing. The script describes using the details tab in Lightroom to apply sharpening to the mountain, carefully adjusting the radius, details, and masking to achieve the desired effect.

Highlights

Introduction to using Lightroom for enhancing an image with specific adjustments.

Cropping the image to emphasize the mountain peak.

Changing the profile from Adobe color to Adobe standard to control contrast.

Reducing exposure to create a darker, dramatic look while avoiding underexposure.

Adjusting Shadows and Blacks to add contrast without losing important details.

Demonstration of the difference in image tone after basic adjustments.

Working on highlights and whites to increase contrast while avoiding overexposure.

Adjusting white balance to mimic golden hour lighting.

Adding texture and clarity for a sharper image while maintaining a dreamy effect.

Using color range masks to selectively adjust the sky's exposure and saturation.

Creating a vignette effect with a linear gradient to draw attention to the mountain peak.

Using radial gradients to introduce light and create a glow effect on the mountain.

Adjusting a specific cloud's brightness and warmth to stand out against the sky.

Using luminance range masks for precise selection and adjustment of elements in the image.

Color grading to achieve a golden hour scene through hue and saturation adjustments.

Split toning in the color grading panel to add warmth to highlights and midtones.

Final sharpening of the image with selective application on the mountain.

Cleaning up sensor spots in the image for a polished finish.

Completion of the image enhancement tutorial showcasing the final result.

Transcripts

how can we make use of simple tone

adjustments and turn this image into

this let me show you with this Lightroom

tutorial as always if you want to follow

along you can find a link to download

this raw file in the description of the

video and now let's start so this will

be our starting raw file I already have

applied a little bit of cropping just to

make the mountain peak look a little

bigger what we want to do in here is to

add more contrast on very specific areas

to make the mountain peak and the clouds

stand out first off we want to open up

the basic panel I'm going to change the

profile from Adobe color to Adobe

standard this lessens the overall

contrast just a little bit because I

want to have some more control over it

exposure wise looking at this room this

might look fine but we want to make it

dark and dramatic so the first thing I

want to start with is to bring down the

exposure quite a lot as IW Dr the

exposure I'm always paying close

attention to the histogram because we

don't want to introduce under exposure

we just want to make it darker without

losing details another way we can make

this image darker is by bringing down

the Shadows you can see I can bring them

down all the way and still not end up

with underexposure so that is a great

way to add more contest in fact we can

even bring down the blacks just a little

bit let's see so right at this point we

would would end up with a little bit of

underexposure I can hold on the ALT key

while I drag this slider down you can

see this tiny blue areas these are the

areas that are underexposed these areas

are not really that important so I am

okay with having a bit of an exposure

there so right away I want to show you

the difference we started with the image

on the left and you can see it looks

much much different almost like an

underexposed image thanks to just a

bunch of tonal adjustments we did in the

basic panel of course we don't want this

image to be too dark so we have brought

down the Shadows next we want to work on

the highlights and the brighter areas so

let me pull up the highlights all the

way this helps tremendously with the

contrast however we really need to be

careful with the highlights because we

can quickly overexpose these snow

patches on the mountain and this is

something I try to avoid most of the

times so for more contrast let's bring

up the whites again I'm paying very very

close attention to these problem areas

but right around here looks quite good

to me I do think I also want to push and

the overall contrast just a little bit

this will further make the underexposure

worse but as I said these areas are not

that important so that's okay now this

looks much better than the ra five

before I do think I want to introduce

some more golden hour light so I also

want to adjust the white balance for the

golden hour light I'm going to bring up

the

temperature so let's raise it quite a

bit here and I do think I want to bring

up the tint as well just a little bit

and I do want to add a bit of texture

which will make the image look sharper

at the same time I want to bring down

the clarity to kind of add some dreamy

effect on top and let's make maybe also

bring down the

dehaze in this case Bringing Down the

dehaze it makes the whole image brighter

if you plan on doing that always keep

that in mind all right so I'm not going

to touch the Vibrance or saturation so

we're pretty much done with the basic

adjustments and again let's take a look

at before we quick with just a bunch of

total adjustments we can make the whole

image look a lot more different and

dramatic and of course we can continue

using stuff like highlights Shadow those

whites and blacks more locally with the

help of masks and that's exactly what we

want to do let's go ahead open up the

masking panel the first thing with

masking I usually like to do is to work

on the sky because these areas usually

are quite easy to Target in this case we

have a blue sky with a bunch of clouds

so we can use a color range mask and we

can click somewhere here and we get a

very very good selection what I want to

do with this selection is to bring down

the exposure even further making the sky

even darker and thus we're adding more

contrast and make this bright Mountain

beak stand out a little more so I'm

going to drop it quite a bit and I do

want to introduce more saturation to

this area so we get some blue tones in

here let's go with something like this

for the

moment okay now these color range masks

can introduce some fine white light

around around edges like in this case if

you see an edge like this you might want

to tone down the adjustments a little

bit I think for the purpose of this

video I'm just going with it for now the

sky is looking pretty good but I also

want to add a linear gradient on the

very top of it just covering pretty much

the right side like this and here I want

to bring down the blacks this will

further make the sky darker and it will

also create some kind of vignetting

effect leading the viewers eye more

towards the peak in the center which is

exactly what we want but we can also use

a linear gradient covering the

foreground or let's say the Shadows of

the foreground and what I want to do in

here is I also want to make it darker

but I don't want to use exposure or

Shadows of blacks because then we would

end up with underexposure instead I want

to drop the whites this will make the

area darker without heavily

underexposing the area

so that's looking pretty good so far I

do think I also want to introduce some

light coming in from the right side so

let me create one big fat radial

gradient like this I'm going to slightly

tilt it and I'm going to place the

center of this radial gradient outside

of the image with this radial gradient I

want to introduce light by bringing up

the

exposure I also want to bring up the

whites and for some extra glow I always

like to bring up the blacks and let's

carefully drop the

dehaze all right that looks great we can

work on the glow some more using another

second radial gradient however this time

I'm making it a little smaller and I'm

just covering this bright spot right

here on the mountain again let's tilt it

a bit actually I don't want to add glow

but I want to make the highlights more

visible in here so what I'm going to do

is to bring up the whites and this will

just add more corn contr to this spot

which I think looks great I can also

bring up the

highlights okay now there's one more

thing I want to change and that's the

brightness of this Cloud right here I

want to make it brighter to make it

stand out a little more and add more

contrast to this image separating the

cloud a little more from the Blue Sky in

the back so we're going to use a new

mask and we're going to use a luminance

range mask with the luminance rench mask

active and this eye dropper hovering

over the cloud I'm just clicking right

in here this is selecting way too much

as you can see so I want to adjust the

luminance range a bit I want to filter

out more of the darker parts so I'm

going to bring up this point a

bit just like that and I'm going to make

the edge a little softer so I'm going to

bring this point up as

well okay this is looking like a pretty

good selection still we need to adjust

it some more I'm going to say subtract

and I'm choosing a linear gradient

taking away a part from here from the

right side and we want to subtract

another linear gradient coming up from

the top like this now we have pretty

much only the cloud selected that's

exactly what we want now to make it pop

a little more I'm going to bring up the

whites and I also want to bring up the

clarity and at this point I do want to

introduce some more extra warmth to This

Cloud so I'm going to introduce some

temperature just a little bit and I'm

also going to decrease the tint to

prevent any weird magenta color cast to

kick in in this area wonderful that

looks great now that's it for the

masking let me show you what a

difference this makes this was our image

after just a bunch of Base adjustments

and here we have it with the masking

stuff applied on top again we pretty

much only made use of local tonal

adjustments working on the brightness

and darkness of areas so now that we're

done with the masking let's also do some

color grading because we want to turn

this more into a golden hour scene so

let's go down into the color mixer and I

want to work on the Hue first here I

want to slightly bring down the orange

Hue giving the mountain face more of a

redish color tone I also want to

slightly bring down the blue hue

bringing the sky a bit more into the

aqua color range but just a bit and I

want to head into the saturation tab I

want to bring up the orange saturation

to make that mountain peak glow a little

more and I want to bring down yellow

because yellow will affect the snow the

most and I want to keep the snow pretty

much white so that looks good to me I'm

also going to bring down the blue

saturation just a little bit all right

then let's head into the luminance T and

just bring down the blue luminance a

little more to make the sky a bit

darker wonderful the image still lacks a

little bit of warmth and we can change

that in the color grading panel with

some split toning so here we want to

Target the highlights first and of

course we want to make the highlights

warmer so we're going to set up the Hue

in such way let's see this is looking

like a pretty good color tone and now

let's bring up the saturation and I'm

going to use a lot of saturation to give

it this heavily color graded look wow

wonderful let's also use the midtones

I'm again using a warm color tone for

the midtones somewhere around here and

I'm going to slightly bring up the

saturation here I don't want to overdo

it just want to introduce a little bit

more here perfect and of course we can

also head down into the calibration tab

for some more color grading here I want

to start with the blue brary H bringing

it down very

slightly this helps making the mountain

peak look a little more redish which I

think looks great and I am going to

bring up the saturation

here let's also bring up the saturation

of green and

red perfect this looks great now the

only thing left to do is the sharpening

so let's head into the details Tab and

bring down the radius increase the

details add masking while holding not Al

key so we can see where the sharpening

is applied and we only want to have it

on the mount like this and then bring up

the amount of

sharpening wonderful now there are a few

sensor spots throughout the image which

we can clean up in Lightroom as well so

let's click on remove and I already

clicked on visualize spots which should

make it easier to see those sensor spots

and I'm just going to brush over

them okay and that's it here we have the

finished image I hope this little itro

tutorial was helpful and interesting as

always if you have questions or have

anything to add to this video let me

know in the comments and thank you so

much for watching this video