MASTERING

LIGHTROOM
A PHOTOGRAPHERS GUIDE TO LIGHTROOM 4 & 5
Book Two: The Develop Module

ANDREW S GIBSON

Contents
Introduction
Notes
Advice for new Lightroom users
Before you start
A useful exercise
Global adjustments
Working with panels
Lightroom workflow
The Camera Calibration panel
The Lens Corrections panel
The Basic panel
Basic panel: White balance
Basic panel: Tonal controls
A closer look at the Histogram
The Presence sliders
The Tone Curve panel
The Effects panel
The HSL / Color / B&W panel
The Split Toning panel
The Detail panel

3
7
8
10
11
12
19
21
23
28
42
43
53
61
66
77
87
96
104
107

Local adjustments
The Graduated Filter
The Radial Filter
The Adjustment Brush
Portrait retouching
The Crop Overlay
The Spot Removal Tool

118
120
125
128
132
140
152

The left-hand panels

The Navigator panel
The Presets panel
The Snapshots and History panels

158
159
160
173

More from the Develop module

Using Virtual Copies in Lightroom
Useful Develop module shortcuts
Processing photo files
Exporting photos

178
179
181
184
185

Conclusion
Photography ebooks
Craft & Vision

190
191
193

INTRODUC TION

In digital photography there are lots of ways of processing images;

far more than there ever was back when everybody used film. With
so many options, its not easy to figure out your personal approach.
Its a puzzle that all modern day photographers have to find an
answer to.
If you are a Lightroom user then the program should sit at the heart of your
workflow. Post-processing starts, and often finishes, in Lightroom. This approach
saves you both time and hard drive space. Therefore it makes sense to learn how to
get the most out of Lightroom, to save you having to finish off your processing in
other software unless you really want or need to.
In this ebook Ill explain how to use the tools in the Lightroom Develop module
to process your Raw files. Along the way Im going to show you some interesting
techniques, and emphasise a couple of points that I feel are important, yet seem to
be omitted from most books on this topic:

1. Post-processing starts at the point you press the shutter button to take a
photo.
In fact, it starts before then, when you decide which aperture, shutter speed, ISO
and focal length to use. In other words, you wont see any tutorials about how to
imitate the effect of using a wide aperture to blur the background here instead, I
expect you to select the appropriate aperture when you take the photo.

Ive been studying the work of two portrait photographers I have a lot of
admiration for: Tom Hoops and Eduardo Izquierdo. Both have portraits in their
portfolios with very dark, and sometimes completely black, backgrounds. This led
me to play with the idea of making the backgrounds in my own portraits even
darker. After trying it, and thinking about the results, I realised that I had gone
too far the backgrounds needed to be lighter than I had made them. Luckily in
Lightroom its easy to go back and make adjustments when this happens.

This is called visualisation the ability to picture in your mind, when you take
a photo, what the ultimate result will be after you have processed the image in
Lightroom. This takes practice, and is skill that is refined with time and experience.

The point is my approach to processing was dictated by my intent. So was my

assessment of the results. I judged them against the criteria of making the
background go dark, and realised that I had gone too far for my personal taste.

2. Intent determines your approach. It is linked to your world view, and the
way you want to express it in your photos.

Thats why I am going to encourage you to explore Lightrooms processing tools

for yourself, rather than tell you what you should do. In the above example, what if
my intent was to create a light, airy portrait with a hazy, atmospheric background?
First, I would have selected a different location to take the photos. But I would
also have taken a different approach to processing the portraits. What works for
one photo may be inappropriate for another, and its wrong to be dogmatic about
technique.

Heres an example. One of my favourite portrait techniques is to photograph

the model against a dark background. The idea is to retain detail, but keep the
background dark so that it complements the model and is not a distraction. As I
know my intent, it is easy to use some of Lightrooms tools to achieve this effect.
This lets me process my images with purpose, rather than using those tools just for
the sake of it.

The photo on this page is one

possible interpretation of a
portrait. The model is learning
against the entrance to a concrete
bunker. The light comes from her
left, and the dark area behind her
is the interior of the bunker. Its a
nice portrait and I like it. The tonal
contrast works well. On one side
we have the light grey tones of
the bunker wall, on the other the
darkness of the interior. The light
provides nice modelling on my
models face, and the shadow on
her right side adds form.
However, I wanted to see how
the portrait would look if the
background (on the right hand
side) was darker. You can see the
result on the next page.

This interpretation has a darker,

moodier feel. The background is
less distracting and the eye goes
straight to the model.
Which portrait do you prefer
the one on this page or the one
on the previous page? Neither is
correct and Im sure that opinion
will be divided. Your preference is
an indicator of the approach you
would probably take if you had a
similar portrait.
The success of the postprocessing, from my point of
view, is measured against my
intent to create a portrait with a
dark background with the lightest
tones being those of the models
skin.

Notes
Screen shots are taken from a MacBook Pro using OS X. If you are a
PC user your screen will look different. Most of the differences are
minor, and down to the operating system not the program on the
whole Lightroom looks the same most of the time in both Windows
and Mac OS X.
I would also like to clarify the way shortcuts are used in this ebook:
Right-clicking: On a PC you can right-click just about anywhere in Lightroom
to bring up a contextual menu. If youre a Mac user right-click may be disabled.
You can access the contextual menu by holding the Control key down when you
click. Or, you can enable right-clicking (System Preferences > Mouse) even with a
single-button Apple mouse. An easy solution is to use a Windows mouse Mac OS
X recognises it and enables right-clicking. I find the right-click invaluable, and will
mention it frequently in the ebook. So please dont get confused if you also use a
Mac and right-clicking doesnt work.
Option/Control keys: Keyboard shortcuts on the Mac often use the Option key,
also known as the Command key. Windows keyboards use the Control key instead.
I will list the Mac shortcut in the ebook with the PC shortcut in brackets, like this:
Cmd-S (PC: Ctrl-S).
Keyboard shortcuts: Although I will mention the most useful keyboard shortcuts,
I wont use them all. Most of the time I will guide you to the appropriate menu

option (i.e Photo > Add to Target Collection). If a shortcut exists, it will be listed
next to the relevant option in the menu (in this case, the shortcut is B). You can
also bring up a list of keyboard shortcuts relevant to the module youre in by
pressing Cmd-/ (PC: Ctrl-/) at any time.
Terminology: Photoshop comes in several versions: Photoshop Elements,
Photoshop CS, Photoshop CC and Photoshop Lightroom. For the sake of simplicity,
I will use the term Photoshop to refer interchangeably to Photoshop Elements,
Photoshop CS and Photoshop CC, and Lightroom to refer to Photoshop Lightroom.

Left: Right-click on a PC
or Ctrl-click on a Mac to
bring up a contextual
menu like this. Contextual
menus act as a shortcut to
commonly used functions
in the Lightroom menus.
The options presented are
related to the part of the
program you click on.

advice for new

Lightroom users
If youre new to Lightrooms Develop module, here is some advice
that will help you get the most out of it. The idea is to set up good
habits from the start; they will serve you well in the long run.
Understand what you cant do in the Develop module
For example, you cant use layers, you cant use High Dynamic Range or exposure
blending techniques, you cant create composite images and you cant add fancy
borders. But you can use Lightroom in conjunction with other software (such as
Photoshop or a plug-in). In this scenario you use Lightrooms Library module to
import and organise your images, process them as much as you can in the Develop
module, and export them to Photoshop or a plug-in when there is something that
you want to do that you cant achieve in Lightroom.

Do as much as you can in Lightrooms Develop module

Use Virtual Copies

Even if you are preparing an image to export to Photoshop or a plug-in, it is a

good idea to do as much as you can to the image in Lightrooms Develop module
first. Lightroom can quickly and easily take care of the more mundane tasks such
as setting white balance, exposure and eliminating dust spots. It saves you time,
especially if you use Develop Presets, copy & paste or the Sync button to automate
some of the process (more on these tools later).

I will explain what Virtual Copies are in detail later. But for now, if they are new to
you all you need to know is that they are an easy way to make multiple copies of
an image that you can process in different ways. For example, if you want to make
both a colour and a black and white version of an image.

The corollary of this is that you should also learn what you can do in Lightroom to
avoid having to use another program. For example, the Soften Skin Adjustment
Brush preset in Lightroom is more than good enough for most portrait retouching.
You only need to use an alternative for high end retouching work.
Lightroom doesnt give you as many options as the plug-ins, but it may well be
good enough for your purposes. Understanding exactly what you can do in the
Develop module helps you understand when you need to use another application
to get the effect you want.

Learn how to organise your images in the Library module

The more organised you are in the Library module, the quicker and more effective
you will become in the Develop module. Getting organised means having an
effective folder structure for your Raw files, an efficient backup system, a way of
selecting which images you are going to process (and which ones you arent) and a
system for using Collections and Collection Sets which supports all this. Luckily, all
this is explained in the first ebook in this series: Mastering Lightroom Part One:
The Library Module.

There is no correct order in the Develop module

Thats right the Develop module is designed so that you can go into any of the
Develop panels (the ones on the right-hand side) and adjust the settings any way
you want. While it makes more sense to adjust some things before others, there
is no set way to go about it, and your approach probably depends as much on
the subject as it does on anything else. This can be daunting for newcomers if
its okay to start just about anywhere, then where exactly do you begin? I will
guide you through the Develop module settings in a logical order. As you gain
confidence in Lightroom you can make adjustments in any sequence you like. Treat
the order I present things in as a guide, not a rule.

Before you start

Part of figuring out your purpose is deciding what approach you will
take to using the various tools in Lightrooms Develop module. Here
are some things for you to think about.
Naturally, you may not yet be fully aware of what you can do in Lightrooms
Develop module. Thats okay your appreciation and understanding of the various
aspects of post-processing will grow as you work your way through this ebook.

Tonal contrast
Tonal contrast is the difference between the lightest and darkest areas of a photo.
For example, if you take a photo of a white flower against a dark backdrop there
is a significant difference in brightness between the flower and the background.
Tonal contrast is an important part of the composition. Its also the basis of most
successful black and white photography and much colour photography.

Strength of colour
Do you want your colours to be strong, soft or subtle? This is a question you
address when you take your photos as well as in post-processing. If you like strong,
saturated colours then you may want to take photos on a brilliant sunny day, using
a polarising filter to bring out their full depth and richness.
On the other hand, if you prefer soft colours, you may take photos in the shade, or
on a cloudy day, so that the colours are naturally softer. You can then think about
how you want to emphasise the softness of the colour in the Develop module.

Colour or black and white

Do you want to create colour images or work in black and white? Ill cover black
and white conversions in Lightroom in great detail in the next ebook in this series.

Light or dark
The portraits I showed you earlier, the ones with the dark backgrounds, are
exercises in tonal contrast. The light skin of the model provides a rich contrast
against the dark backgrounds. Tonal contrast is an important part of my style, and
in those photos I chose to emphasise it in post-processing.

Colour balance
Do you want your image to have a warm colour cast, a cool one, or to have neutral
colour? I cover this in detail in the section about white balance.

10

Do you want your images to have a dark feel or a light feel? Again, the answer
is mostly settled when you take the photo, and post-processing provides the
emphasis.

A useful exercise
The above questions are here to get you thinking about how you will use
Lightrooms Develop module. I appreciate that while visualisation is a useful tool,
there will be times when you just take a photo of an interesting subject and decide
how to process it later. Or something may occur to you at the processing stage that
you didnt see when you took the photo. Thats one of the interesting things about
processing images it can open up new possibilities. Then once you have mastered
new tools or processing techniques, you can take photos with these in mind.
You may be struggling to work out your approach to post-processing. Thats fine
its not always an easy process, especially if you are new to this way of thinking.
It is useful to look at the work of some of your favourite photographers, and think
about what aspects of their images appeal to you. These are pointers and will give
you ideas that you can apply to your own work.
Try this exercise. Choose ten of your favourite images from other photographers. It
may be helpful if they are from a similar genre. For example, if you are interested in
portraits, then choose ten photos of people.
If the images are in colour, how did the photographer use colour? Are the
colours predominantly warm or cool, or a mixture of the two? Are they saturated or
are they soft?
If the images are in black and white, how has the photographer used tonal
contrast and texture? Does the monochrome approach appeal to you, or would

11

you prefer to see the image in colour? Why do you think the photographer chose to
work in black and white, rather than colour?
How important is light in the composition of the image? Is the light hard or
soft, natural or artificial? What is the relationship between the light and the use of
colour and tonal contrast?
How has the photographer used focus? Is the entire image sharp, or just part of
it? How would it look if the photographer had used a wider or a narrower aperture?
What focal length did the photographer use? You may not know the exact focal
length, but you can probably tell from looking whether the photographer used a
wide-angle lens, a normal lens or a telephoto. Why do you think the photographer
used the focal length he did? How would the photo look if he had used a wider or a
longer lens?
What is the emotional content of the photo? How do the use of lighting, colour,
tonal contrast and composition combine to make you feel? How has this been
emphasised in post-processing?
What type of post-processing style or techniques do the photographers
appear to be using? Do the photos you like tend to look natural or heavily
processed?

Global
adjustments
Lightrooms Develop settings divide into two broad categories.
Global adjustments are those applied to the entire image. Local
adjustments are those that you apply to just part of the photo. It is
sensible to make global adjustments first, so we will start with those.
But before we do, lets take a brief look at the right hand panels in the Develop
module. This is where all the developing action takes place. As you learn to use the
tools in these panels, your skills will grow and the quality of your images improve.

12

Spot Removal (Q)

Radial Filter (Shift + M)

Crop
Overlay (R)

Adjustment
Brush (K)

Red Eye Correction

Graduated Filter (M)

The Histogram

The Tool Strip

This panel displays important information about the photo you are developing.
You can see at a glance the camera settings used (ISO, focal length, aperture and
shutter speed), the histogram (including clipped highlights or shadows, if any) and
whether you are editing the Original Photo or a Smart Preview.
The histogram shown in Lightroom is similar to, although usually not exactly the
same as, the histogram displayed on the back of your camera.

The six buttons in the Tool Strip provide access to tools that you will use during
the development process. The three on the right (Graduated Filter, Radial Filter
and Adjustment Brush) are local adjustments. The next two, Spot Removal and
Red Eye Correction, are there to help you remove dust spots or red eye caused
by on-camera flash. The last tool, the Crop Overlay, helps you crop out unwanted
distractions at the edge of the frame or change the aspect ratio of the image.
Aspect ratio is a fascinating topic in itself that I will explore later.

Well come back to the Histogram panel shortly, and see how it relates to the Tone
sliders in the Basic panel.

You can access each tool by clicking on the icon or using the keyboard shortcut
(listed in brackets where available).
Note: The Radial Filter is new to Lightroom 5, and not present in Lightroom 4.

13

14

Basic panel

Tone Curve panel

The basic panel is where you carry

out essential adjustments to the
image such as setting the white
balance, brightness and contrast.
These are global adjustments. Later
on you will learn how to use the
Graduated Filter, Radial Filter and
Adjustment Brush to apply the same
adjustments to part of the image
(local adjustments).

The tone curve will be instantly

familiar to Photoshop users. It works
in a similar fashion in Lightroom.
Use it to adjust contrast or set new
black and white points (you can
do the same thing in the Basic
panel, the Tone Curve gives you an
alternative). There are three colour
curves (red, green and blue) as well
as an RGB curve. Develop presets
designed to give a vintage effect
often utilise the colour curves to
create colour casts. I will show you
how to do the same later.

HSL / Color / B&W panel

These are three panels in one Hue,
Saturation and Luminance (HSL),
Color and Black & White (B&W). The
first two help you take control of
the colours in your images. Black &
White is for converting your images
to monochrome.

15

16

Split toning panel

Detail panel

Ostensibly for toning black and

white images, you will also see it
used to create effects for colour
images. An interesting tool with
plenty of creative possibilities.

This is where you can adjust the

Sharpening and Noise Reduction
settings. Some of you will be happy
with Lightrooms default settings
and leave this panel alone. Others
will want to fine tune the Noise
Reduction and Sharpening settings.
I will show you how later.

Lens Corrections panel

This is where you can correct lens aberrations such as
chromatic aberration, vignetting and barrel distortion.
You can also straighten buildings suffering from the
converging verticals effect.
Lightroom contains built-in profiles for most lenses
that let you implement lens corrections automatically.

17

18

Effects panel

Camera Calibration panel

The Effects panel lets you apply a

vignette to your images or, for those
of you nostalgic for the look of film,
add realistic looking grain.

This is where you set the algorithm

that Lightroom uses to convert
the Raw file into a colour image.
You can also select a profile that
imitates your cameras Picture Style
/ Picture Control settings, or even
create your own. These are not
creative functions, but they lay the
groundwork for the work you do in
the other panels. For that reason its
a good idea to set these first.

Working with panels

Here are a couple of tips to make working with the right-hand panels easier:

1. Enable Solo mode

In Solo mode, Lightroom opens just one panel (other than the Histogram panel) at
a time (see right). This makes it much easier to find the option you are looking for
when processing images, but is disabled by default. To enable Solo mode, rightclick anywhere in the right-hand panels to bring up a contextual menu:

There is a list of available panels at the

top of the contextual menu. The ticks
show they are enabled. You can disable
any of these if you dont use them.

When Solo Mode is enabled, Lightroom

only opens one panel other than the
Histogram at a time.

Use this option to hide or change the

flourish underneath the panels.

19

Left: With Solo mode enabled,

Lightroom only opens one
subpanel at a time other than
the Histogram, making it easier
to find your way through the
subpanels.

2. Turn off panels

Every right hand panel in the Develop module (apart from the Histogram and Basic
panels) has a toggle switch to turn it off (marked right). You can use it as a before/
after switch that enables you to see the difference that the settings in that panel
make to the image. It also gives you an easy way to disable a panel its quicker to
use the toggle than to reset all the sliders to their default.

These toggle switches are in the On

position. The changes these settings
make to the image are visible.

These toggle switches are in the Off

position. The changes these settings
make to the image are not visible.

20

Lightroom workflow
If you are new to Lightroom you are probably wondering what is the best workflow
to use within the Develop module. The layout of the right hand panels means that
you can move easily from one to another, but its not always clear what the best
order to do so is.
What follows is my personal recommendation. Its the order that I use, it works for
me and it will work for you as well. But dont be afraid to go off in other directions
as your confidence grows. You should consider this workflow as a suggestion, or a
starting point, and develop your own working methods from there.
Youll notice that the order I move around the right hand panels is different to the
order in which they are stacked in the Develop module. Ive structured this ebook
so it moves through the right hand panels in the same order that they appear in my
suggested workflow. That makes it logical and easy for you to follow.
Start off in the Camera Calibration panel. Its important to select the most
appropriate Profile at the start as it determines the way that Lightroom
interprets the colours in your Raw file.
Next, go to the Lens Corrections panel. I feel that its better for you to see the
image with any Distortion corrected. For example, later on Ill show you how to
use the Angle tool to rotate an image so that the horizon is straight. But its hard
to do so if the horizon is curved because you used a wide-angle lens with barrel
distortion.

21

Camera Calibration panel

Lens Corrections panel

Basic panel

Tone Curve panel

Effects panel

HSL / Color / B&W panel

Split Toning panel

Detail panel

Tool strip (local adjustments)

External plug-ins

 The Basic panel is next. The decisions you make here regarding white balance,
exposure and contrast are the foundation underlying everything else you do.
Then comes the Tone Curve panel. But you may choose to visit the Tone Curve
panel before the Basic panel to set the base contrast of the image. There are also
times when you wont need to use it at all.
The Effects panel lets you add a vignette to your images, or grain if you want to
imitate film.
Then its just a matter of following the right hand panels in the order they
appear. The HSL / Color / B&W panel is next. Its useful for adjusting colour
values, but like the Tone Curve panel you wont need to use it for every photo.

Next come local adjustments such as dust spot removal and using Graduated
and Radial filters or the Adjustment Brush to make local adjustments to
brightness, contrast or colour balance. The question of workflow becomes more
subjective here. For example, there are times when it will make more sense to
use local adjustments to dodge or burn while you are in the Basic panel. Thats
why the local adjustment tools are located under the Histogram.
Finally, if you are using an external plug-in (such as Silver Efex Pro 2 to convert
your image to black and white) or Photoshop to finish off the image this is the
time to do it. Take the image as far as you can in Lightroom first.
Dont worry if this doesnt make much sense to you yet. It will become clear as we
look at what each of these panels is for.

The Split Toning panel is more likely to be used for black and white work,
although it does have some applications for colour photography too. Another
panel you may skip sometimes.
The Detail panel is where you set sharpening and noise reduction. If you are
happy with Lightrooms default noise reduction and sharpening settings (which
work well most of the time) you wont even need to visit this panel.

22

Tip: Dont be afraid to move around between panels. If you adjust

brightness and contrast in the Basic panel, for example, then go and use a
Graduated filter to make the sky darker or the Effects panel to add a subtle
vignette, then dont be surprised if you need to return to the Basic panel to
tweak tonal values. Thats just the way it goes in Lightroom. Learn to enjoy
the freedom it gives you.

The Camera Calibration panel

The Camera Calibration panel is important because the settings you select here
form the basis of all the work you do in the Develop module. But you only need to
pay a fleeting visit as it takes just a few seconds to do what you need.

Process
Both Lightroom 4 and Lightroom 5 use the 2012 Process. The word Process
refers to the algorithms that Lightroom uses to process your images. The most
notable difference is the sliders in the Basic panel have changed. The Recovery, Fill
Light and Brightness sliders from Lightroom 3 have disappeared. The Highlights,
Shadows and White sliders have taken their place. The way the Tone sliders work
has also changed, although you may not notice until it is pointed out.
There are three Processes to choose from: 2003, 2010 and 2012. You should
select 2012 for virtually everything you do (it is the default for images imported
into Lightroom). The only time you will see an earlier process used is for images
originally processed in earlier versions of Lightroom. The older Process is kept
because updating may change some of the tonal values in your image. Theres little
point in updating to Process 2012 if you consider a photo finished as you may have
to readjust the exposure and contrast settings so that it looks like it originally did.
But theres no harm in trying if you are curious, as both Lightroom 4 and Lightroom
5 let you undo the change and revert back to the original Process.

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Tip: One of the main benefits of the 2012 Process is that it

offers better noise reduction than earlier Processes. If you have
older images suffering from noise, it is worth updating the
Process to see if it improves noise reduction performance.

Above: There are three Processes

to choose from. New files are
automatically assigned the 2012
Process.

24

Above: The lightning bolt icon

underneath the histogram
indicates that the photo is
developed with an old Process.
Hover over it to reveal which
Process is being used, and click to
update to the most recent one.

Above: Process Version 2012.

These are the sliders you will
be used to in Lightroom 4 and
5. Note that the Red, Green and
Blue tone curves found in the
Tone Curve panel are also only
available in Process Version 2012.

Above: Process Version 2010. This

is what you will see if you use
Lightroom 3 or select the 2010
Process version. The Tone sliders
(marked) are different.

Above: This image is straight out of the camera,

with no adjustments, Process 2012 and the Adobe
Standard Profile.

Above: Lightroom uses Profiles to determine how

to interpret the colours and tones within a Raw
file. The default profile is Adobe Standard. The
others depend which camera you used to take the
photo. The Profiles in my list (marked) mirror the
Picture Styles available on my camera. Selecting
a Profile is just a matter of selecting the one that
suits your image best.

25

Above: The same image, but with the Landscape

Profile. This Profile enhances the blue skies and
boosts contrast.

Note: Profiles are only applicable to Raw

files. For other photo types the Profile
simply says Embedded. Profiles, like Picture
Styles or Picture Controls, become part of
the image in a JPEG or TIFF file and cannot
be changed.

Colour calibration
The colour sliders underneath the Profile menu (marked right) are for fine-tuning
the colours within your image. Most photographers wont need to touch these.
Their main use is to help you create photos with accurate colour, and you can do
that with the White Balance slider in the Basic panel. The controls in the Camera
Calibration panel are of more interest to professional photographers whose clients
demand colour accuracy.
One way to use the Camera Calibration sliders is to take a photo of a colour test
card and display it on your monitor. Hold the real card next to it and use the sliders
to match the colours. This only works if you have a calibrated monitor, but once you
have profiled your camera you can create a Develop preset to apply those settings
to all Raw files imported from your camera. These sliders work with all photo file
types, not just Raw files.

DNG Profile Editor

If the sliders in the Calibration panel are not accurate enough for you, then another
option is to download Adobes DNG Profile Editor (its free, pictured on the right)
and use it to create your own profile. Its intended for advanced users only and you
need to convert your Raw files to DNG format to use it. But may come in useful
if you want to create profiles for two or more camera bodies (so that the images
coming out of them look the same), use infrared-modified cameras (and need to
go beyond the 2000 Kelvin lower limit of White Balance in Lightroom) or need to
create profiles to match a fixed light source (potentially useful for product shots).
You can download it here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5493

26

Monitor calibration
Colour management in Lightroom starts with a properly calibrated monitor. None
of the adjustments you make in the Camera Calibration panel really matter if you
are working with an uncalibrated monitor, as it is highly unlikely that it is displaying
colour accurately.
What happens if you dont calibrate your monitor? Well, most monitors, as
purchased from the shop, have a strong blue colour cast. Everything you look at on
the monitor is blue, although you probably wont realise this until it is pointed out
because your eyes are so good at adjusting to different colours. Every photo you
edit on an uncalibrated monitor is too warm because you are warming up the
image when you adjust colour to compensate for the screens blue cast. You may
also have trouble with contrast and brightness and youll never manage to get
a print that matches what you see on the screen. The bottom line is this you will
never get accurate colour from an uncalibrated monitor.
Monitor calibration isnt complicated. Its easy to do as long as you buy a
special monitor calibration tool called a colorimetric device (these are made by
manufacturers like Eye-One, ColorMunki, Pantone and Spyder). I use one made
by Spyder they start at around 60, and even the least expensive models are
accurate enough for most photographers.
Calibrating your monitor is as simple as connecting the device to your computer,
starting the software and following the on-screeen instructions. The software
that comes with it displays a series of colour patches on the monitor, which are
measured in turn by the device. The software measures the difference between
what the monitor displayed, and what it should have displayed, and creates a

27

colour profile that corrects any inaccurate colours.

When youre done, the program shows you a comparison of before and after the
calibration process. If youve never seen this before, youll be surprised by how
different they are. The program saves a profile to your computer that programs like
Lightroom can use to render colour accurately on your monitor.
After the initial calibration you need to repeat the process every month or so
(maybe even more often if accurate colour is of high importance to you). This is
because monitor colour slowly drifts so you need to recalibrate to ensure that the
colours on your screen havent changed.

The Lens Corrections panel

All camera lenses, regardless of the price or quality, have optical aberrations of one
kind or another. On some high quality lenses they are virtually imperceptible, and
is one of the reasons these lenses cost more. On others, particularly inexpensive
wide-angle zooms, they are quite noticeable. Wide-angle lenses are always more
prone to aberrations than normal and telephoto lenses.
One of the benefits of digital cameras is that you can use software like Lightroom
to eliminate most aberrations. It cant turn an inexpensive lens into a high quality
one. But it you can squeeze the best quality possible from the lenses you have.
These are the types of lens aberration that Lightroom can eliminate:
Vignetting: The edges of the frame are darker than the centre. Occurs at the
widest aperture settings of all lenses and gradually disappears as you stop down.
Chromatic aberration and colour blur: Coloured fringes along highlight edges.
Most common towards the edge of the frame on wide-angle lenses.
Barrel distortion: Straight lines appear bent outwards. A characteristic of wideangle lenses, and is more pronounced near the edge of the frame and with shorter
focal lengths.
Pincushion distortion: Straight lines appear bent inwards. This is a characteristic
of telephoto lenses and is rarely as noticeable as barrel distortion.

28

Converging verticals
Lightroom can also help you correct converging verticals. They occur because the
camera isnt straight when you take the photo. If it is tipped backwards or forwards,
or turned to the side, any verticals in the photo wont be parallel with the edges of
the frame. While its better to try and get the camera aligned correctly in the first
place, Lightroom can help out when thats not possible.
Lens Corrections can only be applied if you use a lens that appears in Lightrooms
database. Luckily the database is quite extensive. If you use your camera makers
software to process your photos, and find that it doesnt contain lens correction
information for one of your lenses, try it in Lightroom instead.
There is a up-to-date list of supported lenses here:
http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/multi/lens-profile-support-lightroom-4.
html#main_List_of_supported_lenses
By the way, Lightrooms Lens Corrections panel isnt limited to Raw files. It works
just as well with JPEG and TIFF files.

Above: This photo has two visible

types of optical aberration: barrel
distortion and chromatic aberration.

Barrel distortion (this line should

be straight).
Chromatic aberration. Clearest
around the branches and leaves in
the top left corner.

29

Above: Enabling lens corrections

in Lightroom has eliminated the
barrel distortion.

Left: Lightroom has also removed

most of the chromatic aberration.

Lens Corrections in detail

The Lens Corrections panel is divided into four tabs: Basic, Profile, Color and
Manual.

Basic
Come to this tab first to enable lens corrections and chromatic aberration removal:
Enable Profile Corrections
Tick this box to tell Lightroom to apply corrections to the image. Each lens in the
Lightroom database has a profile used to correct the effects of vignetting and
barrel or pincushion distortion.
Remove Chromatic Aberration
Tick here to tell Lightroom to automatically remove chromatic aberrations. There
are very few reasons not to tick either of these boxes. The only one I can think of is
if you use a fisheye lens. You probably wont want to correct barrel distortion and
lose the fisheye effect.
Constrain Crop
This box is for the Upright tool. Its here because Lightroom may distort your
image to correct the verticals when you use the Full button (see the illustrations
on the next few pages). Probably best to leave this unticked you can always tick it
after seeing the effect of the Full button if you need to.

30

These are the four tabs of the Lens

Corrections panel.
Tick these two boxes to enable
lens corrections.

This section is where you can

correct converging verticals.

The Upright Tool

The Upright Tool is located at the
bottom of the Basic tab. Its purpose
is to correct converging verticals
and straighten buildings that look
like theyre leaning over because the
camera was held at an angle when
the photo was taken.

Tip: In the Toolbar set Show

Grid to Always and use the
slider to adjust the size of
the grid squares. The grid
will help you see if the lines
in your photo are straight,
and judge the accuracy of
perspective corrections.

31

Above: This image, taken with an 18-55mm zoom lens set to 30mm, has
converging verticals. Look closely and you can see that the sides of the house
arent straight. Converging verticals are often used for creative effect (i.e get
down low with a wide angle lens and really make the building tip backwards).
But sometimes it is preferable for the building to be correctly aligned. The
Upright tool helps you do that.

32

Auto
The Auto button is the simplest approach. It tells Lightroom to do what it
thinks is best. It works quite well as you can see, although the sides of the
house are not absolutely straight. A side effect of the correction is that the
tip of the roof is cut off. When taking photos like this, include plenty of space
around the building in case you need to use the Upright tool. Take an extra
photo from a little further away just in case.

33

Level

Vertical

The Level button levels the subject, without trying to correct any converging
verticals. Lightroom rotates and crops the image so that the bottom of the
building (shown by the red line) runs parallel with the bottom edge of the
frame.

Applies a Level adjustment and corrects converging verticals as well. In this

case it has given a better result than the Auto button. There is less garden in
the frame, but the roof hasnt been cropped.

Full
The Full button levels the building, corrects converging verticals and applies
horizontal perspective correction. This means that horizontal lines are
adjusted so that they run parallel to the edge of frame as well as vertical ones.
This gives the most accurate overall correction. The only drawback is that
the correction is so great that part of the image becomes white space (the
original boundary of the photo is indicated by the black frame). You can crop
it manually or tick the Constrain Crop box the result of doing that is shown
on the right.

34

Above: The result with the Full button pressed and the Constrain Crop box
ticked. This gives the best overall perspective correction, but with the tightest
crop.

Note: You can make perspective correction adjustments like these

manually, or tweak the ones made automatically by Lightroom, under
the Manual tab.

Profile
Tick the Enable Profile Corrections
box and set Setup to Auto.
Lightroom will find the correct
profile for your lens if it is in the
database.

The Profile tab is where you select the lens

profile that Lightroom uses to correct distortion
and vignetting. The simplest approach is to
select Auto from the Setup menu. Lightroom
automatically selects the profile for your lens, if
it is in the database. If Lightroom doesnt make
a selection, then select the brand of your lens
from the Make menu (under the Lens Profile
heading). Lightroom then picks the closest
match it can find.

These fields show you the active

lens profile. You can change these
settings if you wish.

Lens profiles are dependent on both camera

body and lens type. If your lens is in the
database, but hasnt been profiled for your
specific body, Lightroom selects the closest
profile. If your lens isnt in the database, then
Lightroom also selects the closest profile.
For example, I have photos taken with a
discontinued Canon 18-55mm kit lens. The lens
profile doesnt exist in Lightroom, so Lightroom
automatically selects the profile of a more
recent 18-55mm lens. While this is not ideal, it is
still a lot better than nothing. It seems to work
quite well, at least for this specific lens.

35

The Vignetting slider controls the amount of Vignetting

correction applied by Lightroom. The default setting of 100 is
theoretically a perfect correction. You can adjust the amount,
although this is usually for aesthetic reasons rather than
inaccuracy on the part of Lightroom. Bear in mind that correcting
vignetting is really just making the edges and corners lighter. A
side effect may be increased noise. If thats the case reduce the
Vignetting setting to minimise or eliminate it.

This slider controls the amount

of distortion correction applied
to the image. The default is
100, which should be a perfect
correction. But you can change
the value if thats not the case.
Could be useful if Lightroom
doesnt have a profile for your
lens and is using the closest it can
find instead.

Color
The sliders under the Color tab are used to eliminate chromatic aberrations. Once
again the simple approach is to tick the Remove Chromatic Aberration box and
see if that removes all signs of colour fringing. This automatic feature of Lightroom
normally does an excellent job, although it may not eliminate purple/green colour
fringing, the hardest kind to deal with. But for that you can use the Defringe
sliders.
Chromatic aberrations are most likely in photos taken with wide-angle zoom
lenses. Colour fringing is always more pronounced near the edges of the frame,
and along the edges of highlights. If you want to minimise colour fringing, then
avoiding bright highlights or backlit subjects is a good start. Buying a better quality
lens, though not always practical, would help. So would switching to a longer focal
length if possible, as normal and telephoto lenses tend to suffer less from all types
of optical aberration. But luckily, Lightroom is on hand to help you out, and you
should be able eliminate virtually all colour fringing here, no matter how prone to
it your lens is. In short, Lightroom can make an inexpensive wide-angle zoom look
like a much better lens than it really is.
In the example on the next few pages Ive used a photo taken with an old 1855mm kit lens to show you how to use Lightroom to eliminate colour fringing.

36

Tick the Remove Chromatic

Aberration box to eliminate
colour fringing. This should
automatically remove any blue/
yellow or red/cyan colour fringes
(the term for these is transverse or
lateral chromatic aberration).

Use the Defringe sliders to

eliminate any remaining colour
fringing. The most likely fringes to
remain are purple/green (termed
axial or longitudinal chromatic
aberration).

Above: This close-up from the top-left corner of the image on the right shows
colour fringing caused by chromatic aberrations within the lens. There is
a cyan fringe along the edge of the roof, and a magenta fringe around the
edges of the leaves.

Note: It is becoming more common to see a chromatic aberration

reduction feature on digital cameras. Its a useful tool if you use the
JPEG format, but only works if you are using a lens contained in the
cameras database. When you use Raw, chromatic aberration reduction
is carried out by Lightroom, giving you far more precision. Future
versions of Lightroom may become even better at it.

37

Above: When you tick the Remove Chromatic Aberration box Lightroom
should remove any blue/yellow or red/cyan colour fringes automatically. If
you look closely at the above sample youll see that the cyan fringing along
the edge of the roof has gone but there is still some purple fringing around
the leaves. Removing purple/green fringing requires a little more work.

38

Above: Click on the Fringe Color

Selector Tool (the eyedropper
icon) and move it over the
coloured fringe. Lightroom
displays a box showing the pixels
under the eyedropper. Fill the box
with purple (or green) pixels and
click the mouse.

Above: The coloured pixels are

converted to a neutral grey, and
the Defringe sliders adjusted to
the settings required to eliminate
the fringing. If this doesnt
eliminate the fringing completely,
you can adjust the sliders
manually.

Manual
So far, the functions of the tabs in the Lens Corrections panel have been for the
most part automatic. The Manual tab gives you back control if you need it. Use
the sliders here to tweak the adjustments that Lightroom makes to correct lens
distortions, converging verticals or vignetting. You can even start from scratch and
do it all here in the Manual tab if you wish, or use it to make creative rather than
realistic changes.

These sliders let you correct

lens distortion or perspective
manually.
Above: This image has been processed in Lightroom, with the default Lens
Correction and Chromatic Aberration corrections applied.
The Lens vignetting sliders let
you apply your own vignette
to an image as well as correct
vignetting caused by using a lens
at wide apertures.

39

Above: I used the Rotate slider to

level up the house and the Scale
slider to enlarge it. This is similar
to cropping, except that the pixel
dimensions of the image remain
the same. The changes in scale are
achieved through interpolation
rather than cropping.

40

Above: Moving the Aspect slider

left makes the house seem
bigger than it really is. I hardly
think the owner of this property
needs to show off even more, but
Lightroom gives you the option.
Another use for the Aspect slider
is to correct any image distortion
caused by using the Upright tool.

Tip: Is there a delay while your photos render on your monitor? This is
something that may happen at any time, but especially so in the Lens
Corrections panel. To understand why this happens when viewing
or zooming into images, its helpful to be familiar with the way
Lightroom works. When it displays a photo, it does so by looking at
the original Raw file then using the information stored in the Catalog
(i.e. the edits you have made) to create a preview.
Lightroom displays photos most quickly when you convert your
Raw files to DNG upon import and include Fast Load Data, and
tell Lightroom to create 1:1 previews (this is covered in detail in
Understanding Lightroom Book one: The Library Module).
The 1:1 previews take up a lot of hard drive space so Lightroom
discards them after a certain amount of time has elapsed (the default
setting is 30 days).
Even if you have a 1:1 preview it may be for the unedited Raw file
rather than the edited version. A new 1:1 preview is required
without it you will see a delay while the photo is rendered.
Either way, the solution is simple. Go to Grid View and select the
photo or photos that require new 1:1 previews. Then go to Library >
Previews > Build 1:1 Previews. Lightroom generates new previews and
displays the images much more quickly.

41

The Basic Panel

The Basic panel is where you set white balance, adjust exposure and make global
tonal adjustments. Each of these is important because it lays the groundwork for
the rest of the work you will do in Lightroom. Thats why the Basic panel is third on
my workflow list, after the Camera Calibration and Lens Corrections panels.
Looking at the work of other photographers reveals two distinct approaches to
post-processing:
Approach 1: The photographer who uses Lightroom to make the type of
adjustments that you could in a chemical darkroom (or might wish to if it were
possible). These include settings such as white balance, exposure and contrast
plus local adjustments such as making parts of the image lighter or darker (called
dodging and burning after the darkroom techniques of the same name).
Approach 2: Using Lightroom to process images in ways that are not possible
or extremely difficult in a chemical darkroom. These include sharpening, adding
clarity, anything requiring complex masks, applying a vintage look and portrait
retouching. The photographer may use these with a light touch or a heavy one.
Personal taste comes into play what may appeal to one photographer may seem
over-processed to another. Some of these techniques require external plug-ins or
the use of Photoshop to complete.
Regardless of which style your photography tends towards, the work you do in the
Basic panel lays a foundation for everything that comes afterwards.

42

Do you want to work in colour or

black and white? This ebook deals
entirely with processing colour
images, so make sure that you
have selected Color.
White balance: This is where you
adjust the colour temperature of
the image.
Tone: These sliders adjust overall
brightness and to determine the
tonal values of highlights and
shadows.
Presence: These sliders are for
adjusting mid-tone contrast and
colour saturation.

Note: Some of the sliders in the Basic Panel are different to those
in earlier versions of Lightroom. Thats because the Process version
(Adobes term for the part of Lightroom that converts Raw files into
photos) has changed. If the Basic panel seems odd to you because of
this, you can relax. The 2012 Process is much better than previous ones.
Its easier to process Raw files in Lightroom now that it ever has been.

Basic Panel: White balance

People often talk about using the white balance sliders to create an image with a
neutral colour balance. But take a few seconds to think about the reason you would
want to do that. What is the ultimate aim of your photo? Do you want to create
a colour photo with emotional impact? I would guess that most photographers
do, as this is part of creative expression. If thats your intention, then you need to
consider how you want to use colours in the image.

The WB menu lets you select a preset white balance

setting to use as a starting point. Alternatively, you can
click Auto and let Lightroom calculate what it thinks are
the correct settings to produce a neutral colour balance.

There are three basic options when it comes to white balance:

You create an image with a blue colour cast. Blue suggests cold; good
examples are landscapes shot at twilight (during the blue hour) or in winter.
Create an image with a neutral colour cast. This is your aim if your intention
is to faithfully reproduce the colour of your subject. For example, wildlife
photographers may require accurate colours when photographing animals. It
may also be important to commercial photographers (or more accurately their
clients). If you are photographing a brand new red sofa for a furniture store, no
doubt they will require that the colour is accurately reproduced in any photos.
The same is probably true of the type of editorial photography you see in
home and interior design magazines. In all these situations accurate colour is
important to somebody, and you can use Lightroom to obtain it.
Create an image with a warm colour cast. Lots of subjects look attractive with
a warm cast good examples are portraits and landscapes.

43

Use the Temp and Tint sliders to

adjust white balance by eye.

What is colour temperature?

The colour of light changes according to the weather conditions and time of day:
On a cloudy day, or at dusk after the sun has set, light is blue.
At sunrise or sunset it is orange. Tungsten light bulbs and candles also emit
orange light.

The slider there to help you eliminate colour casts caused by non-incandescent
light sources. It is also useful for removing casts caused naturally, such as light
reflecting onto someones face from green grass, or a green wall, or light that is
passing through green leaves in a forest. Green casts can look fairly unpleasant,
especially on people, so Lightroom gives you a tool to remove them.

Light has a neutral colour in the middle hours of a sunny day.

All these examples have one thing in common the light comes from an
incandescent light source; that is, ones that burn. The colour temperature of light
from incandescent sources fits neatly on a colour scale that is blue at one end and
orange at the other. You have one of these in Lightroom its the Temp slider in
the white balance section of the Basic panel.
Artificial lights, such as fluorescent bulbs, create their own colour casts. The
conventional wisdom was that fluorescent bulbs emit green light. Thats no longer
always true, now that they are commonly used in peoples homes manufacturers
make ones that emit orange light.
All you really need to know is that many artificial light sources are not incandescent
and emit light on a scale that is green at one end and magenta at the other. The
colour from these light sources may fall anywhere on that scale, or even outside it.
The green / magenta scale is reproduced in lightroom in the form of the Tint slider
in the Basic panel.

44

One way to see the colour of the light falling on your subject is to go to
the WB menu and select the Daylight setting.
For example, if your subject is lit by light from the setting sun, it will
have a warm colour cast. If it is lit by sunlight on a cloudy day, it will
have a blue colour cast.
Now assess your subject. Is the light too cold, too warm, or just right?
Try moving the Temp slider to the left or right to see what happens.
Does the subject have an unwanted green or magenta cast? Use the
Tint slider as well. You can also select the Auto setting to see what
Lightroom thinks.
For those of you who remember (or perhaps even still use) slide film,
setting white balance to Daylight replicates using daylight balanced
slide film. Perhaps thats why this method works so well for me, as it
connects with the way that I learnt about colour temperature.

Any light emitted by a incandescent light source has a

temperature that falls within the following range on the Kelvin
scale. Kelvin (K) is temperature unit used to measure colour
temperature:

1000K

2000K

candlelight
(1000K-2000K)

3000K

4000K

household
tungsten bulb
(2500K-3500K)
sunrise or sunset
on a clear day
(3000K-4000K)

5000K

6000K

7000K

electronic
studio flash
(5000K-5500K)

9000K

10000K

cloudy sky
(6500K-8000K)

daylight on a
sunny day
(5000K-6500K)

colour temperature of incandescent light sources

45

8000K

shade or very
cloudy sky
(9000K-10000K)

Applying white balance

Heres an example of using white
balance in action. I processed this
portrait in Lightroom and set the
white balance to Auto (which gave
a better result than the Daylight
setting). This is a starting point. From
here you can move the Temp slider
right to warm the image up, or left
to cool it down, and decide which
interpretation you prefer.

46

Right: Moving the Temp slider

right warms up the photo. Note
how the rocks in the background
are much warmer. It is probably a
matter of personal opinion which
you prefer I lean towards the
previous image.

Far right: Moving the Temp slider

left to cool down the photo
doesnt have a pleasing effect
in this case. Neutral or warm
coloured light suits people best
most of the time.

47

The clay pot in this photo was lit

by an overhead tungsten light. I
set the white balance to Daylight
(left). To my eye it works to
retain the natural warmth of the
tungsten light.
The version on the right shows
how the image looks with the
Tungsten white balance setting.
Lightroom cooled the image
down to counter the warming
effect of the tungsten light. This
photo has a more neutral, and a
more accurate colour cast but is
not as aesthetically pleasing.

48

Difficult white balance

Sometimes it isnt easy to assess the colour of the light falling on the subject and
from there the adjustments you need to make to arrive at a neutral colour cast
(assuming thats what you want in the first place). The difficulties arise when the
subject is lit by light bouncing off a coloured surface. Stand someone next to a
purple wall, for example, and it is quite likely that they will be at least partly lit by
purple coloured light.
The portrait on these pages is interesting for that reason. It has picked up a warm
colour cast from somewhere, presumably from the daylight being reflected off the
red terracotta bricks surrounding the subject. Thats okay a warm colour cast suits
most portraits. But it makes for an interesting exercise in achieving neutral colour
balance.

Above: White balance set to Daylight.

Theoretically the colour in the photo
should be slightly blue as this was
taken in the shade on a partially
cloudy day. Instead, the opposite has
happened. The colour of the light is
orange, almost red. It looks like it has
picked up the terracotta colour of the brickwork.

49

Above: If youre unsure which

white balance setting to use it
is useful to try the Auto setting.
Sometimes it works, and
sometimes it doesnt. Here, there
is so much red in the image that
Lightroom over-compensated and
turned the photo blue.

50

Above: Another way to arrive at a neutral colour cast is to use the white
balance selector (the eyedropper icon). Move the cursor over a grey, white or
black tone in the photo. Lightroom displays a grid showing a 5x5 view of the
25 pixels directly underneath the cursor. When the grid is full of grey (or white
or black) squares, click and Lightroom calculates the white balance required
to render those pixels neutral (if you click on an area that is too light, you will
get an error message).

Above: I obtained this result by clicking on the blue stripe in the models
jumper. Look closely and you will see that it is now grey instead of blue. How
do you make blue grey? Add plenty of yellow hence the strong yellow colour
cast in the rest of the image.
This is a technique you often see mentioned in photography magazines as a
processing technique. Funnily enough, they never explain why you should

51

do this. I suppose you could use it if you were trying to replicate the crossprocessed effect that you get if you process slide film through C-41 chemistry.
Or you could use it as a starting point and see what happens. I played around
with the image, reducing the saturation and adding a vignette. The result is
quite interesting, you can see it above. Its a little like a hand-tinted black and
white portrait.

Using grey cards

Above: An easy way to obtain accurate white balance is to take a test photo
containing an 18% grey card. Activate the white balance selector, then click
on the grey card. Lightroom calculates the settings required for a neutral
colour cast.

52

Basic Panel: Tonal controls

They may only take up a small section of the right hand panels, but the Tone sliders
are an essential part of the processing process. You can change the look of your
images dramatically using these six sliders alone.

Curious to see how Lightroom would interpret your

image? Press the Auto button to find out. Use the settings
as a starting point or press Cmd + Z (PC: Ctrl + Z) to undo.

They are designed to be adjusted in the order that they appear, starting with
Exposure and Contrast then progressing through the Highlights, Shadows,
Whites and Blacks sliders. But like most thing in Lightroom thats not compulsory.
There may be times when you prefer to set the white and black points early, and
that task is carried out with the Whites and Blacks sliders. This approach may
appeal to photographers accustomed to working in Lightroom, where setting
white and black points is an essential part of the workflow. In Lightroom, it doesnt
seem to be so important, and you might not have to touch the last two sliders at
all. There is more than one approach, but as long as you understand what each
slider does then you can use them as you wish.

Use these six sliders to adjust the

tones within the image manually.
Start with the Exposure and
Contrast Sliders, then move onto
the Highlights and Shadows
sliders, before finishing with the
Whites and Blacks sliders.

53

Move the sliders left to make the

relevant tones darker or right
to make them lighter. The only
exception is the Contrast slider
move it right to increase contrast
or left to decrease it. Double-click
on the name of the slider to reset
it back to zero.

The Exposure slider

At first glance the Exposure slider seems simple. You move it to the right to make
your images brighter, or to the left to make them darker. Its a little like using
exposure compensation on your camera.
Heres an experiment for you to try. Select a well-exposed Raw file and open it in
the Develop module. Move the Exposure slider to the right and look carefully at
what happens. Do you notice anything unusual? The clue is in the histogram. As
you move the slider the histogram bunches up towards the right, without going
over the edge of the graph. It will go over if you push the slider far enough, but it
tries not to.

This tells us something about how the Exposure slider works. It doesnt just make
your images brighter, but is also designed to preserve highlight detail where it can.
If you have just upgraded from Lightroom 3 or earlier, you will know that in those
versions this was the function of the Brightness slider. That slider doesnt exist in
versions 4 and 5. Instead, that functionality is assigned to the Exposure slider.
The Exposure slider is a little more complex than it initially appears. Lets take a look
at whats going on behind the scenes.

The 2012 process

In the 2012 process, Lightroom does two new things when you open a Raw file:
1. Lightroom recovers highlights automatically.
To understand highlight recovery, lets take a look at how your cameras histogram
and highlight alert work. Both are generated from a JPEG file that the camera
creates to use as a preview, even if you are using Raw. The JPEG is processed by
your camera according to the white balance and contrast settings set in the menu.

Above: The histogram of a photo

with the Exposure slider at zero.

54

Above: The photo, with Exposure

set to +1.5. All highlight detail is
preserved.

The extra bit depth of Raw files means that they contain more detail in highlight
areas than JPEG files. Most Raw files contain detail in areas that the highlight alert
indicates are clipped. Lightroom automatically recovers those highlights when you
open the Raw file you dont have to do anything, it does it for you. This is different
from how Lightroom 3 (and earlier) work, and explains why there is no Recovery
slider in Lightroom 4 and 5.

If Lightroom indicates that an image contains clipped highlights (use the J

keyboard shortcut, clipped highlights are shown in red) you may be able to use
the Highlights slider to recover a little more detail. But more than likely there is no
detail to recover.
2. Lightroom sets the black point automatically. If there are lots of deep
shadows, Lightroom sets the black point to show detail in the darkest tones (as
long as it is in the Raw file in the first place.)
If you have upgraded to Lightroom 4 or 5 from an earlier version, then the 2012
process will be new to you. In older versions, you set the black point yourself (or
accepted Lightrooms default setting) and used the Recovery slider to recover lost
highlight detail. No more!

Image adaptive processing

Another feature of the 2012 process is image adaptive processing. Lightroom
analyses the content of the image and makes tonal adjustments accordingly.
Increasing exposure by a given amount in one image may produce a different
effect than in another. Every Raw file is different. This applies to all six tone
adjustment sliders.
As we saw earlier, the Exposure slider increases brightness predominantly in midtones, while maintaining the white and black points (covered shortly). Push it far
enough to the right and you may clip some highlight detail. But Lightroom tries to
preserve highlight detail when it can. You will see that as you push the Exposure
slider to the right, that the highlights stop getting brighter but the mid-tones still
get brighter. Thats image adaptive processing in action.

55

You will get the best results in Lightroom from a correctly exposed Raw
file. There are three basic principles to keep in mind:
1. Use the Raw format, as the extra bit depth means the file has more
information that Lightroom can work with.
2. If you underexpose the image in-camera, then make it brighter using
the Exposure slider in Lightroom, you create more noise in dark tones.
You may also lose shadow detail. Both effects become more noticeable
at higher ISOs. Yes, its possible to reduce noise in Lightroom, but youll
obtain a better result by getting the exposure right in the first place.
3. If you overexpose the image in-camera, you lose detail in the
brightest areas. Once it has gone, you cant get it back.
Get the exposure right in-camera and using the tone adjustment
sliders becomes very easy. But get it wrong, youll have to work a lot
harder. You will find it difficult to obtain the same quality as you would
get from a well exposed Raw file.

Above: A demonstration of automatic highlight recovery. This screen shot

is from Canons Digital Photo Professional (DPP). I opened the image in
DPP and left the settings at their default. Here it is zoomed into 100%, so
you can see just part of the image. The sun shining on the water created
bright, overexposed highlights that are difficult for any camera to capture
successfully.

56

Above: The same Raw file in Lightroom 5s default settings. Lightroom has
recovered far more detail from the highlights.

The Contrast slider

The function of the Contrast slider is also simple. Move it right to increase contrast,
or left to decrease it. Most adjustments are made to the mid-tones, and the black
and white points remain unchanged.
When you increase contrast, dark tones become darker and light tones become
lighter simultaneously. The difference in brightness between light and dark tones
increases. With the 2012 Process (but not with earlier processes) the mid-point may
also move (see diagrams).
When you decrease contrast, dark tones become lighter, and light tones become
darker. The difference in brightness between light and dark tones decreases.
Readers who are new to Lightroom but proficient in Photoshop may be
accustomed to using curves to adjust contrast. The diagrams on the right show the
relationship between the Contrast slider and the Tone curve.

Increasing contrast
is like applying an
S-curve to the images
curve.

The image-adaptive
behaviour of the
2012 Process means
Lightroom may move
the midpoint of the
curve.

Decreasing contrast
is like applying a
reverse S-curve. Again,
Lightroom may move
the midpoint.

Another way of changing contrast is to go straight to the Tone Curve

panel (covered in the next section) and adjust the curve there. Feel free
to set contrast in the Basic panel, the Tone curve panel, or a mixture of
the two (the effects are cumulative). Its up to you.

57

The Highlights and Shadows sliders

The Contrast slider adjusts light tones and dark tones simultaneously. The
Highlights and Shadows sliders adjust them separately. Use them to alter the
brightness of light tones without affecting the dark tones, and vice versa.
There may be
some overlap
towards the
middle of the Tone
curve.

Its probably easiest to demonstrate the use of these sliders by going back to the
tone curve:
The Highlights slider affects tones to the right of the mid-point.
The Shadows slider affects tones to the left of the mid-point.
Image adaptive processing comes into play again. Both sliders have a greater effect
on high contrast images than flat ones.
The Highlights slider is useful for making bright highlights in a high contrast
image darker. Conversely, you can also use it to make the highlights in a flat image
brighter.
The Shadows slider is useful for making dark areas lighter. But you can also use it
to make them darker. It comes back to intent see the mini case study at the end
of this section for an example.
Neither the Highlights or Shadow sliders affect the white or black points. Thats the
job of the Whites and Blacks sliders.

58

The Shadows sliders primarily

affects tones to the left of the
mid-point (the darkest tones in
the photo).

The Highlights sliders primarily

affects tones to the right of the
mid-point (the lightest tones in
the photo).

The Whites and Blacks sliders

59

Unlike the Exposure, Contrast, Highlights and Shadows sliders, the Whites and
Blacks sliders alter the white and black points. As Lightroom sets the black point
automatically, and also recovers highlights automatically, there may be little reason
to use these sliders. But they are there if you need them perhaps to help add
contrast to an extremely flat image, or to increase the amount of pure black or pure
white in an image for aesthetic reasons.

Improving flat images

Above: The Blacks slider sets the

black point of the photo. Its the
equivalent of moving the black
point inwards using Levels or
Curves in Photoshop.

Above: You can tell this histogram

belongs to a flat image because
there is large gap on between the
histogram and the right side of
the graph.

Above: The Whites slider sets the

white point of the photo. Its the
equivalent of moving the white
point inwards using Levels or
Curves in Photoshop.

If you take a photo on a cloudy day or in the shade without including any bright
highlights such as the sky then you will probably end up with a flat image. Theres
nothing wrong with that as you can easily extend the brightness range of the
image in Lightroom.

Above: This is how the histogram

looks after using the Whites
slider to alter the white point. The
histogram now covers the entire
range of the graph.

Above: This is the image that corresponds to the

first histogram on the previous page (also shown
below). The photo contains dark tones and mid
tones, but no light tones.

Above: Hold the Alt key down and click on the

Whites slider. The image turns black. Move the
Whites slider right until you start to see coloured
dots. These may be blue, white, yellow or green
and represent clipped highlights. Let go of the
slider when youve found the point with minimal
coloured dots (circled).
You can repeat the process with the Blacks slider if
theres a gap on the left side of the graph.

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Above: This version goes with the second

histogram on the previous page (also shown
below). It is now much brighter, but without losing
any highlight detail.

A closer look at the Histogram

The histogram is directly related to the tonal adjustment sliders. Whenever you
move one of the sliders, the histogram changes:

The white triangle icon indicates

clipped shadows.

Indicates that you are editing

the Original Photo, rather than a
Smart Preview (Lightroom 5 only).

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The grey triangle icon indicates

there is no highlight clipping.

Key camera settings (focal length

and exposure values).

Above: The histogram on the left

belongs to the above photo. Using
the keyboard shortcut J (Show
Clipping) confirms that the shadows
are clipped; dark tones with no detail
are shown in blue (right). Some
clipping in the shadows is normal.
Clipped highlights are shown in red.
There are none in this photo.

The Black sliders affects the tones on

the leftmost side of the histogram.

The Shadows slider affects the dark

tones in the next zone.

The Exposure slider predominantly

affects mid-tones, the largest zone
within the histogram.

The Highlights slider affects the light

tones in the fourth zone.

The histogram is divided up into five zones that correspond roughly to the
Exposure, Highlights, Shadows, Whites and Blacks sliders. When you move the
mouse over the histogram Lightroom tells you which slider affects that specific
part of the histogram (the zone is highlighted in light grey). The same thing
happens when you move the mouse over the sliders.
You can use the tone adjustment sliders to alter the tonal values of your images,
from the shadows right through to the highlights. The examples on the next few
pages show you how it works.
The Whites slider affects the lightest
tones.

62

Left: This histogram belongs to

the above photo. The way it leans
to the left, leaving a gap on the
right hand side, indicates that the
photo is underexposed.

63

Adjustment: Exposure +0.55

The exposure adjustment
brightened the photo. The
histogram shifted to the right and
the gap has disappeared.

Adjustment: Highlights +100

The lightest tones are brighter,
and the darkest tones unchanged.
The histogram is longer, with
more tones on the right. The blue
triangle (circled left) shows that
there are clipped highlights in the
blue channel.

64

Adjustment: Shadows -100

The darkest tones are darker, and
the lightest tones unchanged.
The histogram is shorter, with
more tones on the left. If you look
closely you will see that the mans
shirt is much darker compared to
the photo on the left.

Above: Another way of seeing if there is any highlight clipping is to hold

down the Alt key when you move the Whites slider (this also works with the
Highlights slider). Push the Whites slider to +100 and you will see something
like this. Any clipped tones are shown in red, blue or white against a black
background.

65

Above: The opposite happens when you hold the Alt key down while moving
the Blacks or Shadows sliders. Clipped tones are shown in red, blue or black
against a white background.

The Presence sliders

At the bottom of the Basic panel youll find the three Presence sliders Clarity,
Vibrance and Saturation. The best way to demonstrate how they work is with
examples, so lets get started.

The Clarity slider

The purpose of the Clarity slider is to boost mid-tone contrast. The effectiveness
of increasing Clarity depends on the content of the photo as well as your ultimate
intent. A light touch is required in portraits, unless you want to emphasise wrinkles
and blemishes. But with subjects like architecture or the landscape, increasing
Clarity may add some much needed punch.
As we work our way through the examples, bear in mind that in this section we are
working with global adjustments ones that affect the entire image. But theres no
harm in thinking about how you can use these tools locally. You will learn how later
on the ebook when we look at the Graduated filter, Radial filter and Adjustment
brush tools.

66

This photo of a statue is

flat and lacks contrast. We
can fix that by adjusting
the white and black points,
then adding Clarity.

The histogram for the original photo of the statue (above left) shows the
tones occupying the centre of the graph. Its an easy fix, using the techniques
explored in the last section. Hold down the Alt key and move the Whites slider
right until the first white patches, indicating clipping, appear. Then move the
slider back a little until they disappear. Repeat with the Blacks slider, this time
moving it left.
The histogram has changed (above
right) the tones have been
stretched out to fill the graph. Its
still a little flat, but you can add
some punch using the Contrast and
Clarity sliders.

67

Contrast + 50

Above: The Contrast slider works well, but a side

effect is that it increases colour saturation. If the
colours are too intense, you can knock them back
with the Vibrance or Saturation sliders.

68

Clarity + 50

Above: The Clarity slider increases contrast in the

mid-tones. Texture is more pronounced, and the
colours dont increase so much in intensity.

Contrast + 50, Clarity + 50

Above: Naturally, you can enjoy the best of both

worlds and increase both Contrast and Clarity
together.

Contrast +50
Clarity + 50
Contrast + 50, Clarity + 50
Ive zoomed into the same three images so you can see the difference
in colour and texture. The Clarity slider increases texture and apparent
sharpness without increasing Colour Saturation.

69

Right: This is what happens when you push the

Contrast and Clarity sliders as far as they will go.
The difference between the two is even clearer.

Note: In this example, I was able to push the

Clarity slider all the way to +100 without
ruining the photo. It works with this image
because the original lacks contrast and
the texture of the stonework takes kindly
to increasing Clarity. Dont feel that you
should push the Clarity slider to the right
a subtle touch is often best. Every photo is
potentially different and you have to decide
for yourself.

Contrast +100

70

Clarity + 100

Clarity 0

Clarity and portraits

Clarity requires care with portraits. The result depends very much on the quality of
the skin of your sitter. The better the skin he or she has, the more you can increase
Clarity without making the skin look bad. Remember to think about your intent if
you want to create a portrait with impact, consider increasing Clarity. As you will
see later you can also increase Clarity locally, for instance in the eyes, lips or hair.
If youd like to create a softer portrait, consider going the other way and decreasing
Clarity. There are some more examples on the next page.
Later we will look at the Soften Skin preset, which uses a combination of low
Clarity and increased Sharpness to smoothen skin tones. It works beautifully as a
local adjustment.

Clarity +50

71

Clarity -50
Clarity 0
Clarity + 50
Three Clarity settings. Note the difference in skin texture. Subtle Clarity
adjustments (around +10 or so) are usually best for female portraits, both
+50 and -50 are a little extreme for this type of subject.

72

Clarity 0
Clarity +34

Clarity also comes in useful for portraits of men. While it is conventional

to smooth the skin of women in photos, there is no such expectation with
men and you can often use a higher setting. Compare the above examples
increasing Clarity to +34 has taken away the softness and added impact.

73

The Saturation and Vibrance sliders

The Saturation and Vibrance sliders give you control over the intensity of colours in
your photos.

you move it left strong colours are desaturated before weak ones. And at -100
there is still some colour in the image. The effect is a little like an old-fashioned
hand-tinted black and white print and is not displeasing:

Most readers will be familiar with the function of the Saturation slider. You can
move it right to increase the saturation of all the colours within your image, or you
can move it left to decrease the saturation. Move it all the way to -100 and youll
end up with no colour at all and a black and white image.
Generally, its a good idea to move the Saturation slider left rather than right.
Increasing colour saturation is rarely worthwhile and usually detrimental because
it doesnt look natural.
On the other hand, its surprising how often reducing the colour saturation,
even just a touch, can improve an image. Sometimes colour just demands too
much attention, and reducing the saturation means that other elements of the
composition (such as line, texture and the use of light) become more prominent.
You could also decrease saturation to create a faded or vintage feel to the image.
The Saturation slider, useful as it can be, is bit of a blunt instrument. Pushing it to
the right increases the saturation of all the colours in the image, even those that are
quite intense to start with. Decreasing saturation works the same way, all colours
are evenly desaturated.
Enter the Vibrance slider. When you move it right, it increases intensity in weak
colours before strong ones. Its image adaptive processing in action again, and the
effect is much more subtle than increasing saturation. The opposite happens when

74

Vibrance -100

Saturation -50

Saturation +50

Saturation 0, Vibrance 0

Vibrance -50

75

Vibrance +50

Stylising an image using

the Clarity and Vibrance
sliders
You can use Clarity and Vibrance
in conjunction to create a stylised
effect. The idea is to emphasise
texture, lift contrast and reduce
colour saturation. It seems to work
particularly well with architectural
photos like the ones on this page.
The first image (above right) has
been processed with minimal
modifications. I boosted contrast
(the original was quite flat) and
warmed up the colour temperature
so the buildings look as if they were
lit by the setting sun.
I created the second version (below
right) by setting Clarity to +77 and
Vibrance to -66 respectively.

76

The Tone Curve panel

The Tone Curve panel is bit of an oddity in the Develop module. Its possible to
bypass it altogether if you use the tone adjustment sliders in the Basic panel to
set brightness and contrast levels. I suspect the photographers who will find the
Tone Curve panel most useful are those who are accustomed to using curves in
Photoshop for tonal adjustments.

Click on the Curve to add control

points. Use them to create a
custom curve.

Select which Tone Curve you want

to adjust here. Choose from RGB,
Red, Blue or Green.

The Tone Curve panel gives you control over four curves. Theres the RGB curve,
which affects brightness and contrast and may also increase colour saturation.
Then there are the three colour curves: red, green and blue. You can adjust these
individually to fine-tune the colour balance or to create a cross-processed or
vintage look.
With all that in mind, I will show you a couple of quick ways to use the Tone Curve
panel, then give some more detailed information for those of you interested in
diving in deeper.

Note: Generally, it is better to make initial tonal adjustments in the

Basic panel, then switch to the Tone curve for fine tuning. After making
adjustments in the Tone curve there is nothing to stop you going back
to the Basic panel and tweaking the sliders again you can switch
between the two panels as much as you like.

77

Use this menu to select a curve

preset. The choices are Linear
(no change), Medium Contrast or
Strong Contrast.

Click this icon to reveal four

sliders that you can use to
adjust the Tone Curve instead of
manually creating control points.

Point curve presets

After you have made your
adjustments in the Basic panel,
open the Tone curve panel. You
will see that the curve is set to
Linear. It is in a neutral position,
a straight line running from the
bottom left to the top right.
The Tone curve starts off in
this position no matter what
adjustments you have made to the
tonal values in the Basic panel.
Any adjustments you make with
the Tone curve are added to those
made in the Basic panel.
There are three Point curve presets:
Linear, Medium Contrast and
Strong Contrast. Selecting Medium
or Strong Contrast increases
contrast without clipping the
shadows or highlights. There is no
harm in trying these to see if they
improve your image.

78

Adjusting the Point Curve

The RGB point curve has two primary functions. The first is to adjust brightness. The
second is to increase (or decrease) contrast. In both cases this primarily affects midtones. The brightest highlights and darkest shadows are unaffected as long as you
dont move the point curve too far.

Left: Click on the centre of the

Point Curve (its called a curve
even though it starts off as a
straight line) and move it upwards
to make the image brighter. The
more you move the curve, the
brighter the image becomes, but
without clipping any highlights.
The white and black points,
indicated by the ends of the
curve, remain unmoved.

79

Left: If you move the Point

Curve too far upwards youll get
something like this. The straight
line at the top of the graph
indicates that you have clipped
the highlights.

Left: Move the Point Curve in the

opposite direction to make the
image darker.
Note that these movements
imitate the use of the Exposure
slider, which is still the easiest
way to make your image brighter
or darker.

Edit Point Curve icon

If you click on the Point Curve icon (marked below) Lightroom reveals four sliders:
Highlights, Lights, Darks and Shadows. Move the mouse over each slider to see
which part of the Tone Curve it corresponds to:

80

Adjusting the Point Curve

You can use the four sliders mentioned on the previous page to adjust the Point
Curve. They work the same way as the sliders in the Basic panel. Move a slider to
the right to make the corresponding tones lighter, and to the left to make them
darker.

Left: If you move the Lights slider

to the right, the top half of the
Point Curve lifts upwards.

Left: If you move the Darks slider

to the left, the bottom half of the
Point Curve moves downwards.
What does that leave you with?
An S curve which is just a way
of adjusting the Point Curve to
make light tones brighter and
dark tones darker. In other words,
increase contrast. Moving the
Contrast slider in the Basic panel
to the right does the same thing.

81

82

Highlights

Darks

Left: You can control the tones

that the Highlights, Lights, Darks
and Shadows sliders change by
moving the pointers under the
histogram.

Lights

You wont need to do this often

most of the time you will either
leave the image as it is or increase
contrast.

Shadows

Left: If you move the Lights slider

left and the Darks slider right you
end up with a reverse S curve. You
have just made dark tones lighter,
and light tones darker, reducing
the contrast.

A white line appears when you

move the cursor over a pointer
(all three shown in the diagram).
They divide the Point Curve
and histogram into four zones
corresponding to the sliders.
Move the pointers to expand
or compress the range of tonal
values controlled by each slider.

The Targeted Adjustment

Tool (TAT)
The final way you have of adjusting
the Point Curve is by using the
Targeted Adjustment Tool. The
purpose of the Targeted Adjustment
Tool is to give you an easy way to
select specific tones in the image
and adjust their brightness level.
Simply move the mouse pointer
over the tones you want to adjust,
and then move the mouse up to
make them lighter or down to make
them darker.

Above: Click on the Targeted

Adjustment Tool icon (circled).

83

Above: The crosshair indicates

the targeted area (the other icon
indicates you are using the TAT). A
dot appears on the Point Curve to
indicate the selected tone.

Above: Push the mouse up to

make the tones underlaying
the pointer lighter, or pull it
down to make them darker. The
appropriate sliders move as well.

The colour Curves

If you are a Photoshop user you may be accustomed to using the colour Tone
Curves to adjust colour balance. Thats not necessary in Lightroom it gives you
enough tools with the white balance sliders in the Basic panel and the colour
sliders in the HSL / Color / B&W panel. You really dont need to go messing with
the colour curves, at least when it comes to colour balance, for any reason other
than curiosity.
But the colour curves do come in useful for creating a vintage look or for imitating
the look of cross-processed film. But first, lets think about intent for a second. Why
would you want to create a cross-processed or vintage look? One reason could
be that you saw the effect somewhere else and think it looks cool. Is that a good
reason for using that effect? Maybe. Perhaps a better question is does using that
effect help you create a better image? Does it add atmosphere and increase the
emotional value of the photo? Does it help you create mood? Its important that
the answer to one of these questions is yes. Im a little sceptical about using effects
just for the sake of it. Sometimes its more about showing how clever you are than
anything else. By the way, you are welcome to disagree in fact, I encourage it. The
purpose of writing about these themes is to get you thinking about the reasons
behind what you do. I dont expect every reader to agree with me.
There are several ways of adjusting colour in Lightroom. You can do similar things
with the HSL / Color / B&W panel (see next section) or the Split Toning panel. The
choice is yours.

84

What is cross-processing?
There are two types of colour film: colour negative and colour
transparency (also known as slide film). They are processed differently.
Most colour transparency film is processed using the E-6 chemical
process. Colour negative films are developed using the C-41 process.
Cross-processing is when you deliberately process colour film in the
wrong chemistry. The most common way is to process transparency
film in C-41 chemistry. You finish with colour negatives that you can
print (or scan). The result (depending on the type of transparency film
used) is a high-contrast negative with odd colours.
Nowadays, the chemical processes are no longer required and you can
play around with applying cross-processing effects to your images in
Lightroom. Dont worry about how authentic the technique is youre
not going to be able to replicate the cross-processed look exactly. The
important question is does it look good? If it suits your purpose, then
use it.
There is an example of a cross-processed effect on the next page.

Before

Above: Start by selecting the Blue

curve. Moving the black point
(circled) up. This reduces contrast
and adds blue to the shadows.

Above: Go to the Red curve and

create an S curve. This increases
contrast in the red channel and
adds a magenta colour cast. The
steeper the S curve, the stronger
the effect.

Left: Go to the Green curve

and apply another S curve. This
increases contrast in the green
channel and adds a green colour
cast. Keep the S curve the same
or a little less steep than the Red
curve. This neutralises the red
cast applied by the red channel S
curve while increasing contrast.

85

After

Saving curves
Whenever you create a custom curve Lightroom provides the option for you to
save it, so you can use it with other photos:

Above: Click on the Point Curve

menu icon (circled) and select
Save from the menu (below). Type
in an appropriate name when you
save it.

86

What is a vintage look?

Before you create a vintage look, you have to decide what
characteristics you think that look should have. Vintage means
different things to different people, but heres my version. Vintage is
nostalgic, and evokes the look of photos taken in previous decades
that have faded with time. A photo processed with a vintage look
should look as if it could have been taken using film. It may have a
warm colour cast.

Above: Now, when you click on

the Point Curve menu, you will
see the names of any curves you
have created and saved at the
bottom (marked). The name of the
selected curve is displayed in the
Tone Curve panel (below).

What is your definition of vintage? Whatever it is, once you have

arrived at a definition, you can think about how you can achieve that
look in Lightroom. The example on these pages utilises the colour
tone curves to complete this lesson on the Tone Curve panel, but feel
free to use the saturation or vibrance sliders, the HSL/Color/B&W
panel or the Split Toning panel if you need to. I will show you how
when we get to those sections.

The Effects panel

There are two things you can do in the Effects panel:
Add or remove a vignette. Post-crop Vignetting is based on a technique used
by darkroom printers. The idea is to make the edges of the photo darker in order
to gently guide the viewers eye towards the centre of the image.
Add grain. An interesting feature because it shows that some photographers
are still interested in achieving what is often referred to as the filmic look.
Digital photos dont have film grain, so it needs to be added.

Two types of vignetting

Post-Crop Vignetting. The greyed

out sliders become active when
you move the Amount slider.

Grain. Again, the greyed out

sliders become active when you
move the Amount slider.

The difference between the Vignetting slider (found under the Profile tab in the
Lens Corrections panel) and the Post-Crop Vignetting tool in the Effects panel is
this:
The Vignetting slider in the Lens Correction panel is designed to correct
vignetting caused by the optical characteristics of the lens. The aim is to achieve
an image with uniform brightness from edge to edge.
Post-Crop Vignetting is used to make the edges of the image darker (or lighter)
for aesthetic reasons. The effect is always applied, even if you crop the image.

87

Tip: The Radial Filter, introduced in Lightroom 5, provides an

alternative to the Post-Crop Vignetting tool. The main benefit of the
Radial Filter is that you can choose where to put it. If your main subject
is off-centre, you can place the vignette accordingly. In comparison,
Post-Crop Vignetting is always central.

Post-Crop Vignetting
The images on the next few pages demonstrate the
Post-Crop Vignetting tool. The following photos
show the effect each slider has.

Amount
At zero, no Post-crop Vignetting is applied (below).
A positive value brightens the edges of the image,
and a negative one darkens them. Each example
on the following pages uses the extremes, so you
can see the full effect. But most of the time you
would use the Amount slider much more subtly.

88

Midpoint
The Midpoint slider controls the size of the
vignette. A value of zero gives the greatest
coverage, and 100 the least.

Tip: The Midpoint, Roundness and Feather

sliders control the shape of the vignette.
A good way to use Post-crop Vignetting is
to set Amount to 100. This makes it easy
to see the effect of the other sliders. Then,
when you are happy with the shape of the
vignette, you can adjust the Amount slider
to exactly where you want it.

89

Roundness
The Roundness slider determines the shape of the
vignette. The default setting of 50 gives an oval. A
value of zero makes a square vignette, and a value
of 100 a near-circle.

Tip: The ability to create a square shaped

vignette is one of the factors that
differentiates Post-Crop Vignetting from
the Radial filter tool.

90

Feather
The Feather slider controls the hardness of the
selection used to create the vignette. A value of
zero gives the hardest edge, and 100 the softest.

91

Highlights
An effective way to use Post-crop
Vignetting is to darken the edges
of an image that already has lots of
shadows. In this type of composition,
you are using Post-crop Vignetting
as a tweak, often in conjunction with
the Shadows or Blacks sliders in the
Basic panel, to make an already dark
background even darker.
There are times though when you
will want to darken the edges of an
image that contains light tones. The
result may look unnatural, and in that
case you can use the Highlights slider
to preserve any light tones near the
edges of the image. The further you
push it right, the lighter they stay.
Note: Ive chose the example on this
page and set Amount to -100 because
it shows how the Highlight slider
works, not because I recommend you
use these particular settings.

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Grain
Back when everybody used film, grain tended to be seen in one of two ways. One
view held that the best type of grain was the sort that you didnt see. Proponents
used low ISO film, or even medium or large format cameras, to minimise it.
Then there were the photographers that embraced grain. Two big names that
did so were Robert Farber and Sarah Moon, both of whom used fast colour film
and produced a lot of beautiful work. The colours produced by fast films are less
saturated than slow films, hence a look was created exploiting fast grain, muted
colours and soft light. Many black and white photographers also embraced it and
films such as Delta 400 and T-MAX P3200 were noted for the beauty and aesthetic
quality of their grain.
The character of grain is an inherent characteristic of a specific film if you want a
different quality of grain (pushing and pulling techniques aside) you need to use
a different film. Now, digital cameras have removed the problem (if indeed you
see it as a problem) of grain. If you want a grainy look, or miss the grainy look of a
particular film, you can add it back in with Lightroom.
Above: A portrait taken on an
EOS 5D Mark II at ISO 1600. Even
at this relatively high ISO setting
there is very little noise, and
definitely no grain.

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Above: Its hard to see at this size

(there are 100% enlargements
on the next page) but increasing
Grain using the Amount slider set
to 50 created a nice effect. Use
the Size and Roughness sliders to
alter the grain quality.

94

Above: Fast films desaturate

colours. If imitating film is your
intent, then go to the Presence
sliders in the Basic Panel and use
the Saturation or Vibrance slider
to mute the colours. Now it looks
more like it may have been taken
on fast film.

These 100% enlargements show

the effect of adding grain.

95

The HSL / Color / B&W panel

These tools are grouped together because they help you deal with a single
element: colour. Heres a quick look at what they do:

The Color tab

HSL & Color tabs

HSL stands for Hue, Saturation and Luminance. These three properties all contain
values that describe the colours Lightroom is capable of handling. Its like using the
RGB (red, green and blue) system that most photographers are accustomed to, but
with different properties.

Click ALL to see every the slider at

the same time.

The HSL and Color tabs let you adjust the hue, saturation or luminance of eight
colours. They do the same thing, but present the sliders in different layouts.
The HSL tab groups the sliders by function, so that you can concentrate on
adjusting either hue, saturation or luminosity.
The Color tab groups the sliders by colour. Choose this if you want to alter the
qualities of specific colours.
The Targeted Adjustment tool is available under the HSL tab, but not the
Color tab.
The sliders are the same, just presented in a different order. If you reduce (for
example) the Blue Saturation slider under the Color tab to -20, then switch to the
HSL tab, you will see the Blue Saturation slider there is also set to -20.

96

Click on a colour patch to see the

sliders for just one colour.

The HSL tab

Alternatively, click on the Hue,

Saturation or Luminance headings to
use one set of sliders.

Click All to see all the Hue,

Saturation and Luminance sliders.

97

The Targeted Adjustment Tool icon.

Black and white: You wont be surprised to learn that the B&W tab is
for converting your images to monochrome. Its a complex topic that I
will explore in full in the next ebook in this series.

Selective desaturation
One of my favourite applications of the HSL tab is
selectively reducing the saturation of specific colours
without affecting others.
Take the portrait on this page as an example. The
background is in shade, and has a blue colour cast
compared to the model.
What happens if we use the Saturation slider in
the Basic panel to reduce colour saturation? All the
colours are reduced in saturation together as seen in
the image on the far right.
Theres nothing wrong with that, if its what you want.
But the HSL tab opens up some interesting creative
possibilities by allowing us to reduce colour saturation
in the background without affecting the model or her
clothes. The technique is shown on the next page.

98

1. Click on the HSL tab and then

the Saturation tab to hide the
other sliders. Click the Targeted
Adjustment Tool (circled).

2. Move the mouse over your

image. The colours underneath
the crosshair (circled) are the ones
that will be targeted. Hold the left
mouse button down and drag the
mouse downwards to desaturate the
targeted colours.
In this case, Lightroom desaturated
both Blue and Aqua (left). You could
achieve a similar effect by going
to the Blue slider and reducing
Saturation, but the Targeted
Adjustment Tool is more accurate.

99

Adjusting luminance
Another reason for going to the HSL / Color / B&W panel is to adjust the
luminance values of specific colours. Luminance is another word for brightness,
and you may find it useful to make certain colours lighter or darker.
The reason why is to do with the relationship between tonal contrast and colour
contrast. You may already be familiar with the concept of colour contrast. It occurs
when two colours from opposing sides of the colour wheel (see below) are placed
next to each other. The photos on this page show how it works. The orange and
yellow fish contrast with the blue background.
Now look at the black and white version of the same image, below. All I did was
set saturation to zero to remove the colour. The body of the fish (orange in the
colour photo) and the background (blue in the original) have very nearly the same
brightness value. There is no tonal contrast between them just colour contrast.

Left: This is a colour wheel a type of diagram

used by creatives that work with colour to
understand the relationships between hues.
Colours that are opposite, or nearly opposite,
each other on the wheel are said to be
contrasting colours. Colours that are close to
each other on the wheel are complementary.
Colour contrast is an effective tool for creating
visually dynamic and exciting images.

100

One simple adjustment in the HSL tab is all thats required to improve this image.
You can make the blue background darker by using the Targeted Adjustment
Tool (see below for details). When you reduce the luminance of a colour, it
becomes darker and more saturated. If you increase the luminance, it becomes
lighter and less saturated.
At the same time, adjusting luminance also changes the tonal contrast, as the
desaturated black and white version of the main photo on this page shows.
Compare it to the version on the previous page. The background is darker than the
body of the fish. The colour image now has tonal contrast as well as colour contrast.
Below: Go to the HSL tab and click Luminance, then the Targeted Adjustment
Tool (circled). Move the mouse over the colour you would like to adjust, hold
the left mouse button down and move the mouse downwards. Lightroom
moves the appropriate sliders (marked right).

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Adjusting hue
The final adjustment you can make in the HSL and Color tabs is to the hue. Hue is
another word for colour and you can use the Hue sliders to alter colours in your
images.
I havent found a practical use for this, but you might be able to. But it does
show one of the advantages of working with Raw and processing your images
in Lightroom. You have a lot of control over colour, and you never know when
the ability to adjust hue (not to mention saturation and luminance) may come in
useful.

How the Hue slider works

The Hue slider alters the hue of the selected colour by replacing it with another
one.
Take the Red slider as an example. Push the slider right and Lightroom replaces
the primary colour red with the neighbouring colour in a counter-clockwise
direction on the colour wheel. The further you push the slider the further around
the colour wheel you go. So red turns to orange, then orange-yellow (but not any
further, changes are limited to similar hues). Pushing the slider left takes you in the
opposite direction around the colour wheel, where red is replaced by magenta.
These colours are indicated on the sliders so you can see what will happen when
you make the adjustment
The Hue sliders in the Camera Calibration panel work exactly the same way.

102

Above: Pushing the Red slider to the

right replaces all red tones with one
of the neighbouring colours on the
colour wheel (right).

Above: Lets see how we can change the

hues in the above photo.
Start by clicking Hue, then the Targeted
Adjustment Tool Icon (circled right)
in the HSL tab. Click and drag the
mouse down to move the hue sliders
responding to the colour under the cross
hair to the left (middle). Move it up to
move them right ( far right).

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The Split Toning panel

Weve already seen how you can use the HSL / Color / B&W panel to alter the
qualities of colours in Lightroom. Thats on top of the White Balance, Vibrance and
Saturation sliders in the Basic panel, and any adjustments to colour curves that
you may make in the Tone Curve panel. There a lot of ways to adjust colours, and
the Split Toning panel is another.
If you think back to the White Balance tools, you will remember that you can warm
the image up or cool it down with the Temp slider, and add (or more likely remove)
green or magenta casts with the Tint slider. These changes affect the entire image.
One way to think about the Split Toning panel is to see it as an extension of the
White Balance tool. The difference is that you can apply any colour you like to your
image, and that you are most likely to be doing this for creative reasons, rather
than practical ones like setting white balance. If you want to apply a vintage effect,
imitate the effects of cross-processing colour film in the wrong chemistry, or simply
create mood by adding colour, this is a good place to start.
For those of you accustomed to using Photoshop, it may help to think of the
Split Toning panel as a separate layer. Theres no Opacity slider like the one
in Photoshop, but you can reduce the intensity of the effect by reducing the
saturation of the selected colours.

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Use the Hue and Saturation

sliders to set the colours applied
to the Highlights and Shadows.
Alternatively, click on the
coloured swatches to activate the
Colour Picker.

Use the Balance slider to give

priority to either the Highlights
colour or the Shadows colour.

The Split Toning panel contains five sliders. Two of those control the
colour applied to the highlights, and another two the colour applied to the
shadows. The selected colours are applied to the highlights and mid-tones
on one hand, and the shadows and mid-tones on the other. They meet
somewhere in the middle, and you can influence where by using the Balance
slider. Move it right to give precedence to the Highlights, and left to give
precedence to the Shadows.

Above: The original image, without any Split

Toning applied.

105

Above: This version has a warm colour applied to

the highlights and mid-tones.

Above: This version has a warm colour applied to

the highlights and mid-tones, and a cool colour to
the shadows and mid-tones. The Balance slider is
set to zero, so the colours meet in the middle.

Above: Start by clicking the

Highlights swatch. Use the colour
picker to set Hue and Saturation
values. You can also adjust the
Saturation of the selected colour
with the slider (marked by an S)
under the colour picker.
Click the X in the top-left corner (or
anywhere outside the Highlights
window) when youre done. The
Hue and Saturation values are
transferred to the sliders, which you
can adjust if you need to.

106

Above: Repeat for the Shadows.

The selected values are
transferred to the Hue and
Saturation sliders.

Right: You can save colours to one

of five swatches. Move the cursor
over a swatch and hold the left
button down to change it to the
currently selected colour.

The Detail panel

The Detail panel is where you apply noise reduction and sharpening to your
images. Most of the time you leave the settings at their default, and you may not
have to visit this panel at all. But its still worth spending some time learning how to
use the sharpening and noise reduction tools, for those occasions where tweaking
the settings will obtain a better result.

Image preview at 100% enlargement

Sharpening
One of the advantages of using the Raw format and processing your images in
Lightroom is that it is very easy to adjust the Sharpness settings at any point. If you
use JPEG, sharpening is applied by the camera when you take the photo. That gives
you less leeway in post-processing as additional sharpening may also make any
artefacts such as halos worse.
Photoshop users will be accustomed to leaving sharpening until the very last step
of their processing workflow. This helps avoid artefacts and lets you apply the
amount of sharpening required according to what you intend to do with the photo.
An image that will be displayed at small size online, for example, may require a
different level of sharpening to one that will be printed.
With Lightroom, you can apply Sharpening at any stage (it applies some by default
anyway). Every setting can be altered at any stage, and you always have the ability
to adjust sharpness if it turns out that you have under- or over-sharpened an
image.

107

Sharpening sliders

Noise Reduction sliders

Sharpening requirements
The amount of sharpening required depends on what you intend to do with your
photo.
If you are printing an image, sharpening depends as much on the content of the
image as well as the print size and paper type. You may find after you have printed
the image you need to increase or lower the amount of sharpening to get the best
result.
If you are going to display your images online, they also need sharpening, and
probably with a different setting than you would use for printing. Some photo
sharing websites, like Flickr, apply sharpening when you upload images, and
require less sharpening on your part.
If you are preparing images for publication the criteria change again. Stock libraries
usually require unsharpened images, so that they can apply sharpening according
to the clients requirements.
Magazines require unsharpened images too, as sharpening is applied at the
printing stage. Sometimes you will see over-sharpened images in a magazine
look out for halos and other artefacts. It shows that even the professionals can
sometimes get it wrong.

108

Above: The CMOS sensor from the EOS 70D camera. Most digital cameras
have an anti-aliasing filter in front of the sensor. The filter reduces moire
patterns which may show up in certain textured materials like clothing by
blurring the image slightly. Any photo produced from a Raw file from a digital
camera with an anti-aliasing filter is slightly soft and needs to be sharpened.
Some manufacturers, most notably Leica, Nikon and Fujifilm, have started
producing cameras without anti-aliasing filters for sharper images.

Sharpening sliders
The effects of all the Sharpening sliders are best judged at 1:1 magnification. There
are examples of each on the next few pages:
Amount: Controls the amount of sharpness applied to the image. Default is 25 for
Raw files and zero for JPEG or TIFF files.

These are the sliders used for

sharpening images, shown at
their default settings for Raw
files. The defaults work well for
most images, but feel free to
experiment with the sliders and
see if you can improve the result.

Radius: Controls the spread of the sharpness. Move it too far right and you will
lose detail. Move it too far left and sharpening isnt as effective. The default setting
of 1 seems to work well for most images. Increase Radius to make edges and lines
sharper.
Detail: Move the slider right to increase textural detail. The trade off is that it also
increases halos and unwanted grain in smooth areas like sky. Most of the time you
can leave it at the default setting of 25.
Masking: A potential side effect of sharpening is increased sharpness in smooth
areas like sky. It adds texture where there shouldnt be any and looks unnatural.

Tip: Lightroom cant do much to help you if any lack of sharpness is

down to poor technique. It cant eliminate softness caused by camera
shake, inaccurate focusing or lack of depth-of-field. The sharpening
settings are there to help you compensate for softening caused by the
anti-aliasing filter, and prepare your images for print or publication.

The Masking slider helps prevent this by limiting sharpening to the edges within
the photo. At zero (the default) Lightroom applies sharpening evenly across the
entire image. The further right you move the slider, the more it is restricted.
The easiest way to see which areas are affected is to hold down the Alt key. Areas
shown in white will be sharpened, and areas shown in black wont be. The black
areas increase as you move the Masking slider right. You can also hold down the
Alt key while using any of the sliders to see similar information.

109

Tip: Sharpening applied from the Detail panel is a global adjustment

affecting the entire image. You can also local adjustments to sharpen
(or reduce the sharpness of) parts of the image. The idea is to guide
the viewers eye gently towards the sharpest parts of the image.

Above: A 100% enlargement from an image processed using Lightrooms

default sharpening settings.

110

Above: The same image with the Sharpening slider set to 150. There are white
halos around the stonework where it meets the sky, and more grain. These are
signs of over-sharpening. This is just an example I cant imagine that you
would ever need to increase sharpening so much. The trick is keep it subtle.
While the sample on the left looks a little soft, I think its mainly to do with
over-sharpened version making it look softer than it really is in comparison.

Heres what happens when you hold down the Alt key and use the Masking slider:

Above: Masking 45, Alt key held down. Areas affected by sharpening shown in
white.

111

Above: Masking 100, Alt key held down. Now there is much less white as the
area affected by sharpening is reduced.

The Alt key is also useful for evaluating the effect of the Radius slider:

Above: Radius 1.0 (default), Alt key held down.

112

Above: Radius 3.0, Alt key held down. Edges and lines will be much sharper at
this setting.

The Alt key also helps you valuate the effect of the Detail slider:

Above: Detail 25 (default), Alt key held down.

113

Above: Detail 100, Alt key held down. This setting brings out more detail in
texture areas.

Sharpening at export
The Detail panel isnt the only place you can apply sharpening. You can also do
it when you export your images and save them as JPEG or TIFF files. The simple
approach is to leave the Sharpness settings at their default and apply sharpening at
the export stage. There are lots of photographers that do this as it saves you time,
especially when processing large numbers of photos.
Ill go more into exporting later, but for now here are the Output Sharpening
options Lightroom gives you:
Sharpen for: Here you can choose from Screen (for web use) and Matte Paper or
Glossy Paper if you are printing. Lightroom uses a sharpening formula designed to
give the best performance for these purposes.
Amount: You have the choice of Low, Standard and High.
Trial and error will reveal the best choices for you. I use Standard and it works fine
for me.

114

Noise Reduction
The days when photographers used third-party software or complex processes
in Photoshop to reduce noise are gone. Modern digital cameras produce images
with very little noise, and if you use Lightroom to process the Raw files you will be
pleasantly surprised at how little noise there is in your images, even at higher ISO
settings. It works with older cameras too. If you have recently upgraded from an
earlier version of Lightroom you should notice an improvement in performance
Adobe has improved Noise Reduction with every iteration.

Lightrooms default Noise

Reduction settings. They are the
same regardless of the ISO setting
of the photo you are developing.

As with sharpening, you can take the simple approach and leave the Noise
Reduction settings at their default. Its more than good enough most of the time.
The results will vary depending on which camera you have, but I have noticed
that Lightroom renders noise on files from my EOS 5D Mark II in a way that closely
resembles the grain structure of high ISO film. The texture of the noise becomes an
integral part of the image, and aesthetically pleasing in its own right.
Lightrooms Noise Reduction is not intended to compensate for poor technique.
Help Lightroom out by getting exposure right when you take the photo.
Remember this principle:
If you underexpose the image when you take the photo, then brighten it in
Lightroom, you will increase any noise in the dark tones.
You cant compensate for underexposure in Lightroom (or any other software)
without increasing noise.

115

Types of noise
Luminance noise: Affects the brightness of pixels but not the colour. It looks a
little like black and white speckles in your image. The default setting for luminance
noise reduction in Lightroom is zero, as applying luminance noise reduction
always reduces the sharpness of the image.
Colour noise: Prominent coloured speckles, highly visible at high ISO settings.
The default setting of 25 for colour noise reduction may be all you need for the
majority of your images. Unlike luminance noise reduction, you can increase colour
noise reduction without much loss of sharpness.

A detail from a photo taken at ISO

12,800 on my EOS 5D Mark II. The
statue in the photo was in a very
dimly building and I had no choice
but to use this extraordinarily
high ISO setting.
The screenshot shows a Before
image (left) with Lightrooms
noise reduction settings turned
off. The After image (right) is with
the noise reduction set to the
default settings.
The difference is clear the
coloured speckles
created by
colour noise are
eliminated when
Noise Reduction is
enabled.
The worst noise is in
the darkest tones.
The lightest tones
contain virtually no
noise even at this
high ISO setting.

116

A concise guide to Noise Reduction

Every image is different, so the best way to see if you can improve on the default
Noise Reduction settings is to try it. Sharpness settings have an effect on noise as
well (increasing sharpness can increase noise). They are grouped together so you
can adjust them in tandem for the best result.

117

Tip: If you use the Raw format you can leave the High ISO Noise
Reduction or Long Exposure Noise Reduction functions on your
camera switched off. They are only applied by the camera to JPEG files.
When you use Raw, noise reduction is applied by your Raw conversion
software instead.

Move the Luminance slider right

to reduce luminance noise. But
not too far, as it also reduces
sharpness.

Move the Color slider right to

reduce colour noise. Youre
looking for the sweet spot where
the slider is as far left as possible
while eliminating as much colour
noise as you can.

Use the Detail and Contrast

sliders to bring back some of the
detail lost use to luminance noise
reduction. Beware of introducing
artefacts if pushed too far to the
right.

The Color slider destroys detail by

blurring the image, although not
nearly as much as the Luminance
slider. Use the Detail slider right
to bring some of that detail back.
Introduces coloured speckles if
you move it too far right.

The Contrast slider lifts contrast

to compensate for the loss of
contrast caused by the softening
effect of the Luminance slider.

The Smoothness slider helps

smooth out artefacts caused by
the Color and Detail sliders. The
effect is very subtle. New with
Lightroom 5.2.

local
adj ustments
Lightroom works best when you apply global adjustments first.
Once you have set the colour and tonal values, you can think about
making local adjustments to improve the image. If you are new to
Lightroom you will be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to make
local adjustments. In Photoshop, you need to make a selection or use
a mask, and combine this with using layers. Lightroom is different.
There are no layers and no Marquee Tool to create selections. It has
its own tools, and they are simple and intuitive to use.
As we look at the local adjustment tools keep in mind that it is easy to go
overboard, and end up with something that doesnt look natural. This isnt unique
to Lightroom, it can happen in any software, or in the chemical darkroom. I
understand that some photographers prefer a more heavily processed look than
I do, and thats fine. But along the way I will point out the tools that can produce
unnatural results if pushed too far.

118

There are three local adjustment

tools in Lightroom: the
Adjustment Brush, the Graduated
Filter and (new to Lightroom
5) the Radial Filter. Each gives
you a different way of creating a
selection, but what you can do
once youve created it is the same
regardless of which tool you use.
The panels for these tools are
shown on this page. They appear
when you click on the tools icon
(located under the Histogram and
above the Basic Panel).
Ill go into more detail about
the sliders and presets in a little
while, but first its time to learn
how to use the tools.

Adjustment Brush

119

Radial Filter (Lightroom 5 only)

Graduated Filter

The Graduated Filter

Click this icon to use the

Graduated Filter.

If youre familiar with the graduated neutral density filters used by landscape
photographers the concept of the Graduated Filter is easy to understand.
Lightrooms version is similar, although please dont think that it obviates the need
for a physical graduated filter. It doesnt. The Graduated Filter cant bring back
detail in burnt out skies, and its up to you
to make sure that the cameras sensor
captures as much information as
possible for Lightroom to use.

Click New to create a new

Graduated Filter, or Edit to adjust
one that already exists.
Move a slider to apply the effect
to the area covered by the
Graduated Filter. You can apply
as many sliders as you wish to a
single Graduated Filter.

In other respects the Graduated Filter is

much more useful than a physical filter.
It helps to see it as a way of making a
selection, rather than to make skies
darker. You can also use it to adjust
contrast or colour temperature, or even
apply a soft focus or lens blur effect. It
has lots of uses, and there is no limit to
the number of Graduated Filters you
can apply to a photo.
The diagram on this page shows you
what each part of the Graduated
Filter panel does. The Radial Filter and
Adjustment Brush panels work exactly
the same way.

120

Click this icon to select a colour to

apply to the area covered by the
Graduated Filter, in addition to
the effects of any sliders.
Click Reset to delete all Graduated
Filters, or Close to close the
Graduated Filter panel.
Click Custom to select a preset
from the menu on the left. Select
Save Current Settings as New
Preset to create your own preset.

Click this icon to toggle the

visibility of all Graduated Filters.
They are invisible when it is in the
down position.

Using the Graduated Filter

1. Click on the Graduated Filter
icon. Hold the left mouse button
down and drag it across the image.
2. Adjust the appropriate slider or
sliders, or choose a Preset from the
menu. Here, I moved the Exposure
slider left to make the sky darker.
3. Adjust the position of the
Graduated Filter if you need to, and
press Done when youre finished.
Note: You can add as many
Graduated Filters as you like.
Any you have added already are
shown by grey pins. Click on a pin
to activate the Graduated Filter
associated with it. You can then
move, edit, duplicate or delete it.

The black pin indicates this

Graduated Filter is active.

121

The effect is feathered around

either side of the centre line.

The full effect is applied at the top

of the Graduated Filter.

I darkened the edges of this

image with three Graduated
Filters. The white lines indicate
their position.
One advantage of using
Graduated Filters (as opposed
to the Radial Filter or Post-crop
vignetting) is that you can place
each one precisely and adjust
them separately. Here, I reduced
the Exposure of the rightmost
Graduated Filter by less than the
others to prevent the right side
going too dark.

122

The Color setting comes in useful

for adding colour to a Graduated
Filter. Click on the white rectangle
icon and select a colour using the
selector (illustrated below). The
new hue is added to the Graduated
Filter, regardless of which sliders
you use. You can also use it with
the Adjustment Brush and Radial
Filter.
The colour is applied to the area
covered by the Graduated Filter.
Select a colour here. The hue and
saturation are indicated under the
colour swatch.

Click the white rectangle to

activate the colour picker.

123

The current colour is shown here.

Double-click the word Color to
remove it.

After

One application, and probably the first

to occur to some older photographers,
is to mimic the use of coloured
graduated neutral density filters such
as those popularised by Cokin in the
seventies and eighties. If you miss
those old tobacco grads then now
is your chance to indulge in a little
nostalgia.
You can make the adjustment as subtle
as you like by reducing the saturation
of the selected colour. Its useful for
adding a touch of colour to skies
perhaps youd like to emphasise the
blue colour of the sky, or make sunset
colours warmer.
In this example I selected a tan colour
and applied the Graduated Filter from
the top left of the image. I increased
the value of the Exposure slider to
make it look as though the rocks
behind my model were lit by the rays
of the setting sun. The sun was indeed
setting behind her, so its not so far
from the truth.

124

Before

The Radial Filter

The Radial Filter works exactly the same way as the Graduated Filter in terms
of the effects that you can apply to the selection. The difference is in the circular
shape of the selection.

Click this icon to use the

Radial Filter.

The Radial Filter lets you create a mask in the shape of a circle or oval. You can
apply the adjustment to the area outside the mask (the default) or inside it (tick
the Inverse Mask box to do so). Use the Feather setting to soften the edge of the
mask.
The Radial Filter is a relatively new feature introduced in Lightroom 5. If you have
an earlier version, you can achieve these effects using Adjustment Brushes (covered
next). But Radial Filters have several advantages:
Radial filters are quicker, as you dont have to paint in the area you want to mask.
You can duplicate a Radial Filter (right-click the pin and select Duplicate). This
lets you apply the same effect elsewhere in the image or a different effect to the
same shape.

Use the Feather slider to set the

hardness of the mask edges. 100
gives the softest edge.

Tick this box to apply the effect to

the area inside the mask.

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1. Click the Radial Filter icon and use

the mouse to draw an ellipse across
the relevant area of the photo.

2. Click and drag

the white squares
to adjust the size
and shape of the
mask.

3. Rotate the
selection by
hovering the
mouse near the
edge of the mask
until the double
arrow icon (left)
appears. Click and
drag to rotate.

4. Use the Feather slider to adjust the softness of the selection. A setting of
zero gives you a hard edge, and 100 the softest. Tick the Invert Mask box to
apply the changes inside the circle.

126

The Radial Filter provides a

similar function to Post-crop
Vignetting as it lets you darken
the edges of the image in a similar
way to that caused by optical lens
vignetting. The idea is to gently
guide the viewers eye towards
the centre of the photo by making
the edges darker. The technique
comes in useful in portraits as it
helps direct attention towards the
model
The benefit of using the Radial
Filter for this is that you can
centre the effect wherever you
like, and rotate it as well if you
need to. That is something you
cant do with the Post-crop
Vignetting tool.

127

After

Before

The Adjustment Brush

The third local adjustment tool
is the Adjustment Brush. The
Graduated and Radial filters are
quicker and easier to apply, but
there are times when you need to
customise the masked area. For that
you need the Adjustment Brush. To
use it, click the Adjustment Brush
icon and paint the area you want
to apply the adjustment to. Control
the size and flow of the brush using
the Adjustment Brush panel (see
right).

Tip: Tick the Show

Selected Mask Overlay
box in the Toolbar to
show the area covered
by the mask with a red
transparent overlay.
You can also use the O
keyboard shortcut.

128

There are two brushes: A and B.

You can assign different Size,
Feather, Flow and Density settings
to each. Switch between the two
by clicking on the brush you want
to use or with the / keyboard
shortcut.
If the Auto Mask box is ticked
Lightroom attempts to keep
the selection to similar colours.
However, it slows down the
program and often creates a
patchy effect, meaning that the
effect you chose to apply wont
be even. Its best to leave this box
unticked.
Density sets the maximum
strength of the effect. For
example, set it to 50 to limit the
strength to 50%, no matter how
much you brush over it.

Click this icon to use the

Adjustment Brush.
Use the Erase brush to remove
part of the selection. It is for
making precise adjustments to
the area covered by the mask.
Click this arrow to reveal or hide
the Feather, Flow and Density
sliders.
Use Size so set the brush size
(or use the [ and ] keyboard
shortcuts).
The Feather slider sets the
hardness of the mask edges. 100
gives the softest edge.
Flow controls the opacity of the
mask. One approach is to use a
low Flow setting and gradually
build up the effect. Alternatively,
set Flow to 100 and control the
strength of the effect using the
sliders.

In this example I used the

Adjustment Brush and increased
Exposure and Clarity to make
the old house stand out from
the background. The red Mask
Overlay (use the O keyboard
shortcut to toggle it on and off)
makes it easy to see which areas
of the photo are included in the
adjustment. You can use brushes
to add to the mask or erase part
of it.

129

Next I created another

Adjustment Brush and painted in
the sky. You can be as precise as
you like with the selection its
really just a matter of how patient
you are.
I selected the sky and reduced the
contrast, creating a more subtle
graduation between mid and light
tones in the grey clouds.

130

You can see in this comparison

that the adjustments have made
the house brighter than its
surroundings. A couple of subtle
alterations are all it took to make it
really stand out.

After

Before

131

Portrait retouching
Now Im going to show you how to bring the skills youve learnt so far together to
retouch a portrait. Ill introduce you to the Spot Removal tool, and youll learn how
to use the Adjustment Brush to retouch skin.

Right: Heres the portrait,

before retouching. Ive
already made adjustments
in the Basic panel, including
altering Saturation and
Vibrance to reduce the
intensity of the colours (far
right). Now it is ready to
apply the finishing touches.

132

Spot Removal Tool

Tip: Hold the space bar
down and click and drag
to navigate around the
photo. This saves you
having to zoom out
then in again to retouch
a different part of the
image.

The model has great skin, but she still has a few spots. They are easy to remove with
the Spot Removal tool:

Click on the Spot Removal tool

icon (marked above). Set Opacity
to 100 and Feather to around
70. Make sure Heal (not clone) is
selected.

133

Move the cursor over the blemish.

The outer circle shows the
affected area, the inner circle
where feathering starts. Use the
[ and ] keyboard shortcuts to
alter the size of the brush, or click
and drag the edge. You can also
use the sliders to adjust the Size,
Feather and Opacity settings.

When you are ready click the

left mouse button. Lightroom
selects another part of the image
to sample. Normally this works
fine but occasionally the sample
area may contain a mark or
line, compromising the healing
process. If this happens, move
the second circle (showing the
sampled area) to a better position
until you are happy with the
result.

Repeat with other blemishes,

and click the Done button in the
Toolbar (or Close in the Spot
Removal panel) when you are
finished.

Adjustment Brush
You have probably seen several portrait retouching programs advertised in
magazines or online, and wondered if they were worth buying. The answer is a
firm no. I have tried out quite a few, and the truth is that the Soften Skin preset
in Lightroom does just as good a job as any of them. For most photographers
Lightrooms retouching tools all are you will ever need.
Take some time to think about your personal approach to portrait retouching.
Some photographers seem to like the airbrushed, almost plastic look of heavy
processing, and its something you see used a lot in commercial photography or
movie posters.
Others will go for a more natural effect, and use the retouching tools with a light
touch. Thats definitely my approach, and it fits with my preference for natural
light and for creating portraits that capture character. Either way, Lightroom can
accommodate your needs.
The Adjustment Brush is the best tool to use to apply the Soften Skin preset with,
as it lets you create a mask of any shape. Before applying skin smoothing to the
entire face, it may be helpful to clean up any dark shadows under the models eyes.
You dont want to hide them completely, as they are a natural feature of most faces
created by the crease under the lower eyelid. But its nice to minimise them:

134

Above: Start by painting in the area under the eyes with the Adjustment
Brush. Use the O keyboard shortcut to show you the covered area.

Above: Go to the Effect menu in the Adjustment Brush panel and select
Soften Skin. Use the O shortcut to hide the mask. Youll see the improvement
immediately. If you look at the sliders you will see that Lightroom has set
Clarity to -100 and Sharpness to 25. This combination smooths the skin yet
retains some of the underlying texture.

135

Above: Increase Exposure slightly to lighten the shadows. Be careful not to

lighten them too much. This step may not be necessary with some portraits.

Its not necessary for every portrait, but there will be times when you want to apply
the Soften Skin preset to the entire face. The Adjustment Brush is also the best
tool for this task.

Above: Use the Adjustment Brush to paint in the face, leaving the eyes,
eyebrows, lips and the bottom of the nose unchanged. The easiest way is to
use either the A or B brush to paint the entire face, then the Erase brush to
remove the mask from the areas you dont wish to soften.

136

Above: Press O to hide the mask and select Soften Skin from the Effects
menu. Lightroom sets Clarity to -100 and Sharpness to +25. The effect is much
stronger than you need unless youre going for the heavily retouched look.

You could reduce the strength of the Soften Skin preset by

increasing Clarity and decreasing Sharpness manually, but its a
little tricky to keep them in proportion. Luckily, theres an easier
way.
If you have followed the instructions so far there will be
two grey pins over the models face (see right). The first
is underneath the models eye, and represents the initial
Adjustment Brush applied to that area. The second represents
the mask that covers the face. It is coloured black to indicate
that its the active Adjustment Brush.
Move the mouse over
the active pin. A double
arrow icon appears (circled
right). Hold the left mouse
button down and drag
the mouse left. The Clarity
and Sharpness sliders
adjust equally to reduce
the strength of the skin
smoothing effect. Move the
mouse left to reduce the effect (youll get to zero if you move it
far enough), and right to increase it. Let go of the mouse button
when it looks good to your eye.
This technique applies to any Adjustment Brush preset.

137

Graduated Filters
Finally, lets apply a couple of Graduated filters to the background to make it
darker. You can use the Adjustment Brush as well to do this, but the Graduated
filters are often easier. You can always use the Adjustment Brush to fill in the gaps if
necessary.

Apply a Graduated Filter to the left side of the background and reduce
Exposure. The amount you do that by depends on your portrait, in this
example it was around one and half stops.

138

Apply a second Graduated Filter to the right side and reduce Exposure until
it looks the same as the left side. The best way to judge is by eye rather than
trying to match the numbers exactly, as one part of the background may be
brighter to start with.

Heres the final result:

After

Before

139

The Crop Overlay

Click this icon to use the Crop

Overlay.

The Crop Overlay has three functions:

To crop your images while keeping the original aspect ratio. You could use
it for this if there is something at the edge of the frame that needs removing, or
cropping improves the composition, or you need to rotate the image to make
the horizon or a building straight.
To crop images to a different aspect ratio. Examples are panoramas or the
square format.

Sets the Aspect Ratio of the crop.

Use this slider to rotate the image.

To place an overlay over the image to help you visualise how well the
composition works. It includes common compositional tools such as a rule-ofthirds grid and a Golden Spiral. The overlay changes size to suit as you crop.
Tick the Constrain to Warp box to constrain
the crop within the boundaries of the original
photo. It doesnt have any visible effect while
you are cropping. But if you are using the Lens
Corrections panel to correct distortions, it has
the same function as ticking the Constrain
Crop box (tick one of these and Lightroom ticks
the other automatically). Enabled, it prevents
Lightroom from adding white space to the
frame when it makes lens corrections.

140

The Straighten tool

The Straighten tool is there to
help you make sure the horizon
is level or to straighten a straight
edge like that of the side of a
building:

1. Click on the Crop Overlay

Tool icon (marked above) to get
started.

2. Click on the Angle tool icon.

It looks like a yellow spirit level
(marked left).

141

3. Click and drag to draw a line

along the edge you want to be
straight (i.e. parallel with the side
of the frame). It doesnt matter
if the line is vertical, as in the
example above, or horizontal.

4. When you release the mouse

button Lightroom rotates and
crops the image so that the line
you created is parallel with the
side of the frame (right). The crop
is also adjusted, retaining the
aspect ratio.

Note: As an alternative
to the Angle tool, you can
rotate the image manually
using the Angle slider.
Lightroom places a square
grid over the image to
help you see whether
the horizon (or any other
straight lines) are level.

142

Aspect ratio
Aspect ratio is the term used to describe the relationship of the width of an image
to its height. Its expressed as a ratio, like this width : height (width is always first).

6x6, 5x4, 6x7 and the panoramic format are four more popular aspect ratios that
some of you will be familiar with. You can buy film cameras that utilise these, but
they have not made their way into digital photography as native sensor sizes yet:

The commonest aspect ratios in digital photography are 35mm and micro fourthirds:
35mm cameras have an aspect ratio of 3:2. The frame is one and a half times
as wide as it is long. The aspect ratio remains the same whether you have a fullframe or a crop sensor camera.

Micro four-thirds cameras have an aspect ratio of 4:3. It is a shorter rectangle

than 35mm. Here they are together:

4
2

35mm (3:2)

143

Square (1:1)

5x4 (5:4)

16

Micro four-thirds (4:3)

Panorama (16:9)

6x7 (7:6)

1: All of the aspect ratios on

the previous page, and more,
are available in Lightroom. To
use them, start by clicking on
the Crop Overlay icon (marked
above). The Crop Overlay panel
opens below.

2. Click on the Aspect menu (the

default setting is As shot) and
select the aspect ratio you want
from the drop down menu. You
can use one of the presets or
select Enter Custom to enter
your own dimensions. Use the
X keyboard shortcut to switch
between the horizontal and
vertical orientations.

3. Move the photo back and forth until youre happy with the crop.
Alternatively, use the mouse to grab hold of an edge or a corner of
the frame and click and drag to change the size of the cropping frame.
As long as the lock icon (marked above) is in the locked position,
Lightroom maintains the selected aspect ratio.
If you want to break free of the selected aspect ratio, click the
lock icon so it is in the unlocked position (right). Then you can
adjust one side of the frame without affecting the others.
If you move the cursor near the corner of the cropping frame a curly
arrow appears. Click and drag on this to use it as an alternative to the
Angle tool to rotate the image.

144

Use the Lights Out feature to hide the cropped part of the image and the Lightroom interface. This makes it
easier to see how effective the crop is. Press the L key once to fade out the interface, again to turn it black,
and once more to reveal it again.

Lights Out 1 (background faded)

145

Lights Out 2 (black background)

At this point you may be wondering why you would alter the aspect ratio of an
image. The short answer is that it may improve the composition. If you have a
35mm camera, it can be hard to compose effectively using the entire width of the
frame (or height in the portrait orientation). If you have any wasted space at the
ends of the frame, you may be able to create a stronger photo by cropping to a
shorter rectangle.
Using one of the aspect ratios mentioned in the previous pages is a good idea.
Each one has been used for many years in at least one camera system, and
photographers have learnt to compose images within these formats. Also, if
you crop to a specific aspect ratio, rather than arbitrarily, you retain consistency
amongst your photos. This may assist when it comes to putting together a portfolio
or a website.
Lets take a look at some of these aspect ratios in more detail:
The square format (1:1): Used in many medium format cameras, including
the Hasselblads used by many professional photographers in the heyday
of film, the square format has experienced something of a renaissance with
digital photography. The square frame changes the dynamic of the image, and
emphasises simple, graphic compositions that make strong use of shape. Youll
often see this format used in black and white photography.
5x4 (5:4): This is a format associated with large format view cameras and landscape
photography. It is much easier to compose a landscape photo when the camera is
in the portrait orientation in the 5x4 aspect ratio than 35mm. Some photographers
used micro four-thirds cameras for the same reason.

146

Panorama (16:9): The panoramic format comes into its own when used with wideangle lenses to capture the sweep of the landscape. The 16:9 ratio is the same one
used in the cinema and encourages the eye to move from side to side, taking in the
detail in the image.
Micro four-thirds (4:3): This is a relatively new format in digital terms, although
it was used in 6x4.5cm medium format film cameras. Micro four-thirds cameras
have a sensor that is half the size of that found in full-frame models. That enables
manufacturers to make smaller cameras and lenses. Like the 5x4 aspect ratio, the
micro four-thirds format provides a smaller rectangle than the 35mm frame, which
can make it easier to compose some subjects such as landscapes and portraits.
6x7 (6:7): Another format used by medium format film cameras for many decades.
Often used by landscape photographers to take advantage of the shorter rectangle
in comparison to 35mm cameras.

Tip: Some cameras with electronic viewfinders or Live View give you
the option of cropping to different aspect ratios in-camera. If you use
the Raw format, the image captured by the entire sensor is recorded,
but the camera shows you the cropped image. In Lightroom, you
can crop the image however you like. With most cameras, Lightroom
will initially display the cropped version. If you wish, you can select
another aspect ratio from the Crop Overlay panel.

Here are some examples of how changing the aspect ratio alters the
composition of an image:

35mm format (5:4)

147

5x4 format (5:4)

Square format (1:1)

Panorama format (16:9)

Crop Guide Overlays

If you are not accustomed to cropping or thinking in aspect ratios other than the
one of your cameras sensor its natural to be a little uncertain as to the best way
to crop, or even if you should crop at all. In general, unless you are deliberately
composing with the end in mind of cropping to a different aspect ratio (such as
the square format) it is best to try and compose your images in such a way that no
cropping is required. This is just good discipline, and if you get it right you dont
even have to think about whether cropping will improve your photo.
However, few photographers get it right all the time. Sometimes you dont realise
that a closer crop will improve an image until you see it on your computer monitor.
Or you may realise the main subject should be a little to the left or to the right
in the frame, and that you can make that happen by cropping. With experience
these types of crop become second nature and you wont have to think about
them much. But, if you need it, Lightroom has a tool to help you the Crop Guide
Overlays.
To use the Crop Guide Overlays click the Crop Overlay icon under the histogram
and use the Cmd-O keyboard shortcut (PC: Ctrl-O). Lightroom places a grid over
the photo. This is the first Crop Guide Overlay. Use the O keyboard shortcut to
cycle through the Crop Guide Overlays. The available overlays are illustrated on
the next few pages, with a brief explanation of why you might use each one.
If you want to hide the overlay, the easiest way is to go to the Tool Overlay menu
in the bottom left of the screen and select the Never option (marked right). The
Cmd-O (PC: Ctrl-O) shortcut brings the overlay back again if you need it.

148

Grid Overlay
This overlay is useful for checking that any lines in the photo are straight. Useful
when processing landscapes or photos of buildings.

Thirds Overlay
Places four lines over the photo to indicate the thirds. If
you like to compose according to the rule-of-thirds, this
overlay will help you see where the subject is located in
the frame in relation to the thirds and their intersections.

149

Diagonal Overlay
The diagonal is similar to the rule-of-thirds. The idea
is that a composition based on diagonal lines is more
powerful when they align with these lines. If you select
the 1:1 aspect ratio, the number of guidelines is reduced
to two.

Triangle Overlay
Another guide based on the idea that diagonal lines
become more powerful if placed on the lines in this grid.
Use the Shift+O shortcut to reverse the overlay.

Golden Ratio Overlay

Yes, yet another way to align your subject. Similar to the
rule-of-thirds, this overlay attempts to follow the theory
of the golden ratio. Wikipedia has a long and complex
article about the Golden Ratio if you are interested in
learning more.

Golden Spiral Overlay

The Golden Spiral is based on the Golden Ratio. The
basic idea seems to be that elements of your photo
corresponding with the spiral gain more impact. Use the
Shift+O shortcut to cycle through a selection of spirals.
Wikipedia has an extensive article about the Golden
Spiral if you are curious.

Beyond Thirds
The Diagonal, Triangle, Golden Ratio and Golden Spiral
overlays are heavy going for those of us simply interested
in creating beautiful photos. My advice is to ignore them
their use in composition is dubious at best, and more or
less useless at the post-processing stage considering that
composition is carried out at the time you take a photo,
not in Lightroom.
If youd like to learn more about genuinely useful ways to
improve your composition, then take a look at my ebook
Beyond Thirds, sold by Craft & Vision (click the link to go
to their website). Its full of solid, useful tips that will help
you compose more interesting images. Plus, it doesnt
mention Golden Spirals once!

150

Aspect Ratios Overlay

This overlay shows you how you image will look if cropped to one of the selected
aspect ratios. Go to Tools > Crop Guide Overlay > Choose Aspect Ratios to select
the aspect ratios you would like Lightroom to display. There are eight to choose
from (see right), but its not a bad idea just to select the ones you use regularly
otherwise the screen gets too crowded. Use Shift+O to switch between the
horizontal and vertical orientations.

151

Tip: You can simplify

the use of Crop Guide
Overlays by going to Tools
> Crop Guide Overlay
> Choose Overlays to
Cycle (above). Untick any
overlays you dont want
to see. My preference is to
show the Grid, Thirds and
Aspect Ratios overlays
only.

The Spot Removal tool

The Spot Removal tool helps you remove visible dust spots (caused by dirt on
the sensor) or blemishes from peoples faces (covered earlier in the section on
retouching portraits). You can also use it to tidy up backgrounds by removing
distractions such as highlights or distant figures.
The Spot Removal tool underwent a significant upgrade in Lightroom 5. In
previous versions the tool could only be applied in a circle. Thats ideal for
removing dust spots, but not as versatile as Photoshops Healing Brush tool. Now
thats changed, and by the simple technique of holding the left mouse button
down and dragging, you can create all manner of shapes, much like using the
Adjustment Brush tool. Adobe call this new feature the Advanced Healing Brush
in their tutorials and press releases, although it is still named the Spot Removal tool
in Lightroom itself.

152

Click this icon to use the Spot

Removal tool.
Select Heal for the best results.
If Lightroom is smudging the
dust spot instead of healing it,
which may happen if it is close to
another object, then Clone may
be the better option.
Use these sliders to set the Size,
edge hardness (Feather) and
Opacity of the Spot Removal tool
brush.

Removing dust spots

No matter how much you clean your cameras sensor (and Im sure most
photographers dont do it that often) there always seems to be dirt on there. Youll
notice dust spots more if you tend to use wide-angle lenses stopped down to
narrow apertures, as the extended depth-of-field brings them into view.
Luckily, Lightroom makes it easy to remove dust spots. Just follow these steps
(which work in both Lightroom 4 and 5).
1. Zoom into the top left portion of your photo at 100% magnification.
2. Click on the Spot Removal tool icon.
3. Move the cursor over a dust spot. Use the [ and ] keys to adjust the size of the
brush (you can also use the Size slider in the Spot Removal tool panel). Make sure
the Opacity slider is set to 100 and Feather to around 50-70. The brush should be
set to Heal. Click on the dust spot to remove it.
4. When you have finished removing dust spots (if any) in the portion of your photo
that you can see, press the Page Down key (or the Function + Down Arrow keys
together if your keyboard doesnt have a Page Down key). Lightroom moves down
to the next section of the photo. When you reach the bottom, Lightroom moves
back to the top of the photo, but over to the right. You can continue like this,
covering the image in a series of columns, until the entire image is covered. This
way you know you havent missed anything. Click the Done button in the Toolbar
when youre finished, or Close in the Spot Removal panel.

153

Above: Use the [ and ] keys to adjust the size of the brush. The gap
between the inner and outer circles shows the area being feathered. It
changes in size as you move the Feather slider back and forth.

Above: When you click on the dust spot, Lightroom removes it and places
another circle to show you the area it took the sample from. If required,
click and drag the second circle to sample a different area.

154

Above: Repeat with any other dust spots. Lightroom displays light grey
circles to show you where else you used the Spot Removal tool.

Visualise Spots (Lightroom 5 only)

While some dust spots are obvious, some are
harder to see. They are easy to miss, and you
may not even notice they are there, especially if
you are not in the habit of viewing your photos
at 100% magnification. This could become a
problem if you print your photos, or create a
photo book with them having to reprint is
both a pain and an expense. It might also be an
issue if you sell your photos to a magazine or
through a stock library.
In Lightroom 5 Adobe introduced the Visualise
Spots function to simplify the task of detecting
spots. Activate it by ticking the Visualise Spots
box in the Toolbar. The photo turns black
and spots show up as white circles. Move the
slider right to increase the sensitivity or left to
decrease it.
You can use the Spot Removal tool with
Visualise Spots activated, but dont forget to
untick the box every now and then to make sure
you are actually removing genuine dust spots,
and that Lightroom is sampling from the most
appropriate area.

155

Removing shapes (Lightroom 5 only)

Healing objects with more complex shapes than dust spots is now easy with the
new Spot Removal tool in Lightroom 5. Hold the left mouse button down and
drag the mouse over the shape you want to remove. Lightroom selects an area to
sample and connects it with an arrow.
The larger the area you are healing, the more likely it is that Lightroom will take a
sample from another part of the image. You may have to zoom out (hold the space
bar down until the cursor changes to the hand icon and click once to zoom out to
see the entire image) to see the sampled area and move it around if required.
You can use the H keyboard shortcut to hide the edges of the area covered by the
Spot Removal tool. This makes it much easier to see how effective the healing
process was.
The most useful thing about the new functionality of the Spot Removal tool is
that it saves you having to go into Photoshop from Lightroom for minor retouching
(although Photoshop is still better for complex cloning or healing tasks).

Above: Lets look at a common example removing power

lines. Its best to tackle subjects like this bit by bit, so start
by clicking and dragging the mouse over the power line.

156

Above: Lightroom selects another part of the

image to sample. Be prepared to move the sample
area around for the best effect.

157

Above: For fine healing work, such as the spot

where the power line meets the pole, it may be
easier to zoom past the 100% mark, to 200%
(shown here) or even higher. Adjust the brush size
if needed and run the brush over the rest of the
power line, taking care where it meets any other
object, such as the pole.

Above: The final result for this power line at least.

With care, its possible to remove the others from
the photo as well.

The lef t- hand

panels
The right-hand panels are the heart of the Develop module. This is
where you carry out all your post-processing tasks, and for many
photographers is the most important part of Lightroom.
The left-hand panels are there to make your life easier. Most of them do something
that can either save you time or help you get organised. The Navigator and
Collections panels are also available in the Library Module, and were covered
fully in my ebook Mastering Lightroom: Book One The Library Module (click
the link to learn more).

158

The Navigator panel

The Navigator panel displays a thumbnail of the most selected photo.

Click on any of these ratios to

magnify the image. More are
revealed when you click the
double arrow icon.

Click on Fit to show the entire image, or on one of the zoom ratio settings to
magnify the image. Alternatively, click on the thumbnail once to go to the last
used zoom setting. The white rectangle indicates which part of the image you
have magnified. Drag the square around to view different parts of the image.

159

The Presets panel

After you have processed a photo, you can save some or all of the settings used as
a Develop Preset. Lightroom adds it to the Presets panel (your presets are saved
under the heading User Presets) and you can then apply that Develop Preset to
another photo, saving you the time it took to arrive at those settings.

The second category is what you could call genuinely useful presets. They are a bit
better thought out, and designed to make post-processing an easier and quicker
task. Usually they are created by a photographer that has put them to use over a
long period of time and tweaked them until they work well.

Presets do more than save you time they can also help you achieve a consistent
look across your portfolio by developing an individual approach to post-processing
and employing creative effects.

There are examples of both in a few pages.

However, you do need to use common sense with Develop Presets just because
they work with one photo doesnt mean that they will work with others. If you are
new to Presets this is something you will get the hang of as you go along.
In addition to creating your own, Lightroom comes with some built-in presets,
and you can download more from other websites. Some are free, and others
(usually the more useful ones) you have to pay for. They tend to fall into one of two
categories:
The first are what you might call one-shot presets, which seem to work well on one
or two images but not many others. A good example is Develop Presets intended
to create a vintage or cross-processed look. They may work well on the photos that
the photographer originally created them for, but not with your images. Having
said that, you can always use them as a starting point and tweak the settings to see
if you can improve the result.

160

Left: Some of Lightrooms

built-in Develop presets.

The Presets panel contains all

Develop Presets that you have
created yourself (listed under
User Presets) or downloaded
from other sources. If you hover
over any of the presets then the
thumbnail in the Navigator panel
shows you what your photo will
look like with that preset applied.
Click on the preset to apply it to
your photo.

Develop Presets
are listed here.

161

The thumbnail in the Navigator panel changes as you

move the cursor over the list of Develop Presets.

Tip: Another benefit of

using Develop Presets is
that they fit in neatly with
your Lightroom workflow.
Theres no need to export
your images to Photoshop
or other software, saving
both time and hard drive
space.

The Develop Preset is highlighted

when you click on it to apply it to
your photo.

The preview displayed in the Content

Window is updated with the new settings.

162

The right-hand panels are also

updated to show the new settings.

Creating Develop Presets

Its easy to make your own Develop Presets:
1. Select a photo and make the required adjustments using the righthand panels of the Develop Module.
2. Go to Develop > New Preset. Alternatively, click the Create New
Preset icon in the Presets panel (below).

3. Give the Preset a name and select the settings that you want to
include in the Develop Preset in the New Develop Preset window.
You dont have to tick every box. If you did, the Develop Preset would
probably only be useful for that specific photo.
4. By default the new Develop Preset appears in the User Presets
folder. You can change that by selecting a different folder from the drop
down menu. If you want to create a new folder for your preset, go to
Develop > New Preset Folder before you create the preset.
4. Press the Create button when you are done.

163

Installing Develop Presets

Develop Presets downloaded from other sources are just
as easy to install:
1. Open Preferences, go to the Presets tab and click on
the Show Lightroom Presets Folder button.
2. Inside this folder is another called Lightroom Settings,
and inside that is one called Develop Presets. Drag the
Develop Presets to this folder. You will need to restart
Lightroom before they appear in the Presets panel.

164

Free Develop Presets

If you havent used Develop Presets before then apart from the ones that come
with Lightroom you likely dont have many to play with. There are plenty of
websites where you can download free Develop Presets. The problem is, as with
anything free, sorting out the rubbish, especially as most of these fall into the first
category of presets. Here are a couple of recommendations to get you started:

OnOne Software
OnOne Software, who some of you will be familiar with thanks to their Perfect
Photo Suite software, have created several sets of Lightroom Develop Presets that
you can download from their website at the link below. There are a lot of good
presets in these sets. One of my favourites are the Instantastic presets, part of the
OnOne Signature Collection Presets Vol. 2 (Lightroom 5 only). They imitate the
filters that come in the Instagram app., and are the easiest way that I know of to
apply Instagram-like effects to your photos.
www.ononesoftware.com/products/lightroom-presets/

Presets Heaven
These vintage presets from Presets Heaven are a nice addition to your presets
collection. They are especially effective with portraits. Search through the website
to find more free presets.
www.presetsheaven.com/featured/7-free-vintage-presets-for-lightroom-4/

Right: Photo processed with the Daisy preset

from the OnOne Signature Collection Vol. 2.

165

Other Develop presets

If you dont mind buying Develop presets then Craft & Vision sell a couple of sets
that you will find genuinely useful. They were created by photographers David
duChemin and Dave Delnea and are used by both photographers to process
their own images. Each comes with a PDF booklet that explains how to install the
presets and get the most out of them. You can learn more about both by following
these links:
www.craftandvision.com/collections/lightroom-photoshop/products/lrdevelop-presets-duchemin
www.craftandvision.com/collections/lightroom-photoshop/products/lrdevelop-presets-delnea

Right: Photo processed with the New Direct Positive

Max Vignette preset from David duChemin.

166

You cant always tell much from

the thumbnail in the Navigator
panel as its so small. Youll get
a better view if you click on the
Before/After View icon. Set the
Zoom slider to Fit to show the
entire image on the screen.
When you click on a Develop
Preset to apply it to your image
you will see the original photo
and the new version displayed
side by side. If you dont like the
result, Undo it using the Cmd+Z
(PC: Ctrl+Z) shortcut.
This Develop Preset is called
Brandenburg and is part of
the OnOne Software Signature
Collection Vol. 2.

167

One of the interesting things

about using Develop Presets from
other sources is that you can look
at how the settings have changed
afterwards to see how the effect
is achieved. Its an easy way to
learn new processing techniques,
and gives great insight into both
the processing techniques used
by other photographers and the
creative potential of Lightroom.
Before
In this example, using the Gritty
Medium preset from OnOne
Software, all the changes
occurred in the Basic panel.
The preset boosted contrast by
moving the Contrast and Clarity
sliders, then negated that effect
somewhat in the mid-tones by
moving the Highlights slider left
and the Shadows slider right.
It also reduced Vibrance and
Saturation. The end result is gritty
and dramatic, but not so harsh
that its unsuitable for portraits
(see close-up on next page).

168

After

Tip: You can create several virtual copies (covered later in the
ebook) of an image and use different Develop Presets to see
how they come out. Doing so uses virtually no extra hard drive
space as the changes are stored in the Lightroom Catalog in
the form of text commands, and is an easy way to experiment
with different processing styles.

For a close-up look at the effect

the Develop Preset has had on
your photo, click the Before/After
View icon in the Toolbar (marked)
and set the Zoom slider to 1:1.
Take a look at important part of
the photo, like the models face
in this portrait, to make sure that
the newly applied preset hasnt
created any undesirable effects.
Some presets do go a little over
the top with settings such as
Clarity, so its wise to double
check. You can make adjustments
to the appropriate sliders if
required.
This is a close-up of the Gritty
Medium preset shown on the
previous page.

169

Fading Develop presets

If I have one quibble with downloading Develop Presets is that most of them are
not subtle. What we really need is a way of fading the effect a kind of opacity
slider in Lightroom. Maybe it will come in a future version. But at the moment there
isnt, so we have to find a way around that.
One method is to export two versions of your image, one with the preset applied
and the other without. You place one on top of the other in Photoshop and use
the Opacity slider to fade the effect. Easy enough but it does take you out of
Lightroom, something thats good to avoid where possible as the exported files
take up valuable hard drive space. Plus, you may want to do something else to the
image afterwards back in Lightroom.
As a smart Lightroom user you probably want to save time as well as hard drive
space. Thats where a Lightroom plug-in called The Fader comes in.
The Fader does exactly what its name suggests. Once installed, you can activate it,
select the Develop Preset you want to apply from the drop down menu, and use
an Opacity slider to fade the effect. This clever plug-in calculates the changes the
Develop preset made to the image, and fades them all at the same time.
Its simple, and it works wonderfully well. It isnt free, but its relatively inexpensive
at $US10 (plus 24% VAT if you live in the European Union). You can download it,
and test it out, with Lightrooms built-in Develop presets at no cost. Paying the
registration fee lets you use it with all your Develop presets.
Learn more about The Fader here: www.capturemonkey.com/thefader

170

Installing The Fader plug-in

1. Go to the Capture Monkey website and download The Fader plug-in.
Select a folder to store it in (creating one called Lightroom Plug-ins in your
Documents seems logical). Double-click the zipped folder to extract the files.
2. Open Lightroom and go to the Plug-In Manager (File > Plug-in Manager).
Click the Add button in the bottom left-hand corner (marked above) and
navigate to the folder where you saved The Fader plug-in. Open the folder and
double-click on the file called TheFader.lrplugin to complete the installation.

Using The Fader

1. Open the photo you want to process
in the Develop module. If you are
using Develop Presets like the ones in
OnOne Softwares Signature Collection,
then you should process your file first in
Lightroom and then apply the Develop
Preset afterwards. Dont expect the
preset to do all the developing for you,
it doesnt work that way.

Select the Develop Preset

you want to use here.

2. Go to File > Plug-in Extras > The

Fader and select the Develop Preset
you want to apply.
3. Use the Opacity slider to reduce the
intensity of the Develop Preset:
4. Fine-tune the fade by selecting
which parameters to apply to your
photo. For example, if the Develop
Preset you selected applies a Tone
Curve to the photo, you can disable
that part of the preset by unticking the
Tone Curve box. Then you can use the
Opacity slider to fade out the rest of
the Develop Preset.

171

Use the Opacity slider to fade the Develop

Preset. Values range from -50 to 150. Values
above 100 increase the intensity of the
Develop Preset effect. The effect of minus
values varies according to the Develop
Preset used, but it is highly unlikely you will
ever use them.

Press OK when youre

done to apply the fade
and return to the Develop
module.

Grandmas Lemonade preset faded to 50%

For this example I used the Grandmas Lemonade preset from OnOne
Software to finish processing this portrait. I felt the full effect was a little too
strong, so I faded it to 50% using The Fader plug-in.

Original

172

Grandmas Lemonade preset

The Snapshots and History panels

There may be times when you are processing images when you wish
you could go back to a point part-way through and begin again. You
could use the Undo shortcut and work your way backwards, but thats a
little tiresome. Luckily, the Snapshots and History panels make it easy.

The Snapshots panel

The Snapshots panel lets you take a snapshot of the photo you are
working on. Lightroom keeps a record of all the develop settings at
that point and adds the Snapshot to the panel. You can add as many
Snapshots as you like, and return to any one of them whenever you
wish. Snapshots come in handy when you are experimenting with new
processing techniques as they give you an easy way to return to an
earlier stage.

The History panel

Lightroom keeps a record of every action you have taken to a photo
and stores it in the History panel. Not only is this useful if you forget
which changes you have made to an image, but you can revert back
to a previous stage in the development of an image at any time. The
only caveat is that as the History panel records every change, however
minor, it may be difficult to find the correct step to return to.

Above: The History panel stores every step in the

development of a photo, starting with the initial import.

173

Go to the History panel at any

time to view every action you
have carried out on a photo. The
history, unless you delete it, is
saved in the Lightroom Catalog
and is retained as long as the
photo remains in your Catalog.
This is useful as you can go back
and look at any of your photos
and open the History panel to see
exactly what you did to it and in
what order.
Double-click on any of the
entries to return to the image at
that stage in its development.
All history steps are retained. If
you want to return to the most
recent state of the photo click on
the topmost entry in the History
panel.

The history of the photo is listed here. Click on any of these entries
to return to that point in the photos development history.

174

Above: Snapshots are very useful when you get to a stage in the development
of an image when youre happy with what youve achieved so far, but youd
like to try something adventurous and are not sure if it will work. To make a
Snapshot, click on the Create Snapshot icon (circled above) and give it a name
in the New Snapshot window (below).

Above: If you realise you have made a mistake, all you have to do is doubleclick on the Snapshot you created earlier (marked) to return to it.

Tip: You can right-click

on any of the entries
in the History panel to
turn it into a Snapshot.
Click on Create Snapshot option in the menu to do so.

175

The Before/After View

Lets delve a little deeper into the Before
/ After view as there are a couple
of interesting ways to use it in the
Snapshots and History panels.
If you click the white arrow to the right
of the Before / After View icon, you
will see a menu giving you four display
options. You can switch between them,
and use the Zoom slider to vary the
magnification, depending on the best
comparison method that suits you.
Note: If you dont see the icons then press
T on the keyboard to reveal the Toolbar.

This button copies the After settings to the Before

window. Its a little like making a Snapshot, except
that it isnt added to the Snapshots panel.

Use the Zoom slider to

magnify both images.
The Before / After View icon.
This button copies the Before settings to the image.
In other words, use it to revert back to the original
image. You probably wont need to use this much.

Click the white arrow to reveal the four

Before / After display options (see right).
They are illustrated on the next page.

You can copy any Snapshot or any History setting to the

Before settings by right-clicking on the entry and choosing
either Copy Snapshot Settings to Before or Copy History Step
Settings to Before. This lets you compare the After view with
the image at any stage during its development. Alternatively,
just click and drag the setting into the Before image.

176

This button swaps the Before and After

settings. Use it if you want to revert back to
the version of the photo in the Before window.

177

Before/After Left/Right

Before/After Left/Right Split

Before/After Top/Bottom

Before/After Top/Bottom Split

More from the

De velop module
Now that you have learnt to process your photos in the Develop
module, its time to learn how to use some of Lightrooms additional
features to help make the task of developing photos, and
particularly groups of similar photos, easier.
Not least amongst these is the job of exporting photo files in the form of JPEG or
TIFF files. Unless you intend to go into one of Lightrooms other modules (such as
the Print or Book modules) then this, for many photographers, is the final part of
the developing process.

178

Using Virtual Copies in Lightroom

Imagine that you have just processed a colour image and that you are happy with
the result. But youd also like to experiment with it a little. Perhaps youre curious
to see how it will look if you convert it to black and white. Maybe youd like to use
a Develop Preset, like those provided by OnOne Software, or crop to the square
format. Or even all three.
In Photoshop, you would have to make a copy of the file for every variation you
want to try. If you are working with 16 bit TIFF files, the extra copies take up a lot of
hard drive space.
By contrast, with Lightroom you make a Virtual Copy by using the Cmd+ (PC: Ctrl
+ ) keyboard shortcut. Lightroom creates a copy of the image which is identical in
every way to the original and places it in the same Folder or Collection.
You can create as many Virtual Copies as you need, and process each one any way
you like without affecting the original photo. They take up hardly any space on
your hard drive, as each one is saved as a series of text commands stored in the
Lightroom Catalog.

179

1. Select the image you want to work with and

use the Cmd+ (PC: Ctrl + ) keyboard shortcut.
Alternatively, right-click on the image and
select Create Virtual Copy or go to Photo >
Create Virtual Copy.

2. The Virtual Copy appears

alongside the original in Grid
View. It is identical in every way.

180

3. You can make as many changes to the

Virtual Copy as you like without affecting
the original. In this example, I cropped
to the square format and used the XPro
Develop Preset from OnOne Software to
create an Instagram-like effect.

Useful Develop module shortcuts

There are two useful buttons in the Develop module which may save you time:

The Previous button

The Previous button applies the settings from the previously selected photo to
the current one. Its a quick way of copying all the Develop settings from one to
another. Heres how it works:
1. Open a photo in the Develop module and process it.
2. Go to another photo in the same Collection (or Folder) and open it in the
Develop module (you can get to the second photo by pressing G to return to Grid
View or selecting it from the Filmstrip).
3. Press the Previous button. All the Develop settings are copied from the first
image to the second.
Note: The Previous button is only useful when the images are similar to each
other, or close enough that the copied settings make a useful starting point for
processing the second image.

The Reset button

The Reset button puts all the settings back to their default. It comes in useful if
you make such a mess of a photo that it is easier to start over rather than continue.

181

Copy Settings
The Previous button copies every
setting. Its a useful shortcut, but
there are times when it is better to
copy just some of the settings, not
all of them. This is how you do it:
1. Right-click on a photo and go to
Settings > Copy Settings. Choose
which develop settings to copy in
the Copy Settings window (right).
Click the Copy button to complete
the process.
2. Select another image, rightclick and go to Settings > Paste
Settings. Lightroom applies the
Develop settings you selected
previously.

182

Syncing settings
Use the Sync button when you want to copy Develop settings to more than one
image:
1. Select an image and process it as normal. This is the most selected image.
2. Select the other images youd like to apply those settings to. Hold the Command
key (PC: Control key) down so that they are added to the selection. Do this in
either Grid View or the Filmstrip.
3. Press the Sync button. Select the settings you want to synchronise in the
Synchronize Settings window, then click the Synchronize button. Lightroom
copies the selected settings from the most selected image to the rest.
Note: You can pick as many or as few Develop settings as you like. For example,
you could synchronize white balance across a selection of images taken at the
same time of the day, so that you dont have to adjust them individually.

Auto Sync
The Auto Sync button works the same way, except that it copies the settings from
the most selected image as you make them (click the toggle next to the Sync
button to reveal it). In effect, with Auto Sync you are processing two or more
photos at the same time.
The Sync button is located at the
bottom of the right-hand panels.
It replaces the Previous button
when you select multiple images.

183

Click the toggle at the side of the

Sync button to switch between
Sync and Auto Sync.

Processing Photo Files

The emphasis of this ebook has been on editing Raw files, because that is what
most photographers use Lightroom for. But you may not be aware that you can
also use Lightroom to process JPEG and TIFF files. It works the same way the
photos are imported into your Catalog and any changes you made stored in the
Catalog in text form. You can make Virtual Copies and export the images when you
are finished.
This may seem counter-intuitive at first. After all, Lightroom is designed for
processing Raw files. But it works surprisingly well for photo files, although there
are limitations. You cant adjust the Profile setting in the Camera Calibration panel.
Some of the sliders have different values. White balance, for example, runs on a
numeric scale of -100 to +100. A setting of zero makes no changes to the colour
balance, a minus setting applies a blue colour cast, and a positive value an orange
one.
But you can apply all Lens Corrections, including chromatic aberration removal,
something you may find useful if you have photos that only exist in JPEG or TIFF
form, such as those created from scanned negatives or slides.

184

Exporting photos
Exporting is one of the final steps
in the development process. If you
want to view your processed photos
in software other than Lightroom, or
send them to someone else (perhaps
a magazine, stock library or a client),
then you need to convert them
to a format that other people and
programs can use.
The two most common formats are
JPEG and TIFF. The JPEG format is a
compressed file suitable for sending
images to another person, or for
uploading photos to a website (such
as Flickr, 500px or Facebook). TIFF
files are much larger, but let you save
16 bit files which are best for editing
in software like Photoshop.
Start by selecting the photo or
photos to be exported. It is easiest to
do this in Grid View. Then go to File
> Export to start the export process.

185

Above: This is the file export window. Well take a

closer look at the options over the next few pages.

You can choose from one of

these export presets. You
can also create your own,
saved under the heading User
Presets.

Select Hard Drive from this

menu to save your files to a
location on your hard drive.

Export Location: Tells Lightroom where to save the exported files. Select Ask
what to do or Choose a new name for the exported file from the Existing Files
menu to avoid accidentally overwriting existing files.

File Naming: Opt to keep the original file name or create new ones. What you
choose to do here depends partially on whether you created new file names at
import, or kept the original names created by your camera. The most obvious
use here is creating a naming format for images to be sent to clients.

186

File Settings: Select the format, quality and colour space of exported files.
There are five Image Format options to choose from. The settings change with
each one:

JPEG: For creating small files for sending to other people or uploading to
websites. Suggested settings:

PSD: Photoshop files. For maximum quality set Color Space to ProPhoto RGB
and Bit Depth to 16 bits/component.

For web use: Set Quality to between 60 and 80 and Color Space to sRGB. You
may also wish to tick the Limit File Size box to ensure that files are below a
certain size. If you are exporting photos to use on a web page, restricting
file sizes to less than 150kb will help the page load faster in a browser. You
also need to set the pixel size of the exported files under the Image Sizing
heading.
For full size images: Set Quality to 100 and Color Space to sRGB.

187

TIFF: Photoshop files. For maximum quality set Compression to None, Color
Space to ProPhoto RGB and Bit Depth to 16 bits/component.

188

DNG: Use this setting to convert native Raw files to the DNG format. Tick the
Embed Fast Load Data box to create DNG files that load faster in Lightroom.

Image Sizing: Lets you alter the size of the image and set the resolution. Use
this to upscale the photo for printing, or to create a smaller file for uploading
to a website.

Original: Retains the original photo file format. If the original is a Raw
file, Lightroom exports the unmodified original, with a sidecar .XMP file
containing the changes made in Lightroom.

Output Sharpening: Lets you add sharpening for display (Screen) or printing
(Matte Paper and Glossy Paper). Select from three levels: Low, Standard and
High.

Export Presets: If you find yourself

using the same export settings a
lot, you can save them as a User
Preset. Click the Add button in the
bottom left corner to do so.

Metadata: Choose whether to include all metadata in the exported image or

just some of it.

Watermark: Tick the Watermark box to add a watermark to your images.

Select Edit Watermarks from the menu to create your own watermark.

Post-Processing: Tell Lightroom what to do after exporting the images.

189

Conclusion

This is one of my longest ebooks, and has been an educational experience for me
as I wrote it. I hope it has been at least as helpful to you in your quest to learn to
use Lightroom.
There is a lot you can do with Lightroom that I havent covered here. One of those is
convert images to black and white, the subject of the next ebook in this series. But
at least now you have enough information to set you on the right track, and start
learning how to use this amazing program. It really does give us photographers all
the tools we need to organise and process our Raw files in the shortest amount of
time possible.
Heres to more photos, and better ones.
Happy shooting.
Andrew S Gibson

190

Photography ebooks

Mastering LIGHTROOM
Andrew S Gibson

The rest of my photography ebooks are listed on the next few pages. Click the links
or the ebook covers to learn more.

About the author

My interest in photography began
when my parents bought me a
Ricoh KR-10m camera over 20
years ago. Since then Ive taken
photos in over 60 countries, studied
for a degree in photography and
worked as Technical Editor for EOS
magazine. Now Im a freelance writer
and I make a living writing about
photography.
Mastering Photography
Your digital camera has so many
controls and buttons. How do
you know which ones to use? You
dont have to you just need an
understanding of the fundamentals,
and an eye for a good picture.
Mastering Photography is the
simple guide youve been looking
for that teaches you how to use your
digital camera.

191

Square
In Square, I delve deep into the
mysteries of the square format.
Digital cameras have opened up
the square format to everybody. But
using the square format isnt simply
a matter of cropping. It demands
a new approach to composition
and relies on aspects like shape,
simplicity and balance. This ebook
explores these concepts in detail.

Mastering Lightroom: Book One

The Lightroom Module
This ebook shows you how to use
the Library Module to import,
organise and search your images.
This important task lays the
foundation for the work you do in
Lightroom and ultimately saves you
time that you can spend either in
the Develop module or with your
camera.

AndrewSGibson.com
Design & layout: Andrew S Gibson
Copyright 2014 Andrew S Gibson
Notice of rights
All rights reserved. No part of
this ebook may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form by any
means without the permission of
the author.

Understanding EOS
Are you new to photography?
Are you wondering what all
the buttons and dials on your
camera are for? Do you want to
know how to use the potential
of your EOS camera to take
creative photos? Understanding
EOS teaches you how to use
your EOS camera to take
beautiful photos by exploring
the settings that you need to
know how to use to get started.
Youll learn about exposure
modes, Picture Style and white
balance, plus the importance of
composition, lighting and postprocessing.

192

Understanding Lenses: Part II

This ebook is the follow up to
Understanding Lenses: Part I
and explores Canons range of
normal, short telephoto and
super telephoto lenses. The first
section looks at the artistic side
of using normal and telephoto
lenses. Its a guide to using them
to help you create beautiful
portraits, landscape, travel and
close-up images. The second
part is a buying guide. It gives
you an overview of Canons
current lens range, and explains
the differences between the
various models, so you can
choose wisely.

Understanding Lenses: Part I

Buying a new lens can be one
of the most difficult choices you
make as a photographer. How
do you know which lenses are a
good buy if you cant try them
out beforehand? Why do some
Canon lenses cost so much and
others so little? Should you
buy a zoom lens or a prime? Is
that superzoom a good a deal
as it seems? Photography is a
creative endeavour, and lenses
are the eyes of your camera
system. Once you understand
how lenses see you can harness
their creative potential to create
eye-catching images.

Understanding Exposure
Understanding Exposure explains
the principles of exposure so
that you understand why your
camera doesnt always get the
exposure correct. Once you
understand these you will know
why your camera gets exposure
wrong, and what to do to put
it right. This ebook explores
advanced concepts in simple
terms and gives you the tools
you need to get the perfect
exposure every time. Youll be
walked through both basic and
advanced principles of exposure
and shown how to arrive at the
optimum settings every time.

Understanding DPP
Understanding DPP is written
for anybody who uses a Canon
EOS camera and wants to learn
how to get the best out of their
Raw files with DPP (the free
but powerful Raw processing
software that comes with
the camera). It will appeal to
photographers who would like
to use Raw, but are put off by
the complexity or expense of
more advanced software. Its
written for photographers who
want to use the functions within
DPP to make creative images,
and explains why as well as how
to use DPPs functions.

These ebooks are published by Craft & Vision. Click on the

graphics or the links to go straight to their website.

The Natural Portrait

The Natural Portrait teaches you
how to take beautiful portraits
in natural light. Its all about
taking the simple approach to
portrait photography. Avoid
tying yourself down with
complicated lighting setups and
get back to basics with a camera
and good portrait lens. This
frees you to communicate with
your model and build rapport,
the most essential skill any
portrait photographer could
have.

193

Slow
Slow takes you through
the creative possibilities of
using slow shutter speeds,
from blurring motion with a
shutter speed of 1/30 second
to long exposure techniques
using shutter speeds of five
minutes or longer. It explores
the creative side of the slow
end of your shutter speed
dial including slow-sync flash,
panning, intentional camera
movement and long exposure
photography.

Up Close
A guidebook for photographers
who want to create fresh and
stunning close-up photographs.
Enthusiasts of every level
will thoroughly enjoy the
discussion of the advantages
and disadvantages of working
with the best tools. I cover
crop factor and magnification,
focusing techniques, depth-offield, lighting, single/doubleelement lenses, reverse lens
macro, extension tubes and
more.

Beyond Thirds
This captivating and inspiring
ebook is about taking
composition past the socalled rules. Its a thoughtful
but practical look at the way
we build our photographs. It
explores important subjects
like the creative use of balance
and focal points, insights into
how to shape a subject, and
using aspect ratio to establish
an ideal foundation for making
photographs, and so much
more.

The Evocative Image

How do you create images
that capture the atmosphere
or show the beauty of
something that you perceived
at a particular time and place?
This ebook explores three key
concepts that will help you
create evocative images
light, colour and composition.
Another concept that I tackle
is that evocative photos are
created on the edges for
example, twilight is the edge
between night and day.

The Magic of Black & White: Part

I Vision is written for anyone
who would like to learn to work
in monochrome. The first step
is learning to see in black and
white. The ebook is split into three
sections: composition, lighting and
subject. Youll learn how to compose
a black and white photo, how to
work in different types of light and
about subjects that work well in
black and white. This ebook will
give you an understanding of what
black and white photography is all
about, and why its such a beautiful
medium for creative self-expression.

194

The Magic of Black & White: Part

II Craft
I explain how I process my digital
black & white photos step-by-step
using Photoshop CS and Photoshop
Elements. I guide you through the
transformation process that starts
with a colour photo and ends with
a beautiful, toned monochrome
image. Craft and vision go together
black and white photography
becomes truly magical when
the two meet, and you have the
technical skills to bring your creative
vision alive.

The Magic of Black & White: Part

III Nine Photos
I take you through nine black and
white images with the intention
of explaining the more advanced
Photoshop techniques behind
them. To be anything more than
a technical exercise Photoshop
technique needs to be aligned with
creative vision. The thoughts and
emotions that drive our vision are
just as important as the Photoshop
techniques required to achieve
them. This ebook helps you think
about how you see the world and
how you can express your vision.

Andes
High in the Andes are wonders
such as the worlds highest city,
deserts above the clouds and
remote villages where the local
people hold traditional celebrations
whose origins stretch back to the
years before the Spanish conquest.
This ebook has over forty black
and white photos created during
my travels to the Andes over a six
year period. Part monograph, part
travelogue, it tells of my journeys to
the Andes and my parallel journey
through photography as I made the
transition from film to digital.