Selection and processing

Post-Production

Selection and Processing

Once your images are uploaded onto your computer and imported into Lightroom, you can make your first edit and begin processing.

Making the First Edit

Go through and assess which of your images warrants processing. You can mark your favourites by giving them a 5-star rating at the bottom right of the screen.

Processing Your Images

Once you've made your first edit, you can move onto processing. To access the images you've flagged, hit the 5-star rating button and this will bring them all up. Select the first image you want to process.

Click on the 'Develop' mode at the top right-hand side.

There is a processing 'preset' that I apply to all of my images as a starting point to give them the look I like before I do anything else with them:

• White balance (WB): as shot
• Exposure: 0:0
• Contrast: +20
• Highlights: 0
• Shadows: +50
• Whites: 0
• Blacks: 0
• Textures: 0
• Clarity: +30
• Dehaze: 0
• Vibrance: +15
• Saturation: 0

It's also well worth downloading the profiles for your particular camera and lens from the Adobe website into Lightroom.

Pressing 'L' on your keyboard at any time will allow you to view each image on its own without the distraction of the sidebars.

If you want to see the image in full-screen mode, just press 'F'.

Read the histogram on the right-hand side of the screen to check your exposure levels. You can then adjust and experiment accordingly using the 'Exposure' toggle.

Once you're happy with the exposure, you can start to look at how the colours are reading.

You can also use your histogram to read which areas are lacking in highlights or shadows, and then adjust these too.

As I've used a neutral density filter, I'm quite happy with the exposure of the sky. However, there is also a function in Lightroom that can achieve a similar effect. Click on the circle beneath the histogram to bring up the 'Mask' menu, then select 'Linear gradient'. This can be pulled down over the sky, and the different levels adjusted on the left-hand side.

If there's an area that needs lifting, select 'Mask' and then 'Radial gradient'. Pull this across and modify the size to fit the area you want to work on. Use the 'Feather' toggle to make the mask softer or harder. You can then alter the exposure of the selected area.

Sometimes spots of dust can get onto your camera sensor and appear as grey dots on your image. To remove these, click the bandage button on the left-hand side to bring up the 'Healing' menu. Select the brush size, feathering and opacity you require, and click on the area of your image you want to rectify. A shortcut for this tool is 'Q' on your keyboard. This tool can also be used for removing other elements in your image, but its effectiveness does tend to vary.