Overview
This masterclass provides a comprehensive walkthrough of every major Lightroom Classic panel, explaining core editing concepts and professional photo editing workflow, focusing on Correction, Color, and Finishing steps.
Editing Workflow Overview (CCF: Correction, Color, Finishing)
- The editing process should always follow Correction, then Color, and finally Finishing.
- Correction focuses on making a photo look natural and properly exposed, not stylized.
- Color involves creative editing and selective color adjustments.
- Finishing covers final touch-ups, sharpening, cropping, and effects.
Importing and Organizing Photos
- Import photos through the Library tab and "Import" button in Lightroom.
- Select imported photos and proceed to the Develop module for editing.
Correction Phase: Basic Panel
- Begin with white balancing, preferably by eye for accuracy.
- Adjust Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks to achieve a natural look.
- Use Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze sparingly and for specific needs.
- Vibrance enhances colors while protecting skin tones; Saturation affects all colors equally.
Color Phase: Tone Curve, HSL, and Split Toning
- Use the Tone Curve for advanced contrast and to create matte or film looks.
- Manipulate the Luma curve and individual Red, Green, Blue channels for precise color balance.
- HSL panel allows for selective editing of Hue, Saturation, and Luminance for individual colors.
- Split Toning lets you add different colors to highlights and shadows for creative effects.
Camera Calibration
- Camera Calibration adjusts foundational camera color values for global tone and color changes.
- Small adjustments can dramatically affect the entire image; commonly used for skin tones.
Finishing Touches: Detail, Lens Correction, Effects, and Tools
- Use Detail panel cautiously; oversharpening can ruin prints.
- Enable Profile Corrections and Chromatic Aberration removal as needed for lens flaws.
- Effects panel offers Vignetting and Grain; use sparingly for best print quality.
- Crop images for specific platforms; use appropriate aspect ratios (e.g., 4:5 for Instagram).
- Use Healing and Clone tools for removing blemishes or unwanted objects.
- Use the Red Eye, Graduated Filter, Radial Filter, and Adjustment Brush for targeted corrections.
- Adjustment Brush is especially important for enhancing eyes naturally without overdoing effect.
Final Recommendations and Tips
- Practice using all available tools and revisit them as your skills improve.
- Always keep your camera with you to encourage taking more photos and practice editing.
Action Items
- TBD – Viewers: Download example photos from the video description to practice edits.
- TBD – Viewers: Subscribe to receive future photography and editing tutorials.