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I am often asked about how I edit my photos and what editing program I use. The HANDS DOWN best software out there is availble here ... Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6!
Heres a little tutorial on how I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6! This is just a quick overview of what Lightroom can do and how fast adjustments and edits can be made.
1. When you first click on the Lightroom icon, this is what pops up. (Ok ... you'll see here that I have not upgraded to Lightroom 6 just yet, be will be doing so soon!)
2. So now you want to import my photos or maybe you just want to edit existing photos. A panel will show up the allows you to pick an existing catalog or create a new catalog. I tend to create a new catalog for new large projects. I do however have catalogs for my blog posts, family and so, where I then divide the content into different folders.
3. Once the photos have been loaded up you can then start to edit them. There are a few quick things that I do to almost all my photos. Here's an example:
The left side shows the photo as it was shot, right out of my camera. Because I almost always shoot in RAW, every photo needs some adjusting. The right side shows the photo after a few quick adjustments have been made.
4. Here's a close up of a few of the sliders and adjustments that I use to make really quick adjustments to every photo. I usually check the white balance right away and then go from there. I could spend an entire day talking about on just white balance, but I'll save that so another post!
Often the exposure needs to be opened up or increased a bit, as well as the contrast and sometimes the highlights can be taken down a hair and shadows are opened up or increased. I usually only add a little saturation, vibrance and clarity.
I can save the adjustments that I have made here as a "User Preset" and then give it a name and then batch all the photos and apply these adjustments to all the photos at one time!
5. Lightroom also comes with some presets that are super fun to play with! On the left panel, there are a bunch of different combinations that have been put together and with just a click of the button your photo can have a slight vintage blue look to it ... as seen below!
6. Here you can see the photo before the preset application on the left and the after photo on the right!
7. Of course there are many, many presets out on the market to purchase! I have bought a bunch in the past and use them on occasion. For this camper photos the "Urban Collection" seemed to be a good fit.
8. Ok, so ... I have only scratched the very surface of what Lightroom can do for your photos! Of course you can crop, make black and white images, smooth skin, sharpen and create eyelashes, upload to social media, make slide shows, add text, make books and on and on! It's a big photo editing program and so much more ... but here's the thing! It's doable ... it's not a monster program like Photoshop! Yes, I use photoshop when I have to, but the majority of time I can edit my photos right here in Lightroom.
If your considering purchasing Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, then you'll want to purcahse Scott Kelby's book on Lightroom available here!
The way Scott explains how to use the program is simple and to the point! It's my go to manual when I want to learn and try something new or just need a refreasher course on something I don't do very often! This is a must have book!
Ok ... hope this helped a little and don't hesitate to contact me if you have further questions!
Happy Shooting!
