My Landscape Photography Workflow in Adobe Lightroom
You've set up your tripod. You've framed up the shot in your DSLR's viewfinder. Maybe you've played with a Neutral Density Filter or Polarizer. You've spent five minutes setting up the most epic shot you can picture in your mind's eye. But when you look back through your camera, your shot feels flat and lifeless.
How do I create the epic shot I want while shooting in RAW?
Many landscape photographers turn to complex applications like Adobe Photoshop for their editing workflows. But I'm here to tell you... It's possible to create a breathtaking edit on Adobe Lightroom!
A great edit begins with a solid, high-quality photograph. On this particular evening, I was shooting on the edge of Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. With my Canon 5D Mark IV set to RAW (NOT JPEG) and a NiSi Neutral Density Filter attached to my 24-70mm lens, I pressed the shutter button.
My first shot was a 15-second exposure with an aperture of f/22 and my ISO set to 100. Looking at my monitor, I can see that my shot is way too bright. So I decide my next shot with be a four-second exposure to lower the highlights.
Later in post, I decided that this photograph would be a perfect candidate for creating an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image. With the bright highlights of the first image and the dark shadows of the second, these two images will merge to create something magical. Here's where the real fun begins!
Creating an HDR Image in Post
Select your photographs (2 or more) that you want to merge in Lightroom. Right-click and choose Photo Merge from the menu. Select the HDR option, or press ^H to merge your photos. If the photos match, Lightroom will automatically align your images and create a preview of your new HDR image. Select Merge to continue.
Making the Basic Edits
After your HDR image has been merged, find your new image in the Film Strip below. In the Basic edits panel to the right, I'm going to make simple edits to the image as a whole. For this image, I want to adjust the Temperature, increase the Exposure and Contrast, and bring back the details lost in the Highlights and Shadows. This is my signature move to creating a really intense HDR look. I'll also lower the White and Black sliders to give a bit more contrast to the image.
Take a Look at the Tone Curve
Under the Basic edits panel, you'll find the Tone Curve- a tool that has become one of my favorites in Lightroom. I try to balance my curve and shape it into an s-curve, even if it is very slight. This is a great way to balance your Shadows and Highlights.
Playing with the HSL/Color Sliders
When you are happy with your image's exposure, now it's time to get creative! The HSL/Color panel is one of the easiest ways to manipulate the colors within your image. For this image, I want to focus on the three major colors present in this image- yellow, green, and blue. On the Hue sliders, I decide I want my yellow to have a golden presence in the edit. I move my green slider to the left to match the golden hour look I'm going for. I slightly move my blue slider to the left to give a slight aqua tint to the sky. On the Saturation slider, I will increase the saturation of the yellows in my edit.
The Splendor of Split Toning
The Split Toning panel is a necessary step for bringing your colors to life. Put your shadows and highlights to work by giving a hue to those areas of your image. My general rule of thumb is to balance the colors as if they were on a color wheel. If my Highlights are colored yellow to give the image a golden hour feel, then my Shadows will be colored blue. Having the image of a color wheel in your head will allow you to balance your colors in a realistic way. Take caution when using this panel, because your photograph will begin to look unnatural with a heavy hand. After I make changes to this panel, I like to revisit the Basic edits panel and reaccess my progress. In this case, I increased the Temperature slider to add more warmth to the image. I added a slight amount of pink with the Tint slider.
Transform your Photograph... Literally
Because I shoot my sweeping landscapes with a wide angled lens, the Transform panel is vital in adjusting the perspective of the image. This is another panel that should be used sparingly and only if it is necessary for the edit. By making edits to the Vertical and Horizontal Transform sliders, I am able to make the mountains stand a little taller. Don't forget to crop your image to get rid of any white borders that may appear.
Creating Depth with Graduated Filters
Select the Graduated Filter icon on the tool panel or press M to open up a new panel. Dropping and dragging the filter into place will let you make an edit to a particular area of the image. This is great for editing the foreground and sky because you can edit large, unique areas in a controlled way. When editing the sky, I mirrored the shape of the clouds and focused on the blue section of sky. I lowered the exposure of the blue sky and played with the Temperature slider to give me the vibrant sky I was looking for. I softened the area by lowering the Texture and Clarity sliders, and I gave the sky a seamless look by lowering the Dehaze slider. When editing the foreground, I made color adjustments with the Temperature and Tint sliders and brought back the texture of the plants with the Texture slider. I also love to play with the Sharpness slider when it comes to the foreground to make the selection blurry and pull focus to the subject.
Fine Tuning with the Adjustment Brush
Find the Adjustment Brush icon or press K to open up this versatile panel. I slightly increased the Exposure and restricted the brush Flow in this panel to ensure that my brush tool would look as natural as possible. As I began painting light into the image, I made sure to follow the natural rays of light. Later on, I'll go back with the brush tool and paint over the highlighted areas on the mountains to give them more contrast and definition. This step will really make your light pop!
Focus In with Radial Filters
Select the Radial Filter icon to create a custom-sized circular filter. I use these filters when I want to give light direction. For example, when I shot this image, the sun was setting just out of frame. By adding a Radial Filter, I can focus in on an area while imitating the light's natural direction. For this specific filter, I made the photo's Temperature warmer, added Contrast, and increased the Whites. I added some Texture to the area and lowered the Clarity slider to give the selection a soft and glowy look. I'll add a Radial Filter over the tiny waterfall and make edits to increase its visibility, and I'll also place one over the mountains to bring out their full splendor. Lastly, I want to hint at the presence of the setting sun, so I'll create a filter slightly out of the frame and increase exposure there to mimic the sun shining. Take a look at your edit and make any last-minute adjustments that will add to your image's composition. Eventually, you'll have to find a stopping point.
The Final Edit:
And just like that, you have completely transformed a flat, dull image into something worthy of hanging on your wall!
