This month’s before and after analysis comes from a beach trip to Arch Cape, Oregon.
Before
Editing Steps:
- My custom preset
- Horizon straightening
- Panoramic crop
- Increasing contrast and shadow deepening
- Boosting highlights for a crisper image
- Localized darkening of the sky
- Localized brightening of the foreground wave
- Defringing to remove purple hue along contrast edges
- Adjusting white balance to give a warmer, reddish tone
- Minor sharpening
- Noise reduction
I always start each edit with a custom preset. In fact, it is applied during import, so I don’t even need to think about it. If you find you’re always applying the same edits, a preset can greatly hasten your workflow. Mine includes profile corrections (accounting for lens flaws), brightening shadows, taming highlights, and a slight boost to contrast and vibrance.
All edits are performed in Lightroom, and I typically only spend about a minute or so on each image. I prefer a minimalist approach to my editing, merely enhancing what I see or taking minor artistic liberties.
After
I welcome your comments and questions below!
