One of my recent moves to try and combat this for the future is to shoot RAW plus JPEG. I noticed that when I upload a RAW on LR, a nice “edited” version of it can be seen very briefly when I first upload the photo (maybe a second) before the image becomes that flat and dull profile of the RAW file. Sometimes it can be a struggle for me to capture the beauty of that in-camera-JPEG but yet maintain the flexibility and data of a RAW.
The contrast one is seriously my #1 too. It grinds my gears when I have a photo that I thought looked good, post it on social media then see that under contrast "grey" look. This was a huge help!
@@b.a.p.4718 I also agree. I tend to capture everything in Raw plus Jpeg, so I can see where the Raw can go. For landscape, I use the Raw to get full dynamic range and get back blown out highlights, but the small jpeg I also saved gave me idea of potential of photo in terms of light. I also will vary the exposures a bit.
Good hint (that I'm usually too impatient to follow) is the "leave the photo alone for few days and check it again" which usually gives new perspective to finish the last 20% of the edit that turns good photo into great photo
I think that most of us, especially early on in, in our photography/editing journey have a tendency to go pretty heavy handed on the sliders. So our natural tendency is to immediately counter with a “less is more” approach to editing. I’ve found for myself that “under-editing” is a culmination of this “less is more” mentality combined with a lack of a vision for how I want the image to turn out when sitting down to edit. I set out with a plan and great intentionality when actually shooting the image. I often have a subject and composition in mind that I want before even pulling my camera out. But I often find that I’m not sitting down to edit with that same intentionality and that’s always where I run into these kind of “under editing” issues, is because I had a clear purpose when shooting but no clear purpose in editing. So I have to remind myself that the image isn’t complete until I’ve executed my plan in the edit the same way that I executed in camera. As always, thanks for the great video, friend!
In the new Lightroom there is now a feature called "Versions" where you can create virtual copies of your images without them becoming actual copies, but just the copies of changes. I, coming from a software world and version control mentality, love that feature. I'm not sure have they added this to the Lightroom classic yet, but certainly something to look into.
Mark, The majority of photography channels show the author in the field taking photographs. That's great for inspiration, but I need something more. A greater majority of channels show photographers educating viewers on various field camera techniques. That's great for the beginners, but I have been in photography for a long time and I need more. A fewer number of photography channels show their authors providing information on image editing techniques. This is the area I feel I needed the most education. When searching Google for image editing, I found your channel. I have been going through many of your older videos and have found that you provide a very well rounded photography experience. Many of your editing videos have provided me with a wealth of information. Inspiration and technique are very important, but, in today's world, the editing is where an artist makes their work stand out from others. Keep up the great work. Thanks, Bob
Thanks, this is very useful actually. I always struggle with the thought that too much editing is "cheating", but this video shows how we can make the picture seem more lifelike actually and not going too far.
Mark, thanks for the video. My take-aways today were two shortcuts: Shift+double click exposure and control+comma. I have a suggestions for you, in case you don't already know: When you compare 3 images to see contrast, you might want to use "N" for survey mode, to see all 3 images at the same time. Shift+tab will give you the entire screen space to make them larger. Keep up the good work!
I really love viewing your photo on dark and white background to determine exposure! Learned something new. I always struggled with determining if photo exposure was right. It would look right after my edit but later I would look at the photo again and see something wrong
Since Lightroom went to monthly payments I changed to Skylum Luminar and Aurora. Editing raw photos and correcting all you mentioned here is much more easy and you will get more out of your photo.
Thanks for teaching us all these little things that make a huge difference! Turning the background white to help with exposure is simple, but HUGE! We appreciate what you're doing here!
Hi Mark, Just wanted to say thank you for your easy to follow videos. I learned the hard way that photography and post-processing is a perishable skill. When my daughter was born a few years ago, my creative landscape and wildlife photography took a back seat to the typical child growing up kind of dad with a camera photos. Now that I'm getting back into things it's nice to learn again with ease with your videos and learn about all the cool new features of lightroom that weren't there before. Appreciate what you do for the rest of us.
Thanks for calling out under editing, Mark! I've never seen this topic before. People are so afraid of being branded as "over editing". I really like your before & after comparisons. One odd thing: I really struggled to see your editing changes in the video. For some reason, they just did not appear obvious on my Macbook screen. I've watched plenty of other photo videos and all their changes were quite visible to me.
Well done!!! I feel a big problem with many beginners is SELECTIVE over-editing (usually saturation) while under-editing in not utilizing small tweaks in multiple other edit options.
I am not deep into the editing, lately, from other photographers, they are warning away from getting excessive on the edits. You always do a nice presentation. !
I am by no means a landscape photographer, but I recently took a landscape photo of a sightseeing point of interest. I just adjusted the vibrance of that picture and it came out perfect^^
I very much appreciated this week's video. Instead of over-editing I tend to under-edit. Crop, flat color and dim lit are my biggest nemesis and WOW did your video shed some new light on these challenges and how to work it out. Thanks again for a great and informative video Mark!
Another 'on the money' video, Mark. Great tech help, esp now as we each have regionally restricted movement. On over/under editing, as you pointed out in some previous vids, I find it hugely helpful to 'walk away' for an hour or even a few days and come back with 'fresh eyes', so to speak.
This earned my subscription to your channel. When you're in the HSL, don't forget to use the TAT (targeted adjustment tool) so you're not trying to manually adjust one channel at a time. It moves other sliders at the same ratio as your selection. One thing that you did that I've never seen or been told about was using the shift key and double-clicking exposure to have LR adjust it to the calculated value. It probably works on other sliders as well, but this is the first time I've ever seen it.
The switching to white, then black background seems like a neat technique. I will give that a try, thank you. Have noticed that when I edit photos late at night in a dark room they tend to be darker edited.
Thank you, Mark. I am at that point where I know just enough to be dangerous to my own progress. You have cleared up some stumbling issues for me. Thank you again for the work you put in to share, and make us better photographers.
Hi Mark. Thanks for another fine video. Another important point is allowing sufficient time to edit an image. Rarely for an important image, be it fine art or commercial, will I complete an edit in one session. You may think an image is done, and move on to the next, only to revisit it minutes, hours, or even days later. Time lends perspective. Often returning to an image that I thought was finished, I'll see something not noticed, sometimes even with the reaction "what was I thinking?" Occasionally, I'll even scrap a first edit, and start from scratch, as sometimes an image with numerous adjustments doesn't lend itself favorably to additional tweaking. Time, and a fresh look may impel you to do something different from your first go-round. It's helpful if you're not on a deadline of course; a ticking clock is the enemy of creative vision. Regarding your first pointer, a bit more time spent composing before shooting can also enhance the final result. I'm not fond of severely cropping my images; I prefer to do most of my framing in-camera. Big crops reduce file size and final image resolution. A lesson I learned more than forty years ago, literally an aha moment, was when I first learned to see the entire composition in the finder as a whole. Oftentimes photographers, especially beginners, are too wrapped up in the details of setting exposure, aperture, focus, and looking at individual details within the frame, without actually creating a composition in the camera. You need to quiet your mind and see the entire image represented in the finder or monitor as a whole. Sometimes merely shifting the image a few millimeters in the frame one way or another, or taking a few steps forward or backward, left or right, can convert a rather pedestrian image into something special. Again, you need to take your time. By the way, I've never relied on the rule of thirds or golden ratio, or any other abstract principle. I don't consciously attempt to break the rules, I just pay them no heed, if that makes sense. With enough experience, and a little extra time framing, you'll suddenly see something, and know it's right.
Thank you for the tips. However, I would argue with you on "contrast deficit" and "flat colors". I believe, this is entirely personal preference. After you have intensified the colors and adjusted the contrast I started to get this fantasy/fairy tale feeling which isn't always a good thing in my book. To me it's more like a modern trend to make things vivid and sharp for the sake of questionable beauty. My point is, I loved your shots the way the were :D
I definitely agree with the "fantasy/fairy tale" comment. All of the photos people are sharing and getting alot of "likes" have that feel to them. I guess I'm just not "hip".
My wife is always showing me social media pictures - and they are almost always over-the-top fantasy/fairy tale (great term). Every one seems to think they are incredible. To me, they are ridiculous. It is a pet-peeve of mine. And therefore, I over-react and leave my pics all under-edited. I've just recently become aware of my under-editing. This video is timed perfectly for me. THANK YOU Mark, this is extremely helpful, more than any photography video I've watched in a long time.
A good friend of mine recently took an adult ed photography course. The instructor told them to get the exposure correct in the camera and then leave them alone. That to edit them was "cheating". I argued - but look at Ansel Adams! He dodged-and-burned his way to glory and fame. She said something like "yes, isn't that a shame?". My second response was "so, you are just going to let the camera and camera manufacturer tell you what is a good photograph and do it all for you!"
Very informative and great photo examples! I am too scared to use shadows so I go more for having the shadow details but at the same time you get a more moody photo when you hide things in the shadows so I have to be more brave! Keep up the good work!
Great tip to look at it from the "other direction." Sometimes, one can get so afraid of OVER-editing that we don't add enough correction. BTW... with survey view (N) you could look at all three contrast adjustments at the same time.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! I used to use survey mode, but my eyes aren't the best so I now only look at two at a time so they're larger on screen.
More tips that aren't talked about anywhere else. Thanks Mark. I just took a photo that I gave up on over the weekend and played with the calibration and may have something now. Never would have thought of that prior to your video. Love your videos!
I always have this confusion on handling the exposure and contrast in my landscapes. These tips really helped me in adjusting exp/contrast in a better way. Thanks a heap.
Mark, Your videos have proven to be the most valuable inputs for my improvement in composition and editing ... and they caused me to refocus on quality of my pics instead of quantity ... thanks a lot ! Paul
Great video. I almost never use the curves... I tend to do my edits by clicking on the histogram directly. My go-to method is to increase the shadows to bring out detail, and to darken the blacks to retain contrast. It's neat to see methods other photographers use to obtain essentially the same results!
Man, you hit the nail on the head. I'm a new photographer, trying to learn shooting as well as Lightroom, and I find myself very light-handed with edits because I'm afraid of over-processing and making everything look too "Instagrammy".
Glad to see I’m not the only one that struggles with this! I always edit an image to where I think it looks great, look at some similar examples other photographers post and then realize I’ve under edited quite a bit. I couldn’t figure out a way to g set past this but I think these tips will really help. Thanks!
These could even come in handy when editing other types of photos besides landscapes! I think my favorite was comparing different levels of contrast. Thank you for creating such amazing content. Can't wait to see how this this channel keeps growing, you deserve way more exposure.
I use a similar technique in just playing with the hue , sat etc. in the end its your personal style that is being presented. I find to many people take every aspect of lightroom and Ps to seriously.
Thanks for the video! I'm on my second week of learning lightroom. I didn't know about the toggle sliders to turn the effects on and off! Or the range masks option to adjust the radial filter. And I hadn't noticed the calibration tab. Tried it out on a photo I had just "finished" editing and fixed some very very green shadows I hadn't even noticed.
I've just started using a DSLR and Lightroom and your videos are amazing!! I cannot overstate how much I appreciate your before-and-afters. I have to say though that I actually loved your RAW Oregon photo (which you said was flat). I love gloomy, spooky photos and it worked for me. Great capture 😄
You can also press 'L' while editing to switch between isolating modes for the picture. This allows you to focus better on the picture while, at least in the first state, you can still see the sliders and easily adjust them.
I agree with most, but about the color im not so sure. Color is personal preference imo. Me, I like a colorful photo filled with drama most of the times. But for example the photo of Oregon coast, i liked the original with subdued colors much more. The great thing about photography and shooting digital and RAW is that you can always revisit these photos and make changes if you happen to have changed your mind about the original edit you did. I love to revisit old photos and edits. Its also a great learning experience.
This is actually a great video. I've never explored in the calibration and HSL/Color section because it seemed a bit too daunting but this is a fantastic new way to edit.
That's something I really struggle with very often, What I've found useful is editing in a few steps, not in one day, just to go back to editing every time with fresh eyes. In my case, it helps,
All handy tips, but for me dim light is probably the most useful at this point, and I like the way you consider the solution. Of course having a poorly calibrated or cheap monitor is a big issue and probably one of the most important things to consider across most of your suggestions.
Great video! Whenever I see an 18min video I think I'll probably just watch some of it, but you keep it so interesting that time flies by! I really like the tips and the examples of how to actually edit and fix the issues.
Useful tips Mark and I particularly like the white/black background trick for exposure, however, in all your adjustments you made no mention of white balance. A tip I have recently learned, before adjusting saturation/vibrance or other colour parameters, which has made a huge difference to my photos is to spend a few moments thinking about and getting white balance correctly adjusted. With practice the adjustment soon becomes obvious because when you get it right the RAW file suddenly comes ‘alive’, has depth, balance and simply looks right. Depending on the photo, it can help to temporarily increase saturation during this process.
interesting - the first image i preferred the first iteration; the 2nd one i preferred the crop; whereas the one w/ the orange leaves, i preferred the original... guess that goes to show that old adage, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". :) Nice work.
Thanks for making this video, I've never seen anyone address this - and I definitely fall into the trap of being too cautious with my post processing very often.
Wow! I learned so much from this video. Thanks Mark! I can see myself getting so much more creative with my editing. That tip about quickly creating virtual copies to compare different editing ideas is going to make a big difference for me; and I think it's going to save me some time, too!
I can relate to this, now that I know when I overedit I see a lot of examples where I have under edited and the crop is my biggest issue. I always feel like I have to show everything in the photo it will make it look better but a good crop always looks better.
some great tips there, with the shadows being dark I make a virtual copy just like you did and lighten it one or two stops and merge them, saying that you can do the same with your contrasts if say medium aint enough and strong is to much just merge them
You are a hella good instructor braddah!!! Wish you were around 15 years ago with the knowledge you have today! Would've made my life so much easier with photography!
I thing everything in photography is about to find the right balance in everithing. Some have found it (you) and some have to watch your videos to find it. Thank you.
Hi Mark! Underediting is totally a thing! I am surprised noone (that I know of) adressed this issue earlier... it happens to me too, so thank for those tips! very useful. I would add one more thing - do not finish editing after you think you finished your editing :D wait a day or two, come back to the photo and assess it again after some time. You can be surprised to see new things in the photo after some break. I'm pretty sure you do this often,but it's not an obvious method to all.
Yeah the loose crop is big issue for me! I really need to pay attention when cropping because oddly I see the story on the image - and even might see it if it's loosely cropped because I shot it, but the viewer might get distracted by the loose crop. Yeah it's are where I need to improve! Another great video Mark! Pleasure to watch :)
Thanks for the video and those great tips. Struggle with al of them, so a great thanks for leading me in the right direction. Can't wait until your next video, great work Mark!
Great video, Mark! I've been re-editing a bunch of my older photos lately and noticed that most of them were underexposed. I'll try the background color switch trick next time. Seems very helpful. One thing that works for me is coming back to the photo the next day.
W O W. I'd never really messed with the Color Calibration pane like you did in tip 2 before. I always figured it was to make up for imbalances in the camera or something of the like, and always EXCLUSIVELY used the color channel H/S/L sliders to process different colors but the results feel so much more artificial doing that. You sir, have totally changed my workflow, and earner yourself a loyal sub! Cheers!
Totally agree with your points on vibrance vs saturation btw. Vibrance is almost always the first thing I touch when editing a photo (after crop and fiddly technical things like CA and distortion correction).
I always learn something from your videos. This week has inspired me to take a second look at some images I liked, but just couldn't get happy with. Thank you!
Thanks Mark, Great tips,never thought of under editing before. I. Going to add your virtual copy idea to my own workflow, and not just for contrast I think it has lots of potential!
Mark, again another very useful video. I dont believe there should be a difference in editing for social media (for the screen) vs printing but some of the photos i see on IG, for instance are SO intense and beautiful but I can not imagine they would look good printed out on paper. Someone's personal style comes into it I suppose but i lean toward natural with some pop as you have shown, using HSL or split toning is good. BUT while I have you reading this what is the diff between CALIBRATION edit panel and HSL? Also, just want to tell you your other video on the the 'steps to go thru before you print' have been invaluable to me. My first step is lens calibration, then crop BUT this is when i turn it upside down.....instead of waiting until the end of my entire edit. And I love using the different backgrounds, white, dark grey and black - so so useful. Thank you.
That's amazing and informative tutorial. Valuable info in the #2 DIM LIGHT the tip of making the photo to 1/8 white, black and dark gray is great tool and never heard before. It's very useful tip.thabk you Mark.💐
What's interesting about the lighthouse shot was your final crop also followed the rule of thirds, but it did so with the land mass/water rather than the position of the lighthouse. I feel like there's a lesson somewhere in that. Hmm..
Very interesting thoughts on editing. Been soparanoid about over processing, totally see how a person could under process. Thanks for giving something important to think about!
I started editing photos for just over a week and this video is so helpful, thank you ! (I had no idea there was some preset for the tone curve, I have been struggling with it this will definitely help)
The problem with contrast in Lightroom is that it also adds a bit of saturation and this distort also the perception of contrast. Therefore one should also compensate reducing saturation. I wish Lightroom had a "luma only" contrast like Capture One.
Mark, as always, an excellent presentation with this video. It is helping me learn and navigate Lightroom as a beginner, and with more videos like this, I will advance to the next level. Thanks, Richard
Anyone else struggle with this?
One of my recent moves to try and combat this for the future is to shoot RAW plus JPEG. I noticed that when I upload a RAW on LR, a nice “edited” version of it can be seen very briefly when I first upload the photo (maybe a second) before the image becomes that flat and dull profile of the RAW file.
Sometimes it can be a struggle for me to capture the beauty of that in-camera-JPEG but yet maintain the flexibility and data of a RAW.
The contrast one is seriously my #1 too. It grinds my gears when I have a photo that I thought looked good, post it on social media then see that under contrast "grey" look. This was a huge help!
@@b.a.p.4718 I also agree. I tend to capture everything in Raw plus Jpeg, so I can see where the Raw can go. For landscape, I use the Raw to get full dynamic range and get back blown out highlights, but the small jpeg I also saved gave me idea of potential of photo in terms of light. I also will vary the exposures a bit.
@@ShootingLandscapes Thanks so much Phil! Really happy you found the channel as well!
@@ibar1878 I echo your same feeling!
Good hint (that I'm usually too impatient to follow) is the "leave the photo alone for few days and check it again" which usually gives new perspective to finish the last 20% of the edit that turns good photo into great photo
I struggle with that as well, but it's such good advice!
I think that most of us, especially early on in, in our photography/editing journey have a tendency to go pretty heavy handed on the sliders. So our natural tendency is to immediately counter with a “less is more” approach to editing. I’ve found for myself that “under-editing” is a culmination of this “less is more” mentality combined with a lack of a vision for how I want the image to turn out when sitting down to edit.
I set out with a plan and great intentionality when actually shooting the image. I often have a subject and composition in mind that I want before even pulling my camera out. But I often find that I’m not sitting down to edit with that same intentionality and that’s always where I run into these kind of “under editing” issues, is because I had a clear purpose when shooting but no clear purpose in editing. So I have to remind myself that the image isn’t complete until I’ve executed my plan in the edit the same way that I executed in camera.
As always, thanks for the great video, friend!
Great comment - well said Sam!
Thanks Mark! Great video 🤙🏼
In the new Lightroom there is now a feature called "Versions" where you can create virtual copies of your images without them becoming actual copies, but just the copies of changes. I, coming from a software world and version control mentality, love that feature. I'm not sure have they added this to the Lightroom classic yet, but certainly something to look into.
Amazing how trying out different crops can make the image more impactful in your first couple of examples.
Right! Makes a huge difference!
Mark,
The majority of photography channels show the author in the field taking photographs. That's great for inspiration, but I need something more. A greater majority of channels show photographers educating viewers on various field camera techniques. That's great for the beginners, but I have been in photography for a long time and I need more. A fewer number of photography channels show their authors providing information on image editing techniques. This is the area I feel I needed the most education. When searching Google for image editing, I found your channel. I have been going through many of your older videos and have found that you provide a very well rounded photography experience. Many of your editing videos have provided me with a wealth of information. Inspiration and technique are very important, but, in today's world, the editing is where an artist makes their work stand out from others. Keep up the great work.
Thanks,
Bob
Thanks, this is very useful actually. I always struggle with the thought that too much editing is "cheating", but this video shows how we can make the picture seem more lifelike actually and not going too far.
Great to hear you found the video useful - thank you!
Mark, thanks for the video. My take-aways today were two shortcuts: Shift+double click exposure and control+comma. I have a suggestions for you, in case you don't already know: When you compare 3 images to see contrast, you might want to use "N" for survey mode, to see all 3 images at the same time. Shift+tab will give you the entire screen space to make them larger. Keep up the good work!
Hi, as a total newby I must say I really appreciate the “before and after “. step. It helps me try to understand the process better. Thank you Mark.
Dim light is a big one for me. The photo looks great on my laptop but once I get it on my phone I realize it is way darker than I thought.
I really love viewing your photo on dark and white background to determine exposure! Learned something new. I always struggled with determining if photo exposure was right. It would look right after my edit but later I would look at the photo again and see something wrong
Same here John! So many of my early photos were underexposed, but this little trick has certainly helped that!
So true.... I've been shooting for last 3yrs and as I got more comfortable with my editing, I have gone back to revisit some old photos.
Always a good time reediting images from the past👍
I've recently moved to doing nature and landscape photos since my normal style won't be happening anytime soon
Since Lightroom went to monthly payments I changed to Skylum Luminar and Aurora. Editing raw photos and correcting all you mentioned here is much more easy and you will get more out of your photo.
Thanks for teaching us all these little things that make a huge difference! Turning the background white to help with exposure is simple, but HUGE! We appreciate what you're doing here!
Much appreciated Jason - thank you!
I always let my images simmer for a few days and then revisit. It makes for better processing at least for me.
Hi Mark,
Just wanted to say thank you for your easy to follow videos.
I learned the hard way that photography and post-processing is a perishable skill. When my daughter was born a few years ago, my creative landscape and wildlife photography took a back seat to the typical child growing up kind of dad with a camera photos. Now that I'm getting back into things it's nice to learn again with ease with your videos and learn about all the cool new features of lightroom that weren't there before. Appreciate what you do for the rest of us.
Thanks for calling out under editing, Mark! I've never seen this topic before. People are so afraid of being branded as "over editing". I really like your before & after comparisons. One odd thing: I really struggled to see your editing changes in the video. For some reason, they just did not appear obvious on my Macbook screen. I've watched plenty of other photo videos and all their changes were quite visible to me.
Well done!!! I feel a big problem with many beginners is SELECTIVE over-editing (usually saturation) while under-editing in not utilizing small tweaks in multiple other edit options.
Matt English Many thanks Matt!
I am not deep into the editing, lately, from other photographers, they are warning away from getting excessive on the edits. You always do a nice presentation. !
I am by no means a landscape photographer, but I recently took a landscape photo of a sightseeing point of interest.
I just adjusted the vibrance of that picture and it came out perfect^^
Love #2. Many times after posting a picture, I find that it is too dark. This tip will help tremendously.
I very much appreciated this week's video. Instead of over-editing I tend to under-edit. Crop, flat color and dim lit are my biggest nemesis and WOW did your video shed some new light on these challenges and how to work it out.
Thanks again for a great and informative video Mark!
This is awesome to hear - thanks Jackie! Glad you enjoyed it!
Another 'on the money' video, Mark. Great tech help, esp now as we each have regionally restricted movement.
On over/under editing, as you pointed out in some previous vids, I find it hugely helpful to 'walk away' for an hour or even a few days and come back with 'fresh eyes', so to speak.
Thanks John! Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the tips!! I always worry about over-editing but I'd never really considered the problems of not editing enough
Glad to do it and thank YOU for checking out the video - hope it helps!
Really nice tip with shifting from white to black background!!
Thanks Andrea! Glad you think so!
This earned my subscription to your channel.
When you're in the HSL, don't forget to use the TAT (targeted adjustment tool) so you're not trying to manually adjust one channel at a time. It moves other sliders at the same ratio as your selection.
One thing that you did that I've never seen or been told about was using the shift key and double-clicking exposure to have LR adjust it to the calculated value. It probably works on other sliders as well, but this is the first time I've ever seen it.
The switching to white, then black background seems like a neat technique. I will give that a try, thank you. Have noticed that when I edit photos late at night in a dark room they tend to be darker edited.
Thank you, Mark. I am at that point where I know just enough to be dangerous to my own progress. You have cleared up some stumbling issues for me. Thank you again for the work you put in to share, and make us better photographers.
Thanks so much for watching Kathy! I hope this week's video was helpful!
Hi Mark. Thanks for another fine video. Another important point is allowing sufficient time to edit an image. Rarely for an important image, be it fine art or commercial, will I complete an edit in one session. You may think an image is done, and move on to the next, only to revisit it minutes, hours, or even days later. Time lends perspective. Often returning to an image that I thought was finished, I'll see something not noticed, sometimes even with the reaction "what was I thinking?" Occasionally, I'll even scrap a first edit, and start from scratch, as sometimes an image with numerous adjustments doesn't lend itself favorably to additional tweaking. Time, and a fresh look may impel you to do something different from your first go-round. It's helpful if you're not on a deadline of course; a ticking clock is the enemy of creative vision. Regarding your first pointer, a bit more time spent composing before shooting can also enhance the final result. I'm not fond of severely cropping my images; I prefer to do most of my framing in-camera. Big crops reduce file size and final image resolution. A lesson I learned more than forty years ago, literally an aha moment, was when I first learned to see the entire composition in the finder as a whole. Oftentimes photographers, especially beginners, are too wrapped up in the details of setting exposure, aperture, focus, and looking at individual details within the frame, without actually creating a composition in the camera. You need to quiet your mind and see the entire image represented in the finder or monitor as a whole. Sometimes merely shifting the image a few millimeters in the frame one way or another, or taking a few steps forward or backward, left or right, can convert a rather pedestrian image into something special. Again, you need to take your time. By the way, I've never relied on the rule of thirds or golden ratio, or any other abstract principle. I don't consciously attempt to break the rules, I just pay them no heed, if that makes sense. With enough experience, and a little extra time framing, you'll suddenly see something, and know it's right.
Well, you just totally and completely rocked my world with the calibration tab! I've never even noticed that tab before and always relied on HSL.
Awesome to hear you were able to pick up something helpful out of this week's video Paula!
Thank you for the tips. However, I would argue with you on "contrast deficit" and "flat colors". I believe, this is entirely personal preference. After you have intensified the colors and adjusted the contrast I started to get this fantasy/fairy tale feeling which isn't always a good thing in my book. To me it's more like a modern trend to make things vivid and sharp for the sake of questionable beauty. My point is, I loved your shots the way the were :D
I definitely agree with the "fantasy/fairy tale" comment. All of the photos people are sharing and getting alot of "likes" have that feel to them. I guess I'm just not "hip".
My wife is always showing me social media pictures - and they are almost always over-the-top fantasy/fairy tale (great term). Every one seems to think they are incredible. To me, they are ridiculous. It is a pet-peeve of mine. And therefore, I over-react and leave my pics all under-edited. I've just recently become aware of my under-editing. This video is timed perfectly for me. THANK YOU Mark, this is extremely helpful, more than any photography video I've watched in a long time.
A good friend of mine recently took an adult ed photography course. The instructor told them to get the exposure correct in the camera and then leave them alone. That to edit them was "cheating". I argued - but look at Ansel Adams! He dodged-and-burned his way to glory and fame. She said something like "yes, isn't that a shame?". My second response was "so, you are just going to let the camera and camera manufacturer tell you what is a good photograph and do it all for you!"
Very informative and great photo examples!
I am too scared to use shadows so I go more for having the shadow details but at the same time you get a more moody photo when you hide things in the shadows so I have to be more brave!
Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much!
Great tip to look at it from the "other direction." Sometimes, one can get so afraid of OVER-editing that we don't add enough correction. BTW... with survey view (N) you could look at all three contrast adjustments at the same time.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! I used to use survey mode, but my eyes aren't the best so I now only look at two at a time so they're larger on screen.
More tips that aren't talked about anywhere else. Thanks Mark. I just took a photo that I gave up on over the weekend and played with the calibration and may have something now. Never would have thought of that prior to your video. Love your videos!
Thanks so much Dave! Hope the calibration section can help your image!
I always have this confusion on handling the exposure and contrast in my landscapes. These tips really helped me in adjusting exp/contrast in a better way. Thanks a heap.
Mark, Your videos have proven to be the most valuable inputs for my improvement in composition and editing ... and they caused me to refocus on quality of my pics instead of quantity ... thanks a lot ! Paul
Thanks for the tip on switching between the white and black background!
Great video. I almost never use the curves... I tend to do my edits by clicking on the histogram directly. My go-to method is to increase the shadows to bring out detail, and to darken the blacks to retain contrast. It's neat to see methods other photographers use to obtain essentially the same results!
Thanks Andre! I agree - I love watching other photographers go through their workflow - I can always pick up a couple of tips and tricks!
I had no clue you could even do any luminance masking in Lightroom. Awesome!!
Man, you hit the nail on the head. I'm a new photographer, trying to learn shooting as well as Lightroom, and I find myself very light-handed with edits because I'm afraid of over-processing and making everything look too "Instagrammy".
Glad to see I’m not the only one that struggles with this! I always edit an image to where I think it looks great, look at some similar examples other photographers post and then realize I’ve under edited quite a bit. I couldn’t figure out a way to g set past this but I think these tips will really help. Thanks!
Thanks for checking out the video Justin!
These could even come in handy when editing other types of photos besides landscapes! I think my favorite was comparing different levels of contrast. Thank you for creating such amazing content. Can't wait to see how this this channel keeps growing, you deserve way more exposure.
Thanks so much for that - really appreciate it!
All good tips, but the the changing the background colour to white to check exposure, so helpful. Cheers!
I use a similar technique in just playing with the hue , sat etc. in the end its your personal style that is being presented. I find to many people take every aspect of lightroom and Ps to seriously.
Thanks for the video! I'm on my second week of learning lightroom. I didn't know about the toggle sliders to turn the effects on and off! Or the range masks option to adjust the radial filter. And I hadn't noticed the calibration tab. Tried it out on a photo I had just "finished" editing and fixed some very very green shadows I hadn't even noticed.
Glad to do it and thanks for watching it Nora!!
I've just started using a DSLR and Lightroom and your videos are amazing!! I cannot overstate how much I appreciate your before-and-afters. I have to say though that I actually loved your RAW Oregon photo (which you said was flat). I love gloomy, spooky photos and it worked for me. Great capture 😄
You can also press 'L' while editing to switch between isolating modes for the picture. This allows you to focus better on the picture while, at least in the first state, you can still see the sliders and easily adjust them.
I agree with most, but about the color im not so sure. Color is personal preference imo. Me, I like a colorful photo filled with drama most of the times. But for example the photo of Oregon coast, i liked the original with subdued colors much more. The great thing about photography and shooting digital and RAW is that you can always revisit these photos and make changes if you happen to have changed your mind about the original edit you did. I love to revisit old photos and edits. Its also a great learning experience.
This is actually a great video. I've never explored in the calibration and HSL/Color section because it seemed a bit too daunting but this is a fantastic new way to edit.
The most egregious under editing mistake is being too lazy to do a full edit. 😂
Basically my entire career. lol
That's something I really struggle with very often,
What I've found useful is editing in a few steps, not in one day, just to go back to editing every time with fresh eyes. In my case, it helps,
Ahhhh very good advice!
12:45 incredible workflow with the white background, I overlooked having a point of reference like that!
I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one that has this issue! Thank you Mark, this is such a great tutorial with such helpful stuff.
All handy tips, but for me dim light is probably the most useful at this point, and I like the way you consider the solution. Of course having a poorly calibrated or cheap monitor is a big issue and probably one of the most important things to consider across most of your suggestions.
Great video! Whenever I see an 18min video I think I'll probably just watch some of it, but you keep it so interesting that time flies by! I really like the tips and the examples of how to actually edit and fix the issues.
Such an amazing compliment - thanks a million for that!
Great video. Very informative. I’m glad you continued advocating minimalist editing. So many images these days are over edited
Glad you enjoyed it Bob!
Such a helpful video!! Thank you. I completely agree with under-editing often being an issue once you’re long passed the over-editing beginner phase!
Glad to hear this!
Useful tips Mark and I particularly like the white/black background trick for exposure, however, in all your adjustments you made no mention of white balance. A tip I have recently learned, before adjusting saturation/vibrance or other colour parameters, which has made a huge difference to my photos is to spend a few moments thinking about and getting white balance correctly adjusted. With practice the adjustment soon becomes obvious because when you get it right the RAW file suddenly comes ‘alive’, has depth, balance and simply looks right. Depending on the photo, it can help to temporarily increase saturation during this process.
So helpful. Your presentations are actually art classes as well as photo editing tips. Thanks for your hard work and exacting detailed explanations.
Thanks a million for the amazing comment John - really appreciate that!
interesting - the first image i preferred the first iteration; the 2nd one i preferred the crop; whereas the one w/ the orange leaves, i preferred the original... guess that goes to show that old adage, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". :)
Nice work.
Excellent tutorial Mark. Concise, easy to follow and hitting it out of the park on topics you chose to hit on. Thank you very much
Playing with the Calibration section is usually "out-of-limits" for me. I think I'll give it a try. Thanks, Mark for another great video.
Happy to do it and thanks for checking it out!
Thanks for making this video, I've never seen anyone address this - and I definitely fall into the trap of being too cautious with my post processing very often.
Glad to do it and thanks for checking it out Marcos!
You give practical examples and very clearly explained tutorials. Thanks so much for being a great photography editing resource!
Thanks so much Remie!
Wow! I learned so much from this video. Thanks Mark! I can see myself getting so much more creative with my editing. That tip about quickly creating virtual copies to compare different editing ideas is going to make a big difference for me; and I think it's going to save me some time, too!
I can relate to this, now that I know when I overedit I see a lot of examples where I have under edited and the crop is my biggest issue. I always feel like I have to show everything in the photo it will make it look better but a good crop always looks better.
Yes, I think the crop might be the single best way to make the most dramatic improvement on a photograph!
some great tips there, with the shadows being dark I make a virtual copy just like you did and lighten it one or two stops and merge them, saying that you can do the same with your contrasts if say medium aint enough and strong is to much just merge them
Thank you for the tips. I'm implementing them on my channel and it really works I'm seeing results in my newer videos.
You are a hella good instructor braddah!!! Wish you were around 15 years ago with the knowledge you have today! Would've made my life so much easier with photography!
I thing everything in photography is about to find the right balance in everithing. Some have found it (you) and some have to watch your videos to find it. Thank you.
Always the best comments!
Hi Mark! Underediting is totally a thing! I am surprised noone (that I know of) adressed this issue earlier... it happens to me too, so thank for those tips! very useful. I would add one more thing - do not finish editing after you think you finished your editing :D wait a day or two, come back to the photo and assess it again after some time. You can be surprised to see new things in the photo after some break. I'm pretty sure you do this often,but it's not an obvious method to all.
Great tips! Changing the background colors for exposure is thumbs 👍 up!
Yeah the loose crop is big issue for me! I really need to pay attention when cropping because oddly I see the story on the image - and even might see it if it's loosely cropped because I shot it, but the viewer might get distracted by the loose crop. Yeah it's are where I need to improve! Another great video Mark! Pleasure to watch :)
AlmostGoodTV Much appreciated - thank you!
Thanks for the tips Mark!! I also struggle with some photos as well. Have a great day
Thank you Mark - i suffer from the under editing syndrome, appreciate all the tips!
Thanks for watching Lisa!
Thanks for the video and those great tips. Struggle with al of them, so a great thanks for leading me in the right direction. Can't wait until your next video, great work Mark!
Thanks so much friend - really appreciate that!
Great video, Mark! I've been re-editing a bunch of my older photos lately and noticed that most of them were underexposed. I'll try the background color switch trick next time. Seems very helpful. One thing that works for me is coming back to the photo the next day.
Jorge Rivero Many thanks Jorge! Glad to hear the video was helpful!
Now I want to go back through my images to see which ones need some of these tips applied to them...
Thanks for another great video!
Appreciate you checking it out Adam!
Very good post process video. Helps a lot.
I'm glad you think so Brian!
These are all my current struggles. Thanks for the video, it has really helped.
W O W. I'd never really messed with the Color Calibration pane like you did in tip 2 before. I always figured it was to make up for imbalances in the camera or something of the like, and always EXCLUSIVELY used the color channel H/S/L sliders to process different colors but the results feel so much more artificial doing that.
You sir, have totally changed my workflow, and earner yourself a loyal sub! Cheers!
Totally agree with your points on vibrance vs saturation btw. Vibrance is almost always the first thing I touch when editing a photo (after crop and fiddly technical things like CA and distortion correction).
I always learn something from your videos. This week has inspired me to take a second look at some images I liked, but just couldn't get happy with. Thank you!
Very happy to hear this!
Thanks Mark,
Great tips,never thought of under editing before. I. Going to add your virtual copy idea to my own workflow, and not just for contrast I think it has lots of potential!
Thanks for checking out the video Brian!
I'm going to re-edit all my landscape photos! :) Great tips Mark. By the way, I think you're a "natural teacher". Congrats from Brazil!
Mark, great informative video as usual.
Much appreciated Ralph - thank YOU!
Mark, again another very useful video. I dont believe there should be a difference in editing for social media (for the screen) vs printing but some of the photos i see on IG, for instance are SO intense and beautiful but I can not imagine they would look good printed out on paper. Someone's personal style comes into it I suppose but i lean toward natural with some pop as you have shown, using HSL or split toning is good.
BUT while I have you reading this what is the diff between CALIBRATION edit panel and HSL?
Also, just want to tell you your other video on the the 'steps to go thru before you print' have been invaluable to me. My first step is lens calibration, then crop BUT this is when i turn it upside down.....instead of waiting until the end of my entire edit. And I love using the different backgrounds, white, dark grey and black - so so useful. Thank you.
Always providing great tips!
Thanks Eric!
Number 1 and 2 are my biggest, without a doubt!
Great tips, Mark. Love your teaching style and the amount of useful information you put into your vlog. Great job. Stay well. Bill.
Much appreciated Bill - thank you!
Really excellent presentation! Great pace, explanation of subtlety and all-round help. Thank you Mark.
Thank you and Great Tips Sir, Love from India.
Thanks so much!
When I read the title I though: And Serge Ramelli is like: Nope, not gonna happen!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I really enjoy your channel and your body of work! Thanks for sharing! best wishes, Earl J.
That's amazing and informative tutorial. Valuable info in the #2 DIM LIGHT the tip of making the photo to 1/8 white, black and dark gray is great tool and never heard before. It's very useful tip.thabk you Mark.💐
What's interesting about the lighthouse shot was your final crop also followed the rule of thirds, but it did so with the land mass/water rather than the position of the lighthouse. I feel like there's a lesson somewhere in that. Hmm..
Being new to lightroom and editing that was very helpful and really well explained, many thanks Mark.
I'm glad you think so Ross!
Very interesting thoughts on editing. Been soparanoid about over processing, totally see how a person could under process. Thanks for giving something important to think about!
Glad to do it!
I started editing photos for just over a week and this video is so helpful, thank you ! (I had no idea there was some preset for the tone curve, I have been struggling with it this will definitely help)
The problem with contrast in Lightroom is that it also adds a bit of saturation and this distort also the perception of contrast. Therefore one should also compensate reducing saturation. I wish Lightroom had a "luma only" contrast like Capture One.
I love your videos. Everything so clearly and slowy explained. Thanks for that!
Mark, as always, an excellent presentation with this video. It is helping me learn and navigate Lightroom as a beginner, and with more videos like this, I will advance to the next level. Thanks, Richard