Pro vs Beginner Lightroom Editing! (everyone should try this)
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In this week’s episode, we discuss the differences between pro and beginner photo editing in Lightroom. If you happen to be in a rut with your photography, unhappy with your rate of improvement, I'd highly recommend going through this exercise. It's difficult to see how much we've progressed when all you see is where you're currently at with your photography. And, in this video, I re-edit one of my favorite landscape photos from when I was a beginner and compare the results at the end in order to determine how far I've come with my own photo editing skill set. I hope you enjoyed this week's video and as always thanks so much for watching! - Mark D.
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yes, not very good though
@@liamditchburn Well we all start out that way:)
Yep
@@gregorboyd 👍
Yes Mark , every day pretty much , improving all the time I hope ! Help from your good self and some others on TH-cam have greatly accelerated my learning . Many thanks 🙏
I found this video extremely educational. I loved how you showed us your step-by-step process and why you make certain edits. It was VERY eye opening! Great job!
🇨🇦/🇺🇸... Hey there Mark. I am a VERY LONG TIME photographer. I had a full-colour darkroom back in the film days. Over the years I have come to realize that... the subtley realistic AND the overt contrasty, super-saturated, with obvious "local tone mapping" applied are BOTH "valid". If you go to a street art fair, like in Ann Arbor, MI, you will see people CROWDING around the GAUDY booths and fewer around the realistic, subtle, large-format camera booths. I used to think, those people DON'T have a clue about what is good. NOPE, just a different sense. EXCELLENT TUTORIAL though, bro! CHEERS!!! 😀
Brilliant use of the gradient mask!!!
That luminance range tip is incredible. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Chalk and Cheese. It’s a great suggestion to grade yourself. Thanks Mark. Another excellent video.
first 5 minutes i'm learning stuff i had no idea about, thanks man. I realise lightroom got a massive upgrade this year...tbh i've been super lazy about bothering to learn the new tricks. New stuff looks well worth delving into though!
One issue I saw with the complimentary pair of luminance masks is that the border between them ends up looking strange - you can see this in the trees on the horizon when zooming in at 09:55. Just something to keep an eye on - I really liked the techniques shown here otherwise!
That's precisely the reason why nobody uses luminance masks anymore to tackle such high contrast scenes since LR got it's powerful blacks/shadows/hightlights/whites sliders.
Wow! That's a huge difference! I've only started to play with local changes here and there but I'm beginning to find that they have become more and more essential as I get into trying to do more realistic and artistic editing. This was incredibly informative as I don't really know how to intersect masks and I have never seen anybody actually do a workflow like this. Very very interesting, and I intend to try this myself the next time that I can sit down to edit! And yes, I use Lightroom almost exclusively. So Lightroom tutorials are very important!
This is a great way to see where you are going not only with editing but also photography. Part of the changes we see in our editing process can also be related to current trends and editing program capabilities.
Brilliant work indeed 😊
Great suggestion to go back to an old photo for editing comparison. And super editing tips, very clear explanation!
useful 18mins of adobe Lightroom related content.
Greta idea for a good exercise... I will try this tomorrow and I will let you know how it goes.
you were right your edits now are way better all down to your experience over time and how much you have improved over the years Super video Mark. Thank you
I don't know what you did at the beginning to be able to better select the tree, but I have a feeling I need to know. It looked pretty mind blowing.
Thank you, great content. Just started to use the mask tool more intensive and this helped a lot.
Excellent idea to intersect an overall mask with a luminance mask to pick out a subject from a sky. Thanks for that tip.
Excellent. Really learned a lot,
Holy moly, that's a huge difference! Great video!
Great to hear you enjoyed it!
this was really helpful for me sir
Wow wow wow. What a difference! I loved watching how you did this new edit. Again, I always learn so much during these exercises. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks so much Andrea!
@@MarkDenneyPhoto yeah, I think I'm a little heavy handed with increasing details and must learn restraint. It doesn't help that I'm using a smartphone, so I don't have that crispness and clarity that your camera puts out. Your editing examples are always so helpful for me.
omg, is that a sport walkman? I LOVED mine!
Excellent video Mark and what a great comparison. There is always so much to learn and thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your videos, effort and transparency. I noticed you do not have Lightroom tutorials regards how you organize, rename, etc your photos. Things related to the Library Module. Is there perhaps a chance of this in the future?😊
Great exercise Mark. Always good to learn from our past mistakes and gauge our growth over time! Thanks.
This is a fabulous lesson, Mark. I have committed all of those post-processing sins in the not so distant past. You have given me the tools to look again and improve my masking techniques. Heartfelt thanks!
i like the first image more
Hi Mark, I watched your latest video this morning and I felt that I'd had a similar issue with masking on a few occasions. I just used the Intersect Mask with Luminance Range technique and I was impressed with the results - I'll definitely use that again! Thanks for the great video.
Lightroom has come a long way during that time as well. I have photos on Flickr from 2010 through now and I also look back and see how I have changed over the years. One thing about the photo that I would have done is to add some warmth to the swing and the tree to emulate the setting sunlight.
I was the same as you. At first I would use too much texture, contrast, clarity and saturation. But overtime I looked at some of my older photos and I cringed. I went back and tinkered and tweaked the same images and I started using more tools like radial and linear gradients. The difference is night and day
Great information
Great one
This is very good and somewhat obvious advice :) I look at my instagram posts and the older photos remind me to edit them again because like you said all of them are high on contrast clarity texture and saturation :))
But the thing is, I haven't got time to re-edit my old photos even if I want to do so. Nevertheless, I can imagine it's a very fruitful and satisfactory exercise when we see the old and new end product side by side. Thanks Mark!
"Don't judge" Photo wasn't bad my man. I'm getting back into photography after years of not shooting and i started around the same time as you.
Old LR was a different beast as i usually turned highlights all down and shadows all up (this was actually recommended to me by a pro doing photo tutorials). However when i did that on my first edit with new LR, i was horrified at the result.
Thanks for the video as i plan on re editing a few old images once i get more comfortable with new LR.
Thanks!
Some difference alright, looks a lot better. I have done in the past, looking back on old photos and hate the editing on them 😂 I need to do it more often
Thanks Trevor!
i use bunch of plugin and make it action use them like heal4me, skin finner, portraiture 3. I use 2 soften skin plugin and put it in low to make image look still sharp and detail not lost. Then i create action in camera to -10 remove noise, + 10 contrast or -10 texture. I shoot poraits only. And i make an action to auto all. Bam, just load 100 image, take a coffe and wait about 15 min and all image done. That the retouch problem. Then export all to jpg, import all on light room. I use auto funtion to all image , so no image gona get bad exposure . i check all small thumbail image on bottom lightroom to make sure light is okay, if i got time i check every image ~ 2-3s, just need to look at histogram is fine. Then i select all image, applies preset as i want. U can edit like 100 image in 90-120 image.
Wonderful video. I am getting back in after a few years and one thing I struggle with now is sharpness, clarity and grain. I take more "landscape" photos and wildlife, vague question, is it better to + or - sharpness or clarity to get a cripser smooth matte like photo rather than up the sharpness if that makes sense?
Mark can you make a video about hdr photography?
How ironic. For reasons unknown to me, I'd been in a bit of a creative funk lately and had not been taking many new images. Just as an exercise, I've been revisiting old images and adding new edits. It's not only helped me realize new editing skills... it's also inspired me to shoot again as well. (Kind of like priming the pump, so to speak).
To apply a linear gradiant to the whole photo, you can just place a small gradiant outside of the photo.
Thanks for the video. Did you use the software as it was 8 years ago or the current version.? That’s important I think.
I'm currently using Lightroom 5 and considering upgrading to Lightroom Classic subscription from Adobe. With all the recent news issues to do with Adobe, would you recommend upgrading to Lightroom Classic or going with another software that is similar to Lightroom to process/edit your photos?
Oh mate I wish! I pull out of favourites and they make me angry at my old self - jpeg only, mad saturation. LR presets I used to combat / hide it just making things worse. Ken Rockwell got me...
Yes I use LR on my iPad, and I’ve learned most of my skills thru your videos. I still believe a bad photo, for whatever the reason, can’t be saved by LR. And I wonder in todays photography world if a photo can be called great if the photographer is not versed in LR or PS. However that’s a subject for another video.
I am a Lightroom user, but I am way behind in their updates. Use Luminar NEO more now. Soft ware has come a long way in 8 to 9 years.
Mark, great video. Do you happen to know how to do these masks with LR cc for iOS? I only have an iPad Pro, and suspect it can be done, but wondered if you had tried it on iOS.
Awesome content. Do you think you would have shot it differently? If so, I'd love to learn what you would change. Newer cameras dynamic range notwithstanding...
I llke the old version better, only decreasing the darkness on the darkest areas
Also, now Lightroom is a much more powerfull tool. BTW, those old edits show editing trends that, many times, aren't relevant anymore. Great content as always!
Thanks Andre!
How did you learn all of this
Dude. Use a brush instead of all those radial gradients. You’ll get much better control on where you want the mask effects that way.
What type of Lightroom do you use? I don’t have these functions on mine.
Hello Mark, as a Fujifilm user who just started editing in lightroom, is there anything that can be done to change the way lightroom processes .raf files? I have seen there is some sort of success with the lightroom enhance details feature, but sometimes, I do get worms / softer images than what I see in capture one express. What do you personally do to prevent this?
I wouldn't say this comparison is completely fair =) You didn't have the same tools available you have now. So, have you improved? Or has the tool improved? ;) haha Great video. It's a great reminder to go back and look at the photos we've taken before and been like oh wow, I took that and thought it was great, huh?
There is no shortcut to becomming skilled in LR. I would equate it to learning a language, it,s that deep. Surely beginers are better sticking to the basic panel edit,s and sometimes that,s all you need. Over processing look,s just that, digital and worse HDR. That,s why I,m using vintage Minolta glass to give a more natural look, it work,s.
Instagram called, and likes the first version 🤣
Amazing, however I do like your old one also both looks good to me 😅
Was it your skills got better, or your software? Okay obviously over time we improve our learning and skill level, but most of your new edit was done using masks and other features that weren't even around when you did your first edit.
is that a walkman ?
👍
I just wish lightroom's spot removal wasn't so terrible...that's all it needs then i literally wouldn't have to use photoshop at all for my work flow.
I have not used Lightroom.
This all is technically and artistically fascinating but also worrisome. Are all these digital manipulations of binary 0's and 1's really an improvement? At what point does digital manipulation render the actual physical, and emotional experience between the human, the tree, and the sky meaningless. Is there some point when "post processing" reaches a level of absurdity in an image. A point where the finished image falsely reports an experience that never occured.
There is an argument that an unretouched Brownie Instamatic image from the 1950's, however crude, captures the moment more honestly than our current "Lightroom" culture. Not all technology improves our lives.
Nice trick - start with masks.
Texture slider wasn’t there 8 years ago on Lightroom. Why lying? You edited this image recently
And yet, sadly, the old edit will get more likes and views on Instagram
I'm about 2.5 years into photography and I did this exercise sometime last year and I was blown away with the difference with some of the photos I used. More local adjustments has been the biggest game changer for myself. Love your videos and they have been a huge help! Thanks Mark!
You did a very nice job on what you did however it’s now not a photograph it’s an art piece with the assistance of light room which you demonstrated exceedingly well!
Mark, i don’t trust my Laptop for Colors. From Camera to Laptop to print is a Lot of error Chance. How old is your iMac and do you think a 5 year old IMac could still be good enough to start with?
I don’t think I have the eye. I still like the first picture edits.
Might be just me, but tbh I liked your old edit alot more :)
Is it a bad sign that I really liked the first picture 😂
Fantastic video Mark! It has been a while since you've done one of these types of videos. I really liked it. It's amazing to see your progress. Keep it up man! I learned several things in this video. I love how you retouched it the 2nd time.
negative clarity with positive texture is ALWAYS the way to go. I usually do a x2 - clarity to x1 + texture. So if I -20 clarity, i'll do a +10 texture. It just really helps soft the image without losing your sharpness and texture, so beautiful!
Wow, I love this. Comparing yourself to your old self. It’s also inspired me to change my photo editing methods to more local edits. I’ve never done much local edits unless I had a specific reason for it. This is great Mark!
Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Same!!
why English is around being old?
basically you compare yourself to young self, not to 'old' self )
Thanks for this Mark :) I have not had the motivation to do any photography for the past 3 months due to chronic back pain, which has led into depression. Just watching this video has motivated me to charge my batteries and I shall be going tomorrow. I find you to be the one photographer that I can actually sit and watch without skipping to parts, full of knowledge and charisma and a joy to watch. Thank you again :) I'm off to watch your other tutorials now.
Chronic back pain sucks! It is inspiring to read that you are fighting back and picking up your camera again. Hope you had a good shoot.
Your workflow is akin to music engineering where individual tracks adjusted first ("local adjustments") before the whole mix is mastered as one ("global adjustments").
Nonetheless, I don't know about the "pro" edit being exponentially better than the beginner edit because that one has some "fantasy" feel about it. Some small adjustments went overboard, for sure, but I like its overall "feel" or "vibe" better.
So, just saying.... Lightroom 9 years ago was nothing like the version you are using here. I am just an amateur and still using Lightroom 4.4, I do not think I could do any of the things you just did. As far as I can tell, no layers.
I just wanted to say thank you for all your informative videos. I appreciate all your effort. You have helped me tremendously over the years with my editing as well as composition. I always liked photography but I didn't fully commit to learning the craft until 4 years ago. It was intimidating until I found people like yourself on youtube willing to help the new guy along. I've spent the last several hours going through old edits from years ago when I didn't even know what it meant to do a local adjustment. WOW! You have sent me down a rabbit hole I my never climb out of LOL. Thanks Mark, keep up the great work!
Very helpful!!!
A nice photo from IL....it didnt quite capture our top 2 things in IL life.....corn and taxes! Haha
One day I'll escape.....
When I say my jaw dropped…… I mean I was like YOOOO!!!! He got everything captured in that mask without a manual brush!!!! 🎉🎉🎉
I think you can see what kind of content we (your public) are seeking for. Great upload!
Ho com on ! Forget this programe ! Lightroom it’s for the noob. 🤣 Real pro don’t use Lightroom. 😏 They use Darktable, it,s mutch more creative and powerfull than Lightoom. 😉
Great vid!
Just beside the improved own skills the LR editing capabilities really boosted the last years.
i would add that one of the biggest differences between then and now, would be the fact that lightroom NOW is a LOOOT better than what it was 5+ years ago.. i know this because im still using 2015 lightroom and i have none of those fancy AI options or filters management UI you just used.. lol
Cool technique; thanks for the tip, Mark! Were you using your old Sony at this time? Have you ever done any Sony/Fuji image compares using roughly the same subject?
Thanks Mark for a great video. I have used local adjustment quite a bit but after global adjustments. I’m going to try your approach on some older photos. One thing I have noticed is that I use much less sharpening and saturation than I used to....I guess everyone overdoes those in the beginning.
Seeing the before after images I question myself. Where is the photography? All I see is digital editing. So how come you call you a photographer and not a digital editor?
No I use On1Raw and luminar Ai, Never liked Lr, I used adobe bridge. The ides and adjustments are close to others software programs
Your Squarespace ad at the beginning looks familiar :) It's a popular place in the Polish Tatra mountains :)
I use photoshop for what ever reason lightroom is hard for me .
Is it bad I like your old edit better?..lol I think im the "punchy edit" person..lol
Before I learned photoshop I used Picmoney so i had filters on all my photos so I don't think my photos were that bad I know they seemed to look worse when I stopped using picmonkey and was learning how to do a full edit myself I definitely got better but there is still much to learn for me in photoshop.
For the gradient, couldn't you just do a very short one and place the top of it at the bottom? Also, the upper left branches of the picture really got _lost_ in the new edit. Of course it was a quick edit, but it stuck out immediately to me at least. They're like a third of the original size in the end compared to the first edit. It would be interesting to see the approach to correct this later on.
Humm, I kind of like the first image as well as the second. I wonder if you went between he two if you would have a image that would pop more. I like the new edits a lot but the picture leaves me blah but the first edit made it a bit more interesting. Odd as i shoot mostly portraits and I know that IG likes the stronger colors and edits but I dont do those on my landscapes. SO in a way I am a bit torn by this edit.
It's always fun to go back and re-read edit old photos after you've learned new techniques or after the software has been updated to make editing better.
I really haven't done this particular exercise but I have gone back and looked at some of my old photos. Pretty terrible.
This. This is what I want to see more of. I know how to use a radial filter, linear gradient, etc. I also know how to put paint on a paintbrush and put paint to canvas. That doesn't mean I can paint the Mona Lisa. I want to see more about the creative choices you make when editing your photos. It's that creativity that separates the wheat from the chaff.
brilliant video. What version of Lightroom are you using...? thanks
I usually start in Lightroom, often go to Photoshop and then finish in Lightroom. Your videos have been a great help in demonstrating the capabilities of the Lightroom and Photoshop tools. One question though: would you always do targetted adjustments before global adjustments? Thanks for another thoughtful video, Mark.
This first photo must have generated thousands of dollars in revenue to justify all the time and effort spent in reworking it and producing this video.