Masterclasses for Processing & Editing Photos in Lightroom

Lightroom Tutorials  •  Photo Editing  •  Photography Tips

In just a few short years, Adobe Lightroom has gone from being a new addition to the world of RAW image file converters to a powerhouse that has become the preferred catalog management and post-processing tool of an ever increasing number of photographers. In this video provided to us by B&H, an all-star panel consisting of Julieanne Kost, Katrin Eismann, and Scott Kelby walks you through how to use various new features:

Part 1 – What’s New in Lightroom 5:

Part 2 – Quick Tips in Lightroom:

Part 3 – Live Shootout and Lightroom Retouching:

Part 4 – How Rockstars Retouch Using Lightroom:

While the functions of Lightroom are spread across several modules, the two most important ones to master are the Library module (for sorting and classification) and the Develop module (for applying image edits). In this tutorial, photographer and educator Tim Grey takes us through Lightroom’s Develop module and presents a nice overview of how to utilize it to optimize any image:

More specifically, Tim shows us how to use the tools contained within the module to achieve the following:

• Adjusting white balance to ensure accurate color
• Achieving optimal tonal range and contrast
• Maximizing detail and presence
• Creating attractive black and white conversions
• Employing creative effects using split toning
• Cropping and rotation
• Applying local adjustments
• Sending images to Photoshop for additional optimizations

While the tutorial employs Lightroom 4, most of the teaching points are applicable to Lightroom 5 or to much earlier versions of Lightroom. The biggest difference lies in the tone controls which underwent a substantial overhaul from version 3 to version 4.

Although the first video has a minor audio issue, these masterclasses contain a huge amount of reference material that should prove ideal for beginners with little or no experience using Lightroom while still being very informative for even seasoned users to learn a trick or two.