Landscape Mistakes to Avoid in Lightroom

Landscape Photography  •  Lightroom Tutorials  •  Photography Tips

Photography can be quite overwhelming for a beginner. And as if taking good photos is not challenging enough, there’s another thing you’ve got to learn – editing. Many photographers start off with Lightroom to learn how to edit their photos and it can get pretty confusing. Naturally, many beginners end up making a lot of mistakes as a part of the learning process. In this video, landscape photographer Nigel Danson talks about 5 mistakes that beginners make in Lightroom:

Most beginner photographers tend to go overboard with their edits. So, if you happen to be just starting out with Lightroom to edit your photos, be sure to pay attention to these important factors.

To start, there’s histogram. No doubt it is important, but when editing your photos do not force yourself to limit the histogram within the axes. It’s okay if your histogram does not have any black or white points. And it’s also okay if some data is clipped. What you need to do is pay more attention to how the image looks and make sure that it looks good.

Good edits should appear seamless. If somebody can tell that an image has been edited, maybe you’ve overdone it. So, ensure that the exposure and the colors complement the scene. Everything should fit in and complement the mood of the image. That said, don’t pull the highlights all the way down off the cloud. If it’s a bright day, a bright cloud will do just right. And while we’re talking about colors, be extra careful with that saturation slider. Instead of using the saturation slider to make a global adjustment, learn to use the HSL panel. This gives you greater control over individual colors and is a much more powerful tool.

And lastly, you may not feel it, but cropping is quite a powerful editing tool. Learn to crop your images correctly. Don’t forget to patrol your edges and crop out anything that draws unwanted attention.

Have you been making any of these mistakes in Lightroom? Now that you know, at least you’re able to avoid this errors and improve your Lightroom skills.