This article will cover my retouching process exclusively for Adobe Photoshop CC. You can utilize Lightroom or other popular programs like Capture One for some of the retouching, but the major steps will require the use of Photoshop.
Now that we’ve finished correcting color and exposure, it’s time to get creative and show off our best work. When it comes to creative editing in Lightroom, there is a lot we can do without having to jump into Photoshop. That’s exactly what I want to cover in this article, while also offering workflows for Lightroom to Photoshop for that extra level of editing.
Dialing in color doesn’t have to be as painstaking as it seems. Remember to start with a color profile that looks closest to how you want your images to look. Then the rest will fall in place in terms of controlling brightness, tonal recovery, and white balance.
After the shoot is done, after the files are stored and backed up, and the catalog and previews are rendered, it’s finally time to process all those files. Put your headphones on and get ready to cull. Lightroom has made life easier with its intuitive hotkeys, ease of cycling between images, and syncing adjustments.
Over the next six articles, in order, you’ll learn how to properly manage Lightroom catalogs so you’ll be ready to cull and sort your images while you import. Then, you will learn to Color Correct from the basics to the advanced stuff, leading you to a solid creative edit workflow with Photoshop.
When it comes to shooting over 100,000 images per year and needing speed on my side, it’s a no brainer: I choose Lightroom. The program is simple enough to use, and I want to show you the best ways to do so it in my seven-part workflow series.
If you aren’t already feeling the heat of wedding season, it’s time to wake up and get ready! Before you know it, you’ll be up all night editing in October, wondering why all the issues you had last year are now hitting you in the face. There’s no better time than now to revitalize your workflow and prepare for the worst, because it’s coming.
If an image needs heavy composite work to swap a sky or clip out a subject, of course it’s Photoshop to the rescue. But what about the creative editing of tones, color grades, dodge and burn, HDR, sharpening, etc.? Can we really work in Photoshop to prep and go back into Lightroom and get good results?
Adobe Camera Raw is the solution for nondestructive editing from Lightroom to Photoshop using Smart Objects. This is useful for Lightroom to Photoshop, but what about Photoshop actions into Lightroom? Adobe’s recent improvements give us the ability to create Custom Color Profiles in Camera Raw, so we can flex our creativity with Photoshop actions and Custom Color Profiles by exporting Look Up Tables, or LUTs. This is a massive overhaul for Photoshop that makes our Lightroom workflow even more powerful.
When winter hits, being a photographer can bring a lot of challenges. Not just the obvious cold weather and clients who want to spend as little time outside as possible, but everything is dead except the pine trees. Especially in the Midwest where beautiful mountainous backdrops are rare. Not to worry. Sometimes we have to get creative when ideal lighting doesn’t show up—not only with our photography, but our editing too. In this article, I show you how to edit color for the season.
