• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Photography Concentrate

Learn Photography Faster!

  • Blog
  • Learn
    • Camera Skills
    • Light Skills
    • Composition Skills
    • Photo Editing Skills – Lighroom
    • Creativity Field Guide
    • Shoot Awesome Video
    • Pro – Build Your Business
      • Photography Income Formula
      • Simple Wedding Photography
      • Awesome Album Design Skills
      • Really Easy Retouching
  • About
  • Free Resources
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Lightroom and Post Processing / Lightroom Before/After: Part 1

Lightroom Before/After: Part 1

Updated on March 17, 2020 by Rob Lim

A not insignificant part of digital photography revolves around how you process your images.

I provide such an underwhelming introduction because I feel that processing is something that is necessary to digital photography, but not so important that you can ignore, or spend less time focusing on creating great straight out of camera (SOOC) images.

If you have an image that looks great straight out of camera (great light, great composition, sharp) then you’re going to be in a much better position when it comes time to process that image!

We use Lightroom to do the majority of our processing (saving retouching for Photoshop). I thought it would be useful to start an ongoing series detailing some of the steps used the achieve the before/after you see below.

Hopefully in this way you’ll be able to take a few tips and tricks back to your own images!

So the “after” of this image has three main adjustments applied to it to achieve the effect. (There are a few other minor tweaks:)

  1. White Balance: You can see that the before (SOOC) image is quite cool in temperature (blue cast). I used temperature to warm the image up. Finding the right temperature can be a bit tricky so you’ll want to be checking before after frequently (the backslash key).
  2. Vignette: This image has a really soft vignette applied, which I apply to most images. Applying a vignette helps draw your eye to the center of the image and keep your eye from falling off the image. Try to feather your vignettes well, keep the midpoint as far into the center of the image as possible, and finally make sure the effect is subtle. Some images look great with noticeable vignette, but if all of your images have a noticeable vignette it might actually distract the viewer from the subject of your image.
  3. Split toning!: In order to achieve the more filmic looking tones subtle split toning has been applied to this image. This is an area that you’ll need to experiment with in order to achieve an aesthetic you find appealing.

There you go! Simple steps to make a huge improvement. That’s the beauty of Lightroom, it’s clean, straightforward, and powerful.

Filed Under: Lightroom and Post Processing

About Rob Lim

Hi there, I’m Rob! I’m a photography ninja here at Photography Concentrate. I love all things photography: shooting, teaching and always learning more! If I’m not reading up on the latest photography news, or studying a technique, I’m probably reading a book or planning our next adventure!

Primary Sidebar

Hi there!


We're The Photography Concentrate Team: Daniel, Kaitlyn and Kristal. Think of us as your photo friends – we’re here to help you take great photos, and have a ton of fun together while we’re at it!

Instagram Twitter Facebook YouTube Browse the Archives

Footer

Navigation

  • Blog
  • Learn
  • About

Connect

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Newsletter

Important Stuff

  • Comment Policy
  • Material Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Earnings Disclaimer

Disclaimer

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Additionally, we participate in other affiliate programs and sometimes get a commission through purchases made through our links.

Return to top of page
Copyright © 2020 Photography Concentrate

newsletterpopupheader

Get FREE photography training today!

Subscribe to our newsletter and learn how to take awesome photos, and get tons of free stuff to make it faster, and easier!
Join today and get instant access!

Join our +48,000 photographer pals, and get our very best content and freebies delivered straight to your inbox!
Register To This Secret Photography Training (FREE but seats are limited!)
How To Start & Grow
A Professional Photography Business
And Get Paid For Your Photos In The Next 30 Days
This method works even if you don’t have expensive gear and don’t want to chase clients!

We like to keep it a small group so we can engage together.
Our webinars are always filled to the last seat.
ONLY reserved seats will gain access to the room!

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkView our Privacy Policy