Editing Bird Photographs in Lightroom
First use Lightroom rather than Photoshop for the following reasons:
1. Editing photographs is non-destructive, meaning the RAW photograph is not altered.
2. The tools in the Develop Module are arranged in order for an easy editing workflow.
3. You can set up your own presets to save time in editing.
4. The History Panel allows you to go back to earlier stages in your editing process.
5. You can batch process photographs.
6. Lightroom is easier than Photoshop, but you can always use Photoshop for special purposes.
Remember, too much change in any of these Steps an image look artificial.
Step 1: Open your file in the Develop module
To begin the editing process perform a Lens Correction in the Lens Correction Panel.
Step 2: Crop & Straighten
Use the Crop & Straighten tool to crop and straighten, if necessary. This step can easily be performed in Photoshop. Next,
clean the photograph with the spot removal tool. It is important to do this at this stage. If you try to remove spots after
completing the editing process sharp edges will appear in the area where you removed the spot.
Step 3: Set the White Balance
The Auto-WB (Auto White Balance) setting is usually best and works well for most situations. If needed, use the Temp
Slider to correct any blue or orange color cast in the photograph. If the photo looks blue, move the slider to the right. If it
looks orange, move it to the left until the color cast is removed. Similarly, use the Tint Slider to correct green and magenta
color cast in the photograph.
Step 4: Set the Exposure & Contrast
Generally, a slight addition of exposure (usually +0.3-0.6) helps to bring out the mid-tone details in the image. Work on the
Exposure Slider till you get the required look and feel to the image. Start off by adding a little bit of contrast to the image
using the Contrast Slider, usually +25 to +30.
Step 5: Set the White & Black Points
Set the white and black points, if necessary, to increase the dynamic range of an image. Push the Whites Slider to the right
(or left if it’s overexposed) untill you get the histogram just about to touch the right corner. Hold the Alt key while moving
the slider to see if you are clipping something by mistake. Do the same with the Black Slider till the histogram touches the
left corner.
Step 6: Work on Highlights & Shadows
By moving the Highlights Slider to the left, you can recover any overexposed highlights in your image. Or, move it to the
right to increase the brightness only in the brighter regions. Open the shadows by pushing the Shadows Slider towards the
right. These settings depend completely on the photograph you are working with.
Step 7: Improve the Clarity and bring back the Colors
The RAW files are flat and devoid of colors, therefore, we need to bring back the contrast and the color present in the scene.
The Clarity Slider works on improving the local contrast in the image. This improvement in the local contrast results in the
increase in the apparent sharpness of the image. Too much clarity would easily kill the image. Work carefully with this
slider. There are two ways to bring back the colors in your image. One is using Vibrance Slider and the other one using
Saturation Slider. While Vibrance Slider works only on the saturated colors, the Saturation Slider works by increasing all the
colors. Most often you would use either of the two. I normally use Vibrance Slider as it works well with the nature images.
Step 8: Reduce Noise
Now, reduce the noise and to bring back the sharpness in the image. Of course, reducing noise depends very much on the
ISO settings and how much noise is present in the image. In the case of lower ISO settings, for a given camera, you might not
have to reduce the noise at all. For higher ISO settings you probably need to reduce the noise. Remember, too much noise
reduction reduces subtle details. Work with the Luminance Slider.
Step 9: Sharpen
The RAW image has zero sharpness, so we need to sharpen the image to get back the sharpness that was present in the
scene, especially in the bird’s plumage. Normally the amount of sharpness an image can take depends on the equipment you
are using, especially the lens. I stick to the sharpness value of 40 to 50 to keep it well balanced. Use the Masking Slider to
mask off the sharpening of the unwanted edges in the background. Press the Alt key and push the Masking Slider to
understand how it works.
Before-After
Press the Y key to see the before-after screen. Or, press the button which displays Y|Y on the bottom left of your screen.
Press the Y key again to get only the processed image.
The End Result
Post-processing should be done to just bring back enough details, brightness, contrast, colors, and sharpness in the image.
Keep it as realistic as possible. A little bit of punch is OK but don’t go overboard.