Often beginner photographers either edit the living daylights out of a photo or they don’t edit it at all. We’ve all been there – it’s part of the learning process, but both of these approaches to photo editing can ruin an image. I’ll show you, with 4 examples of before and after edited photos, how using a few simple editing techniques can elevate an image.
But before we get into the details of the before and after Lightroom edits, we need to clear up a common misconception…
Just like with film, all digital photos require some level of editing.
If you photograph in JPEG format (in other words you don’t photograph in RAW format) and see no reason to edit photos, you need to know that your camera is doing your editing for you.
So your photos are actually edited. It’s part of the digital process.
Cameras automatically add contrast, sharpening etc to JPEG format images.
While we’re on the subject of JPEGs, you should also know that the image you see in your camera’s LCD is actually a JPEG representation of the image. This is one of the reasons, if you photograph in RAW, your images often look different when you download them to your computer.
The other reason is covered below in the before and after edited photos.
Before and after examples of 7 simple Lightroom edits
I’ve used 4 before and after edited photos as examples to demonstrate the following basic Lightroom edits:
- Cropping and straightening
- White balance
- Spot removal
- Masking (brush)
- Color profile
- Tone curve
- Post-crop vignetting
With just these basic edits you can make a big difference to the impact of your photos.
And did you know that Lightroom has a very handy before and after view tool to help you check back on the original photo? It’s great for helping to to prevent over processing an image.
Now let’s get started!
Photo edits before and after – example No. 1
In this first example of before and after editing in Lightroom the biggest changes were made with:
- Cropping and straightening
- White balance
Cropping in Lightroom
The Lightroom cropping tool isn’t just for cropping. It’s my favorite way to straighten an image and I say favorite, because there are actually quite a few ways to do this.
But the cropping tool is the fastest way to do it, especially if you use the Lightroom shortcut key (which is R on the keyboard).
White balance adjustment in Lightroom
White balance in photos is a hugely important edit, because it can dramatically affect the mood of an image. If you have an image of a lovely summer day and the color is a bit on the cool side, it won’t feel as warm and relaxing. Just like an image taken on an icy winter day with a warm cast to it doesn’t feel as cold and chilly as if the white balance was more to the blue side.
I felt the image was a little too warm and a touch green, so adjusted both the temp and tint sliders slightly.
The “As Shot” white balance is from the before photo and the custom white balance is from the after photo
Before and after edited photos – example No. 2
The only edits I’ve made to the next before and after example are:
- Spot removal
- Lightroom color profile
- Cropping and straightening
- Tone curve (more on this in the next example)
Lightroom color profile
Remember at the start I mentioned that if you photograph in RAW your images can look different when you download them to the computer? If you use Lightroom, then color profiles are a big reason for this.
You can set color profiles on both your camera and in Lightroom. The color setting I use on my camera is neutral. This gives me a very flat image, as you can see in the before image on the left.
Lightroom automatically changes the color profile to Adobe Color on import, because this is how I’ve set up my import process. Adobe Standard used to be the default, but Adobe Color is now the default color profile.
Colors and contrast in the before image on the left appear very flat in comparison to the after photo on the right. Below you’ll see the color profiles for the before and after edited photos.
You don’t have to stick with the color profile that was applied on import. Lightroom provides a huge range of color profiles for you to choose from.
These are just 7 color profiles from a list of 47, which includes 17 different color profiles for black and white images.
It’s quite impressive how much you can alter an image with just one click!
Spot removal
I mainly used the spot removal tool in this photo was to tidy up the woodwork of the background – there was a distracting gash and a few stains. I also cleaned up the paintwork on the column behind the model.
Did you notice them?
Lightroom editing before and after – example No. 3
On the left is the before photo and on the right is the photo after editing. I made the following Lightroom edits:
- Lightroom color profiles
- Spot removal
- Cropping
- Tone curve
- Post-crop vignetting
Color profile
Even though we’ve just covered this, I thought I’d include a before and after of the color profiles for this photo as the difference is really obvious.
Spot removal and cropping
And now for a bit more “spot the difference”!
There was a blob of white on one of the bricks that really distracted me, so I used the Lightroom spot removal tool to get rid of it. Did you notice it?
Cropping
I also cropped the image slightly to make the model more prominent in the photo as it’s a very busy background.
Tone curve
Rather than using the contrast slider, I prefer to use the tone curve tool to add a pop of contrast. It’s a very slight adjustment, as you can see in the screenshot of the slider below, but it makes a big difference.
First I added three points on the tone curve at regular intervals (between shadows and darks, darks and lights, lights and highlights). I then:
- Pulled down the point between shadows and darks (the second point from the left) to increase contrast by darkening the shadows
- Slightly raised the point in the middle to lighten the midtones ever so slightly
- Pulled the next point (second from the right) down fractionally to tame the highlights
Post-crop vignetting
The final touch was adding a very slight post-crop vignette to the photo.
I do this a lot, but always keep it very slight. While I always advise not being heavy handed with editing, photography style is all about personal choice, so do what you think looks good.
The effect of darkening the edges of the image slightly helps direct the eye to the model, the lightest part of the image.
Before and after Lightroom edits – example No. 4
I did a lot more editing on this image. Before scrolling down, can you guess the edits I made in the before and after edited photos?
Here are the five differences:
- Spot removal
- Masking (brush)
- Tone curve
- HSL (saturation) slider
- Post-crop vignetting
Spot removal Lightroom editing
Even though it was late in the day it was still very hot and sunny day and the model’s skin photographed quite shiny. So I used the spot removal tool to reduce the spectral highlight on her forehead created by flash and the sun and also removed a couple of minor blemishes.
The Lightroom spot removal tool is also fantastic at ironing out wrinkles on clothes!
Masking brush tool
I used the brush masking tool to lighten a few small shadows on her face to create a more even complexion. I also finished off the digital ironing on her dress by lightening the shadows caused by wrinkles.
Tone curve and HSL Panel edits
Next I added some contrast using the tone curve. You’ll notice that this tone curve is slightly different from the before and after edited example above.
Every shoot is different, because of colors, light, time of day and (if outside) weather. This is exactly why you can’t just slap on a Lightroom preset and hope for the best.
After I adjusted the tone curve I felt the added contrast made her skin appear orange, so I adjusted the saturation in the HSL panel by selecting the targeted adjustment tool (top left next to “saturation”) then positioning my cursor over her skin and clicking and dragging downwards.
This adjusted both the red and orange sliders simultaneously and is my preferred way of toning down skin.
I also desaturated the greens using the slider. Very often green vegetation can be a bit demanding in the background of images, so most times I desaturate the greens slightly.
Post-crop vignette
To finish off I added an even slighter post-crop vignette than the previous example photo.
Did you spot all the before and after edits in this photo?
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If you have any questions about before and after Lightroom edits, let us know in the comments.
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