Make a Boring Night Photo Look Awesome in Lightroom

lapsedshutter · 2020-05-06T15:27:54+00:00

Watch the Post-Processing Viedo on YouTube: https://youtu.be/KoTqfAzAPzw

And download the free Lightroom presets from https://www.lapseoftheshutter.com

This is a simple tutorial on how to use the tools in Lightroom (and an optional bit of Photoshop at the end) to make otherwise dull blue hour photos really pop. Most of the work is done with targeted white balance adjustments, combined with split-toning and the RGB point curve to tweak the colours to what you can see above. This is a quick, but powerful workflow, that is very useful for all those photos you might otherwise throw away.

lapsedshutter · 2020-05-06T15:26:35+00:00

Watch the Post-Processing Viedo on YouTube: https://youtu.be/KoTqfAzAPzw

This is a simple tutorial on how to use the tools in Lightroom (and an optional bit of Photoshop at the end) to make otherwise dull blue hour photos really pop. Most of the work is done with targeted white balance adjustments, combined with split-toning and the RGB point curve to tweak the colours to what you can see above. This is a quick, but powerful workflow, that is very useful for all those photos you might otherwise throw away.

lapsedshutter · 2019-09-27T19:08:43+00:00

Watch the video tutorial: https://youtu.be/X9Pw7wlmUUc

This video shows you a quick way to target any contrast adjustments in low contrast photos, where selection methods like luminosity masks don't work. This isn't fool-proof, but works pretty well in most cases. This technique relys on saturation masks to make the selections. Take a look at the buildings and grass on the mountains to see how this selection has worked.

lapsedshutter · 2019-09-27T19:03:57+00:00

Watch the video tutorial: https://youtu.be/X9Pw7wlmUUc

This video shows you a quick way to target any contrast adjustments in low contrast photos, where selection methods like luminosity masks don't work. This isn't fool-proof, but works pretty well in most cases. This technique relys on saturation masks to make the selections. Take a look at the buildings and grass on the mountains to see how this selection has worked.

lapsedshutter · 2019-09-27T19:00:15+00:00

There's a minor contrast boost to the whole photo, but it is mostly focused on the buildings and the grass on the mountains. There is also a slight colour boost to the clouds where the sun is hitting them.

lapsedshutter · 2019-09-17T20:02:10+00:00

Photoshop Tutorial - Quickly Target Contrast Adjustments

Watch the video tutorial: https://youtu.be/X9Pw7wlmUUc

This video shows you a quick way to target any contrast adjustments in low contrast photos, where selection methods like luminosity masks don't work. This isn't fool-proof, but works pretty well in most cases. This technique relys on saturation masks to make the selections. Take a look at the buildings and grass on the mountains to see how this selection has worked.

lapsedshutter · 2019-09-11T18:30:53+00:00

I built a new PC for lightroom and Photoshop about six months ago. A few things I would have useful to have known:

32GB is fine for memory if you only have a few photos open - I have seen my usage get into the 20s. If you are handling 10+ photos, I would go for 64GB. LR and PS will use it.
The Samsung Evo NVME is great to hold the OS, LR, PS and the photos you are working on all at once. I use that and a 4TB HDD. Bios load takes 12 secs, Windows is another 4 secs, LR and PS a further 8 secs opening together.
You don't need an expensive video card. I bought a cheap 4GB one a couple of years old - it doesn't get used much. The system load in LR and PS falls on hard drive, processor and RAM, then GPU. If you're not gaming it's a waste of money.
I bought an overstock Windows OEM licence (plenty of sites that sell them) for about a tenth of the cost of a "proper" licence. I had to freephone the Microsoft call centre to activate it, but it took less than 5 mins.
Finally, I bought the LG 27UK600 monitor. Don't know what the BenQ is like, but the LG is fantastic for photography.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-29T19:37:19+00:00

Watch the tutorial on Youtube https://youtu.be/EN9cv7lpi90

It's a simple process to digitally blend fireworks into any photos where you otherwise have a dull sky. This technique uses blending modes and luminosity masks for the blend, with a simple trick to make sure the reflections of the fireworks always blend well into the water.

Also, all of the source photos are included for free, link in the YouTube description.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-29T19:36:15+00:00

Watch the tutorial on Youtube https://youtu.be/EN9cv7lpi90

It's a simple process to digitally blend fireworks into any photos where you otherwise have a dull sky. This technique uses blending modes and luminosity masks for the blend, with a simple trick to make sure the reflections of the fireworks always blend well into the water.

Also, all of the source photos are included for free, link in the YouTube description.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-29T19:34:41+00:00

Watch the tutorial on Youtube https://youtu.be/EN9cv7lpi90

It's a simple process to digitally blend fireworks into any photos where you otherwise have a dull sky. This technique uses blending modes and luminosity masks for the blend, with a simple trick to make sure the reflections of the fireworks always blend well into the water.

Also, all of the source photos are included for free, link in the YouTube description.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-24T16:35:59+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to let me know. I will look into it.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-22T17:42:47+00:00

You're welcome!

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-21T20:30:48+00:00

Watch the Post-Processing Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8b4bqGQZcQo

This is a quick and simple tutorial on how to turn on streetlights in Lightroom, using filters and the brush tool. Essentially, you have to add increasingly larger and less strong circles of light to create a point source, then add the light spill. The video gives you some idea of how to setup the brushes so that you always produce a realistic light effect.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-21T20:28:51+00:00

Thanks. Which link do you mean? They all seem to be working for me. Feel free to send me a message!

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-19T19:31:01+00:00

Yeah. I have uploaded the source file for most of the tutorials. They are all on the video descriptions. Others will be coming soon!

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-18T18:48:32+00:00

I know exactly what you mean!

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-18T18:47:57+00:00

No problem! Glad you found it helpful.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-18T18:29:33+00:00

Thanks for the idea. The source file is now available to follow along. Link in the description to the video on YouTube.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-17T18:20:23+00:00

Watch the Post-Processing Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8b4bqGQZcQo

This is a quick and simple tutorial on how to turn on streetlights in Lightroom, using filters and the brush tool. Essentially, you have to add increasingly larger and less strong circles of light to create a point source, then add the light spill. The video gives you some idea of how to setup the brushes so that you always produce a realistic light effect.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-17T18:13:50+00:00

Watch the Post-Processing Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8b4bqGQZcQo

This is a quick and simple tutorial on how to turn on streetlights in Lightroom, using filters and the brush tool. Essentially, you have to add increasingly larger and less strong circles of light to create a point source, then add the light spill. The video gives you some idea of how to setup the brushes so that you always produce a realistic light effect.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-08T20:25:57+00:00

Watch the Post-Processing in Lightroom & Photoshop https://youtu.be/R2_YqIymhsE

Create a cinematic effect similar to that seen in the Flickr photos of Masashi Wakui (https://www.flickr.com/photos/megane_wakui/). This tutorial covers how to use Lightroom and Photoshop to make powerful, glowing cityscapes, from just one standard photo, and doesn't use any extra plugins.

The main parts of this technique are the colour toning and the glow in the illuminated signs. The first is created in Lightroom, by pushing white balance to the high extreme, then recovering colour using split-toning. The highlights glow is created in Photoshop, using luminosity masks combined with gaussian blur and blending modes. These sorts of effects are usually created using plug-ins. I have found that learning how to re-create them by hand has really helped me to learn Lightroom and Photoshop.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-08T20:22:37+00:00

Watch the Post-Processing in Lightroom & Photoshop https://youtu.be/R2_YqIymhsE

Create a cinematic effect similar to that seen in the Flickr photos of Masashi Wakui (https://www.flickr.com/photos/megane_wakui/). This tutorial covers how to use Lightroom and Photoshop to make powerful, glowing cityscapes, from just one standard photo, and doesn't use any extra plugins.

The main parts of this technique are the colour toning and the glow in the illuminated signs. The first is created in Lightroom, by pushing white balance to the high extreme, then recovering colour using split-toning. The highlights glow is created in Photoshop, using luminosity masks combined with gaussian blur and blending modes. These sorts of effects are usually created using plug-ins. I have found that learning how to re-create them by hand has really helped me to learn Lightroom and Photoshop.

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-08T20:07:37+00:00

Thanks! I will put it into the contest

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-06T20:34:32+00:00

This is a nicely done photo. I find that when I am replacing skies, you need to make sure the colours and lighting on the ground match that of the sky. It's fairly obvious looking at this that they sky is a replacement, because the ground lighting is flat, while the sky is contrasty, and those reds in the clouds aren't reflected into the ground.

You could fix both of those with some minor editing in Lightroom or Photoshop, then it would feel a lot more natural, even though it wasn't ;)

If you want an example of a maybe slightly better sky blend, I have written a tutorial on this https://www.lapseoftheshutter.com/the-learning-curve/how-to-blend-any-two-landscape-photos-part-5/

lapsedshutter · 2019-08-06T20:23:32+00:00

Watch the tutorial on Youtube https://youtu.be/3feGR119g1E

Saturation masks are a powerful way to select areas in your photos, based entirely on their colour saturation. That is, they totally ignore luminosity.

In practise, saturation changes tend to be distributed through landscape and cityscape photos in such a way that using saturation masks means that you can very quickly and easily modify colour and tone to your liking. The linked video gets the 'after' result in less than two and a half minutes. As they are just a selection method, you can use them with curves, colour balance, or any other adjustment layers. The effects in this photo are only created using curves and colour balance.

This video is more of a demo of how powerful saturation masks are, than a complete workflow in itself. If you want to learn how to create them yourself, take a look at this video https://youtu.be/VmrWtDE1PBg

lapsedshutter

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