Literally 98% of our editing occurs in Lightroom using RPG Keys. Lightroom is extremely powerful making Photoshop necessary only on a handful of images in each wedding. This article will help you understand basic post production/color correction in Lightroom, an essential skill for today’s photographer. Keep in mind that post production is a very stylistic subject, what looks right to some may not to others. This article shows you how to color correct based on our style and preferences.

Below is an example of one of our RAW images taken directly from our Canon 5D Mark II. The image has been “zeroed out” meaning that all default Lightroom settings are set to 0 so you can see what it looks like in its pure RAW form. While it may look under exposed, this shot was actually nearly perfectly exposed, however in RAW form, everything will tend to look dark and murky until post produced.

Metadata – Canon 5D Mark II, EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 1/200 sec at f/2.8 at ISO 100

One quick note, if you are shooting in JPG mode, your camera will apply a default set of post production settings to your image file at the time of shooting. We shoot RAW simply because it is a more powerful file format, don’t let anyone tell you differently. A RAW file contains all of the tonal detail your camera has to offer, where as a JPG does not. This means that you can do much more in post production to a RAW image before affecting image quality than you can with JPG.

Also, regardless of whether you shoot RAW or JPG, your camera applies post production settings to each shot when you are previewing it on the camera LCD. So, don’t be surprised when images loaded onto your computer don’t look the same.

To get to the final image, I am going to perform a number of steps (using my workflow sequence), each described in detail below.

Step 1) Brightness +60 – I am going to start by raising Brightness to +60, this will give me a baseline to be able to add my other effects like Contrast, Blacks.

Step 2) Contrast +80 – Since the image exposure is close to correct, I am going to start by boosting Contrast to begin helping the image to pop. Now, I want to balance Contrast w/ Blacks to get the right pop. If I use too much contrast, skin tones can be too candied and contrasty, if I use too much blacks, I will kill detail in the shadows such as the hair. So I am going to start with +80 then fine tune if I need to after I add in my Blacks.

Step 3) Blacks +11 – Now I am going to bring up my Blacks a bit to make sure the black levels are truly black, and not a deep grey. You should see something like the image below now.

Step 4) Brightness +84 – Once I have adjusted my Contrast and Blacks, I can tune in the final brightness level. I am going to want to raise brightness a bit since Contrast and Blacks darkened the image.

Step 5) Temperature 5050 Tint -4 – Temperature and Tint often will affect the Brightness/Exposure of the image, so if you make a large change in Temperature you will need to adjust the Brightness/Exposure of the image. If the Temperature is way off to start with, I would recommend that be your Step 1 before adjusting Brightness. However, here we are just making a little adjustment to warm up the image slightly. Color temperature is a very subjective area, some people produce their images so skin tones are more yellow where as others border on the pink side. I prefer that my skin tones look very natural, with just a hint of warmth (yellow) to give them a nice sunglow.

Step 6) Clarity -25 & Recovery +50 – Now, since this is a close up shot of faces, I want to smooth out the lines and highlights on the fathers face. To do so, I am going to first bring my Recovery up to +50 which is going to tone down the highlights a bit, then I am going to reduce Clarity a bit which is going to smooth out the lighting as well as the lines on the father’s face, ultimately making him look younger. Be careful with Clarity, if it’s too low you will be killing too much detail, and if it’s too high you can end up showing too much detail and even outlining objects with black shadows.

Step 7) Lens Correction Amount -100 & Midpoint 50 – The final touch is to bring in a little artistic edge burning by applying a Pre-Crop Lens Correction vignette. This will bring focus from the outside of the frame into the subject, as well as provide a nice burn affect on the outside colors. Remember that Post-Crop and Pre-Crop (i.e. Lens Correction) Vignettes are different. Lens Corrections simply burn down or brighten the edges of the frame, where as Post-Crop Vignettes will add a black or white vignette to the frame.

Viola, you are done! Your image is now color corrected (in our books at least). While this may take you a bit of time the first few times, you should be able to get quite speedy at this process. With the aid of RPG Keys, we can produce over 500 image like this one per hour!

If you found this article helpful, we would ask that you let us know in the comments below. We are currently considering developing a full course and workshop for photographers on basic, advanced and artistic post production. So, let us know if you would be interested!

Related posts:

1. Tutorial: Understanding White Balance & Color Temperatures in 8 Simple Steps
2. Post Production – Efficient Lightroom Workflow – Step by Step Instruction
3. How to Automate Photoshop Actions in Lightroom Using Droplets – Part 3 of 3

Adobe Lightroom is the single most important software for the professional photographer. Besides the significant reduction in your post production time, Lightroom tools provide great tools for file management, sorting, filtering, and exporting for all of your different purposes. So you’re convinced and you’ve taken the plunge, now what’s next? Here is an overview of our workflow in regards to Adobe Lightroom for a standard 2,000 image wedding. While there are infinite ways of using the program, we have found that this workflow is the most efficient for our purposes. We fully acknowledge that different methods will fit the needs of different studios. Feel free to include differences in your workflow in the comments section below!

1. Open the program and start a new file (File -> New Catalog). Make sure you create a new catalog for every event.
2. Create a New folder on your harddrive and give it an intuitive title. For this exercise, I’m going to use the name “demo_delete” to remind myself to delete this folder from my computer after I finish this tutorial. For weddings, we usually use the bride and grooms name like “ally_brian.”
3. Inside of the folder, create a Catalog File name with the same name as the folder we created above (“demo_delete” in my example)
4. Import your images (File -> Import from Device)

Notice the following things: a) File Handling: Copy photos to a new location and add to catalog b) Copy to: the folder we created in step two c) Organize: Into one folder (keeps it simple) d) Put in subfolder: 00_originals (This is our way of naming the folder containing the original RAW files. Choose what makes sense to you) e) Check: Don’t re-import suspected duplicates

5. After your images are imported, back up your images and your catalog to your server or external harddrive by copying the entire folder (“demo_delete” in my case).
6. Rate images & Pick Your Blog Images:
a. Use a rating system of 1-3 (shortcut – the numbers 1,2,3 on your keypad): 1=delete (trash), 2=keep (but don’t deliver), 3=post produce. We delete anything that’s not usable (rate 1), i.e. mistakes, misfocuses, etc. We keep but don’t deliver anything that’s not up to a certain standard or near duplicates (rate 2). We rarely see these ever again, but we always feel it’s better safe than sorry. Anything rated a three will be post produced and uploaded online for proofing (or delivered to a client). This is typically 100-150 images per hour that we are contracted to shoot.
b. At the same time as you’re rating, use the flags (shortcut = p) for the ones you will select for your blog.
7. Post produce the flagged images first for your blog and export with the following settings:

Notice the following: a) Folder: the folder we created in step 2, b) Put in Subfolder: Blog, c) Template: Custom Name – Sequence, d) Custom Text: SEO-Friendly-Name (type in something that is intuitive and SEO friendly), e) Resize to fit: Change to a good size for your blog, f) Resolution: 72ppi

8. Post the images on your blog and take a break! By now, you’ve done at least 4-6 hours of work for a standard, 2,000 image wedding.
9. When you pick back up, categorize the rest of the images using keywords (use “keywording” in the library module and consider saving a standard template). Name your categories based on your needs. We use 00_CategoryName because this is the naming convention for Pictage’s FTP services. A standard set of categories for a wedding might include 00_brideprep, 01_groomprep, 02_ceremony, 3_cocktailhour, 4_entrance, 4_toasts, 5_formaldances, 07_dancing, 08_candids, 09_cake, 10_venue.
10. Post produce images rated 3. We’ll detail tips on how we actually post produce in Lightrom future tutorials. For now, play around with the functions in the “develop”(shortcut = d) module. As you finish each image, increase the rating to 4 (shortcut = 4)
11. At the same time as you’re post producing, assign a color (pick a color form the shortcuts 7-9) for the slideshow images.
12. When you finish up your post production, filter by the color you assigned to your slideshow images and export using the following settings:

Almost everything is the same as the export for the blog, but notice the following things: a) Put in Subfolder: slideshow b) Custom Text: use an intuitive file name, not necessarily the best for SEO.

13. Create a slideshow and upload your Slideshow to your blog. (Keep your eye out for slideshow software reviews and workflows on SLR Lounge)
14. Take A Break. You’ve just completed another 4-8 hours of work.
15. Create a New Folder inside of your main folder entitled “exports.” (For us, we use our six digit Pictage event ID for ftp purposes)
16. Filter by the categories you created in step 9 and by ratings of three and above. As you go through each category, select all the images in each category and export into the newly created folder in step 15 using the following settings:
Notice the following things: a)Put in Subfolder: 01_democategory (use whatever category you chose), b) Resize to fit: unchecked, c) Resolution: 300ppi
17. After your exports are finished, burn a copy of the exports for backup and file it away.
18. Delete the images with a 1 rating
19. Filter for images with a rating of 2 and export them into a folder titled “rated2″ inside of your main folder using the same basic size and quality settings as your categories export.
20. Delete the RAW files of the images with a rating of 2.
21. Take the entire main folder (“demo_delete”) and replace the entire folder on your backup server or harddrive.
22. Upload for proofing, deliver to client, create album etc
23. Rest. You’re done….. for now.

Result: Your Harddrive or Server contains a full catalog and all of the images.  Inside of your folder you have an exports folder, an originals folder, a slideshow folder, a rated 2 folder, and a blog folder (along with your folder containing the Lightroom Catalog).  Also, your exports are backed up on DVD. Your slideshow images are blogged, your slideshow is blogged, and your images are uploaded to your proofing website. You’re now ready to begin album design and deliver any other products included in the contract. What would we do without lightroom?

By: Lin and Jirsa Wedding Photography, Los Angeles and Orange County Wedding Photographers
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Related posts:

1. Speed Up Post Production with RPG Keys
2. How to Automate Photoshop Actions in Lightroom Using Droplets – Part 3 of 3
3. How to Color Correct with Lightroom