Welcome to My approach to teaching is to offer small workshops which allow you to explore and discover our amazing planet, while learning photography and timelapse techniques. Astro & Landscape Lightroom Workflow w/presets This document covers the standard workflow I follow when editing astro and landscape images. Use this as a guide - but remember - image editing is based on your personal preferences! Topics Covered Using Lightroom for Landscape and Astro-Photography Lightroom Presets (download) Library and Develop Modes White Balance, Histogram and Tone Curves Hue, Saturation and Luminance Lens Correction, Sharpening and Noise Reduction Cropping, Local Adjustments and Spot Removal Dehaze Filter and Post-Crop Vignetting Exporting 1
Lightroom Workflow A few Initial Hints/Tips Editting Multiple Images at once - Lightroom was originally created for wedding photographers who had to process thousands of images and have previews available for their customers within hours of the event. Lightroom is designed for this workflow as opposed to Photoshop which was designed to work on one-image-a-time. One of the most powerful features of Lightroom is the ability to make adjustments to collections images - with one click - i.e. color correct all of your astro images as once. Lightroom does not change your original images - The Lightroom Catalog only stores your list of adjustments and image previews. The Catalog does not store the original image files, which remain on your hard drive - unchanged. You do not need to save your changes in Lightroom - every change is saved automatically. Experiment - Every image adjustment you make in Lightroom is performed with a slider. If you want to see the effect of any specific slider - TRY IT! Slide it all the way to the LEFT and then all the way to the RIGHT. You can always UNDO changes. Reset - To RESET a slider value to neutral - double click on the word associated with the slider- i.e. Exposure. In Develop Mode, you can press the [RESET] button to remove all image adjustments. Lightroom is best used with RAW images RAW - Color Temperature (Warm or Cold) can be adjusted during editing. For JPEG, all camera settings (including Color Temperature) are hard-coded into JPEG images, making adjustments difficult. RAW - Lightroom adjustments (Meta-Data) are stored outside of the image (as.xmp sidecar files). For JPEG, changes are stamped directly onto the image file. RAW - Files are uncompressed and contain every pixel. JPEG files are compressed which discards valuable information, making image editing difficult. 2
Lightroom Modes Getting Started The majority of your time editing images in Lightroom will be in the LIBRARY mode (G) and the DEVELOP mode (D). The other modes (Map, Book, Slide show, Print and Web) are used for publishing your images. I will not cover these modes. At the end of the document I will show you how to export an image (for email or print). LIBRARY Mode (G) LIBRARY mode is used for organizing and previewing your images. Use [IMPORT] to import images into Lightroom directly from your camera s memory card - Lightwoom will copy the images to your HardDrive. Once imported, to edit an image, click on it and press D (for Develop). This will switch Lightroom to DEVELOP mode. Useful Shortcuts* (See end of document for a complete list) G LIBRARY mode D DEVELOP mode - for selected image F Full Screen Preview - press again to close I Camera Info (for image) - press again for more info Y Show BEFORE and AFTER images - press again to close Z Zoom - press again to un-zoom TAB HIDE/SHOW Side Panels *To show the full list of Shortcuts - (PC) Ctrl / or (Mac) Cmd / 3
Develop Mode (D) Develop Panels DEVELOP mode is used for editing individual images. DEVELOP functions are organized as panels (HISTOGRAM, BASIC, TONE CURVE, HSL,...). Typically you start editing an image with the BASIC panel - to set the color temp and normalize the histogram. Then you use the other panels as needed for additional editing - i.e. sharpening, lens correction, saturation,... 4
Histogram Panel The histogram shows the distribution of light (right) and dark (left) regions of your image. Typically (for daylight images), the distribution is spread across the histogram, rising in the middle (mid-tones), and tapering off in the shadows (left side) and highlights (right side). Clipping indicates that portions of the image are either totally black or totally white - this is referred to as clipping since there is no usable detail in these portions of the image. Turn on Clipping Indicators - In the histogram display, click on the upper left and right corners so that you see two white squares (see image). This will highlight clipping areas in the image as RED (highlights) and BLUE (shadows). Normal Histogram shape Clipping - under exposed image Red Clipping in over exposed areas of the image Clipping - over exposed image 5
Basic Panel Set White Balance (optional) Eye Dropper Tool (White Balance Selector) W HINT: Set camera to Auto White Balance (AWB) when shooting. If your camera is set to use Auto White Balance, then your white balance is probably correct. If you want to adjust the White Balance, click on the eye dropper, then click on a neutral color in the Image - such as white clouds, sand or rocks. Review the image and make sure it looks normal. Adjust TEMP/TINT only as needed. To reset, set WB to As Shot. Normalize the Histogram (light and dark areas) Highlights Slide all the way to the LEFT - This reveals all of the highlights in the image. Shadows Slide all the way to the RIGHT. This reveals all of the shadow detail in the image. Whites Slide until all RED clipping indicators are all removed. If RED indicators re-appear in the image, adjust WHITES to remove them. Darks Slide until there are only a few tiny BLUE clipping indicators. If BLUE indicators re-appear in the image, adjust DARKS to reduce them. Contrast Once the above are set, increase contrast in order to help define the image. Exposure (only if absolutely needed) If your image is still too dark (a typical problem) or too light, then you can optionally adjust Exposure. Use Exposure only as a last resort to correct images. See Hint at right. Watch how the Histogram changes as you adjust the settings above. Note: Every image is exposed differently. As you make these changes, check the image (and the histogram). Make the adjustments so that the image looks good to you! Hint: If your images tend to be too dark or too light, then you need to check your camera settings. You might have Exposure Compensation set to something other than zero. It is generally a good idea set Exposure Compensation to Zero and use Aperture Priority (A or AP) shooting mode - This lets the camera decide the correct exposure. 6
Basic Panel - cont d Presence This section is used to enhance the image. Clarity Sharpening / Contrast Saturation Applies to all colors Vibrance Enhances only muted colors (shadows) Use sparingly - 10-30 Use sparingly - 0-20 Use sparingly - 0-20 Tone Curve Panel The Tone Curve is the classic tool for adjusting the exposure of different luminance areas of the image - from the brightest regions (Highlights / Lights) to the darkest regions (Darks / Shadows). I used this only when trying to fix problem areas of the image - i.e. shadow areas that are too dark. Curves Button Sliders Set this to the state shown. Use only if needed to fix problem areas of the image. 7
Detail Panel This panel has two uses - sharpening and noise reduction. All images need some sharpening. Noise reduction is only used for images taken at a high ISO. Sharpening To start sharpening, click on the small icon (upper left of the preview image), then click on a portion of the image that has some detail. Amount I generally set near the mid point (70-80) Masking This slider creates a sharpening Mask for the image (similar to an un-sharp mask ). Generally, you only want to sharpen edges within the image. To set the mask, press the OPTION Key (mac) and then click on the slider. Now slide it to about 60-90. You want to see a black/white image preview showing outlines. Radius 1.0 Detail 25 Noise Reduction (NR) Generally, for Canon and Nikon, Lightroom can reduce noise for images shot up to 3200 ISO. Use NR sparingly. NR is a trade-off between showing details (i.e. stars) and removing noise (small stars will be removed because they appear to be noise). Luminance Color Others Set to about 30. Review the image in the detail window to see if it has removed the noise. (make sure to wait a few seconds for Lightroom to complete processing) Noise sometimes appears as small patches of color (similar to jpeg artifacts). Look at the image detail preview area (top of the DETAIL panel) to see if this slider is useful. Use these sliders sparingly. Try each one individually. If they reduce noise, then keep the setting, otherwise set it back to neutral. 8
Lens Correction Panel Lens correction corrects for distortions and vignetting in the lens. Remove Chromatic Aberration Enable Profile Correction ON - Always Check this box. Your lens should be found automatically. If not, click on the fields to find your lens. If your lens is not found, search the Internet for Lightroom Lens Profile for your lens. NOTE: This is optional. Look at the image before and after the profile is applied to see if the image looks better or not. Crop Tool (R) The crop tool is used to crop the image and correct the horizon. Aspect (image dimension / aspect ratio) Angle (horizon) Constrain to Image Click on this icon, then click/ drag on the image to define the desired crop. Use this tool to draw a line showing the correct horizon in the image. When this is set to on, Lightroom will automatically crop the image to the largest possible rectangle. 9
HSL Panel This panel allows you to work with specific potions of the color band. This tool is much more powerful than the standard Saturation slider (which Saturates the entire image at once). Hue Saturation Luminance Hue is used to alter a specific color (within limits). To define the color to alter, click on the icon (left of the word Hue) and then click in the image on the color you want to modify. You can then change the sliders to change that color. Double-click on the word hue to reset all color adjustments. This lets you adjust the saturation of specific colors. i.e. make the sky more blue. Luminance determines how light or dark a color is. To darken the sky - slide the blue slider to the left. Effects Panel These are some nice features that I use often. Dehaze Dehaze is a combination of sharpening / contrast and clarity. It is amazing for night photography. Amount Post Crop Vignetting Amount For astro images, I come here first and set it to about 90%. It is also effective for landscape (30-40). If you like vignettes, then slide this to about -5 or so. It helps to focus the eye on the center of the image. 10
Graduated Filter (M) Radial Filter (Shift M) Adjustment Brush (K) Filter coverage - in green Filters are the functional equivalent of layers in Photoshop. You can define a filter (or brush) and then apply localized adjustments (exposure, contrast, saturation,...) to specific parts of the image. Choose the filter type (see list above) and then click/drag on the image to create the filter. You can tilt and resize the filters as well. You can have multiple overlapping filters on a single image. Adjustment Brushes are functionally the same as filters, but you use a Brush to paint the adjustments onto the image. This is very nice for painting highlights on an image. Graduated and Radial Filters now provide an Erase Brush which allows you to remove (erase) portions of the (rectangular or circular) filter coverage area. Graduated filter settings and Erase Brush - almost all of the Lightroom adjustments can be applied to a specific filter. 11
Spot Removal (Q) This works pretty well. Tip: To remove airplanes streaks from astro images. - CLICK on one end of the airplane streak - then SHIFT-CLICK on the other end - and LR will draw a straight line. Clone vs Heal Size I generally use Clone Set as needed Feather Usually around 90 Opacity Usually at 100 Copy SETTINGS to another image One of the most powerful features of LR is that you can COPY the settings (image adjustments) from one image to another - or to a group of images. So, once you get one astro image just how you like it, use this feature to copy the settings to the rest of the images from that night. [PREVIOUS] or [SYNC...] [RESET] [PREVIOUS] This will copy ALL settings to the current image - from the previous image that you had clicked on. SYNC: If multiple images are selected, then a dialog will appear to let you define which settings to copy from the first selected image - to the rest of the selected images. (see dialog at right) Resets all adjustments back to neutral for the selected image(s). Sync Dialog: Generally you will want to copy all options except spot correction and crop. 12
Export Images This dialog is used for exporting images with all of their Lightroom adjustments applied - prior to printing or emailing. Export To Export Location File Settings Image Sizing Output Sharpening [Add] Preset Export Hard Drive (generally) Set the path For web - I use jpeg (srgb color space) and limit the file size to 500k. For web - resize the image to 1440 pixels long (it s a good size for most monitors - but not too big). I sharpen the image for screen viewing. Once you have all of the setting set, press the [add] button create your own preset to use next time. Exports the file(s) to disk. 13
Downloading & Installing Presets I have developed presets for landscape and astro images which applies some the adjustments described in the document. Download and install the preset as follows: 1. Click on the link below (or enter the path In your browser and click the Download Lightroom Presets link to save the file to your desktop. http:///presets 2. In Lightroom, select Menu: Lightroom > Preferences and click on the [PRESET] button (image at right) 3. Click on [Show Lightroom Presets Folder] Button 4. This will launch the Mac Finder (or PC Explorer) 5. Click on the Lightroom folder. 6. Click on the Develop Presets folder. 7. Create a directory named in the Develop Presets Folder. 8. Copy the downloaded file into the folder. 9. Then you will need to Restart Lightroom. 10. in Lightroom, choose an image (Library mode) and press D (Develop mode). Then expand the Presets Panel (left hand side - Develop Mode) and choose one of the presets within the folder. The image will change based upon the preset. You can see the effect of the preset by the changes it makes to the sliders (in the DEVELOP Panels). You can further alter the image by making your own changes to the image as defined in this document. To undo the changes made by the preset, use Menu EDIT -> UNDO. Or, in Develop Mode, press the [RESET] button (lower right) to remove all adjustments from the image. This will reset all slider values back to neutral. 14
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Catalog Settings Automatically record changes to disk - This setting tells Lightroom to automatically record all RAW image changes to.xmp files directly on disk (in addition torecording changes into the Lightroom Catalog). Click on the Lightroom menu. Choose Catalog Settings... The Catalog Settings dialog will appear (right) Click on the [Metadata] button Check [X} Automatically write changes into XMP Close dialog 16
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