4 Tips for Editing Photography Using Adobe Lightroom – Luke Stackpoole


How to Achieve a Dramatic & Atmospheric Style in Photos




I wanted to share a few photography tips, but this time related to editing, using Adobe Lightroom. This is the keystone to achieving my dramatic and atmospheric style in my photos.




Tip 1 – Tone Curve Fade




This is a standard tone curve in a typical S shape, you may be familiar with the S-curve, and I use a variant of this for most of my edits. This dampens the blacks and whites, creating a more matte look.




You can adjust the strength of the curve to suit your style, by bringing up the darks on the left side (creates a more matte look in the blacks) or bringing down the top right of the curve to fade the whites to a more flat look. The overall effect is creating a more subtle tonal balance.




S Curve




Tip 2 – Sharpen & Refine Details




In order to retain the crispness of an image, despite the reduced clarity from the basic panel adjustment, I tend to add an increased amount of sharpness, which is applied on all my presets also.




The secret to doing this without introducing noise is to hold the alt/cmd key and drag the masking slider to see where the sharpening is being applied. I typically hover around 50-70 which is usually the edges only. Now the image will be looking almost painting-like whilst retaining sharpness on the edges!




Sharpening




Tip 3 – Colour Grade




I wanted to show the power of colour grading using just 1 colour slider – in this example, the green slider in Lightroom. By adjusting the hue to the left, (more yellow) and reducing the saturation and luminance we can achieve a totally different atmosphere, a more natural colour yet far more visually appealing and cinematic in my opinion. Check the images below of the Tigers to see the difference!







 




Hsl Slider




Tip 4 – Add Dynamic Light




The last thing I do to an image is work with the graduated filter controls to add depth and dynamism to an image by playing with the lighting. Typically, I will lighten/darken certain areas of an image to lead the eye in the frame and create a sense of atmosphere. In the image below you will see it looks quite flat before adding a darkening to the foreground and sky and after it really leads you into the centre of the frame to capture all your attention on the important aspects of the photo.







 







 






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Luke Stackpoole, Photographer & Filmmaker

Luke Stackpoole is a distinguished photographer and filmmaker known for his captivating and emotive imagery. As a ColorPro Ambassador for the past three years, Luke has become an influential figure in the creative industry. Based in the UK, he made a bold career shift from finance in 2017 to pursue his passion for visual storytelling. Since then, he has collaborated with top brands and garnered a substantial online following of over a million people.






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