Using Lightroom’s Local Adjustments to Create Powerful Visual Stories
“Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships!”
— Ansel Adams
Successful photographs use light and composition to draw the viewer’s eye to the right spots – the places the photographer wants people to notice. But, as Ansel Adams points out, sometimes nature needs a little help!
When processing images, I probably spend 90% of my time on local adjustments. That includes dodging and burning (lightening and darkening), but also many other subtle and not-so-subtle changes to the luminance, color, and contrast in particular parts of the photograph.
All these steps are designed to direct the viewer’s eye. I want to draw more attention to the interesting stuff, and reduce attention on the less interesting or distracting stuff. I’m painting with light to enhance the photograph’s mood and tell a more compelling story.
In this webinar I’ll cover all the essentials of using Lightroom’s Masking tools to direct the eye, from simple dodging and burning with the Brush, to making complex, precise selections to affect very specific parts of the image – and doing so in a natural-looking way, without weird artifacts and abrupt transitions.
But we’ll also discuss why you might want to do these things – why some areas grab our attention, which spots you might want to emphasize or de-emphasize, and how to form an overall approach to thinking about and processing any photograph. Here are some of the things you’ll learn:
• How to approach basic dodging and burning
• Deciding what needs to be emphasized and de-emphasized
• Directing the eye in other ways besides just lightening and darkening
• When you need a precise selection – and when you don’t
• Using and combining Lightroom’s selection tools to make precise selections when necessary
• Adding life to flat-looking parts of an image
• Using Curves instead of a Luminosity Mask to adjust a specific range of tones
• Using color to draw the eye
People who sign up for the webinar will be invited to submit images to be considered for this demonstration; I plan on using several of these in the webinar if I find suitable examples. And if you can’t attend live, the webinar will be recorded for later viewing.
The webinar is normally $27, but we’re offering an early-bird discount. Use the code LRPAINT20 to get 20% off until Sunday, January 12th. Click the link below to sign up!
Lightroom Webinar: Painting With Light
March 8th, 2025, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (1:00 p.m. Eastern Time). The webinar will be about 90 to 120 minutes long.
$27
Before dodging, burning, and other local adjustments:
After local adjustments. I worked to draw the viewer’s eye into the middle of the frame – and especially to the foreground ferns, the rhododendrons, and the prominent trunk left of center – while darkening the bright upper-right corner to avoid pulling the eye out of the picture:
Before dodging, burning, and other local adjustments:
After local adjustments. Note how the dogwood blossoms stand out more, highlighting a key part of this photograph’s story:
Before dodging, burning, and other local adjustments:
After local adjustments. I worked to bring out the beautiful-but-subtle light on the wave, and darken the bright sky on the right edge to hold the eye in the frame: