Experienced outdoor photographers understand why bright-and-vivid isn’t always the most compelling approach when photographing landscapes or wildlife subjects in the field, especially if you want to avoid a me-too look and create attention-grabbing images that stand out from the crowd.
Today’s quick episode from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel presents a straightforward Lightroom workflow for accomplishing this impactful effect that’s easy enough for users of all skill levels. All it takes is a few basic enhancements in combination with simple masks.
German Instructor Christian Mohrle is one of our favorite outdoor photographers and he’s just as adept behind the computer as he is in the field. His demonstration image for today’s 12-minute episode is a tight shot of an impressive bird known as the Southern Ground Hornbill, and we suggest downloading his Raw file from the link beneath the video so you can make the enhancements yourself as the simple steps are explained.
The first step is applying a bit of denoising because the photo was captured at a high ISO that requires some quite heavy editing. He’s working in the Details panel and clicks the Denoise checkbox, after which Lightroom does all the heavy lifting to clean up the shot.
There are a few other basic adjustments required before you get to the cool stuff, the first of which involves eliminating a few distracting elements that detract from the shot. He does this by clicking on Lightroom’s Remove tool near the top of the screen while making sure to select the Generative AI option. Eliminating a few branches and other distractions is easy by following Mohrle’s instructions.
Next comes a few other preliminary global adjustments to prepare the shot for the transformational selective enhancements the follow. He modifies overall exposure to eliminate the hazy look, increases texture and dehaze, while dropping vibrance and color temperature, and changing the profile from Adobe Color to Adobe Standard.
The image is now significantly improved, and the remainder of the video demonstrates what Mohrle call the “fun part” which involves simple masking, final color adjustments, and some very judicious sharpening. Compare his before/after examples and you’ll likely to exclaim “WOW!”
Then pay visit to the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel where you’ll find many more editing tutorials for landscape and wildlife enthusiasts.
You may also benefit from the tutorial we featured with another post-processing expert who demonstrates how to employ a new Lightroom masking tool that creates amazing enhancements when editing landscape, nature, and environmental portrait photographs.
