Realistic Light Rays Can Be the Key to Epic Nature Photos (VIDEO)
One foolproof method for transforming a dull landscape photo into an attention-grabbing winner is to embellish the shot with natural-looking light rays. This video from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel demonstrates a very effective Lightroom process for getting the job done to perfection.
Instructor Christian Mohrle is notable German landscape photographer whose popular Lightroom tutorials reveal the editing secrets to his success. You’ll want to revisit the drab images in your library after learning how easy to fix them by introducing a spectacular effect that looks like it was created by Mother Nature herself.
Be sure to download the demonstration Raw file with the link beneath the video so you can follow along and mimic Mohrle’s adjustments in real time as the simple steps are explained. Mohrle always begins with several global adjustments to create the best possible starting point for what happens later.
He opens Lightroom’s Basic panel and changes the profile to Adobe Landscape which instantly provides a boost in saturation. Other preliminary enhancements are intended to emphasize his light rays later on by maintaining a rather dark look. So he brings down the highlights for more details in the sky and drops shadows to intentionally underexpose the shot.
After a few more preparatory enhancements it almost time to introduce those awe-inspiring light rays that save his image. He opens Lightroom’s masking panel and applies several local exposure adjustments, both lighter and darker, to various areas within the frame.
Now Mohrle demonstrates how to add those transformational light rays shining across the midrange of his shot from the upper left to lower right. A few thoughtful gradients is all it takes and Mohrle illustrates how this is done.
The impressive transformation concludes with color grading refinements and a bit of very judicious sharpening. The PHLOG Photography YouTube channel is full of Lightroom and Photoshop lessons like this one, so be sure to take a look.
We also suggest watching the tutorial we featured earlier with another post-processing expert who demonstrates how to create stunning Golden Hour photographs of wildlife, pets and people with a straightforward Lightroom workflow that anyone can master in minutes.
