5 Lightroom Mistakes to Avoid

Editing is just as important as capturing the image, but there are many places where things can go wrong. This awesome video tutorial discusses five common mistakes people make in Lightroom and how to fix them. 

Coming to you from Serge Ramelli Photography, this helpful video explores five frequent photo editing mistakes and offers valuable tips on how to avoid them. Ramelli, a seasoned photographer with extensive experience working with galleries worldwide, shares his expertise to help you elevate your editing skills and achieve professional-looking results. Understanding these common mistakes is essential for developing a refined editing style and ensuring your photos truly shine.

Ramelli delves into a range of editing missteps, including overusing clarity and sharpening tools, which can lead to an unnatural and over-processed appearance. He emphasizes the importance of proper white balance, as it significantly impacts the overall mood and color tone of your photos. Additionally, he cautions against excessive saturation, a common temptation that can result in unrealistic and garish colors. Finally, Ramelli stresses the significance of finding the right balance in your editing, avoiding both under-developed and over-retouched images.

To guide you towards effective editing practices, Ramelli outlines a five-step workflow that has proven successful in his own work. He starts by establishing a solid foundation with proper exposure adjustments, followed by careful white balance correction. Next, he refines colors using the point color feature in Lightroom, allowing for subtle and precise adjustments. The fourth step involves the art of dodging and burning, a technique used to selectively lighten or darken specific areas of the image for added depth and dimension. Finally, Ramelli demonstrates a two-step sharpening process that ensures optimal sharpness while minimizing noise. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Ramelli.

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Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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