Most photographers learn Lightroom by experimenting on their own, but exploring how others retouch images can drastically improve your editing skills. Understanding someone else's process step-by-step is a powerful learning method that could significantly refine your approach and results.
Coming to you from Glyn Dewis, this practical video explains the Lightroom community, a valuable yet underutilized feature that lets you explore how other users retouch their images, step-by-step. Dewis walks you through how to access the community from any version of Lightroom, whether you use the desktop, mobile, web, or Lightroom Classic. One of the standout features he highlights is the interactive display where hovering over images instantly reveals the original shot before edits. Seeing precisely how others apply adjustments like masking, exposure, or color correction is a practical way to enhance your own editing decisions. Dewis also touches on the "remix" feature, allowing you to apply your own edits to others' images as practice without affecting their originals.
This functionality isn't just passive observation; it lets you actively experiment with the settings others have applied, providing hands-on practice to solidify your skills. Dewis demonstrates how you can seamlessly replicate these edits or even save them as presets for future use. Beyond merely learning, it's a useful resource for generating creative ideas or fresh editing styles you might not have considered otherwise. Dewis emphasizes how beneficial this interactive process can be—showing that by diving into others' workflows, you not only discover new techniques but also gain insight into different visual interpretations of the same photograph. He points out the ease of sharing your own retouching steps, contributing to this cycle of shared learning.
The video also covers an additional Lightroom feature—"edit replays," a powerful but often overlooked tool that creates an animated sequence of your editing steps. Dewis demonstrates how quickly and effortlessly you can produce short clips suitable for platforms like Instagram or Facebook, offering engaging content for your followers. This feature isn't just about engagement; it's another way to critically review and reflect on your editing choices, potentially revealing opportunities for improvement or different approaches to familiar edits. He shares personal tips on how to make these animations more viewer-friendly, such as slowing playback speed slightly and adding music, making your social media posts visually appealing and more informative. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Dewis.
