When I edit a raw photograph, I usually aim to produce an optimized version using just the Basic panel adjustments, which can be regarded a baseline version to which further edits can be made. At this stage, it is often a good idea to save an optimized version as a baseline snapshot that you can easily revert to. Once I have done that, I can use the remaining tools in Lightroom, such as the Tone Curve and other Develop module panels, to add to the initial adjustment and produce different interpreta- tions. Or, I may wish to re-edit the Basic panel settings as I create new versions. In the following steps, I show how the Basic panel settings were adjusted first to create an optimized version and how I afterward added a further contrast adjustment using the Tone Curve panel. The version I created at Step 3 was perfectly acceptable as an optimized image. What I did in Step 4 was to add a finishing touch with the addition of a Tone Curve panel adjustment.
1 Here is an image before I applied any adjustments. As you can see, the Histogram panel shows the tones are quite compressed.
NOTE
The Snapshot panel is located in the left section of the Develop module, just below the Presets panel. If you click on the plus icon, you can save a current image state as a new snapshot.
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2 The first step was to lighten the image and boost the con- trast, which I did by setting the Exposure to +0.30 and setting the Contrast to +34. At the same time, I fine-tuned the Whites and Blacks sliders and set the Shadows to +80 to bring out more detail in the darker areas of the picture.
3 The midtones looked rather flat in Step 2, so I set the Clarity to +77 and increased Vibrance, setting it to +50. The Histogram panel now reveals how the levels are spread out nicely across the entire tone range. At this stage it would be a good idea to save these settings as a new snapshot.
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4 In this final step, I went to Tone Curve and adjusted the Highlights, Lights, Darks and Shadows sliders to produce the tone curve shape shown here. I also adjusted the shadows tone range split point (circled), dragging this to the left so that the curve was steepened at the bottom end of the tone range. This refinement added a subtle kick to the shadow tones.
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Tone range split point refinements
When you edit the tone curve, as you make the curve shape steeper this increases the contrast, and as you make the curve shape shallower it flattens the contrast. In the previous example, the tone curve was made steeper from the Shadows zone to the Lights but became shallower from the Lights to the Highlights zone. I also dragged the Shadows tone range split point fully to the left, and this caused the tone curve to rise more steeply from the darkest point. This meant the contrast increased sharply at the shadow end of the tone curve, with the contrast increase remaining continuous through the midtone-to-light areas. The contrast increase then began to drop off and became softer in the lightest areas. When I am editing a landscape photograph and I want to add more cloud contrast, I will sometimes add a Tone Curve adjustment and drag the Highlights slider to the right to lighten but also drag the Highlights tone range split point slider to the right as well. This can give a little kick to the highlights, adding more contrast to the clouds. With studio fashion or portrait photographs, I find it helps to apply a tone curve where contrast is added evenly to the shadows and the highlights, and I’ll then push the Shadows and Highlights tone range split point sliders to their extremes. This applies a kick to the shadows and highlights, but with no midtone contrast boost, because this adjustment preserves a flat curve shape for the midtones (see Figure 3.8). You will find that by using the four Region sliders, you have plenty of control to manipulate the tone curve shape, and the three tone range split point sliders offer further fine-tuning control over the tone curve.
FIGURE 3.8 On the left is a tone-adjusted image, optimized using the Basic panel controls. On the right, a Tone Curve adjustment has been added in which the Shadows and Highlights tone range split point sliders were pushed to their extremes.
Default settings With Tone Curve adjustment
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3TONE AND COLOR CORRECTIONS
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