Lightroom

🎥 I Recorded 5 Lightroom Tutorials for Adobe

I'm excited to finally share some news I've been keeping under wraps: I recently had the opportunity to create five tutorial videos for Adobe, now featured on the Adobe Learn site … learn.adobe.com

These videos are designed with beginner and intermediate users in mind, walking through some of the most useful and practical workflows in Lightroom and Lightroom on the Web.

Whether you're just starting out or want to brush up on your skills, these tutorials are built to help you feel more confident with your editing and photo management.

Here's a quick look at the topics I covered:

✨ 1. Edit your Lightroom Photos in Photoshop

Start your edits in Lightroom and then send an image to Photoshop for additional creative possibilities.

🌐 2. Get to Know Lightroom on the Web

Access all your Lightroom photos in a web browser and any edits you make will sync across the Lightroom ecosystem.

🛠 3. Improve Photos with Basic Edits in Lightroom on the Web

Start with an auto adjustment and fine tune your edits with changes to the brightness, contrast, and color in a photo.

🎨 4. Enhance Photos with Presets in Lightroom on the Web

Take advantage of presets to jumpstart your image editing or explore new creative styles.

📁 5. Organize and Share Your Photos Using Lightroom on the Web

Use albums and folders to organize your photos and create a link to share an album as an online web gallery.

How to LEARN LIGHTROOM by Copying ... WITH Permission❗️

Available for ALL Lightroom users (Lightroom, Classic, Mobile and Web) is the Lightroom Community - a FREE Space where users share their edits from Start to Finish showing ALL of the sliders and settings used to create the final look. Also download Presets for FREE. The Lightroom Community is a GREAT resource to learn Lightroom.

Photographing Cars with my iPhone 15 Pro Max

Now primariy I’m a Portrait Photographer however this past few weeks, for the fun of it, I’ve been experimenting with my iPhone to see how it would fare when taking pictures of my car … both still and moving.

So a few weekends back I met up with friends in South Wales and headed to Crickhowell; an area I’ve photographed in before when working on this Harley image …

kit used

For these car photographs I was using my iPhone 15 Pro Max along with …

  • Polar Pro iPhone Case

  • 67mm Filter Adaptor + 67mm Circular Polarising Filter

  • ReeFlex Pro Camera App

The circular polariser is the car photographers secret weapon because of how effective it is in reducing / removing reflections in the car windows and on the bodywork …

I used the ReeFlex Pro Camera App purely so that I could use shutter speed and ISO to lock in the exposure that I wanted.

Here’s the ‘out of camera’ result …

Here’s the final retouched image which was done using Lightroom Desktop.

I also added a long exposure effect to the clouds using a technique in Photoshop which works really well however now I want to do the shoot again and capture it all ‘in camera’ using a long exposure app like ReeXpose or EvenLonger 😃

I also tried some panning shots and did get some results, however the ratio of keepers to rejects was very low.

I was trying to do this using the ReeFlex App and a Neutral Density Filter on the front of the iPhone so that I could lock in an exposed photographed at 1/30 second. However, the ReeFlex app at the time I did this did NOT have burst mode. This meant I was having to try to capture a single frame as I panned with the car passing at no more than 30 mph.

Here’s an edited result of what I managed to capture …

Later having shared this image online I spoke with a friend of mine who is a Professional Car Photographer. It was great to hear that he was impressed with the results expecially considering they were from an iPhone but he also gave me some settings that he and other pro car photographers use to capture a moving car.

My friend told me that moving car shots often see the car travelling at no more than 20 mph and that they also use a shutter speed of around 1/15 sec or 1/20 sec … but ALWAYS shoot in burst mode.

So armed with these settings I set about finding a pro camera app that would allow me to manually dial in the shutter speed but that also had Burst Mode; and the app I turned to was MOMENT.

I’ve yet to use the app in a planned car shoot however when in Germany a couple of weeks back I was waiting for a friend to pick me up and whilst waiting near a fuel station forecourt I attached the Variable Neutral Density Filter to my iPhone using the Polar Pro Case and Adaptor, and set the shutter speed using the MOMENT app.

I then simply took a burst of panning shots of passing cars as they negotiated a roundabout and drove away, which from my position would have meant them travelling around 20 mph.

Here’s some of the results …

So, yeah I’ve been very impressed with how the iPhone has dealt with this and the results I’ve managed to get.

Lots more experimenting and fun to be had!

Make PORTRAITS POP 💥 Dodging and Burning in LIGHTROOM

Dodging and burning in Lightroom is easier than you think!

In this video, I walk you through how to use masks and brushes to enhance your photos with subtle adjustments and bring portraits to life!

You’ll learn how to:

✅ Brighten highlights and deepen shadows for a natural look
✅ Use masks for precise control over specific areas
✅ Work with Lightroom’s brush tools to fine-tune your edits

⏰ Chapters:
00:00 - Why Dodge & Burn?
00:14 - Old Method
00:34 - Dodge Brush Mask Settings
02:34 - Dodge\Lighten Highlights on Face
05:57 - Depth + Dimension Explained
06:20 - Burn Brush Mask Settings
09:32 - Before/After

The ONE Slider You Need for PERFECT Colour & Contrast in LIGHTROOM

In this video I show how to balance color and contrast in Adobe Lightroom using the VERY USEFUL Refine Saturation Slider.

✅ How contrast adjustments influence colors in your photos.

✅ How to keep colors vibrant and natural.

Whether you're just starting out or have some editing experience, this might be something new or something you've forgotten about but is a great way to adjust tonal values of your images but maintain colour integrity.

⏰ Chapters:

  • 00:00 - Introduction

  • 00:48 - Luminosity Blend Mode

  • 01:30 - Desaturate

  • 02:17 - The Refine Saturation Slider

Create Atmospheric SPECIAL EFFECTS in LIGHTROOM ( Fog + Lighting )

Learn simple techniques to enhance your photos with special effects.

In this video, I’ll show you:

  • How to create natural-looking fog in Lightroom

  • Adding realistic lights with reflection and fall-off for a polished look

  • How to include birds in Photoshop without needing to cut them out.

Improved SKY MASKS in LIGHTROOM Mobile using INVERT not INTERSECT

Making accurate Sky Masks in Lightroom Classic and Desktop is made so much easier using the 'Intersect' Command.

However this isn't currently available in Lightroom Mobile and neither is the 'Invert from Sky Selection' command.

So what can we do?

To download the Raw File and my Sunny Day at Lyme Preset, use the button link below to receive my Twice-Monthly Newsletter and have Access to the PRIVATE PAGE containing SUBSCRIBER-ONLY Content …

COMPLETE Retouching Workflow in LIGHTROOM on an iPad

Retouching a Seascape Photography from Start to Finish using ONLY Lightroom on the iPad.

To download the Raw File and my Sunny Day at Lyme Preset, use the button link below to receive my Twice-Monthly Newsletter and have Access to the PRIVATE PAGE containing SUBSCRIBER-ONLY Content …