Photo How To

The whole point of post-processing is to enhance images with a realistic look. Take the right approach and you have a successful image but doing things wrong can be worse than no editing at all. This quick Lightroom tutorial from the Aftershoot YouTube channel guides you through seven common Lightroom errors that not only slow down your workflow but can easily spoil a an otherwise nice shot.

Instructor Emma hosts the popular channel with the goal of "equipping photographers with the knowledge and tools needed to enhance photography skills while streamlining the process."  Today's seven-minute episode demonstrates the best way to use straightforward tools to keep you on track.

Emma breaks down her advice in into four categories: Over-editing colors, mastering keyboard shortcuts, achieving perfect white balance, and using star ratings and flags to keep all your images organized so you can find them with ease. It all happens in the next 10 minutes. She kicks off the lesson by saying, "I know it can be difficult to hear what you've been doing wrong, but this awareness makes us better photographers."

At the top of her list is a heavy-handed approach to color adjustments, and this holds true for conventional enhancements as well as when exercising your creative freedom to create a unique or out-of-the box effect. She puts it like this: "Make sure you're not messing with the Hue sliders so much that the tones no longer resemble the original colors."

Another familiar faux pax is not taking advantage of the many keyboard shortcuts that can help get the job done quickly and efficiently. She explains some of her favorites, especially for certain regularly used actions like rotating a photo, so that it's not necessary to dig into the menu or scroll down through various options in the panel on your screen.

Tip #3 is a big one because it's all about achieving accurate white balance, and this is one technique that requires slowing your roll if you want accurate results. There are many methods for refining colors and Emma describes how they work, one of which is using pure white for comparison.

At this point you're only midway through the lesson, with four more essential tips for avoiding common errors, so watch until the end and then modify your everyday Lightroom workflow accordingly. Then check out the instructional Aftershoot YouTube channel where there are many more post-processing tip and techniques to be found.

And speaking of unfortunate mistakes, don’t miss the recent tutorial we featured with another adept pro who reveals several common errors that photographers make when shooting with a 50mm prime lens.