Nature Photography How To

We recently featured a tutorial demonstrating how to create jaw-dropping landscape photos with Lightroom’s oft-ignored Calibration tool. That lesson got a lot of attention, and we have an equally great one for you below.

Today’s episode comes from a different landscape pro, and describes how to unlock the power of Lightroom’s Luminance slider for images with better-balanced exposure, vibrant colors, and more. Whether you shoot landscapes, travel photos, wildlife, or other types of outdoor images, this technique is sure to become one of your favorites.

Many photographers appreciate everything Lightroom can do, while at the same time bemoaning the complexity involved, and the myriad of tools that can be redundant. In today’s episode you’ll learn why instructor Mark Denney considers many Lightroom’s sliders “non-essential,” but describes the Luminance slider as “incredibly beneficial.”

The weird thing is that many photographers don’t even know this versatile tool exists, and that may be because it’s not found in the Basics section where Denney says it should reside. In barely 13 minutes he explains how to access his favorite slider and use it to make landscape photos really sing.

Denney captured his demonstration photo on a recent hike in Colorado. It looks pretty good as is, with vibrant aspens full of autumn color, snow-capped peaks in the background, and a very compelling sky. But follow along as he uses the Luminance slider to transform a good photograph into one that’s truly spectacular.

He begins with a few common adjustments with which you’re probably familiar, before turning to the hidden hero slider. While watching him work his magic you’ll be able to view before/after images that will convince you of the value of this approach.

You can find more great advice on Denney’s YouTube channel, so be sure to take a look.

And don‘t miss the other Lightroom tutorial we mentioned above, explaining how to make some magic of your own with the underused Calibration tool.