In-class Exercise: Develop Module ~ 12 Versions of One Photo

Lightroom Develop Module

In Class Exercise: 12 versions of one photo

Adopted from an exercise by Julie Verdini

After learning some basic adjustments in Lightroom’s Develop Module, use the following exercise to experiment with some of the tools in the module.

Import a photo of your choosing (or use an existing one in your catalog).  You’ll create a virtual copy for each of the exercises below from the same ORIGINAL photo.

You can do this by either right-clicking and choosing “create virtual copy” OR from the Menu Bar choose Photo→ Create Virtual Copy.

Remember: to undo an adjustment, hold down the Command key and the letter Z at the same time.  You can also use the History panel on the lower right to step back through adjustments you’ve made.

1) Using a Lightroom Preset

On the left panel there is a list of presets.  Try them all to see their effects (remember that Lightroom will "layer" these, building one on top of the next. Be sure to click "un-do" or "Command Z" to see the full effects of each).

After playing with presets, choose a pre-set that you like, but feel goes a little over the edge on a particular adjustment. Find that adjustment on the right hand panel and neutralize it by double clicking the slider point. Continue to make adjustments until it looks AMAZING. Then save these settings by creating your own custom pre-set by choosing the plus symbol. Name it and save.

2) Manually Adjusting Color Temperature and Tint

Create another virtual copy. Using the blue/yellow and green/magenta sliders, manually create a white balance effect of your choosing.

3) Manipulating Exposure

Create another virtual copy and using the Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites and Black Sliders, create an exposure that is very different than your original.

4)Adjusting Presence:

Create another virtual copy. Move the clarity slider only and create an image that has a different amount of clarity than the original. Note what happens when you push the slider to extremes.

5) Color Vibrance and Saturation

Create another virtual copy. Now Using the Vibrance and Saturation sliders change the presence of your image in relation to color. See if you can notice the difference between the two. How do they operate together and isolated? Try both. Then create an image that differs greatly from the original in terms of color presence.

6) Using the Tone Curve, auto adjustments :

This tool is helpful if you want to isolate adjustments relating to highlights, lights, darks or shadows. Create a virtual Copy. At the bottom of the Tone Curve menu they’ll be a pull down menu opposite “Point Curve” Select Medium Contrast and then Strong Contrast and note the affect it makes to the shape of
the line on the graph.

7) Using the Tone Curve,  s-Curve for increased contrast:
Create another virtual copy. Pull on the line itself to create an “S curve” Note how this affects the positioning of the sliders. Now continue to “pull” the line until you get a tone that you want to keep.

8) Hue/ Saturation/ Luminance, Pt 1:

Create another virtual copy. Click on Hue and move all the sliders noting how it can isolate the hue of particular colors. Pick a dominant color in your image and drastically change its hue.

9) Hue/ Saturation/ Luminance, Pt 2:

 Create another virtual copy. Repeat the same exercise but in the Saturation panel. Desaturate a dominant color in your image.

10) Hue/ Saturation/ Luminance, Pt 2:

Create another virtual copy. Now click on Luminance and alter the luminance levels of at least three colors.

11) Black-and-White

Create another virtual copy. Now click on "BLACK and WHITE" to convert your image to grayscale. Use the “b&w mix” and note how adjusting color sliders affects even “colorless” images”

12) Photographer’s Choice

Experiment with one of the adjustments we haven’t used yet to test its effects.

Export your virtual copies with our normal export settings to share results with the class.  Rename yourlastname_DevelopModule_01, 02, etc.  Keep images in the order listed above so we know which adjustments were applied to which version.