Landscape Photography III: Pro Editing With Lightroom & Photoshop

With nearly two full hours of instruction, photographer JP Danko teaches a professional landscape photography editing workflow by showing students exactly how to process five sample landscape photographs, step-by-step from start to finish using some of the more advanced features available in Adobe Lightroom (or the Camera RAW module in Photoshop).  This class is designed to conclude the two other landscape photography classes in the series:  Landscape Photography I: Interpreting Place Through Light” and  Landscape Photography II: Advanced Tools and Techniques”.  By the end of the class, students will have learned everything necessary to edit their own landscape photography and achieve professional results.

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Class Outline

• Landscape Photography Trailer. 

  Beautiful landscape photos can seem like they were created using some kind of magic, but in reality, the process for getting vibrant colors and sharp details is less complicated than you might think. In this series of advanced Photoshop tutorials, landscape and travel photographer JP Danko shows you his step-by-step technique for creating professional-quality photos using five of his own examples. Some online photo editing lessons focus on using software presets to achieve decent results. However, JP shows you a few simple but powerful tips to turn your snapshot into a postcard-worthy photograph without using presets.
  

• Introduction and Overview. 

  In this series of lessons, JP will show you a professional post-processing workflow using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. It should be noted that these are not Adobe Photoshop tutorials for beginners, and you will need a basic understanding of the software in order to follow along, but fear not! There are a number of tutorials to choose from on Skillshare to get you up and editing in no time. Once you have achieved proficiency, you will then edit your own landscape photo and upload it to the class Dropbox to get feedback and answers to any questions you might have.
  

• Summer Mountain Editing Example. 

  To begin, JP starts with the “basic” panel in Lightroom to show you the first steps you should take when editing your photos. You’ll learn how to apply lens correction depending on the camera you used to take the photo, as well as how to check the exposure using the histogram. From there, you’ll begin to make creative decisions on color and exposure to help craft a pleasant composition of elements.
  

• Lakeshore Sunset Editing Example. 

  In this example, JP’s camera was pointing directly at the setting sun, and he gives you his techniques for enhancing the warmth of the sunset, as well as how to handle overblown sections of your image. You’ll learn how and why to avoid pure blacks and whites, and also to recover detail from any accidental overexposures.
  

• Rocky Beach at Dusk Editing Example. 

  For the next photo, JP chose to shoot during “blue hour,” and he shows you how to adjust the colors and tone to create a nearly monochromatic image that still pops with detail. He’ll apply the basics in Lightroom before giving you an Adobe Photoshop tutorial designed to add those few extra details that you might otherwise miss.
  

• Southwest Red Rock Editing Example. 

  Moving from a blue tone to one bathed in red, JP shows you how to apply his techniques to a simple snapshot, and the results are stunning! Even when using a point-and-shoot camera, these tips can be used to create beautiful landscape photos that look like they were taken with a top-of-the-line camera.
  

• Winter Ice Editing Example. 

  Taking all of the tips from the previous lessons, JP shows you that even a photo of mostly grey tones can be turned into a powerful image awash in colors. He’ll show you how to use Lightroom to find the colors that the camera saw but your eye might have missed. From there, he’ll tweak the blues and reds to end up with a stunning photo that almost looks like it was taken in another world.
  

• Conclusion. 

  Once you’ve finished with your project, you can upload it to the class Dropbox and share it with others. JP will be on hand to answer questions or help if you get stuck. He’ll also give you feedback on your project and help you along the path to taking gorgeous landscape photographs.