Photo Editing & Exposure Control

My last post talked about optimizing camera exposure for capturing good files. This post introduces Adobe’s Lightroom and Photoshop editing tools for setting the best tonal values in files for output to the web or print. Other photo editing software like Capture One and DxO work in a similar way. Exposure control can be a confusing subject because there are a handful of tools and some like Levels and Curves Adjustments in Photoshop initially appear to be complex. With clear instructions anyone can use these tools.

In this example, Photoshop Curves was used to brighten the highlights of the Aspen leaves and to slightly bring down the tones in the tree trunks.

In this photo the original sky lacked contrast even after the land was processed. A Curves adjustment was used to remedy the situation with a mask that protected the land and water.

If you are saying you will never understand Curves or the other adjustment tools like Levels, please continue with this post by viewing the detailed PDF document below. It is free to view and copy. It covers all the major exposure controls in Lightroom and Photoshop including Exposure & Contrast sliders, Levels and my absolute favorite, Curves.

Use the Options menu (cog wheel) on PDF screen below to view the document on this screen in “presentation mode”, open it as a PDF, print it or download.