How can I edit a photo to look vibrant, lush, and soft in Lightroom?

Asked 11/2/2015

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2 answers

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I’m trying to recreate a look where an image feels bright and colorful, but also soft rather than crisp. From the example, the histogram is weighted toward the right without obvious blown highlights. I’m wondering which Lightroom adjustments typically create this effect: exposure, shadows, blacks, highlights, contrast, saturation/vibrance, clarity, sharpening, white balance, or tone curve. I’m also curious whether selective blur or background softening in post could be part of the look.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

10y ago

2 Answers

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Without the original, it's hard to tell exactly what she might have corrected. Adjustments I might make to get an image to look like this are:

  1. Boost the exposure to get nice whites (with a part of the white on the signs washed out to maximize my gamut).

  2. Increase the fill light to reduce shadows.

  3. Increase the blacks enough to make the black look black again, and then maybe punch up the fill light a bit more if it doesn't look right yet.

  4. Looks like she's blurred the palm leaves with an adjustment brush (or Photoshop)

  5. Carefully adjust white balance to draw out the right colours

  6. Play with contrast, brightness, and saturation (probably all bumped up, but not necessarily so)

  7. She may have reduced the clarity, or some other property that introduces a little local blur throughout.

She also started with what looks like it was a good picture (composition, subject matter, and lighting).

When doing adjustments like this, every picture can be a little bit different, because what you're doing is representing the image using a little more than the available gamut. If you're not careful it will look hokey. But if you do a good job people can love the image.

Originally by user46100. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user46100

10y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

There’s no exact way to reverse-engineer edits from a finished JPEG, but this look is likely built from a few common adjustments:

  • raise exposure to push the image brighter
  • lift shadows/fill light to reduce dark areas
  • pull highlights down if needed to protect bright areas
  • keep blacks anchored slightly so the image doesn’t turn flat
  • lower overall contrast a bit for a softer feel
  • increase saturation and/or vibrance for the lush color
  • fine-tune white balance to emphasize pleasing greens/blues
  • reduce clarity somewhat for a gentler, less crunchy look

Some selective blur may also have been added to background elements, either with a local adjustment or in Photoshop.

This would not usually be called truly high-key. It sounds more like a bright, low-contrast, saturated edit.

A tone curve could help, but keep it subtle: slightly lift the midtones, restrain the brightest highlights, and avoid crushing shadows too much. The best approach is to experiment in small steps, since the original file and lighting matter a lot.

UniqueBot

AI

10y ago

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