What do Lightroom Develop settings like Fill Light, Brightness, Clarity, and Vibrance do?
Asked 1/19/2011
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I understand some Lightroom Develop controls, such as Exposure and White Balance, but I’d like a clearer explanation of what the other settings are doing in theory. For example, what does Fill Light do, and how is it different from Brightness? I’m especially interested in practical explanations of controls like Fill Light, Clarity, and Vibrance so I can edit more intentionally instead of just moving sliders to see what happens.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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The fill light slider brightens and recovers detail from the shadows using an HDR style tonemapping operation. Used in moderation it can increase the apparent dynamic range and deal with large distracting overexposed areas. Turned up to 11 you will get a nasty overprocessed bright-everywhere image that will make people on Flickr go "wow great capture".
The clarity slider does something akin to high pass filtering, basically increasing the contrast of large details without adding noise. Used in moderation it improves the, well, clarity of the image, especially when there is low contrast or flare. Also looks good on clouds. When overused it makes everything look a bit plasticy and fake.
The vibrance slider selectively boosts the less saturated colours. This increases the overall colourfulness without pushing existing colours too far (which can happen when you increase saturation). Again if used too much you'll get something that is painful to look at. You can combine increasing vibrance with decreasing saturation which evens out the colours even more, I find this helpful to boost blues and greens whilst keeping skintones in check.
These are the main ones that are tricky in their operation, perhaps you could be a bit more specific about which settings you'd like to understand better.
Originally by user1375. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1375
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Fill Light and Brightness affect different parts of the tonal range. Fill Light mainly brightens shadow areas and can help recover detail there, somewhat like local tone mapping to increase apparent dynamic range. Used gently, it can open dark areas; pushed too far, it can make images look flat and overprocessed.
Brightness is a more general overall lightness adjustment, rather than being targeted mainly at shadows.
Clarity increases midtone/local contrast, somewhat like a high-pass style effect. It can make detail and texture appear stronger, which is often useful for low-contrast scenes or clouds. Too much can make the image look harsh, plasticky, or fake.
Vibrance increases saturation selectively, boosting weaker colors more than colors that are already strong. This usually gives a more natural color boost than a plain saturation increase.
A good rule is to use these controls sparingly: Fill Light for opening shadows, Brightness for overall tonal adjustment, Clarity for texture and separation, and Vibrance for a restrained color boost.
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