Lightroom Workflow : Good to Great

I get questions all the time about my workflow, and in this tutorial I’m answering some specific questions I got related to some recent bird photos I posted on my Flickr photostream. Some other photographers had been with me and struggled to capture images in the same location and time. In addition to the workflow I present in this video, I’ll add some additional tips:

Your Lightroom workflow starts in camera

That’s right, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:

• Shoot in RAW format if possible – you’ll have more flexibility with the results.
• Use a tripod when practical and possible – eliminate camera shake at all costs.
• Check your histogram to ensure you are capturing highlights and shadow.

Your Lightroom workflow includes sorting and selecting

First, run through your images a time or two and select just the best ones to work on. This may take awhile, but you don’t want to waste your valuable time developing hundreds of images when you really are after the top two or three.

Your Lightroom workflow is non-destructive

Don’t be afraid to make bold moves and try new things – Lightroom gives you infinite undo capability and your original images are never harmed!

With that, here’s a peek at my Lightroom workflow for taking a pretty good image and making it pop, using just the tools in the Develop module: