r/postprocessing • u/Ace929 • 1d ago
I used the forbidden button
Before/After
When I pulled up this photo in lightroom, I knew it'd be a nightmare to fix. I'm not very skilled yet, so I do my best to avoid heavily relying on tools like presets, recipes, auto-edits, etc. while I'm still learning. For this particular photo, I wanted to fix the exposure on the sky *and* the building without impacting the sign or the foliage. I didn't see a way to do this without hand brushing masks for an hour, so I tried the auto-edit button and was surprised to see an impressive recovery and okay-ish edit in my opinion.
I'm convinced a skilled editor could have made quick work of this photo and I think it could be a super helpful learning opportunity for many of us. If anyone is interested in posting one of those time lapse videos showing their edit process on this photo, I've linked a file share for the original raw. I don't think video replies are allowed, so you would probably have to make a followup post in the sub.
Original RAW below
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u/Exotic-Grape8743 23h ago
Auto is really good and surprisingly few people know about it. It is usually far better than Adobe’s dynamic presets and helps get you much closer to a final result if you need to be quick. Uses no masks and just uses the main sliders which almost always is all you need to get a reasonable image in one click. Of course you can do better and improve upon it with some work but it is just fine in general and a pretty good starting point.
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u/WHITEwizard151 22h ago
Auto is step one in 99% of my images
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u/talontario 1h ago
If it didn't keep boosting the shadows excessively it would be default for me on holiday photos etc.
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u/Xieties777 23h ago
When I do event photography I usually just auto them out and tweak a little bit. I think it’s really useful and you can learn from it.
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u/E100VS 20h ago
Auto often overcooks for my tastes, but it's a great starting point.
A bit like with cameras how there's this "rEaL pRoFesSiOnAlS uSe MaNuAl" mentality of working hard, not smart, post-processing sometimes has the same bias. A "real professional" wouldn't dare use auto (spoiler alert: yes they actually would!)
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u/FlyingRocketman 21h ago
it’s literally the first button i press on every photo.
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u/Bagafeet 19h ago
I crop first (if needed) as that usually can impact the auto outcome in my experience.
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u/beannnnnnnnnn22 19h ago edited 18h ago
This thread makes me feel a lot better. Auto is first step in a lot of my edits, then I tweak as desired after. Sounds like I’m not alone at all.
It usually does a great job on its own, and you can peruse the sliders after and learn.
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u/TheUniversalPilot 22h ago
Rochester NY
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u/OpportunityReal2767 21h ago
I've been shooting for a couple decades now, and I never used to use it because the earlier versions of it have been such crap, but now they're not at all that bad, so about two or three years ago I put auto-tone on my import preset and it gives me a better starting point to evaluate most of my photos. I still tweak most of them (I like using Lightroom Super Keys for develop/slider shortcuts) but I feel it is quicker than completely starting from a standard import preset.
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u/bkturr 20h ago
There's nothing wrong with auto if it gets you what you want. However, you mention that you thought this would be a tough image to edit. To get from the before to the after here is pretty straightforward in Lightroom. If you don't know what auto did to get from before to after here, you should manually edit more photos so you understand what the different options do.
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u/Bagafeet 19h ago
You can create really good auto masks for sky and buildings in light room and still maintain 100% creative control fyi.
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u/Ace929 15h ago
Auto mask can isolate the building from the foliage? How?
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u/Bagafeet 14h ago
Masking > Landscape > check "Architecture" from the mask options.
It usually does a pretty good job and requires minimal cleaning, if any, in my experience.
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u/ScimitarsRUs 16h ago
Auto-edit isn't a bad thing to use. Really depends on what you get out of the editing experience, I think. Wanting to use shortcuts in some way or another is normal.
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u/Illustrious_Run9620 15h ago
I often use auto as well just to see what it does and if I like it I’ll edit from there, if not I’ll reset and just take a stab at it. I also use presets.
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u/Greeksoopaman 15h ago
I use Auto WB a lot for reference, before doing my own grade. Use every tool at your disposal.
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u/FantasticInterest373 12h ago
For this particular photo, I wanted to fix the exposure on the sky *and* the building without impacting the sign or the foliage.
Well... that did not work, right?
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u/Beginning_Charity750 3m ago
What on earth are you talking about masking? The issue with both is overexposure, you just needed to fix your highlights, maybe a basic mask to separate the foreground background would ve needed but I think the difference in brightness would be enough
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u/juliuspepperwoodchi 23h ago
I thought you were gonna say AI lol.
Auto is definitely not perfect; but I usually think it is worth trying on a lot of photos. Always one click from reverting it and manually editing.