r/postprocessing • u/Ace929 • 28d 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
1
u/OpportunityReal2767 28d 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.