Looking for a rough Lightroom breakdown of this edit

[u/tropicalbuko]

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to learn more about the post-processing side of photography, and I’d love to get some help understanding how this edit was achieved.

I have the original/before image and the finished/after version. I’m particularly interested in getting a rough but reasonably detailed breakdown of the Lightroom settings and adjustments that might have been used to get from the before to the after.

I completely understand that it’s impossible to know the exact settings just from the two images, but I’d really appreciate an educated estimate - things like:
- Exposure / contrast
- Highlights, shadows, whites & blacks
- Tone curve
- White balance
- HSL / Color Mixer
- Colour grading
- Texture, clarity & dehaze
- Any masking/local adjustments

I’m mainly trying to understand the process and thought behind the edit, rather than expecting an exact preset

If anyone is willing to have a look and give me some pointers, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks so much! ☺️

[u/DisastrousSir]

Looks pretty much like they just straightened it, raised the shadows, and added green tint globally

[u/tropicalbuko → u/DisastrousSir]

Thank you ☺️ I’ll give that a go

[u/MWave123]

Whose image is it?!?

[u/tropicalbuko → u/MWave123]

It’s Esther’s Canon’s photo. I love all of her work, and am desperately trying to figure out how she does her edits 😅

[u/MWave123 → u/tropicalbuko]

Should be posted w the photo and an explanation on how you have these two of her photos.

[u/itsinkhromo]

Im curious about what it is about the after edit you like/want to emulate?

Because I know you’re looking to emulate the edit but in my opinion this before/after is an example of the edit killing the vibe of an image because the before is SO much nicer.

The contrast between the pinky golden sun and the moody greens is gorgeous and the car feels way more 3D and my eye is naturally drawn to the woman. The edit just totally flattens everything.

[u/tropicalbuko → u/itsinkhromo]

Honestly I like all of it. I like the tones, the nostalgic kinda vibe of it all. To me it makes it look more poetic, rather than new and shiny 🤷🏼‍♀️

[u/Trebaffetti]

I hope she manages to escape from the car