The Professional Lightroom Workflow for Landscape Photography

Setting Up Lightroom for Efficiency

Catalog Organization

One Master Catalog Approach (Recommended)
- Single catalog for entire image library
- Use folders and collections for organization
- Faster searching across all images

Structure:

Photos/
├── 2025/
│   ├── 2025-01-Iceland/
│   ├── 2025-03-Patagonia/
│   └── 2025-06-Norway/
├── 2024/
└── Archive/

Import Presets

Create an import preset that applies:
- Your copyright metadata
- Basic lens corrections enabled
- Standard develop settings (if any)

Culling and Rating Strategy

The Three-Pass System

First Pass: Reject Obvious Failures
- Keyboard: X to reject, arrow to advance
- Reject: Out of focus, severe exposure issues, bad compositions
- Don’t overthink—move quickly

Second Pass: Identify Candidates
- P to flag as pick, U to unflag
- Flag potential keepers from each scene
- Compare similar images (C for compare mode)

Third Pass: Star Ratings
- 5 stars: Portfolio-worthy, best from trip
- 4 stars: Very strong, publish-ready
- 3 stars: Good, may process later
- Leave others unrated

The Editing Workflow Sequence

Order matters. Follow this sequence for consistent results:

Step 1: Lens Corrections

Always Enable:
- Remove Chromatic Aberration (checkbox)
- Enable Profile Corrections (auto-detects lens)

Manual Adjustments:
- Defringe if color fringing remains
- Transform for horizon leveling

Step 2: Camera Profile Selection

Options:
- Adobe Standard (neutral starting point)
- Adobe Landscape (more saturation and contrast)
- Camera Matching profiles (emulates camera JPEG)

Recommendation: Start with Adobe Landscape for most scenes, reduce adjustments if needed.

Step 3: White Balance

Methods:
- Eyedropper on neutral gray area
- Daylight: ~5500K
- Golden hour: 5000-6000K (warmer)
- Blue hour: 6500-8000K (cooler)

Trust your calibrated monitor, not camera LCD.

Step 4: Global Tone Adjustments

The Natural Sequence:
1. Exposure: Overall brightness (-2 to +2 is normal range)
2. Highlights: Recover blown sky (-100 to -50 typical)
3. Shadows: Lift dark areas (+30 to +70)
4. Whites: Set white point (hold Alt, drag until clipping appears)
5. Blacks: Set black point (hold Alt, drag until clipping appears)

Step 5: Presence Adjustments

Texture: Local contrast in medium-detail areas
- +10 to +30 for landscapes
- Avoid on skin/sky

Clarity: Midtone contrast
- +10 to +20 for most landscapes
- Creates “punch” in scenes

Dehaze: Atmospheric contrast
- +5 to +15 removes haze naturally
- Beyond +20 often looks artificial

Mastering Lightroom Masks

Lightroom’s AI masking revolutionized local adjustments.

Sky Selections

Select Sky button provides instant mask:
- Adjust exposure independently
- Reduce highlights to recover detail
- Add graduated effect at horizon

Refinement:
- Subtract from mask with brush for trees/structures
- Feather slider controls edge softness

Subject Masking

Select Subject identifies foreground elements:
- Enhance shadows in foreground
- Increase clarity for texture
- Warm or cool independently

Luminosity Masks

Select by Luminance Range:
- Target specific tonal ranges
- Protect highlights while lifting shadows
- Avoid halo effects from heavy global adjustments

Combining Masks

Intersect: Limits mask to overlapping areas
Subtract: Removes areas from existing mask
Add: Expands mask to include new areas

Example Combination:
1. Select Sky
2. Intersect with Luminance Range (highlights only)
3. Result: Only the brightest parts of sky selected

Color Grading for Landscapes

Natural Look

HSL Adjustments:
- Orange: +5 saturation (warm light on rocks)
- Blue: +10 saturation, -5 luminance (deepen sky)
- Green: -10 saturation (natural foliage)

Color Grading Panel:
- Highlights: Warm shift (+5 toward orange)
- Shadows: Cool shift (+5 toward blue)
- Creates natural warm/cool contrast

Dramatic Look

HSL Adjustments:
- Orange: +15 saturation
- Blue: +20 saturation, -15 luminance
- Shift blues toward teal/cyan

Color Grading:
- Stronger warm/cool separation
- Consider overall tint adjustment

The New Color Variance Slider

Lightroom Classic 15 (2025):

Color Variance adds subtle color variation within similar hues—mimicking film response.

Use Cases:
- Foliage looks more natural with +10 to +20
- Skies gain subtle variation
- Prevents “over-uniform” digital look

Sharpening at 100% Zoom

Always View at 100% when adjusting sharpening.

Landscape Sharpening Settings:
- Amount: 80-100
- Radius: 1.0-1.2
- Detail: 25-40
- Masking: 60-80 (hold Alt to preview)

Masking Explained:
Higher masking values restrict sharpening to edges only—protecting skies and smooth areas from noise enhancement.

Noise Reduction Strategies

Standard Approach (ISO 100-800)

• Luminance: 0-15
• Color: 25
• Minimal intervention needed

High ISO (1600+)

• Luminance: 20-40
• Detail: 50 (preserves sharpness)
• Consider AI Denoise (Enhance menu)

AI Denoise (Premium Results)

• Enhance > Denoise creates new DNG
• Amount: 40-60 for most images
• Superior to standard sliders
• Creates larger file

Export Settings

For Web

For Print

Batch Processing Tips

Sync Across Similar Images

1. Edit one image from series
2. Select all similar images
3. Sync Settings (Ctrl+Shift+S)
4. Choose which adjustments to sync

Create Develop Presets

Save frequently used adjustment combinations:
- “Landscape Base” (lens corrections, starting point)
- “Sunrise Warmth” (color grading for golden hour)
- “Blue Hour Cool” (color grading for twilight)

Conclusion

A consistent workflow produces consistent results. Internalize this sequence until it becomes automatic, then focus your creative energy on the artistic decisions that make each image unique.