How to use Lightroom - Bloggers Guide

Lightroom is the software that everybody is using at the minute to edit their photos - including myself! It seems quite a daunting thing to use but hopefully, after reading this guide, you'll soon be a pro! I'm going to be discussing both the desktop and mobile version.

♡ Shoot a great photo first!
Lightroom works wonders but it can only work if you've managed to capture a high-quality photo first. I'd recommend turning flash off (unless it's extremely dark) as sometimes the flash can blur out features and fine details, so if you can use your camera without flash. Lightroom can then be used to turn up the brightness and exposure.

♡ Download some presets
This is the easiest option in comparison to adjusting saturation, brightness, colour levels etc. Here's a link for some free presets I've found:

380 Free Lightroom Presets
Sunset Preset

♡ MY FAVOURITE LIGHTROOM TOOL!!!
I have to include my favourite Lightroom tool in this post! This tool is especially great if you've got a theme which is a certain colour scheme. So, it is the Colour Mixer. Which you can access on Desktop by clicking the little rainbow circle in the Color tab. If you're using Mobile then you can access it by going to the Color Tab - Mix 

Basically, if you'd like to make a certain colour in the post stand out then head to the Colour Mixer and increase the Saturation and Luminance. You can change the Hue of the colour which will change how the colour looks in the photo. If you're wondering how so many people change the sky to a lilac colour then this is usually what they use. 

Desktop

How to add photos from your computer or camera:
To upload a photo, all you have to do is go to File - Add Photo however that usually only works if you already have the files on your computer. To upload a photo directly from your camera, you go to File - Import photos and video. This will then open up a window and you will be able to select your camera from the left side of the screen. Your camera needs to be hooked up to your computer first.

How to edit photos:
This all depends on how you like your photos to look but there are so many ways you can edit your photos. So, here are some of my favourite things to do...

White Balance and Tone Curve - This setting is great if you're looking to change the tone of your image. I love making my photos slightly warmer during the autumn months so this tool is great for that!

Saturation - This is an obvious one but it is so helpful if you're wanting your images to really pop!
Exposure - If you've taken a photo in the dark or simply just want to make a photo that little bit brighter then this is the tool for you.
Contrast - This is a setting which can be quite dangerous to play around with as too much contast doesn't look great. But I love this setting for Autumnal photos.
Highlights and Shadows - This is another great setting for adjusting the lighting of your images.

Here's a photo I quickly edited just for the purpose of this post. I have made sure to include all the settings I used down the side:

Mobile

Personally, I use the mobile version a lot more than the desktop version but that's just because it's a lot easier to use and less time-consuming. So, here are some before and after images of some settings I use on there:

So, first of all, I like to raise the EXPOSURE. As you can see, it makes the image a lot brighter and also a lot clearer. To do this, you click on the Light tab and slide the Exposure to the right. For this image, I went to +1.35. 

Next, I increased the CONTRAST. This makes the colours stand out more and also is great to create that Autumn feel. For this image, I went to +51.

Some of you may think that the left image looks better but for my Instagram Feed I like to go for a more 'moody' look. So, I decreased the HIGHLIGHTS by -78.

I then adjusted the SHADOWS by -8.

I increased the TEMPERATURE to +10 which is one of my favourite tools to play around with. It makes the image a lot warmer and by decreasing the temperature, you can also make it cooler.

Lastly, I increased the SATURATION to +12 and the VIBRANCE to +7 and this just makes all the colours pop and makes the image come across a lot clearer!

I really hope this has helped some of you use Lightroom. If there is a topic I haven't included in this post then let me know and I'll create a part 2!