The Most Important Tool in Lightroom

[@cgarnett17]

Where have you been all of my life?! Awesome content.

[@AlexArmitage]

Not on KZbin! Haha 😂

[@atlatyl357]

I've watched a couple of tone curve tutorials, this one nails it the best. Thank you!

[@AlexArmitage]

This made me happy. Thank you!

[@danielrao3120]

The "Tone Curve" in Lightroom is one of the first steps in my workflow when processing an image. I find it perfect for flattening the contrast, raising the shadows, and lowering the highlights, which, in my view, is an ideal starting point before moving on. And it's so easy. Thank you for another very engaging video.

[@AlexArmitage]

Thank you for such a wonderful comment Daniel!

[@danielrao3120]

@@AlexArmitage You're most welcome Alex. Keep up the good work. I look forward to your next offering. Take care.

[@jasperbuitenhuis6771]

3 minutes Thursdays i love it! Definitely be looking forward to Thursday from now on out! 👍

[@AlexArmitage]

Haha when I read this comment on my phone, I thought to myself... "oh no he's going to be so disappointed if he watches the next video." Then I saw your comment on that one and was like... what have I done!! Haha. I got a good laugh. Thank you

[@fuckinrobbie]

Dude, great work on these tutorials. Clear, concise, well presented. I'm learning a lot even though I've been using Lightroom (amateurishly) for many years.

[@AlexArmitage]

Thanks so much!

[@MD-fq8xl]

Oh Wow such a GREAT job of explaining to someone who hasn't got as far as playing around with the tone curves, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! So looking forward to seeing your Thursday series grow. The long ones are also great, you're gifted at communicating concisely and your suggestion of how to set ourselves exercises to improve are also great. Love your work!! Stay safe!

[@AlexArmitage]

Well I have good news and bad news. The bad news is I haven't been able to do the short Thursday videos while I'm still working haha. The good news is I'm still making videos every week, but trying to limit myself to only one a week otherwise I can't get anything else done.

[@MD-fq8xl]

@@AlexArmitage no stress, any little bits you have time to share are super, no point in getting yourself in a mess just to help others, all appreciated!

[@K9SWEDEN]

Great video! Thanks!

[@johangagelmans]

Nice tip! I use LR for 6 years now and never really played with the tone curve! Mainly I shoot people, bit I will deffinatly trie this tip!

[@vinayk6409]

Loving this channel. It's great how you show examples of each tool with a few pictures. great style and amazing pictures, wishing you the best!

[@AlexArmitage]

Thanks Vinay!

[@londonfoto]

Great intro, great Peter McKinnon reference.

[@AlexArmitage]

Hah thank you :)

[@randyschwager2515]

Awesome job! Very helpful!

[@AlexArmitage]

Thanks Randy!

[@ezmomentsphoto]

love the simplicity of this. Thank YOU !

[@AlexArmitage]

YOU'RE welcome! :)

[@AryanNarula]

thanks man❤️

[@rudyvandewalle1400]

Thank you for your help. I have been using LR for years but as an amateur photographer I used to stay with the presets (I purchased) and the sliders but yes, using the tone curve is something I will now start using as per your advise. Tks again. Greetings from Italy.

[@AlexArmitage]

Anytime and thanks for taking the time to comment!

[@1502Jinx]

Another great set of tips for me Alex. Thankyou

[@josephpk4878]

That last photo - great location - the water just disappears into nothing. Again another great tutorial on something I'm far too reserved in experimenting with.

[@AlexArmitage]

Sometimes I throw things at photos and hope it works. Great way to learn what things do and basically how I got to where I am! Thanks Joseph

[@gfi1259]

You really underrated man good work

[@AlexArmitage]

Hey thank you! I hope to always be considered underrated 😂

[@klaymatic3751]

Great video. I recently realized that I needed to start using tone curves to actually give my photos a look beyond going for using the basic sliders, which usually never quite satisfy me. The tips in this video will point me in the right direction to giving my photos the look I desire. Also, I use capture one, but really, but the editing concepts applies to all editing software. subscribed.

[@AlexArmitage]

Did you start out on capture one? And thank for for the sub!

[@sheilakavanaghphotography9034]

Great tips, Alex. I enjoyed your article on FStoppers

[@AlexArmitage]

I enjoyed this comment! Thank you.

[@luap1983]

Carry on with these videos mate and your channel will be massive! Great information 👍👍👍

[@AlexArmitage]

The dream!! Thank you :)

[@sahilsalekar4455]

Thanks Alex ...Love from India

[@AlexArmitage]

Thank you!

[@marksnipe5004]

Great video. Simple and straight forward with really helpful tips

[@AlexArmitage]

Thanks Mark!

[@mariosalvador1363]

Very good tip on tone curves im also learning how yo use them... But Can you use it for portrait photos... Do you have an example of it.. Or do You have a portriat video.. Would be great to see it... Thanks

[@AlexArmitage]

Mario if I had any portrait work I would have used an example. I stick to landscapes mostly so that's what I focused on.

[@TribodybyVi]

That was very helpful, thank you - Subbed.

[@AlexArmitage]

Hey thanks Peter and welcome!

[@benjaminarellanogaete711]

woow... powerful

[@PartialS]

Enlightening tutorial as always (and always good to see Gulfoss..), but... that new shadow dead space in the after photo bottom right - what to do about that would be a good follow up. *Hope that didn't come off as a negative.. Just really liked the way you talk about 'dead space' when you talk about your compositions - i've been thinking about it a lot when making photos over the past few weeks because of it and I think my photos have got better as a result.

[@AlexArmitage]

I'll admit this isn't a photo that's in my portfolio or anything, mainly something I used to represent what I was doing with tone curves thus I've never put a ton of thought into the finalized result. No need to worry, negative is okay when it's warranted criticism!

[@sctm81]

Great video. Thanks. Have only been using sliders .... but this is great.

[@AlexArmitage]

Anytime and thanks for the comment!

[@balashi05]

Great video explanation! I realize you were going for under 3 minutes - BUT, I wanted to ask if there was a quick explanation available for how you know when to transition from doing basic edits to the tone curve. I see you did one or two edits, white balance and exposure, but how do you know when enough is enough - and when to move on to tone curve in the workflow?

[@AlexArmitage]

Truthfully I don't think theres a set rule. I tend to make basic adjustments to get the contrast and color balance i want and then move on to something else like the Tone curve. Then I will likely go back and make smaller adjustments in the basic area. It's more of a dance than it is a linear line from start to finish if that makes sense.

[@balashi05]

Hey, thanks for the response! I hear ya on that, but I am still left wondering and maybe I'm not asking the right question. I think I'm trying to figure out (and maybe there is no real answer here) but some developing tools seem to have very similar effects to others, like changing the contrast does basically the same thing as changing the tone curve, as you said, just in a constant amount instead of at the finer levels. So why change the contrast at the top level then again in the tone curve? And the exposure just raises the tones at the same level. Could everything maybe be done in the tone curve? Or is there a specific reason you go for a combination of both? Appreciate your time!

[@AlexArmitage]

@@balashi05 Like I said in the video you can do almost everything with the tone curve. If Lightroom allowed you to apply multiple curve adjustments like photoshop does you could technically do contrast, exposure, shadows, highlights, and color balance all within the tone curve. Some of them won't be nearly as intuitive but that capability is there. A good rule of thumb for me is if I want a quick simple adjustment, say +.2 exposure it's just a lot easier to bump that up than go into the tone curve and find the right spot. It does overlap with other controls in some ways but it gives you the ability to manipulate the image in different mediums, think adjusting numbers vs the visual graph. Hope that helps

[@balashi05]

Thanks! Appreciate it

[@baliyachtservices7505]

Nice

[@FabJammes]

Great content !! Keep it up. No BS just great tips

[@AlexArmitage]

Appreciate it!

[@connorjoslin5111]

Thanks for the video! I need to start using these. I always knew people were editing their photos in a fancy way but didn’t quite know how

[@AlexArmitage]

I don't typically get crazy with them and mostly only use them for contrast BUT I'm also not trying to be an instagrammer or continue a style over every image. I think the color balancing they can do are perfect for that. Thanks for commenting and the suggestion Connor!

[@connorjoslin5111]

@@AlexArmitage no problem! Keep up the good work!

[@AlexArmitage]

@@connorjoslin5111 Thank you!

[@arnaud78]

Ave, Mr. Mckinnon II ✋🏻 Haha, great video man

[@bigairphotoandfilm]

Great Work and really well explained

[@AlexArmitage]

Thank you!

[@mondujar279]

Good video, a bit different and has been very helpful

[@AlexArmitage]

Glad it was helpful!

[@joryshd7978]

Thank you for this tutorial.

[@AlexArmitage]

Thank you for this comment!

[@d-kularbi3557]

it's 2021 and I'm not smiling yaa anyway thanks for those tips

[@AlexArmitage]

:( Hope you're doing okay. Thanks for the comment.

[@Adelaiiide]

If you were on a island... .. Wait what? 😂 Super cool video, thanks man!

[@AlexArmitage]

You've never been stranded on an island with only a laptop containing Lightroom?? Come on!

[@Adelaiiide]

@@AlexArmitage That sounds like a dream 0:)

[@AlexArmitage]

@@Adelaiiide Minus not having any food or you know, the survival part! But by the grace of the gods we'll have the tone curve!

[@agstudioband]

Dude, two pictures with river and i have been personally to both places last year. Iceland! Am i right?

[@AlexArmitage]

Yup! Everything in this video was from Iceland :)

[@agstudioband]

@@AlexArmitage amazing. Shooting on iceland was the hardest so far. Too dark, cloudy, rainy. My average gear was struggling badly. And photos definitely needed post process pop up.. great job on this video

[@AlexArmitage]

@@agstudioband Thank you! Iceland can be a struggle for gear. My stuff got soaked.

[@agstudioband]

@@AlexArmitage this is why i am long time pentax user. weather resistance is key for me. Two weeks on iceland, sleeping in tent, you cannot avoid bad weather. but anyway, i have never felt so much connected to harsh nature as on iceland, strong and deep experience. almost like being on another planet. can i see your portfolio from iceland somewhere? i would love to see it

[@AlexArmitage]

@@agstudioband Yeah its on my website. I don't have every Iceland photo but quite a few on there.

[@martinlemke4440]

Nice Video, thanks a lot. Maybe next time 3^2 min (or 3times3 min If you like) 😉 Three minutes video is really tough and not so important, but your idea ist very nice. I subscribed...

[@AlexArmitage]

Thanks for the sub Martin! I think ill switch up the idea and just try to do quick videos rather than a timed video.

[@timpaynephotography5914]

Peter McKinnon .......

[@AlexArmitage]

Uh oh what did I do :(

[@tessamoonproductions8743]

Please glue you hands to the desk. Please hold the condescending humour.