How Much Post Processing Goes Into My Landscape Photos?

I'm a huge believer that you don't need to be a Photoshop expert to be a great landscape photographer. I have nothing against those advanced Photoshop techniques, and they can be useful if you know when, how, and why to use them. But complex post processing is NOT REQUIRED to make beautiful landscape photos. If you have the right moment and subject, a great composition, and intelligent use of camera technique, you have all the structure you need for a fantastic photo. And some simple adjustments in a program like Lightroom is all that's needed to bring the magic to life.
In this video you'll see the exact post processing I use in my landscape photography.
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[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Do you enjoy more or less post processing in your photography?

[@piyus1987]

More photography less editing. I make timelapse videos so processing is a must. Thanks for the video I learned something new (how to increase saturation/color balance of cloud only!). One of my timelapse edit has bad yellow hue in clouds, I'll this method to get rid of it.

[@javierdelfierro4180]

I enjoy it. The real art is in the lab, just like with the old B&W photos.

[@javierdelfierro4180]

Joshua , I followed your processing steps in Lightroom and indeed they make a huge difference. Now I have a big task ahead processing the photos taken in the Patagonia. Thanks for your suggestions.

[@AussieVeteran71]

I would like to see more of editing tips , it is great to see tips that I may never even know about.

[@nycaxl]

Post processing is always interesting. Especially in a short video like this, under 10mn! Your explanations are short and sweet, as well as reassuring for us that aren’t spending hours on photoshop.

[@jenslundinbyh8845]

Thanks Joshua. That cranking up the vibrance and saturation slider to tweak temp was a very good tip imo I have not thought of myself. Cheers.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks Jens! Cheers.

[@gerryphilpott9766]

Joshua, just joined your channel and enjoying the energy, information, and most of all, the amazing photos for inspiration. My LR envy has subsided now as i see that i just basically do the same simply edits in that panel and try not to move any dial too far right or left off center. Just enhance. I've definitely seen very over-processed photos out there that don't look like they came from the same nature that I walk around in.

[@Gina_Michel]

Thanks for this, Josh! As someone just learning how to edit a photograph this is super helpful! I think I'll watch a few more times!

[@Gina_Michel]

P.S. Josh, when taking your photo, do you intentionally underexpose your image so you don't lose details in the highlights? In other words, do you expose for the highlights?

[@lisarobertson7011]

Thank you for walking us through your work flow!

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thank you for watching and listening!

[@slowlyrusting4044]

Lately I have been waiting a bit between the time I import my images into the computer and the post processing so that I can process with my "head" and not my "heart". Sometimes though, I forget what subtle colors were in the scene. Your technique of overdoing the vibrance and saturation sliders to "see" the colors is a great way to remind me of where to bring out (if needed) the colors that I may have forgotten were in the scene. Nice image, Joshua.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@gregs2466]

you did a nice job of processing this. Thanks

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks Greg. Cheers.

[@tonykrup5418]

I’ve always thought I had no idea how to process my images correctly. It turns out I do it almost identical to you! Thanks for instilling some confidence in my skills! You da man and I appreciate you back on the KZbin!

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Awesome! Rock on 🤘

[@alohaleslie9407]

Awesome, Joshua! I love the before and after, subtle, yet strong enough yet not look like "cartoon character." I never knew what the radius slider was beneath the "sharpener." Now I know and will use it more deliberately. Thanks again!

[@prashantnz]

Thanks heaps sir. You are the best.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thank you kind sir.

[@bobbyscott3653]

Awesome video man! Thanks

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks man!

[@EV2181]

Absolutely love your videos, Josh, and I always pull a little nugget of knowledge out of them. Glad you're still making them, too!

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks man! I love making them so I'm glad they've been useful for you.

[@WalkingDevon]

Another great video Joshua, I started out in Photoshop as I couldn't get my head around what Lightroom was for but I use it pretty much exclusively now for my photos. The only time I use PS now is if I'm working with layers. Some shots require very little processing but some I can spend an age on if I can't get something just right, even then there's no guarantee that I can get it right.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Totally! Glad you liked the video, Rob.

[@FelixJorgenfelt]

Great video! The main reason why I like to work in Photoshop myself is to utilize the power of layers and masks. I also like Photoshops brush tool more than lightroom 😁

[@johnrogers001]

Wow! Great video! I appreciate you starting out by showing the “after” photo, so as we watch we know where we’re heading. Until recently I’ve tended to under process my raw files. It’s great to see what goes into processing a great photo like the one you used.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks so much John!

[@kevinkrueger9171]

Thanks for making these videos! As a casual photographer, the reminder that the process doesn't need to be crazy complicated is a motivator for me to pick up my camera more often.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks so much Kevin! The process definitely doesn't have to be so crazy complicated. Happy shooting.

[@cii1072]

That was great. I will watch this over and over.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Haha thanks so much.

[@claudius8002]

Welcome back to KZbin, Josh. I only use PS to get rid of the tiny things are in my way and can't get a good enough result with Capture One.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Glad to be back! And totally, best to find a workflow that suits you.

[@kreygscott]

It's been a while since I've watched any of your videos Josh. Thankfully you're still one of the best out there. Keep it up man. You never disappoint.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks so much man, really means a lot.

[@chrisflight6436]

Excellent instruction Josh 👍

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks so much Chris.

[@subratamistry1636]

It's really helpful tutorial.... thank you Josh.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks so much man

[@IanSmithFotografi]

The battle for me, is when processing overtakes the art of photography. Largely, I think it has over the last few years.. great processors and average photographers. Your approach is honest .. that’s good to see. Thanks Joshua

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks so much Ian! I appreciate that a lot.

[@alanhumbard8298]

I liked your video. You should do more of the same kind as they are very helpful. Thank you!

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks Alan. I'll keep this in mind for the future.

[@UFOBobTV]

Thanks

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks for watching!

[@Bisme333]

Awesome video dude, adobe programs lightroom and photoshop in particular have always been super intimidating... just recently I decided it was well past time to learn this stuff, and I'll tell you it's not nearly hard as it looks to a beginner. Thanks to you and one other person in particular I'm really starting to enjoy post processing.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

That's awesome Bryan! Have fun with it.

[@kenhyatt4494]

Great video. Thanks!

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks a lot Ken!

[@scottweaverphotovideo]

Very nice image. Thank you!

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thanks Scott!

[@justinrichardson3864]

I avoided Photoshop for a long time, but once I embraced it, I found that it sped up my post-processing quite a bit. You don't have to be a Photoshop expert to get the benefits of it. Sure, some images might work right out of Lightroom, but the insistence some folks have around only using Lightroom is unnecessary. [I'm not suggesting your video is making that claim.] I think digging into some more so-called in-depth editing processes also makes you think about your photography differently when in the field. Letting post-processing scare you limits your creativity. Embrace it. It's not that hard.

[@Martin-nu6ym]

I can attest to your statement. Getting more comfortable with PS has greatly broadened my creativity.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Exactly! You got it. Have fun with it.

[@melissahall7009]

Thank you. Enjoyed this.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Thank you so much for watching

[@philipculbertson55]

Surprised to see you didn't add a white point and black point. Since that is really adding contrast, do you not do whites and blacks because you use the tone curve? White also tends to make color pop so I assume you used vibrance and saturation rather than increasing whites a bit?

[@Higgins_Nature_Photographer]

Great advice, do you bother setting your Black & White points in your processing? I always was told that is a important step, is that true?

[@anthonymrbs]

I find that just hitting Auto in the Basic Panel often gets me very close to what I want, with just a little tweaks.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

It's definitely the quick approach but it doesn't always allow the final image to turn out according to our vision.

[@GeoscienceImaging]

Thanks for this! This is about how I process my photos too. One thing I was surprised at though - you didn't set the white & black points? I find that sliding the whites up and the blacks down really adds a lot of nice contrast to my images. What are your thoughts on that?

[@klausschleicher523]

Thanks for the video Josh. But have you missed a dead pixel or something on the water at 8:08 ;-) This is really a great location and you have captured a great image. I really like to work in Photoshop, because I can make finer masks/selections as in Lightroom. But I think you are right.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Ah darn it! And thanks man 🙌

[@haroldcarlson2775]

Love the simplicity of this edit. In the beginning, you said you wanted to balance the bright part of the sky with the rest of the image and I'm not sure you accomplished that however.

[@valdiskrebs566]

Nice work! What did your OOC JPG look like?

[@tompatton2086]

Honest answer ... As you stood there taking the picture, did the scene appear more like the original raw file of more like your final edits?

[@rusmiller816]

Do you ever use the Calibration panel?

[@eddiegutierrezjr6226]

Little off topic, but how do you protect yourself from predators when you're out shooting alone? Bears aren't much of a worry, it's mountain lions that are really the scary thing.

[@gatsby498]

You should be more concerned about having a car accident on the way to the trailhead or falling down your stairs than running into mountain lion. Extremely rare and unlikely to be a threat.

[@javierdelfierro4180]

What are the best settings to photograph glaciers? The sky (cloudy) seems overexposed all the time. It gets tough for Lightroom!

[@xavierjoulin8705]

So you don't use calibration or split toning either? No Dodge and burn? I know that some people put the highlights and shadows to the max, do you do that sometimes? thanks for the video tho

[@nycaxl]

The mosquito joke though... XD

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Haha glad you like it

[@durbarchakraborty1581]

Dear sir, I have a Fujifilm camera, a hp laptop, and an Epson photo printer. I don't have any tools for color calibration and right now, I can't afford one. So, whenever I'm printing any color photo, it's color-shifting tremendously. Will you please make a video about how to get almost matching color without the need for calibration. Thanking you in advance.

[@andrewford80]

You need calibration.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Hey Durbar. Thanks for the feedback - always like to hear what people want to learn more about moving forward.

[@stefanhansen5882]

This seemed like a lot of post production. Could you not get this in camera?

[@DavidCrooksPhotos]

The background music is very distracting.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Hi David - thanks for the feedback. Always looking for ways to improve my content moving forward.

[@SpartanGuy]

In this video you mention cleaning your sensor. What's your preferred method for cleaning your sensor?

[@brianac37]

Good video, pity about that awful music background.

[@JoshuaCrippsPhotography]

Hey Brian. Thanks- I always like hearing feedback so I can find out how to improve my videos moving forward.