Lightroom Workflow to Take You from Beginner to Pro

Tutorial of a full Lightroom CC Classic workflow for data management, presets and export
Mastin Labs film emulation presets www.mastinlabs.com/?ref=14
Listen to my podcast stalmanpodcast.com
Follow me on Instagram / stalman
Follow me on Twitter / stalman
And for more of our travel photography be sure to check out my wife Ania's blog at www.aniab.com

[@derontompke]

That was absolutely fantastic. It's weirdly helpful and calming to take a break from client work to watch someone carefully organised with a system

[@MinecraftRedstorm]

Hey Tyler ! Just wanted to thank you for all the awesome content you produce. I don't usually comment on youtube videos, but i think your channel is worth it considering how much your advices helped improved my photography. You are definitely one of my favorite youtubers right now and I am excited to see what you will come with in the future.

[@TomKaszuba]

This is premium content. Many thanks for posting this.

[@lukasmaschmann2364]

Just outstanding video. I feel like you share a lot of what others leave out about a professional creative process. I couldn't name a channel that produces videos at this impressive level and teaches so much at the same time. And everything is so personal and authentic. Thanks!

[@AronBagel]

This really made me reconsider how I use the star rating system. I currently work on a pick/reject basis for my initial selection and usually give the photos I want to work with a 4 star rating, 5 if they're really special, but this usage of the 1-2-3 system seems much more beneficial long-term!

[@stalman]

If you switch you’ll never go back

[@alexanderbouwland1622]

Aron you are everywhere! #youtubefamous

[@oliverwelch1672]

Great video Tyler - your content is so much better than a lot of other much larger accounts, hope your channel gets the recognition it deserves. If your going to do a more in depth follow up on the pod cast I'd love to hear more about how you handle catalog / file management, specifically smart previews and off loading older files to an archive? Thanks!

[@ed-schramm]

Ok, so, you're high key becoming my favourite youtuber. Thanks for the content's quality.

[@NisseNr1]

Great video Tyler. I love this type of videos and so much value to see how you work. I also listened to the podcast about Lightroom. You really should do an in-depth paid course about your workflow. From photo strategies on the field, file management to finished product. I will be the first in line to buy it. Thanks for always putting out great content. I know how much time and effort it takes. Best regards from Sweden.

[@dlovisuals]

Woot new video! Thanks for sharing Tyler. Definitely going to apply the ratings for my new creative job.

[@kacperwoek6026]

There are a lot of youtubers that are just pure try-hards, seem to have adhd (jk), and go mumble nonsense. I love your content, since you, your personality and everything about your channel (and podcasts) is just so genuine and honest. Thank you for such nicely packed content, keep it my man

[@williamrolph662]

Great video! Having just tweeted about your last podcast and now seeing this. Thank you for taking the time and really creating great stuff.

[@Rodrigoalvespt]

I just subscribed because of how you made this tutorial super easy and full of good advice for photographers. Keep doing these, really.

[@Photomeike]

Great work! I use Mastin Labs for my wedding work as well and also know Kirk and the team here in Seattle!

[@mikegarcia8815]

discount code??

[@kev_G]

Thanks for sharing your workflow Tyler!! Would love to see more tutorials from ya as they are so helpful!

[@llewellyncass4711]

Its great to see that as an amerture photogropher my workflow is very similar. The idea of setting a 5 star rating to potential portfolio work is fantastic as right now I only get up to a 3 star with just about the same selection criteria. Great vid, straight to the point. Greatly appreciated.

[@JacksonHayes]

THANK YOU for this video! Been needing to up my skillz in Lr for a while now.

[@SmdphotographyCoUkPhotographer]

Massive thanks for this! It was kind of doing things a similar way but you're system is much better and I actually look forward to importing and rating images now. It perhaps takes a little longer but the extra time is well worth it.

[@samspicer4237]

Excellent Video Tyler, I have recently made the move into shooting Weddings and my workflow has been all over the place from shoot to shoot trying to work out a good way of doing things. Will give this a try for the next Wedding. Cheers from the UK!

[@Israelite.Princess]

Love your thought process and breakdown of your workflow. Certainly a large help in my burgeoning photography business. 📸❤

[@JosephChienCorsair]

This is really helpful. I'll start adopting this work flow to my own. Thanks!

[@kaloyantsilev]

Very good tutorial - thank you! Looking forward to more from your channel

[@alexkwong6475]

Fellow Calgarian, just found your channel Fantastic video on your workflow. Will have to check out those mastin labs presets. Love your work with Ania.

[@tvieso]

Super helpful! Thank you so much for your guidance and insight.

[@andrewpatra]

This was really helpful as I try to figure out my workflow. Thank you!

[@flexmtb]

Man. Solid video. Thanks for doin what you do.

[@gavinfulton1361]

Just found your channel. Gorgeous work and thanks for the tips! Very informational and concise. Subbed.

[@billymurphy3]

Man, I love your work guy! Super helpful!

[@lupebogi]

Great channel. I like the variety and quality of each video. Subbed.

[@JanLotan]

Very helpful! Thank you! Hoping for more.

[@kennethheinbecker5393]

Thanks Tyler! Another awesome video

[@stalman]

I left a lot of questions unanswered here and if you hit me up on Twitter @stalman I answer every single question I can on a follow up podcast www.stalmanpodcast.com

[@JackyNguyen06]

Many thanks for sharing this workflow. I am a new fan of you Tyler 😊

[@ryanphotostudio]

Hey mate, thank you for that! I learned something important in there that I didn’t know about LR Re the library module and quick edits. I may also modify my rating system after seeing your method as well. Cheers

[@DavidSornbergerFilms]

Really useful info - thank you! I’m always learning new tips and tricks in Lightroom! 😊

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

What a hero...like others, don't use Lightroom at all, still in awe and benefitted from this vid.

[@TrangNguyen-cs6wv]

Phil Edwards omg you're the Vox guy!

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

Haha, yeah! But I consider myself first and foremost a Tyler Stlamaniac (yes, I just made that up, yes, I am sorry).

[@samspicer4237]

Great Stuff Tyler - I'm in my first year of Wedding Photography full time and as the pace ups, walkthroughs like this are very valuable. I have a question regarding your export settings - do you usually deliver wedding photos at 72 PPI? Thanks and keep up the great work!

[@itsjohnthomas]

Tyler, I’m excited to learn about your workflow and thoughts on how you edit. I’m a new photographer and for an internship assignment I had to sort through 2,000 photos which much of what you did is similar to my own process, but I haven’t had an assignment yet with 20,000 images.

[@van_creative]

wow I learned so much from one video. Thank you so much!

[@mattjackson2930]

Wonderful video, incredible images and a workflow I will now adopt. Great work!

[@stalman]

Be sure to check out The DAM book by Peter Krogh, that’s where I learned the most about this

[@ChrisSmartFilms]

Great photos and workflow. Thanks for sharing!

[@PhillGraaf]

Quality. And amazing shots man...

[@RodAllsopp]

Great video and workflow. Thank you.

[@MichelleCoxPhotography]

Great video! Thanks for all of the tips. I have been a photoshop user for like 10 years but recently moved to Lightroom so I need all of the tips I can get!

[@stalman]

Welcome! Lightroom makes a massive difference

[@user-oq5dp3bn8b]

Many thanks for sharing your professional skills!

[@waawaaweewaa2045]

Very logical workflow, good stuff.

[@__AT__0]

Hi Tyler, my job provides me with the full Adobe suite applications and I always wanted to play around with these apps, thanks to this tutorial video, hopefully I can improve my creative skills! Can you upload one about photoshop?

[@nanosweets]

This was a great help! I always feel like I don’t know enough about Lightroom so this helped a lot. A few questions I have is how is it that your photos load so quickly while scrolling through them quickly? I always find mine take a few seconds to finish loading if I quickly flip through them. And I also notice you have one catalog with lots of folders in it with dates. I make a new catalog for each new shoot and or event. Am I doing that wrong or should I have everything in one catalog or not?

[@IainHC1]

Bloody awesome!! My mate keeps telling me i should use LR! I'm a PS man and struggle with LR...... Time to sort that out! Thank you :-)

[@EposVox]

Thanks for sharing!

[@TatianaBalashova]

Nice video! a beautiful wedding shoot. I am learning Lr, in older times when I worked as a photographer, most people were using photoshop, and adobe bridge for some metadata, as well as other software. it seems that Lightroom can save a lot of time. Interesting that you rate first with 1* and then other ones, I used to rate some photos right away with 3-5 stars, putting them to different computer folders :), at times changing my mind and tossing pictures around. It can be indeed hard to choose among similar images when only 1-2 elements or 1 person's pose/ face expression is off but some other ones are great.

[@erikbratlie534]

Excelent - This was very useful - Thanks! ☺️👍🏻

[@LilManfProductions]

I’ve been to Hvar! Very beautiful!

[@JitzLim]

You know you could on caps lock and when u rate your photos with number it will automatically go to the next photo without clicking the right key

[@paulkerpel6088]

Man oh, man!!! Thanks for the tip, just saved a year of my life in the long haul I'm sure!!

[@Abdulaziz2003]

Holy cow thank you so much!! That'll help me tons😂 I'll take a much needed vacation with all the time I save doing that

[@ramdarass]

This comment should earn you AT LEAST as many new followers as it got thumbs ups. Wow thank you for sharing this secret.

[@ITn1njas]

Very helpful! Thank you.

[@larsneyrinck729]

how i mostly work with lightroom is 1 star for every photo where there isnt any issue like blinking or just a bad photo, and i just change basic things like lightning and shadow where needed. 2 stars for cropping and giving a basic vignet, all of my 2 stars i send to the client or model so she can also choose in them. 3 stars for what i think are the best photo's these could be 15, 20 or 30, i also give it one of my presets or i get creative with the colours. 4 stars is looking back and perfecting my 3 star photo's and i also get creative with a vignet. 5 stars i give a photo if a model asks me to edit a photo differently or edit one i didnt pick in my 3 stars. for some this might be confusing but for me this method helped me allot and with this method i have a workflow where i can edit 300 photo's in under 3 hours. i mostly send my photo's the same day to the model or client depends on the mood and time.

[@SonNguyenOfficialchannel]

Thank you Thank you so much bro Good work !

[@perfectloveweddings]

Great video. Earned a sub :D I use the rating system, but I never used the flag... will be from now on. ALSO, I usually go through after adjusting the image and it takes FOREVER... I have to wait for each image to become clear. Won't be doing that anymore. Also, loved your horizontal filter for the sky. Thanks!

[@AlanMeksikanac]

It's weird seeing Croatia in this tutorial 😁 Hello from Mexico! 🤘🇭🇷

[@NaVoDiTa14]

So helpful! Learning so much from you. Thank you! Can you do another video on resolution and exporting bit further? Would be really helpful to understand exporting for various types of platforms (web, print, sharing with client, Instagram, etc.) and even how you store those exports. Thank you!

[@heisenbergvader7823]

Addedd this video to my KFC luxurious lunch, nicely done, firm content, definitely learned from it

[@96BBSJ]

Very good tutorial! I hope you liked Hvar and Croatia in general🤙

[@BrysonWooden]

This is so useful! Thanks!

[@igorkas]

Great video, Tyler. I use almost the same culling method in my workflow. Do you keep all your photos in one catalog, or do you create a new catalog for each project/trip?

[@stalman]

Great question, I create a new catalog for each year

[@DanBuell]

Can you do one of these for the new Lightroom CC (Cloud)? I’m trying to figure out an optimal workflow... Great video!!!

[@thisisfrankie]

Came here as a photographer, left craving your Gretsch guitar in the background.

[@macguy9152]

Great video- I'm trying to move from bridge where file management is simple but I use a similar system of stars to decide what to edit etc. I'm wondering how in Lightroom data management can duplicate my process... For a shoot, I usually import all files to my HDD, edit in PS, then when done move to my backed up network to archive. To make things more complicated, sometimes I edit on my laptop when I'm traveling, but when I'm at home I edit on my destop- Any tips? How do I keep metadate in sync?

thank you for this very informative video, really appreciate it :)

[@Desiraymershani]

Very informative! Please make this a series (Lightroom Tips)

[@stalman]

I will definitely follow up, especially on the podcast. Any specific questions?

[@Desiraymershani]

Awesome, I'll follow the podcast! Specifically. How to make your photo look naturally edited (without a preset so I can make my own)? I know this can vary based on the lighting and ones opinion. I have a canon but recently bought the Sony a6500 and I'm struggling with the color. My photos lean more grey and blue.

[@WakizashiSabre]

had to be sick journey to create those presets. Great video, but in art of creating ones and organisation, that is the pinnacle for me here.

[@scotttucker9613]

You briefly mentioned you're using Fuji on occasion, how are you handling sharpening the Fuji RAF files, since Lightroom tends to make those files wormy?

[@ThorSkin69]

Can you do an update to this please? Trying to keep photos organised and deciding to use CC online or keep all local then export and save online for access or an ssd etc, love your channel. I purchased and tried Mastin Labs presets, bought x4 and just wasn’t super happy with them, I ended going back to your presets as they’re not as contrasty and colours are subtle.

[@jeclicvous304]

Hello, i really like you videos. I want to ask which MacBook (decent price) is good for editing photos. I am using HP right now but it doesn't work properly with adobe software.

[@kuhanijaychavz2510]

i learned a lot..thank you..

[@virusj216]

amazing!! tysm

[@s-larcher6057]

Are you familiar with Photo Mechanic for your pre-edit selecting / culling? I do think you work flow. The tip on unchecking certain settings is a help. cheers

[@chrxme]

Thank you!

[@SuperValcron]

Any comments on resolution to export? I've been told to use 300ppi and the default is I think 240 but you export with only 72?

[@trevelljervis4779]

bro.. the SOOT shots are sharp as ever without even adjusting 😩😩

[@Scknows]

I know it wasn't the goal, but I definitely want to go to Croatia now lol

[@cernugaming]

Hi. I am totally new to this Lightroom stuff. Do you use classic or the other CC Lightroom?

[@RalphCunanan]

Great!

[@sunnyta619]

Beautiful work. What is your gear setup

[@ddames]

I don't even use lightroom to edit photos but this was a great watch

[@TeganBurns]

I don't even use lightroom but I still learned a lot, thank you

[@stalman]

Glad to hear that! The same methods are pretty adaptable to other platforms

[@Leebsey]

Cheers dude

[@RaskhanMohammed]

Thanks for sharing, I think I watched the video 3 times so far :) 💛💛💛 Now I have quick question, any recommendation where can I download presets for Nikon camera?

[@stalman]

Mastin Labs make some nice ones

[@RaskhanMohammed]

@@stalman Thanks for the reply, I will check it out!

[@YannVerbeke]

Hi Tyler, I was wondering if you have one massive catalog for all your pictures, or do you create a new one for each job/shoot/travel ? Thanks !

[@stalman]

One catalog is ideal, there are very few reasons to split it

[@YannVerbeke]

@@stalman thanks! Will stick to one in that case 👌

[@Tacticaldegree]

What lenses did you use for this shoot and which camera body? pictures look incredible.

[@stalman]

Thanks! It’s a big mix, Canon 24-105, 70-200, and Sigma 50mm

[@henrymorgan3212]

Love your workflow - how do you delete rejects at the end?

[@stalman]

We usually delete the rejects a few weeks after the project is delivered to the client

[@Nivenization]

Thnak you.

[@paulschweissbrenner]

Hi *Tyler Stalman* try this: Push Caps lock and then do your rating with the flag and the stars again. You`re welcome ;)

[@KyleBezemer]

What does this do?

[@martintomes2296]

That church tower looks like one at Hvar :)

[@jzsn_life]

can i ask you something, why you do the crop after color grading

[@sssnrrr]

I've been thinking of diving into Capture One but Lightroom seems like as if it is the standard, especially when it comes to the available presets

[@stalman]

Make sure to use the trial of CaptureOne before you decide which one is right for you. it is also an industry standard, especially in high-end commercial work. I’ve been thinking about switching to it but our workflow is so tied to LightRoom right now.

[@sssnrrr]

Thank you so much for this insight, Tyler! :)

[@NL0Gwenster]

Samual Rai : Presets are kind of an outdated, app-specific concept. These days it's much better to use LUTs for grading. Most of the paid high-end film-simulation developers offer their Portra 400 etc. in LUT format. This removes the app-specific nature as they can be used across the board in all professional editing software (Photoshop, Capture one etc. etc.) So just my 5 cents to check out for those, and not lock yourself into buying presets that may only work in one app, say lightroom.

[@sssnrrr]

I had no idea that LUTs were multi-applicational! That's great to hear, thank you for the advice! :)

[@nigeljameshughes3722]

Samuel Rai I tried the trial version of capture one after reading all the hype! Personally I find it a bit clunky in honesty. They go on about the difference in color etc, I could not get on with it but it's a personal choice!

[@lukasmadesign]

Didn’t know you shoot Fuji as well, what camera do you have?

[@YashMenghani]

Its a 2 part process for me :- 1. Simply Flag (P) the images you like 2. Use Filter option to show only your picks and edit the ones you like most. It's much easier and faster for me to go through the whole catalog and then edit only what I like.

[@SuzoSenpai]

Great video! I really like your glasses. Where did you get them? p.s Your wife is hot lol... Lucky guy!

[@wir6604]

How do you keep similar white balance on all photos in the project? Is there any tip for it?

[@AhmedMustafax]

So not to take anything away from the video, but wouldn't photomechanic be easier to use to sort through individual photos than lightroom is? I have a similar work flow, but I've found Lightroom is really laggy when you go through and it is never intuitive enough. Great video!

[@olimolix]

Which MacBook Pro do you have for editing pictures? Been thinking about the 15” 2014/15 with dedicated graphics card for editing in Lightroom and photoshop.. but since you said yours is pretty slow I am curious which model you’re talking about

[@stalman]

Mine is slow because it’s a 13”, which doesn’t have an internal graphics card. I’m waiting to upgrade until they have the keyboard issues worked out

[@olimolix]

same here. couldn't decide yet to get one of the newer models due to the keyboard and its issues. well, and the soldering of all the parts... but i guess thats something we just need to accept since it'll probably stay that way forever from now on :(