The first day I downloaded and opened Lightroom I swore I would NEVER open it again. I was SO confused and really had NO idea where in the world to even begin. I watched a TON of videos for Lightroom tutorials and read as much as I could to figure this program out. And when I got stuck, I googled it and kept on learning. I by NO MEANS consider myself even a teeny bit of an expert when it comes to Lightroom. Everything I've learned is through a process of trial and error and I'm still learning. I've tinkered and tweaked the sliders enough to "kinda" know what they can do for my photos. I say "kinda" because it is literally a trial and error a lot of the times. There are certain tools I use on almost every photo! My go-to Lightroom tools are:

Lens correction - I apply this on every single photo to remove vignetting and distortion.
Radial filters - Radial filters are amazing because you can apply them to just one aspect of your image. I love to use radial filters to lift shadows, correct exposure on a certain area and/or decrease highlights.
HSL panel - I spend most of my editing time in the HSL panel. I've found this panel to be most helpful when it comes to correcting skin tones and the coloring of images.
Sharpening/noise reduction - I use these tools to make the image pop a little more (sharpening), while also smoothing the skin (noise reduction).
Brushes - Like radial filters, local brushes are great at apply one editing tool to a certain aspect of your photo. My go-to brushes are: iris enhancing + teeth whitening.

I'm very much a visual learner and I always do better by "seeing" than reading, so I thought I would do a quick editing video to show you how I use my favorite Lightroom tools, as well as to share with you some of my Lightroom tips and tricks. Here's a before + after of the photo I will be editing in Lightroom. Enjoy!

Lightroom is an amazing editing program and I know I barely even skimmed the surface of the wonderful editing tools available. It amy seem overwhelming and daunting when you first open an image and start editing, but I promise it gets easier the more you play around and practice. As I mentioned, most of my "processes" have been developed just from trial + error and I'm sure I will continue to modify, change and grow as I continue learning more about this program!

What about you? Do you use Lightroom to edit? What are you favorite tricks?

looking for more inspiration?