Dark Moody Lightroom Editing Tutorial For Beginners,
Therefore, Sure! Here’s a step-by-step guide for a Dark Moody Lightroom Editing Tutorial.
This style is all about deep shadows, muted colors, and a cinematic, emotional feel.
1. Start with Basic Adjustments:
- Exposure: Slightly decrease (–0.2 to –0.5) if your photo is too bright.
- Contrast: Increase (+20 to +40) for more punch.
- Highlights: Lower (–30 to –60) to save bright details.
- Shadows: Lower (–20 to –50) to deepen the shadows.
- Whites: Adjust slightly down (–10 to –30).
- Blacks: Deepen further (–20 to –50).
2. White Balance:
- Temperature: Therefore, slightly cooler (move towards blue).
- Tint: Slightly towards green for a more earthy, cinematic feel.
(Adjust based on your image — moody edits can either lean cold or warm, depending on your goal.)
3. Dark Moody Lightroom Editing Tutorial For Beginners, Tone Curve (Critical for Moody Look)
- Create an S-Curve:
- Therefore, if the black point sis slightly (bottom left corner) for a matte effect.
- Therefore, pull midtones down (slightly).
- Therefore, Push highlights up gently.
- Optional: Add a slight fade by lifting the very bottom of the curve.
In other words, you can work separately on Red, Green, and Blue Curves for color grading:
- In other words, slightly lower the red curve shadows to add a greenish tone.
4. Color Grading:
In other words, go to Color Mixer / HSL:
- Desaturate:
- Lower saturation for greens, yellows, and sometimes blues.
- Hue shift:
- Greens ➔ More teal.
- Yellows ➔ More orange.
- Luminance:
- In other words, Darken greens and oranges to deepen the earthy feel.
5. Split Toning (or Color Grading Panel)
- Shadows: Add a dark teal or green tone.
- Highlights: Add a warm tone (gold/orange).
- Balance: Shift slightly towards shadows.
6. Dark Moody Lightroom Editing Tutorial For Beginners, Details:
- Sharpening: Medium (40–60).
- Noise Reduction: Add if needed (especially for dark images).
- Texture/Clarity: Add a little (+10 to +20) for more drama.
7. Effects:
- Vignette: Add a strong vignette (–20 to –40) to pull focus to the center.
- Dehaze: Increase slightly (+5 to +15) if the image is too soft.
8. Dark Moody Lightroom Editing Tutorial For Beginners, Final Touches:
- However, Crop for better composition if needed.
- However, Use Radial Filters to selectively brighten your subject while keeping the surroundings dark.
🌑 Result: You should now have a photo that’s dark, moody, a bit muted in color, and rich in shadows.
In conclusion, would you like me to also give you a preset code or visual step-by-step examples?
(If yes, I can even create a sample before/after comparison!) 🎨📷