The Secret to Stunning Sunsets in Lightroom

Like all of you, I love to shoot and edit sunset photos. The light, the color - when it all comes together it’s like magic happening right in front of you. But sometimes, the raw files look a little flat, like they are missing some of the magic that you witnessed live. The good news is that you can easily bring it back to life and make the resulting edit really pop off the screen.

When editing sunset images, I keep the word “tension” in mind. I’m looking to accentuate tension with both the light and the color in my edit. I personally believe that having MORE tension makes for a more dramatic and beautiful image.

When I speak of light tension, I am talking about enough contrast to make sure the image pops. You have to control the highlights and shadows, but you can also push them a little bit to ensure there is enough difference in the two that the image looks good. This is done with edits in Basic but also by using masks.

When I speak of color tension, I am talking about how to play the warm and cool colors off of each other. Being opposite on the color wheel, warm and cool colors are very complementary. So I tend to push them both a little bit, which makes for a more compelling edit. This is done with masking but also color grading tools (Color Grading, Color Mixer, and Calibration).

This video is a full walkthrough of that approach and how you can use these ideas to create a beautiful sunset, een when your starting point feels a little lacking. Enjoy!