How do you become a master of the...

I realize this is a subject for many books and for years of experience, but just to get me off to a better start, what is the best way to work with Devlope? Is it just to start from the top down, starting with the histogram? I've heard that you should establish white balance first. I'm shooting RAW and feel that Lightroom is a great place to make the most of an image's potential. I know the advanced tricks that Photoshop can do, but for straightforward exposure and color corrections, I'm beginning to think that Lightroom has it all.

Please fill me in on what you are looking for as you go through the process.

Thank You,

Ken

How do you become a master of the...

It's like getting to Carnegie Hall: Practice, practice, practice!?I'd modify that a bit to: Experiment!

Use the History panel to go back to an earlier setting or two; play around.

If white balance is way off, I'd start there, but I haven't seen any adverse effects of tweaking WB anywhere along the process...

Have fun!

How do you become a master of the...

Ken, you're right.?THere are a number of books that offer their input on how to work through the Develop module.

For a quick answer, I'd say that I typically work from the top down for the most part.

Before I get into sliders, I first do any cropping that needs to be done. After that, I typically fix any mistakes like dust spots.

I like to correct white balance first, then I work through the Exposure, Blacks, Recovery, and Fill Light sliders. (Almost every one of my photos gets at least a small amount of Exposure and Blacks adjustment.)?I typically add some Clarity and Vibrance, as well.

Most of my images get a small amount of vignetting adjustment (darkening the edges slightly).

Now is the time for local adjustments.?I use the Local Adjustment Brush and Graduated Filter to make any local changes that I desire. (Most of my images can be improved by a bit of local adjustment.)

Other than that, if my images need/want something else, I just jump around the different Develop options.

Hope that helps.

I have a list of recommended Lightrom books at TheLightroomLab.com, if you're looking for some more in-depth guidance.

-Scott Rouse

Thank you Scott,

Beautifully done. Packed with information.

Nice work.

Ken

You're very welcome.

My workflow is similar to Scott's and it also treats me well.

If you're into books, Scott Kelby's 7-point System for Photoshop CS3 does a suprisingly good job at workflow recommendations. It mentions a lot of Adobe Camera Raw and some Lightroom. The book is great and as it's been out a little while, can probably be found used somewhere on the cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/Kelbys-7-Point-System-Photoshop-Voices/dp/0321501926/ref=s r_1_9?ie=UTF8%26amp;s=books%26amp;qid=1245877843%26amp;sr=8-9

I agree with Scott, except that I prefer to adjust the exposure first, then move to the other adjustments. I think its easer to view/ make WB adjustments with correct exposure.