Have you ever tried to take a photo of your kids playing under the most gorgeous sunset, only to think, “well, that’s disappointing.”
Either your child looks great and the sky is completely blown out, or the sunset looks beautiful but your child is basically a silhouette. 😅
It can feel like you have to choose one or the other. The good news? You can actually have it all!
One of the biggest mindset shifts for photographers is realizing that it’s often better to protect the brightest parts of your image first. That means intentionally exposing a little darker so you preserve all those beautiful colors in the sky. Then, later in Lightroom, you can selectively brighten your subject while keeping all that gorgeous sunset color intact.
That’s exactly what I’m walking you through in this week’s YouTube tutorial.
You’ll learn:
- Why photographers often underexpose backlit photos on purpose
- How Lightroom Masks work (without feeling overwhelmed)
- How to brighten your subject without ruining the background
- How to recover detail in the sky
- How to create a natural edit that looks much closer to what your eyes actually saw
If Lightroom masking has ever felt intimidating, don’t worry. I walk through everything step by step so you can follow along, even if you’ve never used masks before.
The next time your kids are running around under a beautiful sunset, you won’t have to stress about choosing between the sky and your subject. You’ll know exactly how to edit the image afterward so both shine.
Watch the full tutorial below and let’s rescue those backlit photos together!