Golden Hour Edit
Who loves to shoot outdoors? Especially that golden hour, what a dream right? The lighting is always so illuminating and you get such a great vibe when editing the session.
These are some of my golden hour edits using the approach below, soft light, natural skin tones, and a consistent cinematic feel.
If you want your edits to come together like this, I use my presets designed specifically for golden hour light.
Get the Golden Hour Presets
Golden hour can also have its challenges when editing, am I right? The sun can be your best friend or your worst enemy! I am talking about the haze! In this short video, I walk through how I edit just before the golden hour and how I minimize haze from an image and give the exact effect I want.
Your camera settings will help when it is time for editing. I like to shoot at F2.8, ISO 160 1/2500 sec or you can shoot ISO a little wider and then turn down your shutter speed, always keep F2.8.
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To remove haze:
1. You can drastically cut your editing time by adding a preset first to your image since it already adjusts the sliders. To choose the best preset I go through all my presets that I have in my lightroom to see which presets I like best. I look for overall tonnage that the presets gives the image.
Instead of adjusting everything manually every time, I built Lightroom presets that already balance this for you.
Check out these Lightroom Presets below
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Bohemian Reverie ™ Artist Edition Lightroom Presets
Original price was: $79.00.$69.00Current price is: $69.00. -
Havana Collection
Original price was: $79.00.$27.00Current price is: $27.00. -
Wild Hearts Wander ™ Legacy Tones
Original price was: $79.00.$69.00Current price is: $69.00. -
Wild Lavender
Original price was: $79.00.$27.00Current price is: $27.00.
2. I turn down the exposure to help minimize the haze in the photo.
3. You will always have to battle colors in outdoor sessions when someone wears white. White clothing gives off color casts of purple, green or blue caused by the sky. You can adjust the specific color by playing with the saturation and the illuminating slider. Instead of fussing with all those sliders I use a magic tool, white balance preset. White Balance presets are so amazing! it adjusts the skin tone so effortlessly. No more fussing with all those color sliders is a win in my books!
4. Then use the dehazer slider. Dehazer is very powerful, use it wisely just move it ever so slightly.
5. Adjust the texture with texture slider to the effect you want.
6. Sharpen the image with the control option- do not sharpen the skin just the surroundings
Enjoy the video and let me know if you found this video helpful and if there are any other specific videos you’d like to see me show you in the comments below.
Key Takeaways
- Golden hour provides beautiful lighting for outdoor shoots but presents challenges like haze during editing.
- Use presets to cut editing time and adjust overall tonnage in Lightroom, ensuring a better starting point.
- Adjust exposure to minimize haze, and utilize white balance presets to correct color casts from subjects wearing white.
- Leverage the dehazer slider and texture slider for final adjustments, sharpening the surroundings without affecting skin tones.
- Watch the accompanying video for a visual guide on mastering your golden hour edit and explore links for additional tips and presets.
