In this Lightroom 5 Essentials installment, Chris Orwig breaks out the Adobe Lightroom power tools. Learn advanced techniques to improve images with creative color, retouching, and other effects in the Develop module.


Chris shows you how to crop and straighten your photographs for instantly improved compositions; remove dust and distracting background elements; selectively paint in adjustments to make your subject's skin, teeth, and eyes shine in portraits; and make both subtle and dramatic color changes, including black-and-white conversions. Plus, learn to increase image quality through noise reduction and clarity adjustments, apply split toning and vignettes, and correct for lens distortion.



Topics include:

Cropping and straightening photos
Retouching with the Spot Removal tool
Enhancing the sky with the Graduated Filter tool
Improving exposure and color with the Adjustment Brush
Modifying tone with the Tone Curve controls
Creating better black-and-white photos
Reducing noise with sharpening
Split toning to create a sepia tone
Correcting distortion
Understanding camera calibration in Lightroom