Learning how to use LR

Unless you are a professional photographer, LR is an unnecessary complication.

Hi AxelHawk,

You asked a loaded question as the answers can only be highly subjective and will bring forth a slew of pro and con comments about the replies you get, and, at times, not about your original question.

Knowing this, here is my comment:

Viewing your adjusted image, jf you look at the shadows just above the 11 symbol, under the glass, and then at the shadow outside the watch from 4:00 to 7:00, you will see a grainy appearance.

This is one type of noise. And your lighting adjustment made it more visible than the same areas in your original.

LR gives you the ability, in many cases, especially when you work on a RAW file, to reduce this noise.

(Please note that many photographers with skill way beyond mine desire and input a certain amount of grain in their photos).

I downloaded your original to give my try at reducing the noise I mentioned.

Here is my try with only the following adjustments:

Sharpening 21, Radius 1.0, Detail 25.

Noise reduction: Luminance 42, Detail 100

(I did not adjust exposure/contrast/saturation or any other facet of your Original (Jpeg) image):

LR NR + Sharpening only on OP's Original Jpeg - All rights to OP.

Check out the areas I pointed to above and see if you find this useful.

You may want to view at greater than 100% to see the results.

TJL LTFF wrote:

Very nice demo on what a few steps in LR can do.

Thank you,

I am wondering why my adjusted image displays at a smaller size at 100% than the OP's original does.

From my PC both are sized the same: 4" x 4" @ 300 DPI.

Could it be because the OP used the Forum Gallery to post and that I Direct Uploaded from my PC?

AxelHawk wrote:

Hi, I'm learning to use LR. Shoot this pic in RAW and want to know if I'm on the right way. What do you think? What would you do to make this better?

thanks in advance.

Cropped and retouched with LR

Cropped original

Just one observation.  Before improving and tinkering in Lightroom I would consider bouncing your flash (if you can) to avoid those shadows.

AxelHawk wrote:

Thank you Raw Jaw, I was expecting your type feedback. I'm still figuring out how to effectively use the noise reductions tools on LR.

I think that your image was resized because you direct uploaded. Based on your tips, tried again.

Cropped and retouched with LR using Raw Jaw's tips

I like you adjustments. I always use the side by side comparison windows when using LR.

Remember to save your adjustment as presets for future use for similar shots.

Regarding shadows, they are a photographer's best tool in making a 3 dimensional scene look nearly 3 dimensional in a 2 dimensional medium: the photograph.

For your watch, you may want to try separating the watch from the background, in his case perhaps with a small spool of thread to hold the watch up off the table.

Enjoy LR.

ChuckTa wrote:

One thing I learn from sharpening is I always push up the Masking (around 20-50) because I don't want to sharpen everything, esp the noise.

Yes, that is why I like to use the 'Before and After' windows side by side to see in real time the effect of any slider adjustments.