Lightroom can do amazing things.
You probably didn’t even realize your photos were distorted, right? And you think a lot about adding vignettes without realizing that your photos might have natural vignetting already. The distortion and vignetting in the image below has been corrected. Mouseover it for the before view.
Big difference, right? It’s almost as if the photo is unrolling or stretching out around the edges. And the edges lighten up too, especially on photos taken with my 50mm f/1.4, like the one above.
This next shot was taken with my 24-70. The vignetting isn’t quite so noticeable, but it’s there. You can mouseover this one also.
Here’s a before and after where you can look at both of them at the same time. The bottom half is before lens distortion was removed, the top half is after.
It’s a pretty significant difference, isn’t it? The colors are truer around the edges, plus the center of the image seems to pop out a bit.
So, after Jodi turned me on to Lens Corrections in LR, I do this on each photo. And my photos always look better.
The best part is that this isn’t some crazy complicated filter you have to uncover to apply in Lightroom. It’s just one box in the Develop Panel. Look for the Lens Correction section, and put a checkmark in the Enable Profile Corrections box.
With this setting enabled, Lightroom will correct the distortion and vignetting automatically – assuming it can identify which lens was used. This works on JPGs and Raws both, and the profiles for many lenses by many manufacturers are built into Lightroom.
Of course, you can adjust the Lens Correction settings manually too, if you’d like. I can’t imagine when I would have the need, but it’s nice to know the option is there.
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Can I do this in ACR? I don’t have Lightroom— just CS4
Absolutely! This works in ACR also (the ACR that ships with full Photoshop, but not the version that comes with Elements).
Thank you! I just changed my settings and this does make a difference that I didn’t see before. I don’t think I would have found this on my own or understood what it does.
DebbieB´s last [type] ..Snack Heaven at Utz Factory Store
this is such a neat trick – thanks for sharing it. I’m bummed my lightroom only has canon/nikon/sigma lenses listed since I shoot micro 4/3
Thanks for all your helpful tips. My Lightroom is on back order…I’m looking forward to getting it and using it.
You are welcome!
I love this feature of LR, but it’s also worth checking the setting on your camera, because there is a setting on my Nikon D5000 that is supposed to correct for lens distortion PRE-import. Worth looking at if your lens isn’t listed on LR’s list
Caroline (Frogmum/TMFH)´s last [type] ..You Capture ~ "Doors"
Thanks Erin! I am just in awe of how many tutorials you write and how you are still able to come up with new ideas for topics to cover.
Thanks Emily! Sometimes I worry about coming up with new ideas too, but luckily we have complicated hobbies/professions!
Can you think of any reason that the Lens Correction wouldn’t be in the Develop Panel? It’s not listed for me.
Rachel´s last [type] ..Happy Hump Day
Right click on any of the Panel titles on the right side of the Develop Module and make sure Lens Correction is turned on.
Hey Erin,
I’m new to LR and self teaching myself by following you, Jodi and watching youtube videos for what I am wanting to do. Is this feature something you can sync to multiple photos? I tried to select all then click on “sync” but nothing happened. Am I supossed to see something in history that will tell me it applied the setting? Even my B/A doesn’t change.
Thanks
Keysia
Keysia, after you press Sync, you have to make sure the appropriate boxes are selected in the next dialog box. You also have to wait patiently – this can take a few seconds to apply to all photos.
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