The Trick to Sharpening and Noise Reduction in Lightroom

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Sharp, noise-free images are something all of us want and fortunately today’s cameras provide us with high quality straight out of the camera. Ten years ago, shooting at ISO 1600 was something radical and unless you had a pro level lens, things could end up being pretty blurry, even at lower apertures and higher shutter speeds.

But even with the tremendous evolution of digital cameras, there’s always going to be room for a little more detail and a little less noise. This is especially important for photographers who can’t justify buying the latest cameras and who are still successfully using 4-6 year old models.

With that said, Adobe’s Lightroom CC can be a photographer’s best friend, especially when the assignment involves turning in more than one or two final images.

The detail and noise panels are among the most important in the Develop module. As a general recommendation, don’t go overboard with either of them because the results will most likely be unsatisfactory. My suggestion is taking one of your less favorite shots and experimenting. Figure out what happens when you make major and minor adjustments.

Also, don’t forget that you can make an image look sharper by adjusting its clarity. Just be careful when you use it because it will cause a loss in color saturation.

When it comes to noise reduction, be careful to make the distinction between Chroma noise and luminance noise. This has a lot to do with knowing your camera and how it works.

As a final thought, remember that a technically flawless shot should have nothing to do with post processing. These are only minor adjustments to make the image look its best. Sharpness should be there already. I’ll agree that noise is sometimes something you can’t avoid especially if not using high values means losing the shot. I recommend carrying a small tripod or a monopod to avoid these situations.

If you want to learn the right way to sharpen and reduce noise using Lightroom 6 (CC), I suggest you watch this video tutorial from Anthony Morganti.

Learn more about using Lightroom CC from these recommended books: