Our #1 Photo Editing Tip: Black & White Points

love this

Awesome.

+Tony Northrup The easyest way & the best tip is to hold down the SHIFT button, then doubleklick on the white / black sliders. Then LR will auto fix the whitebalance for you.. 🙂

Since we want to add more contrast, why can't we just use the contrast slider?

Thanks for the tip!! I like to use HDR technique, and sometimes the image becomes washed out at the end. Adjusting the black/white point really helps in retaining the natural contrast of my hdr image.

Great video! I've been wondering what exactly those sliders were for!

very helpful thx

All I can say is wow! The issues that were gone over this is video are issues that I have been struggling with. With this bit of information I am seeing better overall photos. Thanks a lot for going over this. Thank you very much Tony.

Great tips always, thank you.

Thank you for video 👍

this is very good

So simple, yet so good

Great video. Thanks so much. I would be interested to know what exceptions to these rules would be for the sake of understanding them better. Thanks again.

I just watched this while editing some snow photos and I have to say this totally helped me get a better result. I always struggled with this. Snow looks nice and white and there is still detail in the subject without washing it out. Thanks Tony!!!

What do you use to calibrate you monitors?

Excellent video 👌

In other words, Tony means:

Before you send your photos into the live show make sure you have your black and white points sorted! Its really irritating fixing it for every photo!

I think thats what he means

Tony, do you know that if you hold down "Shift" and double click on the word "Whites", it will automatically set the white point? Well, sometimes it is way out but 80% of the time it works. Likewise for the blacks.

Probably the most important video I've watched in a long time… Just went back and re-edited a tonne of photos I thought were great… and WOW! Much better! Thanks Tony!

Thank you!

This was incredibly helpful for me. Thanks so much!

Thank you! I'll definitely implement this going forward. Salutations from South Africa. (^^,)/

Wow… Great tip!! No doubt the tweaks you made improved those pics…will definitely have to try.

This video is for Black and White Points in Lightroom. I don't have Lightroom, only Photoshop CS3.

This is such a valuable tip, I can't believe that I haven't heard it elsewhere already.
I've just realised how poor my post-production work really is!
Thanks.

that help alot… thank u 👏👏👏

This tip came up in the chat session of last night's Live Show. I wished I'd seen this earlier. Thank you!

can this be done in camera raw?

This is a really helpful video. I've always used the histogram to judge my exposures, but you really explained the need to have a black point and white point still in the final image. I've tweaked quite a few of my recent edits after watching this and the fix the lack of punch I was looking for. Thanks!

This video, paired with your recent histogram video, has completely changed how my pictures turn out. My pictures now have that extra punch of contrast thats been missing. Very, very helpful. Thank you!

Great video Tony! I’m just starting Lightroom 6 and , was in need of this info! 🙂

Your videos are so helpful! I have learned so much!!! Thank you!!

THANK YOU!
I always made this mistake but never know what was wrong and how to fix it. Went back to my old photos and improved them instantly!

Hey Tony, amazing tip ! But I was wondering if you knew how to do the same in Capture one, as this is my main RAW processing software (any alteration that doesn't involve color, I would then use Photoshop). Keep up the great work ! Thanks !

This is really excellent, thanks!

Super helpful! Thank you guys! I'm gonna have to find your podcast these are too good.

Thank you

Great video and good explanations, Tony. Another tip: You can drag right on the histogram for an even quicker fix.

Wow….Thank you! Didnt know that for 6 years hahaha

I've gone back and edited some old photos using this and damn! This will fall right into my process. Thanks!

Let's just agree to disagree

Great stuff, really helpful, thanks! 🙂

I wish you would turn down the music

Can you define/clarify what you mean by "completely white" here? Those parts of the photos that you increased with the whites slider weren't necessarily "white", some were blue, magenta, etc., but you kept referring to them as "white".

OMG I have watched countless videos about photography on youtube and for the FIRST time I finally know what are the first things to do when firing up Lightroom! None of the videos I watched explained what the slides are used for and their practical use. I love you man!

This is a great tip. I point everyone I can to this video. Your sdp dot io slash toptip link makes it very easy to remember.

Wow this particular tip really helps a lot for an early beginner like me. I just eyeball everything until it seems okay or good enough just to feel a little disappointed afterwards when I see my photo from my phone or another screen because it always turned out different from what I envisioned. Your videos are very helpful!

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