I am a proud amateur photographer -- I don't own a fancy camera, ring light, tripod or any other equipment. Everything I've learned about taking great photos has been from years of trial and error and soaking up expert advice I stumble across online (including from CNET's experts).
My photography process tends to end after I've snapped the picture, or at most, after I tap the auto-improve tool in Apple Photos. When I've used professional editing software in the past, I found it overwhelming or needlessly tedious. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this Adobe program was upgraded to cater to beginners like me.
I got to test out all the latest versions of Adobe software at the company's annual creative conference Adobe Max earlier this month, and there was a lot to like. Adobe's AI model, Firefly, is getting video generation capabilities. Photoshop, the original photo and design tool, is getting more generative AI-powered updates, including a tool to remove distracting wires and cables. Illustrator's Project Neo is trying to make it easier to work with 3D objects and set objects on a certain path. But for me, the newest version of Adobe Lightroom was what captured my attention the most.
Lightroom got a few updates this month to make its features better at what they do, but there's been a bigger trend to make Lightroom more beginner-friendly. "We're really focused on helping our users get pro results without a steep learning curve," Jon Tehero, group product manager for Lightroom, told me at Max.
These were a couple of my favorite things about Adobe Lightroom, including how I used each feature to transform the pictures I took on my iPhone 11 into fairly decent shots.
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One of my favorite tools was Lightroom's Quick actions. They make it easy to let Lightroom do the work for you: One tap and it analyzes your photo and makes the necessary adjustments. No need to know the exact right exposure or saturation level; you can let Lightroom's professional algorithms do the work for you. You can also use them to isolate and edit specific parts of the image, including the subject, background, outdoor skies and specific facial features.
Take this unedited picture of me -- the bright lights of the display behind me cover me in shadows so dark you can't really see my face or expression. After I had Lightroom analyze and auto-edit it, the image got lighter, but I was still pretty dark and hard to see. Using the "subject" Quick Action, Lightroom correctly identified me as the main feature of the photo and let me lighten just that part of the photo. Here's what it looked like after.
I used a couple of Lightroom's Quick Actions and presets to lighten my original image (left) so I'm more visible in the edited version (right).
Katelyn Chedraoui/CNETYou can also use Quick Action's background and sky buttons to isolate and improve whatever's behind your subjects. I found the dehaze option under sky especially helpful for clearing up weird sun glares or cloud blobs. You can use Quick Actions now, available in early access on mobile.
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Erase with Generative Remove
Another feature that really impressed me was the Generative Remove tool. After opting in to generative AI use, Lightroom can remove distracting objects, like people in the background, and it seamlessly recreates the affected region. It's similar to Google's Magic Eraser tool available on its smartphones, but as a loyal iPhone user, I've never tried out this kind of AI tech on mobile. Now, I'm fairly obsessed with it.
During a photography training session at Adobe Max, we worked with external lighting, and again, as an amateur, there were times when our exterior light and fellow photographers ended up on the edge of my shot. But using Generative Remove, I was able to select and remove them from my shot.
Using Generative Remove, I could edit out the light on the original (left) so it isn't in the final product (right). I also leveled up the lighting in the final photo using quick actions. Model: Shanette Shanelle
Katelyn Chedraoui/CNETLike all AI software, it isn't perfect. The replacement area of the image is likely to lose finer details. In the example above, for example, it cut off part of the structure in the background. If you don't want to enable generative AI, Lightroom will pull from other areas in the image to fill in the gap, and it can create wonky results. But it's certainly a step up from my usual process, which is to ignore distracting objects or just deem the photo unusable. New updates introduced this month should also improve its object detection and selection.
Automatically add content credentials
It's getting harder to discern a real image from one created entirely by AI. That's why it's more important than ever for creators of all skill levels to claim their work and disclose any AI usage. Adobe is making it easier to do this with content credentials -- an invisible digital signature that lets creators sign their work, disclose any AI usage and opt out of having their work used to train AI models.
You can attach content credentials throughout Lightroom's entire ecosystem, not just on mobile. All you need to do is toggle on content credentials before you export your project. You can also go to Adobe's new web app, Content Authenticity, and sign up for free to manage all your content credentials, whether they were created in Adobe or not.
I really liked how easy it was to attach these credentials to my work, which was especially important when I used Lightroom's generative remove feature. Figuring out how to properly credit your work can be stressful for amateur creators, and attaching content credentials is one way to make sure you're being transparent about your work.
TL;DR: Lightroom isn't just for professionals
As a nonprofessional photographer, I found there was still a lot to like about Lightroom. Quick Actions let you easily adjust different segments of your image without needing to manually adjust every slider. Generative Remove lets you clean up your messy images, and you can attach content credentials to digitally sign your work and indicate your AI training preferences.
The one bummer is that Lightroom is a paid program, which isn't great for hobbyists looking to learn on a budget. I do think Lightroom offers quite a bit of bang for your buck, beyond what you get with your smartphone, but there are a couple of different pricing tiers. Plans start at $10 a month for just Lightroom and up to $60 per month for the full Creative Cloud suite. I would recommend seeing if your workplace or university has access, too.
Lightroom has made me feel like an increasingly competent photographer, even without a ton of fancy equipment at my disposal. The best thing about Lightroom is that I can use it to level up my game -- and social media posts -- without sinking a lot of time and money into the process.