Fun With Lightroom’s HSL and Split Toning Features

Original Image

I have been using Adobe Lightroom for over a year now and the software never ceases to amaze me. At times, I just find myself opening random images to see how tweaking various settings affects my photo. HSL (short for Hue, Saturation and Luminosity) and Split Toning are perhaps my two most favorite tools and you will shortly see why.

In layman’s terms, think of HSL and Split Toning as something you do to recolor your images, increase the strength of some colors, and desaturate others. All I can say is that these features are a lot of fun. I don’t want to bore you with all the technical mumbo-jumbo, so even if you are an amateur wishing to digitally enhance your photos, Adobe Lightroom is the software to have. The learning curve is pretty steep (please take the literal meaning of this phrase i.e. easy to learn) so you should be up and running as soon as you install it.

Without further ado, here are a few examples. Hope they please your eyes. Enjoy!

Decreased saturation on yellow-green-orange components

Split-toning for a more dramatic effect

Desaturating everything but Aqua

Note: The image was taken at Wafi Mall, Dubai, UAE using a mere Sony Cybershot DSC-W130, which, by the way, is a great camera for beginners.

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2 thoughts on “Fun With Lightroom’s HSL and Split Toning Features

  1. Love this example. I haven’t play too much with split toning, I think it would take a certain image. This one is ideal. Now I’ll have to keep this in the back of my head.

    • Ideally, you should try it on an image with lots of distinct color regions. That way, you don’t lose details in the colors you wish to keep.

      Thank you for liking it!

      Cheers,
      Yousuf

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