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Why Underwater Is Different #7: Final Adjustments Polish the Image, They Don’t Fix the Workflow

By Robert Herb Photography
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Final adjustments are the last step in the underwater Lightroom workflow. They polish a strong edit, but they do not repair problems that should have been fixed earlier. Every underwater photographer knows the feeling. You have worked through an image in Lightroom. You corrected the white balance. You adjusted the exposure. You added presence carefully. You refined the color. You used masking to solve specific local problems. The image is close. But something still feels unfinished. The water may feel a little heavy or murky. The subject may need a bit more separation from the background. The crop may not feel quite right. A few distractions may still pull your eye away from the main subject. You may also notice a few remaining distractions, including backscatter, that need one last careful review. But if those distractions still require real cleanup, that is usually a sign to return to masking or local cleanup, not to push global final adjustments harder. The photo is better than wher...
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Why Underwater Is Different #6: Masking Fixes Local Problems, Not the Whole Image

By Robert Herb Photography
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Masking works best after the global underwater Lightroom workflow is complete. Use it to solve specific local problems, not to rebuild the entire photo. Masking is one of the most powerful and versatile tools in Lightroom, offering photographers a wide range of creative possibilities.  However, it’s also surprisingly easy to overuse, especially for underwater photographers who often work with complex and vibrant scenes.  Once you realize that Lightroom can select specific subjects, isolate parts of the background, darken or brighten particular areas, add detail to a fish, soften water effects, or guide the viewer’s eye through the image, it becomes tempting to apply masks everywhere.  But here’s an important point to keep in mind: if the overall image is still flawed or not quite right, masking alone won’t fix those fundamental issues.  Overusing masks can actually complicate your edit, making it look heavier or less natural. It might even obscure the actual problem ...
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Location: Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras
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Why Underwater Is Different #5: Color Comes After Structure

By Robert Herb Photography
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Color works best after the image has structure. In underwater editing, white balance, exposure, and presence create the foundation before color refinement begins. You finish a dive, download your images, and feel excited about what you captured. Maybe it was a turtle gliding over the reef, a colorful nudibranch, a dramatic wreck scene, or a diver framed perfectly against the blue water. On the back of the camera, the image looked promising. Then you open the photo in Lightroom. Suddenly, the excitement fades a little. The image looks dull, blue, green, flat, or lifeless. The colors you remember from the dive seem to have disappeared. The subject does not stand out the way it did underwater. The scene lacks depth, contrast, and impact. You know there is a good photograph hiding in the file somewhere, but it is not immediately obvious how to bring it out. So the first instinct is to go straight for color. Add some Vibrance. Push Saturation. Move the Color Mixer sliders. Try a preset. War...
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Location: Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras
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Why Underwater Is Different #4: Presence Should Not Come First

By Robert Herb Photography
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Presence tools can add depth and detail, but only after White Balance and Exposure have built a solid foundation. Most underwater photographers know the feeling. You bring an image into Lightroom, and it looks flat. The subject is there. The composition is good. The dive was beautiful. But the photo feels dull, soft, and lifeless. So the instinct is to reach for the sliders that seem like they should fix it. Texture. Clarity. Dehaze. Vibrance. At first, the image may look better. It has more punch. More contrast. More color. More detail. But then something starts to feel wrong. The water looks heavy. The subject looks crunchy. The colors start to feel fake. Backscatter becomes more obvious. The image looks edited instead of improved. That is one of the biggest differences between editing underwater photos and editing landscape, portrait, or architecture images. Above the surface, Presence tools often add polish. Below the surface, they can magnify problems. That is...
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Location: Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras
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