Oh, Recovery Slider, how do I love thee...

I am so thankful for the wonderful tools that we have as photographers. Digital photography has opened up a whole new world in image manipulation - recovery, cropping, color management, effects, enhancements, etc. that we never really had with film.

One of my favorite tools is the recovery slider in Lightroom. It is wonderful for skies and white clothes (wedding dresses, etc.). It came in quite handy when I was processing some photos I took of the boys a few days ago. Yeah, I know - what kind of dork photographer would dress her kid in a white shirt? Well, it's what we had and it is pretty cute.

So, check these out. This first image is processed (color balance, exposure, etc.), but the recovery slider is set to zero.



This has the recovery slider set to 89. See the huge difference?!

Here's another image - recovery slider set to zero.

Here's the same image, exact same adjustments, but the recovery slider is set to 71. Look at the difference it makes in Ethan's shirt and the highlights on his face and arm. And that's why I love the recovery slider!