A sunny daytime photo quickly looks like a snapshot from another world after sunset, but you don't have to go out into the night for it. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to turn a daytime shot into a believable night scene using Lightroom. I took the example photo in the Alps. You don't need any additional software, and the editing takes only a few minutes.
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The trick is based on a simple observation: night shots often have a lot of contrast, a bluish or greenish color cast, and appear more subdued in saturation. You can recreate exactly these characteristics in Lightroom. Photos in which the sun is shining and hard shadows appear work particularly well, because these can easily be interpreted as moonlight.
Key Takeaways
- A night look is created mainly through a cool white balance, a low green component in the tint, and strong contrast.
- Darkening the highlights and brightening the shadows provides detail in both the sky and the ground.
- You should reduce the saturation, because night scenes are usually significantly less colorful than daytime shots.
- With a split toning in blue, you set highlights and shadows apart in color and give the image its mood.
- Sharpening, masking, and a subtle vignette round off the result.
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Switch the White Balance to Night
Open your photo in the Develop module and find the Basic panel. There you will find the Temperature slider. Pull it down significantly, to about 2800 Kelvin. The sky immediately becomes bluer, and the whole scene gets a cool basic mood that looks like night. You don't have to go exactly to this value; just make sure the mood looks believable.
Step 2: Shift the Tint Slightly Toward Green
Directly below the temperature is the Tint slider. Move it a bit to the left, to about -1. This shifts the hue slightly toward green. This step is subtle, but it reinforces the impression of artificial night light without making the image look unnatural.
Step 3: Increase the Contrast
Night shots are characterized by a large range between bright and dark areas. Therefore, pull the Contrast slider to about +50. With this setting, you emphasize the moon, street lamps, and shadow edges alike.
Step 4: Brighten the Shadows
At the same time, the contrast makes the image somewhat flat in the ground and in dark areas. That's why you now raise the shadows. This brings out details in the foreground that would otherwise sink into black. Keep an eye on making sure the scene stays dark, because shadows that are too bright destroy the night effect.
Step 5: Darken the Highlights
Now you bring detail back into the bright areas. Pull the Highlights slider to about -60. This way you regain structure in the sky, and blown-out areas look less intrusive. Especially with sky areas, this step often works wonders.
Step 6: Adjust the Whites and Blacks
Next, you set the whites relatively high so that the contrast in the image is retained. You pull the blacks down slightly, to about -20. Make sure the shadows look rich and deep but don't lose any detail. This creates a scene that looks like a night image and still contains enough information.
Step 7: Increase Clarity for Micro-Contrast
To emphasize fine structures such as rock edges or tree outlines, you increase the clarity slightly. Move the slider up moderately. The effect strengthens the micro-contrast and makes the scene look more three-dimensional without making it appear oversharpened.
Step 8: Reduce the saturation
At night, the color palette is much more subdued than during the day. Therefore, pull the saturation slider down significantly, to about -50. The colors remain recognizable but lose their daylight intensity. This very step separates a successful night image from a merely darkened daytime photo.
Step 9: Check the interim result with the before/after comparison
Before you continue, a quick comparison is worthwhile. Use the Before/After view for this, or briefly turn the editing off and on again. This way you can see how much the image has already changed and decide whether you already find the look viable. In this example, the direction is already clearly recognizable.
Step 10: Use split toning for the mood tone
With split toning, you add color specifically to the highlights and shadows. To do this, open the Split Toning section. For both the highlights and the shadows, choose a blue hue, in the example a value around 220. This gives the entire scene a cool night tone without individual areas looking unnaturally tinted.
Step 11: Fine-tune the hue and saturation of the split toning
There is a trick when adjusting the hue. Hold down the Alt key while moving the hue slider. Lightroom then shows you the color at 100 percent saturation, so you can see the tone precisely. Afterwards, you set the saturation back again. For the shadows, a value of around 30 is usually enough. This keeps the color subtle, and the scene still looks atmospheric.
Step 12: Sharpen the image and mask the sharpening
Now you sharpen the image. In the example, I use my standard value with an amount of 80. So that the sharpening does not affect smooth areas such as the sky and amplify noise there, you mask it. Hold down the Alt key while moving the masking slider. The white display shows you exactly where the sharpening takes effect, and in this case mainly at the edges and structures.
Step 13: Add a subtle vignette
A vignette draws the eye to the center of the image and enhances the night mood. To do this, open the Post-Crop Vignetting section in the Effects panel and set the amount to about -15 to -20. More is rarely better here, as otherwise the corners become unnaturally dark.
Step 14: Optionally remove haze
If the atmosphere in the image still looks too diffuse, you can use the Dehaze slider. Here too: dose carefully, because a value that is too high quickly creates hard transitions and makes the scene look artificial. In this example, the existing contrast is already completely sufficient.
Step 15: Compare the final result with the original photo
Finally, you compare the result with the unedited RAW file. You will see how a typical daytime scene has turned into a night mood. This way you can quickly tell whether all the steps work together harmoniously.
Summary ??? Night shot in Lightroom: Turn a daytime photo into a night scene
With just a few sliders in Lightroom, you can turn a daytime photo into a convincing night scene. White balance provides the cool basic mood, contrast, highlights, and shadows ensure detail, and the reduced saturation takes away the image's daylight effect. With blue split toning, you set the final mood tone, while sharpening and vignette round off the look. Practice the steps on different subjects, especially on shots with hard shadows, and you will quickly develop a feel for how far you can push each slider.
FAQ
Do I need additional software for the night look?No, all steps can be done entirely in Lightroom.
Which photo is best suited for this edit?Daytime shots with strong contrast and hard shadows work best, because they are easy to interpret as moonlight.
Why does the sky turn bluish after changing the temperature?A lower temperature value cools the colors, and the blue is emphasized as a result. This is exactly what creates the typical impression of night.
What is the Alt key used for in split toning?If you hold down the Alt key, Lightroom shows the hue at 100 percent saturation. This way you can better see the color before you reduce the saturation to a subtle value.
Why should I mask the sharpening?With a mask, you limit the sharpening to edges and structures. Smooth areas such as the sky stay calmer as a result, and image noise is not amplified unnecessarily.
How strong should the vignette be?A subtle vignette of around -15 to -20 is usually enough. Stronger values quickly make the corners of the image look unnaturally dark.
