When I first started editing photos in Lightroom, I read and was told to raise shadows to bring out details and pull down blacks to add contrast. This advice stuck with me for years, but last year I tried a different approach and now I raise blacks over shadows in most of my edits.

Both techniques can brighten your image, but raising black levels often gives a more natural look than lifting shadows. In this article, I’ll explain why this small change can make a big difference in your edits and give your photos a more natural feel.

Understanding Black Levels vs. Shadows

Before we dive into the reasons behind this choice, let’s first understand what black levels and shadows control in Lightroom:

Black Levels: This slider adjusts the darkest tones in your image, including the pure blacks. Raising black levels makes these deep tones less intense, softening them while keeping their overall presence.
Shadows: This slider targets the shadows and darker midtones, lightening areas that are shadowed but not fully black.

Why Raise Black Levels Instead of Lifting Shadows?

Preserving Natural Contrast
Lifting shadows can easily flatten your image, reducing its contrast and leaving it looking artificial or over-processed, creating a bad-looking HDR look. By raising black levels, you can soften the darkest areas without losing the natural depth and structure of your image. The result is subtle and pleasing to the eye.
Maintaining Image Quality
When you lift shadows aggressively, you risk introducing noise or artifacts in those areas, especially in low-light images. Raising black levels, on the other hand, works on a narrower tonal range, which helps maintain the overall quality of your image.
Enhancing Highlight and Midtone Separation
By softening the deepest shadows instead of brightening the entire shadow range, you keep the highlights and midtones distinct. This separation adds depth and dimension to your photo, making it feel more professional and intentional.

Before and After: The Impact of Raised Blacks

Here are some examples showing an image with raised blacks, one with raised shadows, and one with raised shadows and pulled-down blacks.

How to Raise Blacks in Lightroom: A Quick Guide

The best way to do it is to trust your eye and move the slider up while looking at the picture. I usually move it up and juggle for a while until I find a sweet spot. Alternatively, you can use a more mathematical approach by holding the Option key while moving the slider up until it reaches a point where there is no more black spot and you can see a (almost) fully white frame. This technique works only if you haven’t raised your black point in the tone curve previously. I think Option One is better, but using this second way can help you for the first dozens of pictures you will edit using this approach.

Pro Tips for Better Results

This technique/editing philosophy is a game-changer when you use the basic adjustments to recover information and the tone curve to manage contrast. My latest v3 Presets follow this editing philosophy with 7 base presets that include many adjustments in the tone curve, HSL, or color grading, while leaving the basic adjustments free for final adjustments and details recovery.

In most of my edits, I use a mix of raised blacks and shadows, but I always give raised blacks a higher priority. Sometimes, I’ll even raise the blacks even more and lower the shadows a bit. I suggest you try out these two sliders and see what works best for different lighting conditions.

Conclusion

Raising black levels instead of lifting shadows in Lightroom is a simple yet powerful technique to enhance your photos. It preserves contrast, achieves a natural aesthetic, and maintains the quality of your image, making it ideal for street, travel, and portrait photography. Next time you edit, experiment with this method and see how it can transform your photos :)

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