Photographers often struggle to preserve the warmth of sunset images during editing, as shadows can appear flat and skies turn overly cool. The solution lies in how dark areas are treated—whether they end up glowing or appear muddy. While many edits begin with contrast adjustments, Christian Möhrle adopts a different strategy. He starts by lifting shadows until they become nearly invisible, then refines the image gradually.
Möhrle’s workflow begins with distraction removal. Using Lightroom’s Generative AI Remove tool, he eliminates an unwanted structure at the bottom of the frame with a single brushstroke. He then switches the profile from Adobe Color to Adobe Standard, which reduces initial contrast. This adjustment simplifies later shadow and exposure tweaks while preventing highlight clipping. The histogram remains balanced, with no data lost at either extreme.
After setting the base exposure, Möhrle introduces warmth. The temperature slider shifts the scene toward golden tones, while texture is increased to maintain fine details. Clarity and dehaze are reduced to soften the overall appearance without sacrificing sharpness. For the sky, a color range mask isolates the upper blue tones, and their exposure is slightly lowered to prevent them from dominating the warmer hues below.
The glow effect requires careful handling. Lightroom’s sky mask is not flawless, but Möhrle exploits its tendency to extend into the foreground. He extends the mask further into the scene, then applies a gradient to protect the sky’s top edge. Instead of increasing exposure, which risks overexposing the sun, he raises blacks to brighten areas near the light source. A final temperature adjustment to around 40, combined with reduced clarity and dehaze, enhances the bloom effect.
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Möhrle also employs a reflection trick. He flips the image in the Photo menu, applies the glow adjustments, then flips it back. However, he advises against updating AI masks afterward, as flipping can confuse Lightroom and corrupt selections.
This technique replicates the effect of diffusion filters like the Tiffen Black Pro-Mist, which scatter light from bright areas into shadows. By raising blacks in a feathered mask, editors achieve a similar digital effect. Unlike exposure adjustments, which brighten uniformly, this method targets only areas around the light source. The approach works for sunsets, streetlights, backlit portraits, or any scene requiring controlled glow.
A radial gradient centered on the light source can further refine the effect, particularly with small light sources. The advantage of digital editing over physical filters is flexibility, adjustments can be refined later, whereas a filter’s effect is permanent.
The color grading remains understated. Highlights and midtones receive a warm orange tint, with saturation increased in highlights and luminance lifted to brighten them without clipping. Shadows stay neutral, with only luminance adjusted to restore depth. A final pass with the global wheel adds warmth and slight brightness. Noise reduction is kept minimal, Möhrle lowers Lightroom’s default setting of 50 to 15 to prevent artificial patterns in darker areas.
