How I Enhance My Travel Photos with Adobe Lightroom

As an avid globe-trotter, I capture countless photos to seize — and sometimes share — those unforgettable moments.

However, my photos don’t always reflect the memories I cherish, thanks to poor lighting, unexpected background guests, or a splash from my ice cream just moments before the shot.

That’s where Adobe Lightroom shines. For years, this app has made photo editing on my phone effortless. I no longer stress about capturing the perfect image, knowing I have a robust editing tool at my fingertips to turn ordinary snapshots into stunning visuals.

What exactly is Adobe Lightroom?

Lightroom is a photo editing application crafted for photographers at every level, from casual users to seasoned pros. It's the ideal tool for capturing travel moments.

One of the standout features of Lightroom is its professional-grade tools that are both user-friendly and intuitive. I've been using it for years to make selective edits, and it’s recently been enhanced with exciting new features: Generative Remove, which allows you to eliminate background distractions, and Lens Blur, which helps you quickly blur out annoying backdrops to emphasize your chosen subject. These features streamline the editing process, making it easier to adjust colors, tweak photo geometry, or remove unwanted elements from the background.

Why I adore and rely on Adobe Lightroom

I often find myself in situations where I need to capture photos on the fly, without worrying too much about their immediate appearance—whether it’s with my family or for stories I share on TPG. With Lightroom in my arsenal, I can concentrate on snapping as many images as possible, and if they don’t turn out perfectly, editing them later is a cinch.

Since Lightroom is cloud-based, I can start editing on my phone and seamlessly transition to my computer for more detailed adjustments. Plus, I can keep all my photos stored in the cloud, freeing up space on my phone. Lightroom also simplifies organizing my travel photos from various trips.

My absolute favorite feature of Lightroom is the newly introduced Generative Remove tool. We’ve all taken photos only to discover unwanted people in the background, which can spoil an otherwise great shot. With Generative Remove, you can effortlessly eliminate those pesky distractions by simply drawing over them and pressing a button.

And just like that – the photo transforms from mediocre to impressive.

However, it’s not solely about removing distractions; it’s also about ensuring your images reflect how you remember those moments.

The photo above is underexposed and lacks the lighting it deserves. Thanks to Lightroom, I was able to brighten the image to my taste and utilize the Generative Remove feature to eliminate the random bystanders from the original shot.

When it comes to editing capabilities, Lightroom far surpasses your phone's default camera app. While the native app allows for basic tasks like rotating and cropping, Lightroom empowers me to fine-tune colors, lighting, and image geometry for that perfect shot.

Another reason Lightroom is so user-friendly is its presets. These are ready-made edits I can quickly apply to multiple photos, saving me valuable time. Editing in Lightroom takes just minutes, and my images are primed for sharing, looking exactly how I envision. Plus, the ability to post edited images directly to social media from the app eliminates the need to log into each platform separately.

Exciting and powerful new features in Lightroom

I enjoy using Lightroom even more with its latest features that simplify image cleanup, whether for my personal adventures or when capturing shots for The Point Guy. Lightroom includes several impressive features available with a premium subscription:

• Generative Remove: Instantly eliminate unwanted objects and distractions using AI. This feature intelligently replicates the background behind removed items, seamlessly matching intricate patterns like paisley shirts or water ripples to avoid any smudges, distortions, or dark spots. Whether it’s extra people, distracting wires, signage, debris, or even a stain on a patterned shirt in a family photo, this tool has you covered.

• Lens Blur: The new Lens Blur tool offers fresh presets, enabling everyone to achieve stunning blur effects with just one click. You can manipulate the blur in your photos so that some elements remain sharp while others fade, creating a shallow depth of field. As shown in the photos below, Lens Blur allows you to adjust the focus, enhancing the foreground while softening the background.

• Presets: Enjoy one-tap edits across multiple photos with presets designed by professional photographers.
• Video editing: Apply presets, trim clips, and make adjustments easily, then share your creations across various platforms.

Pricing for Lightroom

Lightroom is both affordable and accessible for everyone. The free version provides basic editing tools, but to truly elevate your images, you’ll want to consider the premium subscription. This plan includes cloud storage, presets, a healing brush, batch editing, raw editing, selective adjustments, Sensei search, photo sorting by people, the ability to share web galleries, and exciting new features like Generative Remove and Lens Blur.

Lightroom plans begin at $4.99/month, which gives you access to Lightroom Mobile and Lightroom Web with 100GB of cloud storage. There are additional options that offer access to more applications and increased storage.

Final Thoughts

From my perspective, Lightroom is an excellent app for photo editing, catering to users of all skill levels.

With the addition of Generative Remove and Lens Blur, transforming a quick snapshot into a stunning image has never been easier. Nowadays, nearly everyone uses their smartphones to capture photos, and combining that capability with a powerful photo editing app elevates your images without breaking the bank or creating extra hassle.

Experience Adobe Lightroom today