Editing is an essential part of landscape photography, but it’s also where things can go off the rails. While post-processing can enhance the mood, color, and detail of your shots, over-editing or missteps in technique can take your images from powerful to problematic.
In this guide, we’ll highlight the most common editing mistakes photographers make—and how to avoid them—so your landscapes stay clean, natural, and impactful.
🌈 1. Over-Saturating Colors
It’s tempting to crank up the saturation to make your greens pop or your sunset glow—but go too far, and your image can look unnatural and cartoonish.
How to avoid it:
- Use the Vibrance slider for a more subtle boost
- Make color adjustments selectively with the HSL panel
- Compare your edit to the original regularly
🛠️ 2. Over-Sharpening
Sharpening can enhance texture and clarity, but overdoing it creates halos, noise, and a gritty look—especially around edges.
How to avoid it:
- Sharpen last in your workflow
- Zoom to 100% when applying sharpening
- Use masking tools in Lightroom to target edges, not skies or water
☁️ 3. Overusing Dehaze
Dehaze can cut through fog or glare, but too much can destroy natural atmosphere, introduce contrast artifacts, or darken skies unnaturally.
How to avoid it:
- Apply dehaze with a light touch—often +10 to +20 is enough
- Combine with local adjustments instead of global edits
⚖️ 4. Unnatural White Balance
A poor white balance can ruin the mood of a photo. Too warm? The scene looks artificial. Too cool? It feels lifeless.
How to avoid it:
- Use a neutral point (like gray rocks or clouds) to set your base
- Adjust white balance to reflect the time of day or your creative intent
- Trust your eye—not just the numbers
🧱 5. Clipping Highlights and Shadows
Blown-out skies or crushed blacks can result in lost detail that’s difficult (or impossible) to recover.
How to avoid it:
- Turn on highlight and shadow warnings in Lightroom
- Use the histogram to keep tonal balance within range
- Recover details with the Highlights and Shadows sliders before touching Exposure
🌀 6. Excessive Noise Reduction
Over-noise reduction can soften fine detail and create a plasticky, smeared look.
How to avoid it:
- Zoom in to 100% to monitor changes
- Balance Luminance noise reduction with Detail and Contrast sliders
- Apply selectively (just to sky or shadows)
🎨 7. Unrealistic Sky Replacements
Sky replacement can save an otherwise dull image—but if done poorly, it can look fake, misaligned, or mismatched with the lighting in the scene.
How to avoid it:
- Match light direction and color temperature
- Blend carefully around edges like trees or rocks
- Consider leaving the original sky for authenticity
🎯 8. Too Much Clarity or Texture
These tools add punch to midtones and fine details, but too much makes the image look harsh or over-processed.
How to avoid it:
- Apply locally to foreground rocks or trees, not the whole image
- Reduce clarity in skies or water for contrast
- Stay subtle: +10 to +20 is usually enough
🧩 9. Cropping Away Composition
Cropping can improve framing—but it can also destroy balance, leading lines, or key elements.
How to avoid it:
- Use a copy of your original to experiment
- Follow rules like thirds, symmetry, or leading lines
- Leave breathing room around key subjects
🧠 10. Ignoring the Mood
Editing isn’t just technical—it’s emotional. Pushing an edit too far can strip the soul from your image.
How to avoid it:
- Ask: What mood was I feeling when I took this?
- Try edits that enhance that emotion—not override it
- Revisit the image later with fresh eyes
Final Thoughts
Great editing should support the story your landscape is trying to tell—not shout over it. Avoiding these common mistakes ensures your photos remain true to the moment, while still expressing your artistic vision.
So take your time, trust your instincts, and let the land speak through your lens.
Happy editing!