This Is How Lightroom's Generative Remove Saves Photos

Generative AI has become a significant part of our lives, especially in creative spaces. People have used it to animate paintings, generate images, and even compose music from text prompts. Recently, it has also found a place in many of our photography workflows, especially with the May 2024 Lightroom update that introduced us to the amazing Generative Remove tool.

Although some photographers may hesitate to embrace AI in their editing process, tools like Generative Remove offer substantial benefits. Whenever Adobe releases a major feature, I revisit my photo library to see if the new tools could benefit any overlooked images. One such image from 2015, taken in Norway, had too many distractions for traditional editing tools to handle effectively. Trust me, I tried everything. But with Generative Remove, getting rid of those distractions was effortless.

Want to see what I mean? Check out this tutorial, where I walk you through the entire process. I also included my editing steps below in case you want to read them after watching the video.

The Original Image

I took this photo of a little church in Norway in 2015. I used the Sony a7R and Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 lens. I also broke down my entire current gear list if you're interested. While I loved this particular angle because of the colors from the sunset, there were many distractions that proved difficult to remove using older versions of Lightroom and Photoshop.

Initial Global Edits in Lightroom

With Lightroom's new Generative Remove tool, I gave this photo another shot and started by applying some global edits.

• Profile Adjustment: I started by changing the profile to Adobe Landscape to boost the colors. I typically start with this profile whenever editing a RAW landscape photo.
• White Balance: Using the white balance dropper, I selected a gray cloud to remove the blue color cast and get a neutral image.
• S-Curve for Contrast: I applied a favorite S-curve to increase contrast, opening up the mid-tones and adding a bit of gray to the black point. That last part adds a big of that vintage look that I love so much.
• Exposure Adjustments: I made minor adjustments to the white and black points and increased the exposure slightly.

Using Generative Remove in Lightroom

Thankfully, Lightroom's Generative Remove tool was more than up to the task of seamlessly removing the fence, sign, and other distractions.

• Generative AI and Object-Aware Options: Enabling these options ensures a more precise selection and the use of Adobe Firefly to more effectively remove distractions.
• Making My Initial Selection: With a large brush, I selected the distracting areas, such as the chain-link fence, water pipe, and signpost. I also selected the best of the variations generated by Lightroom.

Using Generative Fill in Photoshop

After the initial improvements in Lightroom, I transferred the image to Photoshop for further enhancement using the Generative Fill tool.

• Using the Lasso Tool: I made rough selections around areas where I wanted to add new elements, such as a door and stairs on the church’s backside.
• Generating New Elements: I used Generative Fill to add a black wooden door and white wooden stairs. It also matched the perspective and lighting of the original scene, which is a very nice touch.
• Detail Enhancement: I also increased the resolution of the generated elements to ensure they blended seamlessly with the original image.

Final Touches

• Apply a custom preset to the sky and foregrounds: Back in Lightroom, I applied a preset from my adaptive Landscape AI pack to enhance the overall look. This preset created adaptive masks for the sky and foreground, allowing for targeted adjustments.
• Mask Adjustments: I fine-tuned the masks for the sky and foreground, adjusting parameters like texture, dehaze, and saturation.

Wrapping it up

The combination of Lightroom's Generative Remove and Photoshop's Generative Fill tools transformed an old, cluttered photo into a visually appealing image. These AI tools are powerful, and while they may not be for everyone, they're worth exploring because they might help you salvage photos that you thought were beyond repair.

For more in-depth learning about Lightroom, check out my course, Lightroom Everywhere, which covers everything you need to know about Lightroom Desktop, Mobile, and Web.