Bring Your Photos to Life: Lightroom Classic Develop Workshop (Mar 25 & Apr 1)

Two-Day Workshop with Reid Thaler in 2026

Dates: Two Sessions as follows: Wednesday, March 25th & Wednesday, April 1st
Time: 10:30am–4:00pm (45-minute lunch break)
Location: Looking Glass Photo Classroom
Enrollment: Limited to 6 participants

Elevate Your Images with Intention, Skill, and a Proven Editing Workflow

Lightroom Classic’s Develop module is where good captures become expressive, polished, and truly reflective of your vision. But with so many sliders, panels, and tools, it’s easy to feel uncertain—or to rely on guessing rather than intention.

This hands-on, two-day workshop teaches you Reid Thaler’s proven, step-by-step Develop workflow, refined over decades of helping photographers create images with impact, clarity, and emotional resonance. You’ll learn not just how the tools work, but how to use them deliberately to guide the viewer’s eye, strengthen your storytelling, and bring your photos to life.

Designed for photographers who already understand the basics of Lightroom Classic—or who have used other editing programs—this class goes deep into the creative tools that shape tone, color, and detail. If you’re brand new to Lightroom Classic, our Library workshop is the best place to start, though it’s not required.

What You’ll Learn

Session One: Foundations of Creative Editing

• How to calibrate your monitor for accurate, consistent results

• Cropping, straightening, and visual balance

• White balance mastery and exposure refinement
  

• Local adjustments using brushes, gradients, and radial filters

• Advanced masking tools for selective edits

• The HSL panel: controlling color with intention

Session Two: Refinement, Expression, and a Workflow That Sticks

• Sharpening and noise reduction best practices

• Spot removal, lens corrections, and fixing distractions

• Creative tools: black & white conversions, split toning, film grain, vignetting

• Building HDRs and panoramas directly in Lightroom

• Workflow accelerators: syncing edits, presets, snapshots, virtual copies

• Using custom profiles and calibration for consistent style

• How to assemble a complete, repeatable Develop workflow tailored to your style

What You’ll Take Away

• A studio-tested, professional workflow for editing any photograph

• A deeper understanding of how tone, color, and contrast shape emotion

• Confidence to edit with clarity and intention—no more random slider tweaking

• Digital handouts that you can print and rely on long after class

• Renewed creative energy and a stronger sense of your photographic style

What to Bring

• A laptop with Lightroom Classic installed (not the cloud-based “Lightroom”)
  

• A selection of RAW images to edit

• A notebook and pen

• Lunch or nearby food plan (the classroom is open for eating)

Before Class

Lightroom Classic is included in Adobe’s Creative Cloud Photography Plan (about $13/month). Please confirm you are using Lightroom Classic, as this workshop does not cover the cloud-based Lightroom app.

About Your Instructor

Reid Thaler has spent decades behind the camera and in the classroom, helping photographers understand not just how to edit, but how to think like an editor. He teaches photography and digital processing throughout the Bay Area—including at Stanford, College of Marin and, of course, here at Looking Glass.

He brings clarity, patience, and a deep passion for helping photographers develop their own visual voice.

Cancellation Policy

Full refunds are available with at least 72 hours’ notice prior to the start of class.