Photoshop Lightroom Photo Editing Lessons by Hakbong Kwon
A practical beginner’s guide to photo editing—covering everything from the basics to advanced techniques, all through the eyes of a working photographer.
Rather than focusing on individual tools or functions, this book explains how to adjust color, exposure, and composition in Photoshop and Lightroom based on photographic intent.
For beginners, it serves as a friendly guidebook; for the author, it marked the beginning of his writing journey.
“A practical guide that explores everything from foundational principles to advanced editing techniques” – Author’s Note
This book means more to me than simply being my first publication.
Originally, I aimed to write a professional book on photographic lighting. I approached dozens of publishers with the idea, but the response was always the same: “There’s no market for that.”
One day, a publisher contacted me—not for the lighting book, but with a suggestion: “Why don’t you write a book about photo editing first?”
I accepted without hesitation, and that’s how this book began.
At the time, I had already been using Photoshop and Lightroom for over a decade, so technical knowledge wasn’t a concern. The real challenge was writing from the perspective of a complete beginner.
Explaining tools I used instinctively in a way that made sense to someone who had never opened the software was unexpectedly difficult.
So instead of detailing every single function, I focused on answering a deeper question: why should a photographer make that particular edit?
The book includes example photos I shot myself, and I walk the reader through the editing process with an emphasis on intention and context.
Rather than being a dry manual, the book shows how editing tools come alive within real creative workflows.
Fortunately, the book was well received by beginners and intermediate photographers alike, and it has since gone through two revised editions.
Above all, this book remains my very first experience of writing to the end.
Writing turned out to be lonelier than expected, and it demanded consistency.
But I’ll never forget the pride I felt when I saw my name on an online bookstore or a physical copy of the book on display at a local shop.
Photo editing is more than just technical skill—it’s an extension of the photographer’s vision and voice.
I hope this book becomes a doorway to self-expression for some, and a first step in the journey of photographic passion for others.
— Hakbong Kwon, reflecting on the first publication in 2016
