After taking your image, whether on your phone or camera, this is where Lightroom shines. Here are seven practical steps of how to edit travel photos, with before-and-after examples to show the transformation. It also includes tips for both phone and desktop, so you’re covered no matter your setup.

Cropping and Straightening:
First things first. If your horizon is on a tilt, give it a straighten. This is definitely one of the first things I do when I edit travel photos and Lightroom’s grid guides make it easy. Instantly your photo will look intentional rather than rushed. Make sure to fine tune your rule of thirds here, cropping to remove empty space and distractions so the eye lands where you want it to.

Desktop tip: Use the angle tool for precise straightening if the horizon still feels off.

Exposure and White Balance:
When you edit your travel photos think of this as setting your stage. Exposure controls overall brightness, bringing out details in low light or toning down overly bright scenes. Meanwhile, white balance can shift the tone of the image to give it an cooler or crisp look, while warmer tones feel a little more inviting. I often lean toward warm for sunsets and forest scenery, and cooler for snowy mountains, but let your style sets the rules.

Phone tip: For ease, use auto white balance, then nudge warmer or cooler to match the scene.
Desktop tip: Check skin tones – if it looks unnatural, adjust until it feels right.

Contrast, Highlights, and Shadows:
This is where your photo gains more depth. Contrast adds energy and makes details stand out, enriching the colours throughout the image. Highlights recover detail in bright areas that might otherwise look blown out, while shadows bring back information hidden in darker spots. Together, these adjustments prevent your photo from looking flat and give it more dimension.

In this part of editing you may want to push the shadows and bring down the overall exposure, feel free to adjust as you see fit.

Phone tip: Be gentle – small adjustments go a long way on mobile.

Vibrance and Saturation:
When editing travel photos colour is easy to overdo. Vibrance boosts muted tones while keeping skin looking natural, making it ideal for travel shots with people. Saturation, on the other hand, pushes every colour at once. Use it carefully – too much and grass glows radioactive.

Phone tip: I always play with vibrance first, then saturation if the image needs a bit more of a colour punch.
Desktop tip: Use side-by-side before/after view to check colours with the image as it was originally or with a previously edited photo where you were happy with the results.

Colour Mixer and Colour Grading:

The Colour Mixer is where you fine-tune specific shades in your photo. Instead of boosting all reds or greens with saturation, you can adjust one colour at a time. Whereas Colour Grading lets you add tones to highlights, mid tones, or shadows. It’s perfect for travel shots when you want to lean into a certain colour. I rarely use colour grading but when I do, it’s subtle as a little goes a long way.

Curves and Tone Curve:
The tone curve is your fine-tuning tool. A subtle S-shape adds contrast and makes your image feel polished. You can also target highlights or shadows for more control.

Desktop tip: Use point curves if you want precision

Healing and Spot Removal: 
With every travel shot there is a risk that something unwanted sneaks into the frame, whether that be dust on the lens, or the tourist in a neon raincoat. The healing brush removes these in seconds so nothing competes with your subject. Developers have created some really advanced features in the last couple of years, and even more recently with AI, so this is much less time consuming.

Phone tip: Zoom with your fingers for accuracy on small spots.
Desktop tip: Switch between heal and clone modes for tricky textures like rock or sky.

Presets and Final Touches: Seal the Deal
When you edit travel photos, presets are like shortcuts. Once you have an edit that you’re really proud of, save those settings as a preset. That way, you can reuse them across future photos for a consistent style. But make sure to think of presets as starting points, not finish lines. After applying one, refine exposure, colour, or contrast to fit that particular image.

Phone tip: Explore Lightroom’s built-in presets for quick wins.
Desktop tip: Desktop makes batch editing effortless for photos from the same trip.