Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday, by COAP Online


“Contrast without crunch” is a useful editing phrase to have in the back of your mind when you’re editing your aviation images. It’s the difference between an image that feels striking and professional, and one that feels harsh, gritty, or over-processed.

This ‘crunch’ usually comes from building contrast with one blunt tool. Heavy global Contrast, strong Dehaze, or aggressive Clarity can make a file look punchy at first glance, but it often breaks the surfaces that us aviation photographers love to see perfectly represented - fuselage whites, canopy highlights, polished metal, and livery gradients. Skies can also fall apart fast, with noisy texture and weird banding.\

Here’s some fixes…

Step 1: Protect the tonal range first

Before adding punch, make sure the file has a healthy foundation. In Lightroom, that typically means:

• Keep highlight detail in white fuselages and reflections
• Avoid crushing blacks into featureless shapes
• Aim for a balanced exposure that feels believable for the conditions

This is “build contrast, don’t smash it” in practice. A strong image usually has a clear range from dark to light, but still holds detail at both ends.

Step 2: Build contrast in the mid-tones, not everywhere

Most aviation images benefit from mid-tone contrast on the aircraft, not global contrast across sky, ground and airframe. A gentle S-curve or a modest mid-tone contrast move can add depth without turning clouds into grit and making edges glow with nasty halos.

If the aircraft needs separation, do it locally. A subject mask with a small contrast lift, paired with a slightly darker sky mask, often looks more natural than one big global adjustment.

Step 3: Separate contrast from detail

Clarity and Texture can feel like detail tools, but they also add local contrast. Used too hard, they create shadowing in the livery, emphasise noise, and produce halos along wings and tails. Use them carefully, and prefer targeted masking over global application.

Contrast doesn’t need to shout to feel strong. In aviation editing, the goal is controlled punch that keeps aircraft surfaces believable.

If you want to go further, COAP Online goes deeper on contrast control with real-world aviation examples, and The Merge post drills into exact slider starting points, curve shapes, and masking combinations for clean separation. Explore COAP Online with a free trial at www.coaponline.com.