LR "Auto" Tone Control

[KED]

In looking for ways to speed up post processing after shooting large numbers of images, I recently started trying Auto in the basic tone control panel. It produces mixed results, but more good than bad at least for shots taken in bright sunlight. It effectively pushes white and black to pretty reasonable clipping points and does a good job with Recovery. Where it consistently still needs tweaking is with shadows -- it tends to leave them untouched, so some fill light or tone curve adjustments still need to be made. But if I can reduce tonal adjustments down from at least four to one, that's a significant improvement to workflow efficiency.

Different story for overcast conditions -- it produced odd and unpredictable results for me, making it more efficient just to deal with each image manually. I haven't tried the control for anything not shot in daylight, but don't have very hight expectations for it.

Anyone else using this control routinely?

[arodney]

Anyone else using this control routinely?

As you point out, like ANY auto button its hit or miss. But since what you're doing isn't baking pixels, you can start with this, alter the other settings and even come up with your own auto presets. Backlit areas, the kinds that give our camera meters fits also appears to cause auto adjustment issues too. After awhile, you'll get a better feeling as to which kinds of images Auto works well with and which will require a different approach. The good news is, you're never altering the original data, the settings work quickly and you can always go back in the history list and start again (or modify the rendering from the point you're currently at).

[KED]

The good news is, you're never altering the original data, the settings work quickly and you can always go back in the history list and start again (or modify the rendering from the point you're currently at).
Exactly! It is that versatility, combined with the control's upside potential from an efficiency standpoint, that has me kind of excited about having "discovered" it. (Compared, for example, to Auto WB, which in every case has been a mistake, and therefore inefficient to workflow).