Post-Processing Images with Lightroom 4

Sometimes we may use other 3rd party Raw Converters because we like the look we get or we may get this look easier/faster.
Here is a sample rendering we got from a 3rd party Raw Converter:

Overall we like the result but we think it could be improved in two areas:
• The top part of the sky is too bright
• We would like the shade on the hay pile brighter

As we learned the sky can be improved using a Gradient Filter:

Brightening the hay can be easily performed using a brush in "Auto Mask" mode:

Note: we also darkened some sky areas using a different brush stroke.

Here is our final result:

Conclusion
Whether you use Photoshop or a 3rd party Raw Converter there is often some final tweaking needed. Lightroom provides the right tools and all the changes are non-destructive. The question is not really your favorite Raw Converter or Lightroom but both instead. Use any tool you like and add the final finesse using Lightroom.

From our new Lightroom 4 Develop book: