How to Cull Photos in Lightroom Classic – Beginners Tutorial

Sorting through hundreds of photos can be overwhelming, but culling makes it easy to pick the best shots quickly. In this beginner-friendly tutorial, you’ll learn how to use Lightroom Classic’s tools to streamline your workflow, flag favorites, and eliminate unwanted images. Perfect for photographers looking to save time and stay organized—watch now to master culling like a pro!

These videos are from our course called Lightroom Classic Workflow and Organization Like a Pro

Part 1

This tutorial demonstrates the culling process—selecting the best photos from a shoot—using Lightroom Collections for organization. Starting from the imported folder, all photos are first added to a main collection (e.g., “Snaha Shoot”). The host then quickly flags preferred images by pressing P (Pick). These flagged photos are filtered and placed into a new, more specific collection called “Rough Selects.” To improve organization, both collections are nested inside a Collection Set named “Portrait Shoot,” creating a clear hierarchy. The video teases that this structured approach will later facilitate client proofing and sets up the next step: a second, finer round of selections using star ratings.

Part 2

This tutorial continues the culling workflow in Lightroom, focusing on the second, finer round of selection. From the “Rough Selects” collection, the host assigns a 5-star rating to the absolute best photos destined for final editing and delivery. Using keyboard shortcuts or on-screen controls, they filter the collection to show only rated images. The selected 5-star photos are then placed into a new, final collection named “Final Selects,” neatly organized within the existing “Portrait Shoot” Collection Set. This demonstrates how ratings and collections create a powerful, non-destructive organizational system within Lightroom that doesn’t affect the original files on the hard drive.