Lightroom Iron Chef: 29 Submitted Photos Processed Live In Front of a Crowd

Photographer Stu Maschwitz of Prolost recently paid a visit to the Bay Area Lightroom User Group and tried something he’s always wanted to do: Lightroom Iron Chef.

He took 29 audience-submitted photographs and post-processed them in Lightroom in front of a live audience of more than 100 people, all while providing a running commentary of what he’s doing and why.

The whole thing was recorded in the 1.5-hour video above. Here’s how our friend Jeffrey Friedl describes it:

There are some amazing transformations, but whether a particular result is or isn’t your cup of tea is not the point. The point is to see that amazing transformations can be made so easily, and sometimes so subtly. The running commentary on the hows and whys provide ample little seeds that may germinate ideas when processing your own photos.

Just as it’s interesting seeing how Iron Chefs turn raw ingredients into delicious meals on TV, this video is a fascinating look at how one photographer turns RAW pixels into pieces of art that tell stories.