Melissa Dale

05/04/2026

04/24/2026

if you want to make your digital photos look like film, lightroom is all you need.

photo editing steps: adjusted the blue hue in the calibration panel to bring warmth back to the skin, lowered contrast for that faded film look, masked the hair to bring out the golden tones, and brought down the highlights on the backdrop. the masking steps are a little more advanced but worth learning.

big thank you to my model

save this — and if you want to go deeper on lightroom photo editing, the link in my bio has a free preset pack to get you started.

👩🏻‍💻 🎞️

melissa dale | sf bay area photographer + video editor
helping creators develop their signature editing style

04/24/2026

04/14/2026

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵.
rana, tokyo, japan. shinagawa. shot on sony s9.

04/14/2026

𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵.

location: bay area. camera: always in hand. should be: editing.

04/10/2026

𝐎𝐟𝐟 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐲.

04/09/2026

circa 2019.
📷: Ryan Shiver

04/05/2026

Happy Easter. 🐰🐣 🥚

04/05/2026

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴.

direct flash gets a bad rap but honestly? it smooths skin, kills unwanted shadows, and gives you the sharpest images to work with. 

the downside is it strips all the warmth out of skin tones. which is where lightroom saves you. 

swipe — i’m breaking down the two adjustments i always go to. calibration panel for the skin tones, tone curve if things are looking too crisp. 👩🏻‍💻

save this one. ✔️

melissa dale | sf bay area photographer + video editor
helping creators develop their signature editing style

04/01/2026

𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚. 𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑡.

the analog dream isn’t always an edit.
sometimes it’s just a point and shoot and a single bulb.

but if you want to get this close in Lightroom — that’s what I’m here for.

📷 shot on film / Olympus point and shoot