We have a special treat for you today and for the next few weeks, with the first episode in a 10-part masterclass from our friends at the Phlog Photography YouTube channel. So if you want to expand your Lightroom skills the lesson below provides a great start. 

Instructor Christian Mohrle is a noteworthy landscape photographer who says he created this powerful series with a specific goal in mind, “I’m going to go through all the editing tools Lightroom has to offer, and explain them in detail.” What makes this opportunity so helpful is that Mohrle’s tips are divided into separate relatively brief videos, so you’ll never feel intimidated or overwhelmed.

Today’s premier episode covers everything you need to know for using Lightroom’s most basic tools, so you’ll be well prepared for more involved tasks. In future weeks Mohrle’s topics run the gamut from color grading, masks, lens correction, and tone curves, to HSL adjustments, sharpening, and more.

If you’ve watched Mohrle’s editing tutorials in the past, you know that his first step is always to select Lightroom’s most appropriate Camera Profile for the image at hand. Today he explains why doing this creates a good “base image” for all adjustments that follow.

Another key basic task is modifying White Balance for the specific look you’re after. Here Mohrle explains various ways to do that by using the Auto setting, choosing a pre-defined setting, employing the White Balance Selector tool, or by adjusting Lightroom’s sliders manually. And all are viable options.

Mohrle then moves on to Tone settings and the oft-ignored Histogram. This discussion includes simple steps to take for properly setting the contrast and brightness of an image. The lesson wraps up with a basic overview of Lightroom’s Presence settings, with a straightforward explanation of how to use simple sliders to quickly give photos more detail, clarity, and saturation.

There’s a lot going on in barely 11-minutes, so you may want to jot down a few notes for future reference. And we’ll be sure to post new episodes in this series as soon as they’re available.

There’s much more to learn about shooting and editing outdoor images on Mohrle’s YouTube channel, so be sure to take a look,

We’re also sure you’ll like an earlier tutorial we featured recently, explaining five “secret” Lightroom tools for better, faster edits.

The history of photography and camera technology is littered with controversies about the “best” way to capture an image. For a while shooters questioned the value of autofocus, then there was a debate regarding the quality of digital images vs. those shot with film.

Today much of the conversation centers on file formats—namely Raw vs. Jpeg. Frankly we’re not a fan of preemptive claims by so-called “purists” who insist that you’re not a real photographer unless you shoot Raw (or always set your camera’s mode dial to Manual).

While Raw files undoubtedly have benefits for capturing and editing photos, one of our favorite pros insists that this debate has yet to be settled, at least for some photographers. In his view it all depends upon the subject hand, how you intend to use your work, and a few other issues worth noting.

Canadian pro Simon d’Entremont is an accomplished nature and wildlife photographer, and he asks this question to kick off the interesting tutorial below: “Can Jpeg dethrone the king of the hill, Raw?” You may be surprised by his conclusions.

For this file-format shootout Simon pits his Raw files against JPEGs to see when one format beats the other. He also adds Compressed Raw to the mix to make the comparisons even more thorough. So is the “always Raw” notion a myth? Watch the video and see for yourself.

Along the way, Simon says he knows photographers who shoot both Jpeg and Raw, and actually “like the Jpegs better” for reasons he explains. He begins by getting all the definitions and technical stuff straight, with a quick discussion of how various file formats work, and what this implies for the editing process.

Simon’s shootout includes plenty of helpful information, including this interesting fact: “Even if you Shoot Raw, the image on your camera’s LCD is actually a Jpeg.” So Raw shooters need to interpret that screen with care. And Camera Profiles are important too. Take a close look and see what file format makes the most sense for you.

There’s much more to see on d’Entremont’s popular YouTube channel, so be sure to pay a visit when you have time.

And speaking of evolving technologies, check out the earlier tutorial we posted, explaining how to shoot amazing landscapes photos with a modern phone.