There’s one constant when shooting outdoor photographs: You’re always at the mercy of Mother Nature, and she’s anything but predictable. So you have two choices when weather is threatening or the light is less that ideal. You can either learn how to deal with it or go home.

Taking a pass when conditions are challenging is something no one wants to do, especially after traveling to a location when an easy return isn’t possible. That leaves us with making the best of a bad situation, which is what you’ll learn how to do in the tutorial below.

French photographer Serge Ramelli is one of our favorite outdoor photographers, with an exuberant teaching style that’s enjoyable to watch. The tips he provides will improve your results, whether you’re shooting landscapes, outdoor portraits, cityscapes, or something else in the great outdoors.

This comprehensive 24-minute lesson provides a wide range of practical tips using the knowledge Ramelli has accrued for creating dynamic imagery in uninspiring conditions. He explores how to make the most of available light, and demonstrates several of his tricks for creating interesting, dynamic compositions on dull days.

There’s also an editing component to this very helpful lesson, in addition to his discussion of gear, camera settings, and other technical matters. Ramelli promises to, “show you how to take these overcast images into Lightroom to get an epic color photo, a dramatic black-and-white, and a panorama.”

Ramelli uses some very nice images to illustrate his advice, and he covers a lot of ground in a hurry. So you may want to have pen and paper handy and jot down a few notes. By the end of the video you’ll realize that gorgeous images can be captured on dull days.

Ramelli makes another bold promise that we feel you can trust: “Whether you’re a pro or a beginner, this will provide you with plenty of insights and techniques for capturing stunning images and retouching them in Lightroom—no matter what the weather or lighting is like.”

There’s much more great advice for shooting and editing outdoor photos on Ramelli’s popular YouTube channel. So take a close look and learn from this accomplished pro.

And don’t miss the tutorial we posted from anther successful shooter, with three powerful landscape photography tips that everyone should know.

Macro season is in full swing, with colorful flowers, interesting insects, and other creepy-crawlies just about everywhere you look, so if you still haven’t dusted off your trusty close-up lens, now is the time.

The nice thing about macro photography in spring and summer is that you don’t have to travel further than your own backyard to discover a wide-variety of appropriate subjects. The tutorial below from a British expert has a bunch of great tips for capturing the best images possible.

Instructor Andrew Lanxon is a world traveler, shooting beautiful photos of landscapes and macro imagery. This behind-the-scenes episode is all about the latter, with a discussion of camera settings, composition, helpful accessories, and other straightforward techniques that will make your images really stand out.

While exploring a lush woodland area near Edinburg’s busy coast, Lanxon provides several creative ideas for giving macro shots an artistic flair. He also demonstrates how he uses focus stacking during the editing process for really sharp results.

Many outdoor photographers prefer shooting with natural light, and sometimes that is all you need. But, depending upon conditions, a bit of supplemental illumination will make a big difference in your results. With that in mind, Lanxon demonstrates how he uses LED and flash lighting to make eye-popping photos.

Lanxon concentrates on mushrooms and a few blossoms during this excursion, but everything you’ll learn is appropriate for capturing other macro subjects—especially during this time of year when the landscape is bursting with life. As you’ll see, he prefers using a small tabletop tripod, not a full-sized model, for two basic reasons.

As he explains, tabletop tripods are compact and lightweight, making them effortless to carry on a long day in the field. Secondly, these small camera supports can be placed atop a tree stump, flat rock, or even on the ground for convenient low-angle shooting.

Lanxon discusses the focal length he prefers, and why backing off from maximum magnification can result in a more pleasing composition. He also demonstrates how to make subjects stand out by blurring the background with an appropriate aperture setting.

After watching Lanxon’s spring excursion, take a quick trip of your own to his instructional YouTube channel for more outdoor photography tips and tricks. We also recommend you check out the tutorial we posted from another accomplished pro, explaining how to use the Sunny 16 Rule to capture properly exposed images without a camera’s light meter.

Those new to Photoshop are often overwhelmed by everything this feature-packed program can accomplish. The quick video below from the Adobe Photoshop YouTube channel is designed to shorten your learning curve in a big way.

Instructor Terry White has been with Adobe for over 25 years, and was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame back in 2016. In other words he really know his stuff, and the tutorials he posts are among the best you can find.

Today’s episode is targeted at beginners, demonstrating “five things you didn’t know were in Photoshop,” and his tips and tricks are so straightforward that you’ll be able to start using them today. In barely four-minutes you’ll learn how to blend images with Puppet Warp, boost image-quality with HDR Toning, and much more.

White kicks off the tutorial by explaining how to unlock the power of Puppet Warp with a few quick examples. The first step involves Select Subject, and duplicating that subject onto her own layer. He then returns to the original layer and uses Select Subject once again—this time to remove the model from the background.

Now that the two layers are prepared, you’ll see how easy it is to use the Puppet Warp tool to bend the model’s arms and legs in any position you desire for a more dynamic image. He even demonstrates how to edit the resulting file for a short video, with the layers becoming tracks. You can even add an audio track.

HDR Toning is next on the list, and this one is even easier. Here the goal is to rehabilitate photos with unbalanced exposures. A couple examples could be a portrait of a model illuminated by window light, or backlit photos taken outdoors (like subjects with a dark foreground in front of a very bright sky).

So what are White’s other beginner tricks? You’ll have to watch the video to find out. But we’ll give you one clue: You’ll learn how easy it is to create simple animation in Photoshop. Once you’ve become familiar with these basic tasks, you can then move on to more advanced Photoshop features.

There’s much more to learn on the Adobe Photoshop YouTube channel, so take a look and check back there often.

And for those just getting started, be sure to take a look at the tutorial we posted earlier from another image-editing expert, with a complete beginners guide to using Selections in Photoshop.