Today we’re featuring a two-minute tutorial that that will enable you to edit outdoor photographs faster than ever before while achieving outstanding results. It’s all about employing Lightroom’s often-overlooked Amount slider for getting the job done swiftly with precision, as compared to methods you’ve likely tried in the past.

Landscape photographer Scott Davenport is a regular contributor to Shutterbug, specializing in basic tutorials that deliver great results for shooters of all skills levels. In just about the time it takes to read this description you’ll learn how to utilize the power of this straightforward tool.

Davenport pulls up a seascape photo captured at sunset to illustrate everything you need to know. The image looks pretty good until you view his final transformation. As you’ll see, he’s already created masks for the large rock formations on the left side of the frame. He used these selections to cut Haze and increase Texture and Clarity.

Davenport zooms in on the shot, and you’ll agree that the preliminary adjustments he made are somewhat too strong. After fiddling around with several sliders to lessen the effects Davenport realized there’s a better approach. And that’s where Lightroom’s Amount slider comes to the rescue in a hurry. Depending upon the image at hand, and the look you desire, it’s easy to dial the effect back or push it even further.

It’s a no-brainer to watch what happens as you move the slider slowly and deliberately to the left or right until you see exactly what tickles your fancy. In short by employing this technique it’s really unnecessary to waste time messing around with all the individual sliders.

As Davenport says, “I just use the Amount slider to get the work done fast, and I don’t really know why I haven’t done this in the past.” Using a timesaving technique that fails to deliver great results is something most of us will quickly avoid, but in this case you get the best of both worlds.

After giving this a try we’re pretty sure you’ll want to add Davenport’s method to your Lightroom bag of tricks. Once you’re done watching head over to his instructional YouTube channel where there are a bunch more quick tips to learn.

And we don’t want you to miss the tutorial we posted from another photo-processing pro who explains why heavy-handed photo editing is worse that no editing at all. He then explains the subtle approach he employs to guarantee clean and realistic images every time.

This 10-minute tutorial begins with a question for those of you see captivating backlit photos with beautiful golden tones and think to yourself, “why don’t my photos look like that?” There are a number of challenges with shooting under such conditions, and the tutorial below explains what they are and how to overcome them.

Instructor Simon d’Entremont is a notable Canadian photographer who specializes in nature and wildlife imagery and the occasional portrait. In this 10-minute episode he demonstrates the necessary camera settings and techniques so you don’t end up with shadowy silhouettes when backlight is the name of the game. He also explains how to include eye-catching sun stars for added impact.

As the term implies, backlight occurs when the sun is behind a subject and can cause all kinds of problems with color fidelity, contrast, and exposure. Under these circumstances the part of your subject facing the camera is in shade, while surrounding areas are really bright. When this occurs the implications for achieving a correct exposure are obvious.

Simon discusses the fundamentals of backlit photography, one of which is that it’s best to shoot when the sun is low in the sky. At these times the light is less harsh “as it needs to go through more atmosphere to reach your camera’s sensor.” Simon notes further that “the atmosphere scatters shorter wave lengths like blue colors—leaving beautiful red and orange tones in their wake.

Thus, when the sun isn’t high in the sky the dynamic range of a scene is greatly reduced—making it easier to capture brighter tones without blowing out your highlights. Tip number two is best described by Simon: “the fluffier or furrier the subject, the more interesting rim light will surround them.” Simon illustrates how this works and contributes to photos with an artistic effect that can be quite “glamorous.”

In other words, portrait subjects with long flowing hair are perfect for backlit portraits, as are furry subjects for wildlife shots. As Simon suggests, think baby chicks and furry foxes. The magic of rim light occurs when the sun is able to partially penetrate the edges of a subject to create an appealing halo effect.

The foregoing is barely a taste of the techniques you’ll learn, and they’re all easy to understand and employ. By the time the video concludes you think of backlighting as a bonus, rather than a difficult obstacle that must be overcome.

Simon’s instructional YouTube channel is a great source of tips and tricks—especially for those who shoot and edit outdoor photographs, so take a close look and up your game.

We also recommend watching a tutorial we posted recently from another accomplished shooter, explaining a variety of simple pro techniques for capturing alluring outdoor portrait photographs.