Last week we featured a tutorial explaining a foolproof way to install, organize, and manage image-editing plugins so they work most efficiently for your specific needs. We’re following that up today with what one pro says are “the five best plugins for Lightroom and Photoshop.”

Some of these powerful add-ons are free, while other can be purchased at nominal cost, Instructor Michael Breitung is a freelance German landscape photographer who considers this handful of plugins essential and explains his picks like this: “I’ve been using most of them for years and they’ve become an integral part of my photo-editing workflow.”

So what are these gems that Breitung “can’t live without”? He begins with Web Sharpener, a free plugin he’s been using for several years. He says, “whenever I work on an image, at the end I want to prepare it for the web.” He regularly relies upon this freebie for sharpening and conversion to sSRG. Breitung explains how it works and, like for the other plugins he mentions, there’s a link beneath the video where you can read more and download the tool.

Next on the list is the Nik Collection, a complete set of plugin for accomplishing various important tasks. Breitung notes that this download also comes in a free version and can be confusing to install—so he walks you through the process of getting it set up properly. He also explains the various components that include everything from color adjustments, noise reduction, sharpening, and much more.

Another top pick is Lumenzia that you can purchase for $39, and free updates are part of the cost—giving you access to frequent new features as soon as they’re introduced. Breitung says he typically uses Lumenzia to make selections of various brightness levels in an image, and the workspace is well organized and intuitive to use.

Breitung also sings the praises of Helicon Focus, a plugin that automates the time-consuming focus-stacking process and provides retouching tools as well. He calls Helicon Focus  “awesome software”—particularly for stacking woodland and complex landscape images. He adds that it delivers great results and enables fine-tuning your edits with ease.

Luminar Neo is the last item on the list, and it’s one we’ve discussed in the past. So we’ll let Breitung provide his take on why this is a great choice for elevating your post-processing skills. His bottom line is that, compared to the others, this one provides more power and very modern tools including AI.

After you’re done watching be sure to pay a visit to Breitung’s popular YouTube channel where there’s much more to learn. And don’t miss the tutorial we mentioned at the onset, so you’ll know what to do if you run into any installation or organizational issues.

Most landscape photographers always carry a polarizing filter to solve a bunch a problems. These affordable tools let you darken pale blues skies, reduce reflections on water and other non-metallic objects, and even boost saturation if need be. But as you’ll see in this tutorial from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel, these benefits often come at a cost.

So ponder this question: Have ever noticed a dark blob in the sky after capturing a landscape photo with a polarizing filter—especially when shooting with wide-angle lens? This is the common problem you’ll learn how to quickly resolve by using one simple mask when editing the image in Lightroom.

Instructor Christian Mohrle is an accomplished German pro who explains the dilemma like this. “A polarizing filter affects different areas of the sky differently, so we end up with darker and lighter parts in the scene.” This problem is exacerbated when using wide-angle lenses because of the expansive view they provide

As you can see, Mohrle’s dramatic, unedited landscape image has what he refers to as a “dark blob” in the upper right of the frame that imparts a distracting an unnatural look to the photo. We encourage you to download this sample photo with the link beneath the video so you can follow along and make the changes yourself as they’re explained.

Mohrle begins with a few basic global adjustments to the overall scene so it appears as good as possible for the selective enhancements that follow. He first changes the profile from Adobe Color to Adobe Standard which immediately lessens contrast. Next he brings down highlights, increases the shadows to introduce more detail, and increases Whites while cutting the Blacks.

With the exposure is significantly improved, Mohrle turns his attention to other preliminary enhancements like boosting Texture, reducing Clarity and Dehaze, and pumping up Vibrance.

With the Basics out of the ways it’s time for the meat of the tutorial; namely fixing that black blob caused by the polarizing filter. All it takes is simple masking, color grading, and a final bit of subtle sharpening.

As mentioned earlier, a polarizing filter doesn’t apply effects evenly, hence in this image the sky is somewhat bright on the left side of the frame and progressively darker and darker as you look to the right—at which point the offending blob is quite apparent.

Pay close attention as Mohrle illustrates the simple fix that corrects the offending portion of the shot, while leaving other areas in the shot untouched. He begins in Lightroom’s Masking panel, selects Color Range Mask, and walks you through every step of the straightforward rehabilitation technique. Examine his before/after images and you’ll be impressed.

You can find more helpful tips on Mohrle’ instructional YouTube channel and in an earlier tutorial we posted explaining the best way to install and organize plugins for a streamlined Lightroom workflow that saves you tons of time and delivers great results.