Earlier this month we featured a Lightroom tutorial explaining how to edit sunset photos to enhance those gorgeous golden colors so your photos are as captivating as the scene you saw through the viewfinder. Today we’re taking a different approach to maximize the impact of Blue Hour images.

Blue Hour is that magical time just before sunrise and immediately after the sun drops below the horizon in early evening when the landscape is bathed in blue light that imbues photos with beautiful soft, cool light that conveys a sense of peace and tranquility. For some reason sunset photos are more common among landscape photographers, but images shot at Blue Hour are just as captivating.

We often turn to German landscape photographer Christian Mohrle who isn’t shy about sharing the editing techniques that contribute to his stunning imagery. You may want to download today’s demonstration image so you can follow along and mimic his edit as the steps are explained.

With most post-processing techniques it helps to make a few basic adjustments before jumping into selective enhancements like color grading and masking, and that’s what Mohrle does here to embellish his pretty Blue Hour seascape. He first changes the profile from Adobe Color to Adobe Standard, which immediately lessens contrast.

Other preliminary adjustments are geared toward improving exposure because the overall shot includes areas with very deep shadows, while highlights in the sky also need to be enhanced. It’s important to take a subtle approach when increasing exposure in images like this to avoid overexposing highlights in key elements and their reflections on the water. Otherwise details will be lost.

Mohrle walks you through the initial global adjustments and then turns his attention to making  selective enhancements to specific area within the frame. He applies a linear gradient over the top of the image to darken the sky, and another liner gradient to make reflections clearer and enhance the tones of the water in the foreground.

Now it’s time for some simple color grading, and Mohrle pulls up Lightroom’s Color Mixer for some quick and easy refinements. All that’s left to complete the job is a bit of sharpening and cleanup. The final result is very impressive as you can see by comparing Mohrle’s before/after images.

Landscape photographers owe it to themselves to explore Mohrle’s instructional YouTube channel where’s there’s much more great advice for elevating their work.

And be sure to watch the tutorial mentioned above, so you understand how to bring out the best in every unset photo you shoot.

One of the first things we do when configuring a new camera is deciding whether to set the Color Space to Adobe RGB or sRGB. And this isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it choice because the mode you select depends upon how you plan to use the photos you capture.

Instructor Vlad Manea is a Romanian pro based in Germany who specializes in shooting and editing tutorials with beginning photographers in mind. In this four-minute episode he demystifies the concept of color space so you can make the best choice every photo you shoot..

Most cameras offer a choice of two Color Space settings—Adobe RGB and sRGB. As Manea says, “In this video I explain it all for editing, printing, the Internet, and sharing so you get the very best and consistent results.”

Manea explains the concept like this: “Color Space is essentially the range of colors that are available on your camera. As you may already know, the term “RGB” stands for red, green, and blue. These are the three colors that are represented in every color image that you capture. The common default setting is sRGB—a more limited color space than its big brother Adobe RGB.

So why wouldn’t you just set the camera for Adobe RGB and move on to other matters? Pardon his language but Manea says that approach is “totally crap.” His reason is this: “The Adobe RGB color space is primarily intended for people who do a lot of prints or for applications like magazines where the end result is printed commercially.”

Manea reinforces this view by explaining that Adobe RGB is more akin to the CMYK spectrum (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) than the smaller sRGB color space. He also discusses the importance of using the same color space across your various image-editing apps and the camera. This also holds true when exporting your files.

According to Manea this is the problem: If you mix different color space settings you won’t have any color consistency with the images you share, print, exhibit, or share online.

Manea’s advice is simple and based upon the end use of an image: “if it’s online, shoot sRGB, if it’s for print, shoot Adobe RGB.” He also notes that even if you shoot in Adobe RGB, the color space is often automatically changed to sRGB when posting these images online.

There are a few more tips worthy of consideration, and Manea also illustrates where to find the Color Space options within a cameras menu. The bottom line: Be smart and be consistent when making an appropriate choice for the specific task at hand.

There are many more lessons for budding photographers on Manea’s informative YouTube channel, so be sure to take a look when you have time. And on a related note, don’t miss the tutorial we posted earlier from an accomplished outdoor shooter, explaining a simple Lightroom technique for enhancing landscape photographs with dull colors.

If you’ve never captured photos at night we’re going to help you change that today with a quick tutorial on using the iPhone’s Night Mode to shoot dramatic long-exposure images when your “real” camera is at home.

Those of you who’ve tried this technique with a DLR or mirrorless camera are already part way there, because the concept is pretty much the same when using a smartphone. You just have to understand a few settings and have a small tripod or other camera support at the ready.

Instructor Travis Whirley specializes in mobile photography and cinematography tutorials for users of all skill levels. In this episode he demonstrates how to shoot photos with exposures as long as 30 seconds, and his straightforward tips take barely two minutes to explain. The cool thing about tackling this task is that the iPhone’s sensor will automatically detect and turn on Night Mode based upon the brightness of your scene.

These techniques work well indoors or out, like when capturing portraits in a dimly-lit room—or shooting street scenes or landscape photos after dark. Cityscapes offer particularly great opportunities because scenes that look boring during the day are often transformed into sparkling tableaus once the sun drops below the horizon.

Whirley closes the blinds and turn off the lights in his room so that it’s virtually dark. And lo and behold, the iPhone automatically activates Night Mode and provides a half-moon icon for confirmation. There are off/on buttons on the left and right of the screen, and the iPhone lets you know the shutter speed required for the task at hand.

So what do you do next? Simply tap the shutter button and you’ve automatically captured a great shot. Whirley describes the portrait of his dog like this: “We have a pretty dynamic photo that actually looks great, and it’s bright in all the right places.”

If a photo doesn’t reflect the specific mood you have in mind, you can manually adjust the exposure up or down with a simple slider above the shutter button. And remembers that camera or subject movement results in blurry images, so be sure to support your iPhone and encourage your subject to remain still.

Whirley also has a workable tip for shooting handheld when the required exposure isn’t too long. Simply take a deep breath before snapping the shutter and don’t release your breath until after capturing the shot.

If you shoot stills or videos with your phone, make sure to visit Whirley’s instructional YouTube channel where there’s much more to learn.

And don’t miss the tutorial we posted from another accomplished pro who provides a variety of solid tips for shooting alluring portrait photographs of inexperienced models.