This is the favorite season of many experienced outdoor photographers because of the gorgeous colors that paint the landscape no matter where you live. Yet, it can be challenging to replicate the stunning autumn tones you witness in the field—especially when shooting in flat light.

Today’s Lightroom tutorial from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel demonstrates how to get the job done in Lightroom while achieving a natural looking transformation with a straightforward technique that’s appropriate for users of all skill levels. As always, there’s a link beneath the video for downloading the sample Raw file to you can follow along in real time.

Instructor Christian Mohrle is a highly acclaimed landscape photographer who also knows his way around the computer, specifically when using Lightroom. This 22-minute episode describes everything you need to know for giving fall photos their due.

Those who’ve followed Mohrle in the past now that his edits adhere to a specific hierarchy, beginning with basic global adjustments, followed by selective enhancements using masks, and then finishing the job with color grading and any sharpening that’s required.

The preliminary adjustments begin by changing the profile from Adobe Color to Adobe Standard which provides more control over Contrast later on the in the process. Next Mohrle increases overall exposure, shadows, whites, and blacks, while dropping the Highlights. He then modifies White Balance for a warmer look, boosts Texture, and drops Clarity and Dehaze to introduce a subtle glow effect.

Now it’s time for the meat of the method; namely, introducing a few simple masks to selectively enhance colors in various portions of the scene. Mohrle walks you through every step of the way for making the necessary adjustments,

All that’s left is are a few color-grading tweaks and the aforementioned careful sharpening. Now the image faithfully captures the full splendor of fall! There’s much more to learn about shooting and editing landscape photos on the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel, so be sure that you take a look.

And don’t miss the helpful tutorial we featured with another post-processing expert who demonstrates a straightforward method for increasing depth and dimension in landscape photographs with four pro shooting and post-processing techniques,