If you’re struggling with blurry images or unreliable focus, it may be because you never turn to the Manual Focus setting on your camera whenever AF fails. We’re going to change all that today with this comprehensive beginners guide designed for those who don’t understand how MF works.

Instructor Benjamin Jaworskyj is a self-taught German travel and adventure photography pro whose popular YouTube channel offers how-to shooting and post processing tutorials for inexperienced shooters. Here’s how he introduces today’s 14-minute episode: “In this lesson we teach you how to master manual focus so you always get sharp, professional-looking photos—even in tricky lighting conditions.”

Ben insists that the more you take advantage of your camera’s MF mode, the more you’ll find it useful. In fact, he claims it’s the most accurate way to achieve sharp images in difficult light, like when shooting after dark. You’ll also learn the benefits of this approach when macro photography is the task at hand.

Surprisingly, Ben says he also uses the MF mode for 99% of his landscape photographs—especially when making long exposures or using neutral density (ND) filters. Then he demonstrates three straightforward techniques for achieving precise subject acquisition by focusing yourself.

So grab your camera, switch the Focus mode to MF per Ben’s instructions for different brands, and follow along. Ben notes that some lenses require flipping a switch on the barrel before proceeding further. Now you can focus by rotating the focus ring on the lens, which may be at the very front or further back.

Ben has another important tip, specifically for users of Sony cameras, which is to dive into the menu and disable the “annoying” Manual Focus assist setting for reasons he explains. You’ll also learn how the camera’s Focus Magnifier will provide greater control for getting the job done.

Now that you’ve configured everything properly, all you have to do is sit back and watch Ben demonstrate his trio of favorite techniques. He promises that your batting average for successful shots will increase dramatically. Then take a look at his instructional YouTube channel for more transformational tips and techniques.

We also recommend watching a tutorial we featured last week with a highly acclaimed wildlife expert who demonstrates how to capture amazing bird photographs in harsh midday light and quickly edit them to perfection.

There are a variety of Lightroom techniques for rehabilitating underexposed photos, yet some methods come with a catch: They do a good job of repairing exposure but may introduce unsightly noise in the process.

This tutorial from the popular PHLOG Photography YouTube channel demonstrates a clean-and-effective solution that you’ll want to include in your everyday Lightroom workflow and use with confidence whenever your images are too dark. Instructor Christian Mohrle invites you to download his demonstration image with a link beneath the video and make the changes yourself as the steps are explained.

The first step takes place in Lightroom’s Details panel where he quickly applies some AI Denoise by clicking on a button near the bottom of the screen. Then click on the Enhance button and Lightroom does all the work—creating a new image that’s basically noise free.

Mohrle then walks you several global adjustments to prepare his photograph for the masking magic that follows. He begins by changing the profile from Adobe Color to Adobe landscape  which instantly boosts base saturation.

The next preliminary step involves revealing more detail from the darkest portions of the photo. He significantly boots exposure and explains there’s far more control because you first applied Denoise. Now you can adjust the Shadows and Blacks sliders to bring out even more detail.

Mohrle also enhances contrast by increasing the whites, dropping highlights and modifying white balance for a slightly warmer look, boosts vibrance and texture, drops clarity and dehaze, and adds introduces an overall Golden-Hour Glow. As you’ll see, these simple global adjustments alone create a very impressive initial transformation.

Now the fun part begins by applying masks selectively to make several enhancements to different areas of the photo, and Mohrle’s illustrated instructions are super easy to follow. The eye-catching edit concludes with a bit of final color grading, very careful sharpening, and filling in a few gaps in Photoshop.

The PHLOG Photography YouTube channel is full of how-to videos for avid outdoor photographs who want to improve their shooting and editing skills.

We also recommend watching the post processing tutorial we featured earlier with another Lightroom expert who demonstrates how easy it is to rid photographs of unwanted people within the frame.

I was thinking about which photo to share to celebrate Father’s Day today. Out of all the options, I ultimately chose a picture that I took this week in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Why this one? Probably because it offers a slightly stereotypical and humorous take on fathers – as somewhat roundish creatures fluttering between joys and worries… not unlike a Gorgeted Woodstar (Chaetocercus heliodor).