Even notable pros like Pierre T. Lambert occasionally pull out a smartphone to capture stunning images while traveling, and you can do the same by following his succinct advice in the comprehensive tutorial below. So don’t settle for mere snapshots when all that’s available is your mobile device.

As Lambert says, “follow along for my best tips and tricks to get epic, high-quality photos with your smartphone, no matter the conditions you confront.” Lambert is using the new Android OPPO Reno14 Pro, and he walks you through three different scenarios in barely 13 minutes. His straightforward tips are illustrated with images that you’d be pleased to capture with a full-featured mirrorless camera or DSLR.

Lambert describes challenges like shooting under harsh midday light, explains few tricks for capturing a perfect sunset photo, and even recreates an image he made with a professional $7,000 camera while standing in the water. He begins by describing the various settings on the Reno14 pro that are very similar and work much the same on whatever phone you have.

The first tip involves a few methods for making the most of zoom capability—in his case from 0.6 wide angle all the way out to 7X telephoto. He explains how employing the full focal range helps you to create a variety of effects, each with a different and eye-catching ambience that tells a story with compelling context.

He also recommends that you experiment with both vertical and horizontal orientations when shooting from the same vantage point to modify perspective. You also see how activating the grid and level on your screen is a big help when it comes to avoiding crooked photos and refining composition.

Lambert also explores various techniques for capturing spectacular imagery when shooting at different times throughout the day, with both plain skies and those full of fluffy white clouds or sparkling stars overhead. The foregoing is just a small taste of everything you’ll learns as the video proceeds.

Lambert’s instructional YouTube channel offers almost 400 how-to videos on popular techniques for successful street photography, portraiture and other popular genres with all types of gear.

And on a related note, be sure to watch our earlier post with another adept instructor who reveals what he says are the six best mobile photography apps for creating amazing still images and videos.

Photoshop’s versatile Pen tool enables you to easily accomplish a wide variety of transformational edits from creating masks, to making accurate selection and shapes. And it works its magic quickly with uncanny precision.

Pay close attention if you’re not taking advantage of everything the Pen Tool can do, because this two-minute tutorial from Edited by Isaac explains everything necessary to get started today. Isaac is a Serbian post-processing expert whose new YouTube channel prides itself on demystifying editing techniques for beginning Lightroom and Photoshop users.

The Pen tool can be found in the toolbar on the left of your workspace, and Isaac suggests thinking of it as more precise selection tool when you want to create a shape or a path. He begins with the former by clicking on the screen to identify an anchor point, and then clicking again and again to creates as many anchor points as necessary.

You can refine the shape further by clicking and holding to curve any of these points. Isaac moves on to various path options that utilizes anchor points to create a mask, path or unique shape. When making a selection with the Pen tool you can feather the radius and enable or disable the Anti-Alias option.

Once you’ve created a path, the Pen tool also facilitates making a precise mask within an image that can easily be modified by dragging on one or more of your anchor points. When you right-click on the tool a dropdown menu appears with options for adding or deleting points and making unusual hand-drawn shapes.

There’s also a curvature option that can fills the selection with a color of your choice or creates a stroke around the perimeter. There are a few more tricks to learn and Isaac provides clear illustrations to demonstrates the benefits of each of these tricks in practical ways.

For those just getting started in Photoshop or Lightroom, the Edited by Isaac YouTube channel is a great resource for expanding your skills.

And be sure not to miss last week’s primer with another image-editing expert who demonstrates a new Lightroom masking tool for improving landscape photographs by enhancing skies, balancing colors and light, and adding depth to an image. It also works wonders for adjusting environmental portraits.

A long time ago, I first heard about custom hardware editing devices: boxes with customizable buttons and sliders that can be used to edit photos. I never bothered looking into them because I always thought a mouse and keyboard are enough for photo editing. But recently, I tried one, the TourBox Elite Plus. Is it just a cool-looking box or does it actually improve the photo editing experience? In today’s review, I will answer that question and take you through the features of the TourBox Elite Plus.