If you’re falling short when processing images in Photoshop there’s a good chance that you’re making at least one of the image-killing mistakes explained by landscape pro Steve Arnold in the two-minute tutorial below. His lessons all have the same goal: “to help you create images that you can be proud of.”

Today’s episode begins with this question: “Have you ever wondered why other photographers’ images are so polished and professional looking, but your photos don’t have the save WOW factor?” There are many reasons that your work may miss the mark, but Arnold concentrates on a handful of the most likely—four of which involve common post-processing errors.

The first mistake, however, actually occurs before sitting down at the computer and it’s setting the camera to capture Jpegs rather than Raw files. Using the analogy of baking a cake, Arnold says “when shooting Jpegs the camera applies its picture style to your images, using its own recipe to decide what the image should look like”—thereby baking your edits into a lower-quality image.”

In other words, Arnold is a strong proponent of the Raw format because of the editing control it provides. Or as he insists, “with a Raw file you get a full panty’s worth of ingredients to work with from the start.” Once you begin editing is when the second mistake may occur, and this is overcooking the photos by taking a heavy handed approach. The solution is a subtle technique that enhances the image without turning it into a tasteless mess.

According to Arnold, there’s another common error that “can make the whole editing process 10 times harder than it needs to be,” and this occurs when you’re working “destructively.” The solution here is to make your enhancements using Adjustment Layers and Smart Objects, which is what’s otherwise known as non-destructive editing.

Arnold says this approach is a massive timesaver because it enables you to alter any adjustment at any time without affecting the changes you made earlier in the process. He also explains why non-destructive editing results in higher-quality images.

As this point the video still has three minutes to go, with an additional two mistakes to avoid and suggestions for fixing them. All five are easy to achieve and will make a big difference in your post-processing results. Once you’re done watching be sure to visit Arnold’s instructional YouTube channel where there’s much more to learn.

We also suggest checking out the tutorial we posted earlier, explaining Photoshop’s updated Gradient features and what one expert says are the three best ways to use them.

Most outdoor photographers understand that a shallow depth of field draws attention to the key element of a scene by separating it from a distracting background, foreground or other clutter within the frame. But what if your lens doesn’t have a fast maximum aperture that makes it easy to achieve this important effect?

This is where Lightroom comes to the rescue, as you’ll see in the three-minute tutorial below from freelance photographer/filmmaker James Feaver who introduces today’s episode like this: “Lightroom’s Lens Blur panel is designed to allow you to change the depth of field in  photo, as well as the plane of focus.” And the tips he provides are easy enough for users of all skill levels.

There are even more benefits to these straightforward Lightroom tools, because they also enable you to create and change the bokeh of a photo by using several effects within the Lens Blur panel. In other words, “you don’t need an expensive prime lens to create beautiful, shallow depth of field.”

Feaver gets started by opening an image in Lightroom’s Develop panel and selecting the Lens Blur option. Then all you need to do is click on the Apply box on the left side of the panel. What happens next is that “Lightroom will look at the photo, work out what’s in focus and out of focus, and then create a shallow depth-of-field effect.”

Sometime this automatic process results in a really nice effect right out of the box. But if you’re not completely pleased by what you see there are several ways to quickly change or refine the result using the available custom controls, and Feaver demonstrates how these work.

It’s easy, for example, to use the Blur Amount slider to increase or decrease the blur. There are also five Bokeh varieties from which to choose, with a Boost option for each. According to Feaver the most important control within the panel is the Focal Range slider, “and you can change both depth of field as well as the focus plan of your image.” Watch how he accomplishes both tasks quickly and effectively.

There are a few more tricks to learn and we’ll leave it to Feaver to demonstrate what they are, because they’re so simple there’s no need for us to provide a summary. Bottom line: After watching this quick video you’ll want to add Lightroom’s Lens Blur panel to your image-editing workflow.

You can find many more post-processing tips and tricks by paying a quick visit to Feaver’s instructional YouTube channel.

And be sure not to miss the tutorial we featured earlier, explaining why an accomplished landscape photographer says to “forget the rule of thirds” and use his superior framing methods instead.

We’re all looking for a creative edge that makes our landscape photos stand out from the crowd, and today’s tutorial from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel demonstrates a straightforward Lightroom method that really delivers the goods. The technique involves selectively introducing light and shadow during post processing.

Christian Mohrle is a German landscape photographer, very adept instructor, and a favorite among Shutterbug readers looking to elevate their skills. In this 12-minute episode he demonstrates how to enhance outdoor images by employing targeted adjustments to strategically darken and brighten different areas within the frame.

Feel free to download Mohrle’s sample Raw file with the link beneath the video so you can follow along and make changes yourself as the various steps are explained. If you’ve watched his lessons in the past you know that Mohrle always makes a few global adjustments to prepare the shot for the fun stuff that follows.

Preliminary adjustments begin with cropping because the key element in the scene is slightly off center. Mohrle then turns to basic enhancements to improve the flat and uninspiring shot. These include changing the profile from Adobe Color to Adobe Landscape to boost base saturation, modifying While Balance to neutralize an unwanted color cast, and playing around with exposure. He also boosts contrast while paying close attention to the histogram.

Now it’s time to employ simple masking to achieve the selective adjustments that transform the bland image into a money shot. He creates a simple sky selection to address that portion of the frame, using a quick Subtract method for the Radial Gradient he employs to enhance both Texture and Exposure.

Mohrle also adds a stack of Linear Gradient over the foreground to make enhancements that increase depth and interest with adjustments to exposure and other key variables. The idea is to create a subtle range of complementary tones in the green field closest to the camera—rather than having the entire foreground appear the same.

All that’s left to complete the impressive transformation is a final bit of color grading and sharpening, and Mohrle demonstrates exactly how this is done. You’ll be duly impressed when you compare his before/after images.

Once you’re done watching. head over to Mohrle’s instructional YouTube channel here you’ll find a wealth of helpful methods that are guaranteed to improve every landscape photograph you shoot.

And don’t miss the earlier tutorial we featured with another pro’s five favorite Lightroom keyboard shortcuts for streamlining your post-processing workflow.