Last month we posted a popular tutorial explaining a simple fix for what one pro calls, “a huge problem” when using any of Lightroom’s Healing tools in tandem with masking. Todays lesson, designed primarily for beginners, is an overview of how these tools work to eliminate unwanted artifacts and other distractions in your photos.

Lightroom’s Healing tools are often misunderstood, because there’s more than one option available. In this video from the Touchstone Pixels YouTube channel, each tool is explained, and you’ll learn which one to use depending upon the task at hand.

This is episode 12 of a very helpful series by instructor Brent Touchstone that delves into a variety of basic Lightroom tips and tricks. Today, in barely five minutes, he discuses the various Healing tools available, and how and when to use them.

The goal here is banishing unwanted objects like dust and ugly sensor spots. You’ll also see how to completely eliminate distracting objects from a scene with a few quick clicks in Lightroom.  

Touchstone begins with a straightforward explanation of the options you can choose. First there’s the Clone tool, which will clone an identical source over the object you want to remove. The Heal option works in a similar fashion but it makes AI adjustments to color and tone. And there’s the Content Aware tool that generates new pixels to patch the image.

The Healing panel also includes sliders to adjust Brush size and modify Feathering characteristics. There’s also an Opacity slider for controlling how transparent the overly will be. Touchstone provides a few real-world examples to demonstrate how these tools work, and why one option may be better suited than the others to accomplish a specific task.

Once you understand these variables you’ll be surprised how easy it is to improve a photo with one of these powerful tools. After watching the quick video you may want to pull up a few images and practice these straightforward techniques.

There’s much more to see on Touchstone’s YouTube channel, including other episodes in this series. So be sure to pay a visit and check back often.

We also encourage you the watch the tutorial mentioned above, just in case you decide to employ masks and healing tools in an upcoming edit.

“After a heavy snow last year on the Front Range of northern Colorado, I went to check on a nesting pair of bald eagles,” recalls Arthur Trevino. “This one was perched on a bare cottonwood tree. I pulled my car over and waited for it to fly off. When it did, I followed it with my camera, firing away as it dove to grab a prairie dog. It missed and landed a few feet away. The prairie dog turned around and lunged at the eagle and startled it, which gave the prairie dog time to scamper away to its burrow and live another day.”

See more of Arthur Trevino’s work at pappadukes.com.

Sony a9, Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS. Exposure: 1/2000 sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 500.

The post Last Frame: Ninja Prairie Dog appeared first on Outdoor Photographer.

One time when I was packing for a wildlife photography trip, I wrote a list of my equipment on a piece of paper – complete with lenses, batteries, clothing, and so on. I wanted to have a useful reference for the next trip, but then the “next trip” came along and I couldn’t find the paper! So, I took a more modern approach and wrote a reference document on my computer. Now that I have such a list, why not share it with you? It might come in handy next time that you’re going on a wildlife photography trip.

Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott International’s portfolio of 30 extraordinary hotel brands and award-winning travel program, and The Ritz-Carlton are once again inviting members to experience the thrill of motorsport through its long-standing relationship with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team.