Can this kitchen gadget really do it all?

In this eye-opening tutorial from a highly respected Adobe expert you’ll learn how easy it is to enhance images using the Contextual Task Bar in conjunction with Photoshop’s improved Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer controls. Instructor Julieanne Kost is an adept photographer, prolific author, and a self-described “digital-imaging evangelist.”

She explains the concept like this: “When you have a pixel-based layer or Smart Object targeted in the Layers panel you’ll find a new option for adjusting colors in the Contextual Task Bar. If the taskbar isn’t visible on your workspace, simply right-click in the area outside the canvas and select Show Contextual Taskbar.

When you choose the Adjust Colors option, Photoshop displays seven color swatches. Clicking on the first swatch brings up a dropdown that enables you to make adjustments to hue, saturation, and the lightness of all colors in an image. Kost explains that the other swatches represent the six most prominent colors in your image.

Selecting one of these swatches limits your adjustments to the colors in that range without affecting others. In her example she selects the yellow swatch and drags the hue slider towards the green and then increases saturation. Kost notes that, “Once you’ve made an adjustment to a color range, the swatch is divided and displays both the original color and the adjusted color.”

A small dot also appears below the swatch to remind you that an adjustment has been made to that specific color range. Note that by doing the foregoing Photoshop has added a non-destructive adjustment layer to the Layers panel. Then you can double-click on the thumbnail for the adjustment to display Photoshop’s Properties panel, or you can choose Window and select the Properties option from a dropdown window that appears.

As you’ll see, the Properties panel displays the same seven color swatches and any adjustments that have been made to them. Kost explains that, “These color swatches have replaced the dropdown Color Range menu that existed in previous versions of Photoshop—making it easier to identify and select different ranges of color.”

There’s a bit more to know and Kost concisely explains all the important steps. The process is super easy to understand once you watch Kost illustrate how it works. Be sure to visit her popular YouTube channel which includes how-to videos on just about any common post-processing technique imaginable.

We also recommend watching a tutorial we featured recently with another image-editing specialist who demonstrates why Photoshop’s older Content-Aware Fill tool is a forgotten gem and is preferable to the new Remove tool and Generative Fill in certain situations.

Are you ready to level up your nature and wildlife photography with the gear you already own? If so, stay tuned because in the next 10 minutes you’ll learn 10 field-tested tips and techniques used by pros to capture stunning photos of birds and mammals. You’ll also see how to embellish landscape photos when there are animals within the frame.

Instructor Steve Perry is a successful nature photographer and very popular educator who explains today’s episode like this: “These are the same techniques I use in the field every day, and they’ve helped thousands of other photographers capture sharper, more compelling, and more professional wildlife images.” Be sure to download his FREE guide to spotting and approaching wildlife subjects without disturbing them—just click on the link in the description beneath the video.

Perry covers a lot of ground in barely 10 minutes, so you may want to jot down a few notes. He insists that these methods may surprise you and change how you shoot forever. The first tip is a great example: “Everyone looks at eyes when they’re shooting wildlife, but I find that very few pay attention to the ears. I always hone-in on ear position and prefer a both-ears-facing-forward look that makes the subject look friendly, curious and engaged.”

Perry is quick to clarify that this doesn’t mean ignoring the eyes when composing a shot and why you should factor in a subject’s space within the frame when it’s not looking toward the camera. In these instances he recommends adjusting composition so that the animal is looking toward the largest area of empty space (rather than facing the short end of the shot).

As he says, “this is when Subject Selection and Tracking modes come in very handy—especially if the subject is consistently shifting it’s gaze in different directions.” Perry also illustrates how capturing catchlights in the eyes will quickly bring an image to life. The lesson proceeds by explaining the difference in impact between centered and offset compositions, why eye-level shooting makes better wildlife portraits, and how to integrate the landscape into your wildlife shots.

Perry also reveals subject-separation techniques that many photographers overlook, what to do when animals approach too closely, and how to avoid distracting lines in your photographs. And don’t forget to download the free guide mentioned above.

Then pay a visit to the popular Backcountry Gallery YouTube channel where there are many more instructional videos that will expand your skills.

If this tutorial strikes your fancy, be sure to watch the video we featured earlier with an experienced British bird photographer who demonstrates how to capture attention-grabbing photographs of exotic species at the zoo.

Open any bird guide, from any country or region, and you’ll quickly notice that most birds are, well… brown. Some might even call their appearance boring. But I disagree. Personally, I have a soft spot for what we in the Czech Republic call “the universal brown birds.” In English-speaking countries, birders typically refer to them as “little brown jobs.” Their plumage may not dazzle with a kaleidoscope of colors, but that doesn’t make them bad subjects for photographers. In this article, I’d like to show you that even birds dressed in fifty shades of brown can make for striking photos.