Some photographers intentionally introduce lens fare for creative purposes but most of the time our goal is to eliminate these unintended distractions. Doing so by conventional means can be a very arduous and time-consuming task, but today you’ll learn an effective trick for getting the job done in seconds.

Instructor Greg Benz is a notable pro who got hooked on photography 25 years ago while living in London and says he’s been obsessed ever since. These days he calls Minneapolis home and continues to travel the globe in search of incredible landscape and seascapes. This episode discusses the “painful” task of removing flare with the traditional approach, and then demonstrates how AI can help you banish these image-killing artifacts with a few quick clicks.

Benz pulls up a beautiful seaside shot with great composition, accurate exposure, and ideal sharpness. It seems as though he’s checked all the boxes, so what’s the big problem? Zoom in on the photo and you’ll see that lens flare rears its ugly head in several places throughout the frame. Ouch!

As he says, “if you had to go into each of these problem areas and clone them out by hand (as all of us have done in the past), it would take a ton of time.” He illustrates this by first demonstrating the traditional approach to removing flare caused by shooting into the sun, water spots on the lens, reflections, and other common issues confronted in the field.

Benz achieved a commendable result after an hour of cloning, curves adjustments, blending multiple exposures, and other heavy lifting. But as you’ll see, there’s a much faster and equally effective technique that anyone can master with ease. And that’s what you’ll learn how to accomplish yourself with his quick hack while working in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).

The process begins by employing Generative AI to banish the offensive flare bubbles. He then moves on to other lens flare issues that are equally easy to resolve by enabling ACR’s new Distraction Removal for Reflections option. Bottom line: “In one click we got rid of a bunch spray, water drops, and other stuff.” The image looks great but it’s admittedly not perfect, and the remaining minor issues are easy to refine by following the simple steps he provides.

After this helpful video concludes pay a visit to Benz’ instructional YouTube channel where you’ll find other great solutions for making your landscape images meet their full potential.

We also recommend watching a tutorial we featured recently with another post-processing specialist who demonstrates how to shift colors in Lightroom and create landscape photographs with a more appealing color palette.

Today’s Lightroom tutorial describes how to use the powerful Brush tool to take portrait photos to the next level by creating a soft, dreamy look. Be sure to take check it out, even if people pictures aren’t your thing, because a solid understanding of this versatile technique is important for editing other types of imagery as well.

Instructor Chelsea Nicole kicks of the lesson like this: “Lightroom’s adjustment brushes are one of the most powerful editing tools there is, and most photographers barely scratch the surface.” So sit tight because all that is going to change in the next few minutes, even if you’re an inexperienced Lightroom user.

Nicole is an accomplished photographer and educator whose how-to videos provide no-fluff techniques designed to “inspire, uplift and serve you on your own photography path.” In this comprehensive episode she walks you through Lightroom’s Masking menu and demonstrates how easy it is to unlock the full potential of brushes.

Over the years Nicole has crafted her own set of custom brushes that streamline her workflow, and you can download them for free with a link in the description beneath the video. Here’s why this tool is one of her favorites: “From making specialized color corrections and retouching skin, to creating light and airy backgrounds, this tool  can take your photos to the next level in no time.”

Today’s simple, practical, and actionable tips begin with a quick overview of Lightroom’s Brush and Masking menus. She then reveals five main Brush settings that she considers the most essential and demonstrates exactly how they work—using two post-processing examples to illustrates the process.

This is followed with tips for saving Brushes as presets so that you don’t have to start from scratch every time. There’s much more to learn as the video proceeds, including how to use the Brush tool to soften the skin of your subjects with precision.

Chelsea’s instructional YouTube channel contains a variety of straightforward shooting and editing lessons for boosting your game, especially when portrait photography is on the agenda.

And if soft-and-dreamy isn’t want you want, be sure to watch the tutorial we posted with another post-processing expert who demonstrates how to use Photoshop’s Color Dodge tools to embellish dull photographs with more intense colors.