Yes, opening and closing your curtains at these *exact* times will keep your home warm without even trying

There’s a frequently overlooked post-processing technique for accentuating colors in photographs captured in the field, and you’ll learn why, why, and how to use it in today’s seven-minute tutorial from the popular Sandra D Imagery YouTube Channel.

Sandra is a very accomplished photographer, educator, and Adobe expert whose quick videos are all about inspiring other creatives with easy-to-follow tutorials, tips, and behind-the scenes peeks into the image-editing workflow she prefers. The topic of today’s episode is Color Dodging in Photoshop.

Here’s a summary of what you’ll learn: “In this video I share a technique for selective coloring to add a more intense pop to key areas within a photo.” Sandra explains the importance of applying enhancements in a specific sequence, and why she tends to apply Color Dodging in the middle of her workflow or at the end for a final finishing touch.

Sandra’s first method involves using a “solid color fill.” Her multi-layered image is quite pixelated in layer three. The first step is choosing the Solid Color option from a dropdown menu in the panel. She selects red “because “I really want to POP that roof.” You’ll see why it’s important to change the Blend mode to Color before inverting the mask.

The next step is brushing her chosen color into the roof of the building on the horizon. She drops Opacity so that this effect appears realistic. She takes a similar approach to embellish a couch on the porch by adding another color layer—this time a yellowish, mustard tone that’s brushed over this small element while experimenting with Opacity as before.

You’ll see why she recommends paying close attention to the various masks in the panel, and why subtlety is often the key for keeping these color enhancements appearing natural. At this point you’re only halfway through the tutorial, and Sandra demonstrates other quick methods for achieving a similar result, depending upon the specific look you’re after, and Sandra provides timesaving keyboard shorts for streamlining the various adjustments.

Once you done watching, head over to the popular Sandra D Imagery YouTube channel where you’ll find other instructional videos for improving your image-editing workflow.

We also suggest checking out a recent tutorial we featured with another Adobe specialist who demonstrates how to avoid ruining photographs by understanding three common post-processing tools that are often applied incorrectly.

Dull, flat light is a common culprit when it comes to unimpressive wildlife and landscape photos, even if you nailed composition and focus. This straightforward tutorial from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel demonstrates a post-processing technique for making an eye-popping fix with a bright Golden-Hour effect.

Instructor Christian Mohrle is a highly acclaimed German landscape photographer and image-editing expert who’s very generous about sharing the secrets to his success that are accessible to Lightroom users of all skills levels. Today’s episode illustrates a workflow for rehabilitating boring outdoor images captured in boring light or at the wrong time of day.

Mohrle’s sample image of a deer in this field is a perfect example and we suggest using a link beneath the video to download his Raw file so you can follow along and make the changes yourself as the simple steps are revealed. Mohrle walks you through the entire technique from basic adjustments and  noise reduction to color grading, sharpening, and selective enhancements with masks.

The first step is a quick crop to better position the subject within the frame. Then Mohrle turns to Lightroom’s Basic panel and applies several global adjustment affecting the entire image at once. He changes the profile from Adobe Color to Adobe Landscape which significantly boosts base saturation.

Mohrle makes several adjustment to exposure “so we can later introduce light and shadow with masking”—along with the very rich color tones that are his primary goal. He also adjusts White Balance to remove a blue cast on the deer and accentuates details by increasing Texture and Clarity. At this point the photo is already much improved, even though the most significant enhancements have yet to be applied.

The next step calls upon Lightroom’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to eliminate image-killing noise, and this is both effective and super easy to accomplish. Now it’s finally time for Mohrle’s selective enhancements to different areas within the frame that transform his ho-hum shot into one that screams WOW!

Mohrle’s game-changing workflow concludes with a few color-grading tricks and a bit of very careful sharpening. Check out the before/after examples and you’ll be convinced. Then pay a visit to the popular PLHOG Photography YouTube channel where there are many more instructional videos for everyone who shoots in the field.

And on a related note, don’t miss an earlier tutorial we featured in which another accomplished pro demonstrates how to create photographs with the perfect amount of saturation using Lightroom’s easy-to-apply Tone Curve tools.

It was a freezing morning. The snow in a small clearing in the middle of the forest crunched under my feet. Suddenly, I lifted off the ground and slowly began to gain altitude. The rays of the rising sun, which only a moment before had been shyly making their way through the branches of the dense young spruce trees, suddenly hit me in all their fresh golden glory. I gained altitude, and above the crowns of the towering spruces I made my way over the snow-covered meadow, from which the rising sun was just stripping the shadows of the trees like a sort of frayed blue tablecloth. I was enjoying the unearthly beauty… when the display of my controller announced a low battery. A minute later, I landed my drone back at home, lit the stove, brewed a hot cup of coffee, and wrote this Photography News for you.