Many photographers limit their use of Photoshop’s Crop tool to simple tasks like making subtle adjustments to the composition of a shot, or getting in tighter on the main subject of a photo that was captured without the use of a telephoto lens.

But as you’ll see in the tutorial below, this versatile tool has a lot more to offer. In barely six minutes one of our favorite instructors explains everything the Crop tool can do beyond the basics, and she provides essential keyboard shortcuts for speeding up the process.

Julieanne Kost is an adept photographer, an expert at all things Adobe, a popular author, and a self-proclaimed “digital-imaging evangelist.” In this eye-opening episode she demonstrates how to crop to specific sizes and aspect ratios, show overlays, fill with Content Aware technology, and add canvas size to an image.

In short, she demonstrates a variety of ways to harness the power of Photoshop’s Crop tool to provide a big boost to your productivity. Kost takes a rapid-fire approach to providing her important tips and tricks, so we recommend taking a few notes for future reference.

Kost begins by tapping the “C” key to automatically select the crop tool, and Photoshop then automatically displays the crop marquee around her image. For her first tip Kost says, “instead of dragging a handle to resize the crop, you can simply click and drag directly within the canvas in order to define your crop.”

To make further adjustments you can click and drag within the crop to reposition it, use a handle to resize it, or drag outside the crop marquee to rotate the image. Kost also demonstrates how easy it is to use the Straighten option while cropping a photo.

After you apply a crop, Photoshop automatically hides the crop marquee even though the Crop tool is still selected. If you want to use the tool again, simply click within the image area and the marquee reappears. The foregoing is just a small taste of what you’ll learn in this very helpful video, so grab your pen and paper and take a look.

All you have to do to find more tips and tricks like these is to pay a visit to Kost’s popular YouTube channel.

And be sure to check out the tutorial we posted recently, explaining why another image-editing expert says “you should start using Photoshop’s Bridge app now!”

Landscape photographers know that the sky in a scene can make or break a photo. Soft billowing clouds make for compelling imagery, as do dark, threatening skies that evoke a dramatic sense of doom.

But what does one do upon arriving on location, only to confront a featureless blue sky? One solution is replacing the boring sky with another that’s more interesting, but that approach can be difficult and may deliver unrealistic results. Today we’re bringing you an easier technique using one simple method in Lightroom.

Instructor mark Denney is an accomplished landscape photographer and a self-proclaimed “post-processing nerd.” In the straightforward tutorial below he walks you through an effective editing technique that works wonders when Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate and you’re faced with an uninspiring sky devoid of detail, explosive color, mood, or drama.

Denney says, “The one simple method in this video can be a real game changer,” and after viewing his results we’re pretty sure you’ll agree. His approach is all about improving Lightroom sky masks, and it’s very easy to accomplish.

Denney’s goal with this lesson is to help you rehabilitate landscape photographs with “the dreaded blue sky” that can ruin photos of an otherwise great scene. He also discusses a common occurrence that occurs in the field when a sky looks pretty good through the viewfinder, but all that interesting stuff is missing when you review the image on a computer.

Denney says that what he reveals in today’s Lightroom lesson is, “An incredible technique for bringing back detail and drama in a powerful-yet-realistic way.” He demonstrates how it’s done using a b&w seascape photo captured recently during one of his workshops in Norway.

As you’ll see, the raging waves are very dramatic, as is a snow-covered peak in the distance, but the sky really needs some work. Denney’s quick fix doesn’t involve swapping out the sky, but rather using a bit of masking to accentuate details that are already in the shot.

By following his advice you be able to transform ho-hum photos into really spectacular images. You can find more great tips and tricks like this by paying a visit to Denney’s popular YouTube channel.

And don’t miss our earlier post with the second installment in a free Lightroom masterclass that explains everything you need to know about using masks.

All photographers strive to create photos with accurate focus, and most of us prefer to get things right in the camera. This saves time during the editing process, and helps avoid the temptation to take things too far—ending up with an unsightly, “crispy” effect.

The tutorial below from one of our favorite landscape photographers explains how to maximize sharpness in the field. You’ll learn how to solve common problems, the key camera settings to use, a number of shooting techniques, and how to determine if your gear is the culprit.

Instructor Mads Peter Iversen is an accomplished Danish pro, with a unique minimalist style that requires him to nail focus on the main subject of every shot. In this episode he shares “a ton of techniques” for attaining fast and precise focus regardless of the type of outdoor images you shoot.

Iversen begins with this: “It’s important to make a distinction between whether something is in focus, or whether it’s unsharp because something is moving.” Then he notes two basic principles, which include selecting the wrong lens aperture and insufficient depth of field.

He also explains that some lenses are inherently unsharp, in which case it’s time to pull out your wallet. The discussion then moves on to practical matters beginning with how lens aperture affects sharpness and determines the range of focus. In this regard you’ll learn about “lens diffraction” and why Iversen always stops down by at least two f/stops below the minimum aperture on a lens.

Telephoto lenses can be a problem without proper support, and Iversen provides several helpful tips for shooting handheld and using a tripod to maximum advantage. There’s also a helpful discussion of choosing the proper shutter speed for the task at hand, and how this setting interacts with image stabilization.

Iversen discusses how lenses of different focal lengths factor into the equation, and he reveals a few common technical miscues and how to solve them. He wraps up the video with a question: “How important is sharpness?”

If landscape photography is your thing, be sure to visit Iversen’s instructional YouTube channel where you’ll find a wide variety of tips and tricks.

And don’t miss another landscape photography tutorial we posted, explaining how to eliminate lens flare or use it to create a unique effect.