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If you’re looking for a post-processing technique that will take your landscape photos to the next level, this Lightroom tutorial from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel is exactly what you need. You’ll learn how to create “magical light” and introduce vibrant colors so that your images seem to jump off the screen.

Instructor Christian Mohrle is a professional photographer based in Germany and an image-editing expert whose thorough shooting and editing videos are among the most popular we post. As always, you can download his demonstration Raw file with a link beneath the video and make the changes yourself as they’re explained.

Mohrle’s standard practice is to make several basic adjustments to the image as a whole, to better prepare it for the selective enhancements that follow. The first step for this bright contrast-rich scene is to change the profile from Adobe Color to Adobe Standard which immediately reduces contrast.

The darkest areas are brightened further by carefully opening up shadows “without going too crazy” and increasing the blacks in tiny increments. He then drops highlights to introduce more detail in the sky and modifies Color Temperature to fix an unwanted blue cast while warming up the shot. Other global adjustments include boosting Texture and Dehaze to sharpen up details and make the photo a bit clearer.

The fun part of the edit now begins with a variety of selective (or “local”) enhancements to different areas within the frame and Mohrle accomplishes this with a bunch of masks. He begins with a Color Range mask targeting the sky. The goal here is to make the top of the sky darker with a simple vignette effect.

Mohrle then uses a Radial Gradient to refine his adjustments in different areas of the sky, and he makes sure that none of his color and exposure enhancements affect lower portions of the shot. He carefully rotates this gradient so that it matches the direction of ambient light.

At this point you’re only halfway through the transformation which includes other simple masks. You’ll also learn the concept of intersecting a mask, and how this technique affects the overall appearance of the shot.

The image is significantly improved once the the masking is finished, but Mohrle has a few more tricks up his sleeve before these impressive transformation is complete. The include thoughtful color grading and a bit of judicious sharpening

Take a look at Mohrle’s before/after images and you’ll be very impressed with this simple edit. Then head over to the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel where you’ll find many more shooting and editing lessons that work wonders for beginning and experienced outdoor photographers alike

And don’t miss the tutorial we featured recently with another top pro who demonstrates how to capture sharp handheld photographs in low light or when using a long telephoto lens.

Outdoor photographs often need local adjustments to balance a bright sky against a dark background, or when one side of an image is brighter than the other. The trick is using Lightroom’s Linear Gradient tool to create soft transitions in a fading pattern to make the necessary enhancements.

This tutorial from instructor Abhishek Mitra demonstrates how easy this is to do in less than seven minutes, and by the time the video concludes you’ll want to add this powerful technique to your postprocessing bag of tricks. Mitra is an accomplished travel and landscape photographer, but what you’ll learn today will prove extremely helpful for just about every photo you shoot in the great outdoors.

Mitra’s demonstration photo is an attractive seascape with mountains in the background and a man in a small boat in the lower portion of the frame. His goal is to balance out the tones to increase details in the sky and draw attention to the subject in the foreground. The rehabilitation process begins by going to Lightroom’s Masking panel and selecting the Linear Gradient option. When Mitra applies a gradient to the sky ‘ll see how the effect is at 100% at the top, while gradually decreasing as you move lower in the frame to create a smooth and realistic transition. And this holds true for all the adjustments you make to exposure, highlights, and other key attributes.

Mitra demonstrates why the size of the gradient is so important, primarily because you don’t want it to overlap other key elements in the frame—like the guy sitting in a. He refines the height of the gradient and  then decrease overall exposure and further drops highlights.

The next step occurs in the Effects section where Mitra boosts Dehaze which “really helps to bring out details in the sky.” He warns not to go overboard with this enhancement “otherwise the image will look artificial.

Mitra provides this very helpful reminder: “Usually when you look at an image your eyes are automatically attracted to the brightest portions of the shot.” That why he applies two more Linear Gradients to create a slight vignette in the lower left and right corners of his photograph—explaining the simple process as you watch.

The lesson concludes by demonstrating how Linear Gradients are also useful for selectively enhancing colors without affect other areas in the frame. Mitra’s before/after images prove the power of these simple techniques. There’s much more to learn by visiting Mitra’s new instructional YouTube channel.

Be sure not to miss the earlier tutorial we featured with another post-processing expert, intended for those who don’t understand the difference between Lightroom’s Vibrance and Saturation tools.

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