Some experts are calling it a mini spring drought

Adobe has updated Photoshop’s frequently used Hue/Saturation tool, and this tutorial from PHLEARN explores the myriad of improvements in less than 10 minutes. As you’ll see, this latest version is quicker and easier to use, delivers precise results, and features a bold, new, intuitive interface.

Instructor Aaron Nace is the brains behind the PHLEARN YouTube channel that’s billed as “the number one Photoshop and Lightroom online resource.” In this quick episode Nace provides his recommendations for employing the revised options to fine-tune hues, enhance color vibrancy, and more.

Nace summarizes today’s lesson like this: “We’ll show you its user-friendly interface and powerful capabilities, and then demonstrate how to select and modify the colors within your photos.” There’s a link in the description beneath the video for downloading his sample image so you can follow along and make the Hue/Saturation adjustments yourself as the simple steps are explained.

You’ll see that a lot of the functionality resembles what we had before, but the visual representation is dramatically different. Not only that, but Nace explains how the tools are much easier to use. The sample shot is full of vivid tones, and Nace demonstrates how you can quickly change these engaging colors to create a variety of attention-grabbing effects.

The starting point is creating a new layer and choosing the Hue/Saturation option from a dropdown menu that appears. Then take a look at the Layer panel on the right of the screen where you can double-click a tab to access Photoshop’s newly designed Properties panel.

You’ll immediately notice a row of predefined colored circles. Then it’s a simple matter of clicking on the appropriate button to adjust those specific tones. Nace explains why this approach is referrable to the dropdown menu you’ve used in the past. Even better is the fact that these quick-access options are available in the contextual taskbar  so that they’re readily available at any time during your edit.

The remainder of the video illustrates exactly how to navigate and employ the new Hue/Saturation tool for a variety of purposes. Nace starts from the top and works his way down, beginning with a selection of easy-to-use presets. like Cyanotype, Increase Saturation, Sepia, and others. It’s important to note that choosing the Default option rather than a preset will affect all of the colors in an image at once.

At this point we’ve barely scratched the surface of everything you’ll learn in this must-see video. Once you get the hang of it (it doesn’t take long) you’ll have a much a much easier time adjusting colors to perfection with any image you shoot.

The PHLEARN YouTube channel is a great source of information about all things Adobe, so be sure to take a look when you have time to explore.

We also recommend watching the Photoshop tutorial we featured recently with another post-processing expert who demonstrates what he says are, “five HUGE image-editing mistakes that are very easy to fix.”

Yesterday we provided an important warning about the finite lifespan of your camera and why it’s essential that you check shutter count regularly to anticipate costly repairs, missed shots on location, or even a total breakdown. We’re following up on that today with a couple less-dire maintenance hacks from pro Andy Rouse.

Rouse is an award-winning wildlife photographer whose enlightening tutorials take us behind the scenes as he travels the globe “in search of the perfect shot.” Today’s episode finds him in India during a dusty time of year, and both he and his cameras are covered in dirt. His main concern is the filthy equipment, and in the next four minutes he provides simple tips “that will keep your cameras and lenses in tip-top condition.”

He begins with a preventative measure using a free elasticized shower cap “borrowed” from a hotel that he stretches over a lens while hiking on dusty days. In fact, he admits to having “a whole load of them in my rucksack.” And remember that precautionary measures are always worth taking for extra protection—even if you shoot with “weather and dust resistant” equipment.

The first beneficiary of Rouse’s cleaning process is his camera. He explains that a cloth doesn’t get the job done effectively because it can’t get in between dials, buttons, and other difficult-to-reach crevasses. Instead, he carefully employs both a blower-brush and a soft toothbrush (“nicked off an airplane”) to clean out all the grime-filled nooks and crannies. Unfortunately, he doesn’t reveal where he stole the blower-brush.

Now Rouse turns his attention to a lens with “the twisty bits caked in dust.” Once again, his toothbrush and blower-brush play an important role in a process that Rouse says, “I find quite therapeutic.”

Rouse provides some cautionary notes about cleaning the front and rear elements of the lens, and he recommends not to undertake this task unless necessary. So there you have it: Just go out and “obtain” the simple cleaning accessories required and get the job done today.

Then head over to the Wildman Rouse YouTube channel for more gear tips and shooting techniques.

And please don’t ignore the tutorial mentioned at the onset with regard to checking your camera’s shutter count to avoid any unwelcome surprises before it’s too late..

There’s been a lot of Nikon news recently, most of all the introduction of the Z5 II. But its older cousin the Zf also just got a firmware update, and it looks very interesting for Zf users. The firmware version jumped from 1.21 to 2.00, and with it brought some big changes. Here are the five most important new features you’ll be getting.