Properly saturated colors can make or break a photo: Too much color makes images appear unnatural, while not enough may result in a dull or boring image. This quick Lightroom tutorial reveals an often ignored Light tool that enables you to quickly achieve the perfect compromise.

It’s all about a problem you may confront when using Lightroom’s Curves tools to add Contrast or manage light or dark tones. By doing do it’s easy to unwittingly increase saturation across the board in a way that can be quite counterproductive.  

According to instructor John Pedersen, the secret is understanding Lightroom’s little-known Refine Saturation slider to remedy an unwanted boost when introducing Contrast with the Tone Curve. Pedersen is a professional landscape photographer, author, and educator based in the Pacific Northwest.

This technique is accessible to beginners and pros alike, and Pedersen describes the concept like this: “You can always go back in and play with the basic Saturation slider and do some other funky stuff to tone things down. But the Refine Saturation slider mimics Photoshop’s powerful Blend modes to manage excess Saturation with far more precision and control.”

Pedersen jumps into Lightroom and provides a tour of this feature in less than five minutes so that you can start using it today. If this tool doesn’t appear in your version of Lightroom Pedersen explains how to update the software so that this transformational slider is right at your fingertips.

The demonstration image is a nicely composed, unedited landscape scene captured in the Eastern Sierras with a placid lake in the foreground and colorful trees further back that are reflected in the water. The problem is that these reflections are too muted to be impactful, and the overall shot needs more Contrast and “punch.”

Pedersen opens Lightroom’s Tone Curve panel and walks you through the step-by-step process for rehabilitating his photo to perfection. And the good news is that you can employ this workflow to significantly enhance just about any image you capture in the great outdoors.

The process is so quick and easy that we’ll let Pedersen illustrate how it works, rather than summarizing it here. Once you’re done, pay a visit to his popular YouTube channel where there are many more instructional videos to be found.

And don’t miss the recent tutorial we featured with another adept instructor who demonstrates how to rid photographs of ugly “polarization blobs” when you take things too far with your lens filter.

Bird photography is a lot of fun, even if your don’t consider yourself a wildlife expert. A variety of colorful species abound throughout the year and they’re very easy to find at a local park, nature center, or even in the comfort of your own backyard.

One common challenge faced by beginners occurs when photographing birds against bright sky backgrounds, and this holds true when the subject is resting atop a tall tree, or more specifically, flying quickly overhead  But rest assured that the method’s you’ll in today’s tutorial will help you handle this familiar task with ease.

Instructor Mario Kilian is a globetrotting pro and a nature photography specialist with a particular fondness for birds. He frequently posts straightforward tutorials to help inexperienced shooters refine their skills by taking advantage of what he’s learned in the past.

Kilian insists that anyone can capture stunning, detailed images of birds if they employ the techniques revealed below. He summarizes the lesson like this: “these four tip will take your bird photography to the next level by understanding how to manage lighting and exposure to achieve those crisp-and-clear images of birds with bright skies in the background.”

The video begins with a quick overview of how a camera’s light meter works to measure light reflected by a scene in a way that provides a “correct” exposure of “average” subjects; namely, those with a value of medium gray. That’s why the meter is often fooled when a bright sky lies behind a subject that only occupies a small area within the frame. You’ll also learn how specific camera modes factor into the equation—even if you’re using Manual mode with Auto  ISO.

Hence, the typical problem occurs when you key subject is significantly underexposed because the meter was biased by an expansive sky, rather than targeting your key subject—namely the bird. Kilian covers a lot of ground in a hurry so you may want to jot down a few notes for future reference

Kilian breaks down his tips into four categories, the first of which is the technical aspect of configuring camera settings correctly. He then explains how to deal with different kinds of light, followed by simple tips for processing Raw files for the best possible results while retaining a realistic look.

The video concludes with the important (but oft-ignored) aspect of infusing images with your artistic vision so they stand out from the crowd. Why? “Because you are the Creative Director for each of your photo.” This fact is emphasized often in other instructional videos on Kilian’s popular YouTube channel.

Be sure not to miss the unique tutorial we featured recently with another accomplished pro who demonstrates when and how to to zoom your lens during long exposures to capture handheld photographs with attention-grabbing effects.