We regularly preach the importance of taking a selective, rather than a global, approach to processing your images. This simply means limiting your adjustments to specific portions of a scene that really need work, instead of making enhancements to the image as a whole.

This technique applies to whatever modifications you make to color values, texture, exposure, and other key variables. By doing this you’ll be able to transform good photographs into great ones, with ideal characteristics that really grab attention. Nowhere is this more important than when editing complicated outdoor photos with a multiple elements and a broad range of brightness values throughout the frame.

The following video from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel deals exclusively with selective adjustments to exposure, and what you learn in barely 13 minutes will have a big impact on every image you shoot outdoors. These tips, like other selective image-editing techniques, require the use of simple masks, but the precise results you’ll achieve are well worth the extra effort.

Instructor Christian Mohrle is a professional German landscape photographer who really know his way around the computer. As with all tutorials he posts, you can download the demonstration Raw file using a link beneath the video and make the adjustments yourself as the necessary steps are explained.

Mohrle always begins with a few basic overall adjustments to prepare an image for the magic that follows. For today’s lakeside sunset scene that means changing the profile to Adobe Landscape which immediately bumps up the shadows and adds more saturation to the shot. Then Mohrle works his way through Lightroom’s Tone panel and uses sliders to increase exposure, bring down highlights to avoid a blown-out sky, and open up the shadows.

Now the image looks quite balanced with more intense colors, and it’s time for selective exposure adjustments that refine exposure to perfection. As Mohrle explains, the goal is to  “brighten or darken the image in certain parts in order to create more depth and interest.” His point is that this task can’t be accomplished effectively by making global adjustments like he did with the preliminary enhancements described above.

Mohrle walks you through the step-by-step masking procedure for getting the job done, and once you understand this technique it will be easy to make selective adjustments to other variables in an image. This versatile method transcends editing landscape photos and can be used with equal effectiveness to improve other type of images shot outdoors.

The lesson wraps up with some straightforward sharpening and color grading, and we’re confident that you’ll be impressed when you view the final result. You can find more powerful editing tips and tricks by paying a visit to Mohrle’s very popular YouTube channel.

We also suggest that you check out an earlier Lightroom tutorial we posted, with a two-minute trick for using the Texture tool to make photos jump off the screen.

Correct technique is essential for fast and precise focus, and sometimes it’s necessary to give your camera some help. That’s because if you focus on the wrong spot within the frame, all is lost before you snap the shutter—even if you use a high-end pro camera with a premium lens.

The interesting tutorial below from British outdoor photographer Nigel Danson reveals the various techniques he uses to nail focus virtually every time. He begins by describing several factors that impede properly focused images and concludes with a discussion of how and when focus-stacking is necessary—which in his view is “not as often as you think.”

Danson takes a fresh approach with this lesson by compartmentalizing his tips for lenses of different focal lengths from 16-70mm. Focusing techniques aren’t usually presented in this manner, but you see how critical this can be. He also defines important terminology that’s relevant for understanding all the methods you’ll learn.

One of the reasons to take a specific approach with different lenses has to do with how depth of field changes from wide-angles to telephotos—greatly reducing the zone of sharp focus as magnification increases—even with small aperture settings. In this regard he also provides the important reminder that every lens is sharpest at one particular aperture, and it’s not difficult to determine what f/stop that is.

You’ll also learn the difference between “acceptably sharp” and optimum sharpness—something that’s important to consider when making compromises between shutter speed, ISO, and aperture settings under a variety of lighting conditions. Other key variables include whether you’re shooting handheld or with a tripod, and if a subject is stationary or in motion.

Danson also describes how “hyperfocal distance” works to greatly increase your odds of success. He defines this concept as “the closest point you can focus on where everything from that point to infinity is acceptably sharp.” As you’ll see, your aperture setting is a key component of this equation.

According to Danson, acceptably sharp isn’t really sharp enough, and the remainder of the video reveals how to take sharpness to the max under varied conditions with different subjects, and with whatever camera and lenses you use. Along the way you learn how lens diffraction and other subtle variables can have a big impact on your results.

We suggest that you take a look at Danson’s instructional YouTube channel for more tips and tricks, especially if landscape and nature photography ring your bell.

And don’t miss the tutorial we posted recently from an equally adept pro on another important component of all great imagery; namely how to shoot perfectly exposed nature, wildlife, and landscape photos in different light.

If you’re not a regular user of Photoshop’s versatile Brush tool, this complete beginners guide from the PIXimperfect YouTube channel is guaranteed to change your mind. You’ll learn how to master everything from fundamental properties and “essential” tricks, to time-saving shortcuts and much more.

Instructor Unmesh Dinda is an internationally acclaimed educator with almost five million subscribers to his instructional channel. He covers a lot of ground in this comprehensive episode, so be sure to take a few notes for future reference. Dinda provides a helpful list of time-stamped “chapters” in the description beneath the video, so you can jump to a specific topic whenever you run into problems.

As you’ll quickly learn, the Brush tool has far more capabilities than you think. While exploring the inner workings of this important tool, Dinda delves into concepts like pressure sensitivity, and features like symmetry, to unique watercolor brushes. Along the way he provides practical examples that illustrate his tips.

We all know that the Brush tool is used for painting, but did you know that by holding down the shift key you can draw straight vertical and horizontal lines? And with another quick trick you can use the Brush tool to paint diagonal lines and connect multiple lines running in any direction.

Another unfamiliar capability is to employ the Brush tool as “scissors” to cut out distracting objects and clean up the edges of an imperfect masks. You can also use this method to add things back into an image. Dinda explains another interesting trick for using the Brush tool “as a chemical” for quickly creating special affects by changing the Blend mode to “Difference.”

Dinda demonstrates a variety of methods for using the Brush tool for retouching, and he provides helpful keyboard short cuts that accelerate the process. He also demystifies the four properties of this tool: namely Size, Hardness, Opacity and Flow. And if you’re uncertain about the difference between Opacity and Flow, Dinda will set your straight.

The foregoing is just a brief taste of everything discussed in this important primer. So take a close look, bookmark the video, and be sure to take good notes. Dinda’s popular YouTube channel includes lessons on just about any image-editing task you can imagine, so pay a visit when you have time.

We also recommend another helpful explainer we posted from an equally adept instructor, with a two-minute “secret trick” for making the most of Lightroom’s Texture tool for perfect edits. You won’t need to jot down notes for this one, and you can put these tips to work right away.