Early last week we brought you an overview of Photoshop 2025 as soon as the long-awaited update was released. Since then we’ve begun to roll out detailed tutorials on how each of these intriguing capabilities, and others that may have grabbed less attention, actually work in practice.

Today’s episode comes to us from Photos On the Bay, a popular YouTube channel targeted at beginners. The topic at hand is how Adobe has improved Photoshop’s Denoise capabilities to make this important task easier and more effective than ever.

Instructor Neil Medland is an Australian outdoor photographer and post-processing expert whose creative journey involves basic shooting skills, editing techniques, gear recommendations, and more. In this episode he compares Photoshop’s previous Denoise tool with the new version that he refers to as “Photoshop’s best new hidden feature.”

If you never used Denoise in the past, here’s a brief explanation of how it worked—just so you appreciate the “extremely useful” enhancements introduced in Photoshop 2025. You simply clicked the Denoise button in the Details tab, chose the level of the effect you desired, and selected Enhance. Then Photoshop analyzed your image and created a separate, denoised DNG file. And the results were usually pretty good.

The new version is far more versatile but you have to jump through a couple hoops to find it. First click on the cog in the top right corner of the screen and then select “Technology Previews” from a window that appears. Then check a box called New AI Features and Settings Panel. Once you restart Photoshop you’re ready to go.

Now when you reopen your original Raw file you’ll notice several new sliders in the Details panel that make denoising far simpler and more precise. Once Photoshop processes the file you’ll be greeted with a live view of the updated original (rather than a newly created DNG file) with a number of options from which to choose.

One big benefit is that as you adjust the various parameters at your disposal, your changes are reflected on the screen in real time. This way you can move sliders in either direction until you see exactly what you want. Medland walks you through the simple steps in less than five minutes.

Bottom line: This new capability is one that you’ll definitely want to add to your Photoshop workflow as soon as you’re done watching. Then head over to the Photos on the Bay YouTube channel where there are more instructional videos for inexperience Photoshop users.

And don’t forget to check out the tutorial mentioned above with a general overview of the key components of Photoshop 2025.

One of the most valuable updates to the iPhone 16 camera is that it can now capture eye-popping macro photos and videos. Previously this was a feature only available on Apple’s Pro models, but it’s now trickled down the base iPhone 16 and 16 Plus.

Thus tutorial from instructor Luke Edwin covers everything you to know, from camera settings, focusing tricks, composing the shot, and more. He also provides a tip for users of iPhone 16 Pro models that enable you to shoot 48-megapixel macro images. That’s because there’s actually a trick you need to know for unlocking this powerful feature.

Edwin is a successful shooter whose concise lessons run the gamut from gear, the latest developments in imaging technologies, and the art of photography—whether your weapon of choice is a DSLR, mirrorless camera, or an up-to-date mobile device. You can find a list of the equipment he prefers in the description beneath this four-minute video.

Edwin is using an iPhone 16 for today’s episode, and he begins with this important note: “The ultrawide lens is the only one that can capture super-close macro shots.” In other words, it’s essential to place your subject in front of the uppermost lens when photographing macro subjects.

Edwin explains that the iPhone, by default, digitally crops into images captured with the ultrawide lens to provide a closer view. The camera app will indicate that the 1X lens is selected, “but this isn’t actually true because your ultrawide image is cropped until it’s the same aspect ratio of the 1X lens.” However, you can manually switch over to the 0.5X for a wider field of view (and the camera will still focus on the close object).

It’s also important to understand that the iPhone will always switch to macro mode when there’s something close to the camera, which is great when macro photography is the name of the game. But this “feature” can be really annoying when your subject is in the distance and you’re shooting through a window screen, fence, or other element near the lens that inadvertently becomes the point of focus.

Tapping on the screen doesn’t solve this frustrating dilemma, but fortunately the solution is as easy as changing a setting so that the camera attains focus exactly where you want. Edwin demonstrates a few more tips and techniques that will enable you to get up close and personal when setting and shooting with an iPhone the correct way.

There much more to learn on Edwin’s YouTube channel about all types of camera gear and styles of photography, so make sure you check in out when you have time to explore.

We also invite you to watch a tutorial we posted back in May, demonstrating the settings and techniques that another accomplished mobile photographer uses to capture spectacular nature and landscape images with his smartphone.

Have you ever wondered why your photos look sort of ridiculous after dropping a person or object into the scene? One common culprit is that you neglected to evaluate the light and add realistic shadows where they belong.

In this 10-minute Photoshop tutorial with instructor Brendan Williams you’ll learn how easy it is to introduce believable shadows in Photoshop so that the elements you introduced don’t appear to be floating above the ground. Williams is a retouching expert who regularly shares post-processing techniques that will add impetus to your creative journey, and this episode is both simple and transformative.

Williams’ approach doesn’t rely upon complicated selections and fill layers. Rather, he enlists the help of Layer Styles to create a natural-looking effect. This technique involves making a silhouette outline of the element you added to the photo and using it to create the missing shadow.

This straightforward process is a versatile one that works the exactly the same whether you add shadows to people or other prominent elements. And Williams promises that his shadow-creating technique is easy to achieve for Photoshop users of all skill levels, whether the image is simple or complicated.

Williams begins by walking you through the basics for getting a good start. Then he introduces several advanced methods for creating shadows that are as realistic as can be. One of our favorites demonstrates how to Warp a shadow when a subject’s feet are staggered. You’ll also learn how to update the effect by employing Brushes.

Other useful techniques include blending a shadow with blur, a quick trick for fading the shadow into transparency, and changing the color of your shadows. There’s also a creative method for using Photoshop’s Free Transform capabilities to expand and refine just about any issue that prevents a shadow layer from connecting.

After watching this very useful video, be sure to pay a visit to Williams’ instructional YouTube channel where you’ll find more Lightroom and Photoshop how-tos.

We also suggest watching the tutorial we featured with another post-processing expert who demonstrates the most common mistake photographers make when editing complicated nature and landscape photographs.