This quick tutorial from photographer Simon d’Entremont begins with a question: “Have you either wondered how spot metering works in your camera, or tried it and got inconsistent results like blown highlights or crushed shadows? If so, you’ve come to the right place.

Simon is a highly acclaimed nature photographer based in Nova Scotia, Canada with a portfolio full of stunning images. In this episode he calls on his shooting skills and great photos to explain and illustrate when spot metering is your friend, and situations in which this exposure technique  can be a feisty foe by “creating a problem rather than solving one.”

The lesson kicks off with a brief overview of the fundamentals of light metering so that Simon can present the Spot mode in proper context. He puts it like this “Your camera has a light meter, and its role is to tell the camera how much reflected light there is in a scene. This information is needed by the camera whenever you use an automatic or semi-automatic mode like Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual with auto ISO.”

In all of these modes the camera changes one or more exposure settings on your behalf to capture an image with the “correct” brightness level based upon the value of medium gray. So here’s the takeaway: “Where metering modes come in, like Matrix, Center Weighted, or Spot is you can tell the camera what parts of the photo to look at when taking a brightness reading.”

In Spot Metering the camera takes the reading from a very small part of a scene—typically only 3-5% of the frame. When done right, this can be a very powerful tool in situations when your main subject is significantly lighter or darker than its surroundings. In fact, if you follow Simon’s advice it’s almost impossible to get things wrong.

But here’s the rub: An incorrect use of the Spot mode virtually guarantees the opposite result. So listen up, avoid the mistakes, and you’ll become very confident about getting the light right forever more. Then pay a visit to Simon’s instructional YouTube channel where you’ll find an abundance of great advice.

We also recommend watching another eye-opening tutorial we featured with a demonstration of five dynamic methods of composing outdoor images used by a National Geographic photographer.

If you’re new to post-possessing we empathize with the plight and what must seem like an insurmountably steep learning curve due to the seemingly endless array of features and tools offered by just about any software you use. Today’s video will help ease the pain and accelerate the process by identifying five common errors made by novices and even intermediate photographers.

Instructor Scott Keys is a successful pro specializing in wildlife photography with an emphasis on birds. He’s also equally adept behind the computer and the goal for this 17-minute beginners guide is to prevent you from falling prey to a handful of image-editing problems that bedeviled many of us when first getting started.

According to Keys, many photographers are guilty of overcropping because they’re “hyper-concerned” with making the main subject in a scene as prominent as possible—especially when their lens isn’t long enough to get in as tight as possible. As a result, they turn to excessive cropping that can really mess up a shot for the reasons Keys explains.

Another super common editing error (that we sometimes see from more advanced photographers) is what Keys refers to as “slider overload.” This occurs because many users fail to appreciate the beauty that results from a subtle approach to processing. Thus, photographs often appear “overlooked” because of a heavy-handed method of using a variety of adjustment sliders—especially when it comes to sharpening and noise reduction.

A third mistake that creates unnatural photos has to do with modifying light in a way that simply doesn’t appear natural. Here Keys provides two examples that illustrate these issues and a simple solution for each. The first faux pas involves how some folks attempt to simulate Golden Hour by incorrectly changing color temperature. Also problematic is a tendency to adjust exposure in a way that make images look fake.

There are still two additional problems (and fixes) to round out the lesson, and you’ll have to watch the video to see what they are. Suffice to say, they can be equally damaging during the editing process as those mentions above. Likewise, the simple corrections are very easy to understand.

While this lesson is presented with wildlife imagery in mind, everything you learn will prove equally valuable for all genres of photography in the field. Once you’re done take a trip to Keys’ YouTube channel where there are many more videos of interest.

We also recommend that you check out another tutorial we featured, explaining when and how to use Lightroom’s powerful Local Adjustment tools to significantly elevate the quality and impact of your photographs.

The headline above is sure to raise some eyebrows but you read it right. Photographer Deke McCelland says, “I’ve been using Photoshop since Day 1 and I never use the crop tool. Don’t get me wrong, I crop my images but not with the Crop tool, let me explain.”

McCelland is an image-editing expert who marches to the beat of a different drummer, posting “digital imaging lessons you won’t soon forget that aren’t your ordinary tutorials.” This episode explains why he studiously avoids Photoshop’s Crop tool—taking a deep dive into the alternative techniques he prefers depending upon the specific task at hand.

The demonstration photo is one McCelland created in Adobe’s Firefly AI image generator and he makes a few basic adjustments and replaces the subject’s dull eyes to perfect the effect. The next step is cropping because the original aspect ratio isn’t what he wants.

So what’s McClelland’s objection to Photoshop’s standard Crop tool? In a nutshell, it’s this: “The thing about the Crop tool is that’s it’s quite messy and can easily damage an image. And there’s a lot going on even though it’s disguised as a simple tool.” He also discusses what he says is a “terrible default setting” that Adobe included “to keep newbies from getting confused.”

After describing a few other problems, McCelland demonstrates how he does things differently and more effectively, and he covers a lot of ground. You’ll learn his method for cropping to a specific aspect ratio and how he crops to specific pixel dimensions. He also reveals why Photoshop’s Canvas Size command factors into the process and the best method for sizing an images to fit the canvas you create.

McCelland introduces a bit of “basic math” to justify how all this works, but even those with an aversion to calculations will find this really easy to understand. The lesson concludes with a straightforward explanation of how to export flat Jpeg and PNG files.

Bottom line: In just 14 minutes you’ll learn a better technique for achieving the exact cropping results that you’re looking for. After watching the video pay a visit to McCelland’s instructional YouTube channel for more “outside the box” post-processing techniques.

And be sure to check out the helpful tutorial we featured recently from another image-editing expert who demonstrates how to restore old, damaged photos and give them new life in Lightroom and Photoshop.