When wildlife photographers think of Brazil, they might think of the Amazon or Pantanal. And although these biodiversity hotspots are full of amazing animals, they are not the only places in the country for wildlife photography. They can even be touristy and highly guided at times. If you want to explore a wild environment, where else could you go in Brazil? Well, the state of São Paulo may not be the first to come to mind. But, it offers one of the largest remnants of Atlantic Forest with a plethora of conservation areas virtually unknown to the rest of the world. It is also where this story starts.

Are you feeling guilty because you’ve ignored a bunch of old, damaged photos in desperate need of repair? Your tendency to procrastinate will be rewarded today, because getting the job done in Photoshop is now easier and more effective than ever before.

Instructor Matt Kloskowski is an experienced photographer and post-processing expert who says his personal mission is to create educational videos that simplify the process of taking great photos and editing them to get the results you’ve always wanted. This episode is all about the latter as he walks you the simple Photoshop steps that deliver remarkable results.

Matt is full of enthusiasm as he introduces the 12-minute video like this: “I’m amazed what we can do today with photo restoration in Photoshop that even a couple years ago would have taken so much longer.” He was prompted to create this lesson after a recent storm in Florida left many important images a mess—with severe water damage and other unsightly problems.

The bottom line is this: “If you have enough information left in a photo to start, you’ll be  amazed at what some of the new tools can do for many of your photos.” Matt pulls up several images, each with different concerns, and then he describes the best Photoshop tools that will deliver optimum results for the specific repairs required for each.

The first example is an image that is actually torn in half. He gets to work after the two pieces are scanned into the computer. One of the segments has a white background that needs to be copied over to the other. So Matt does a Select Subject that he copies and pastes into the other half as a new layer. Then he reduces opacity, hits Command or Control “T” to access Free Transform, and uses the upper corner of one element to perfectly align it with the other.

Before finishing the repair he explains why in some cases “perfection can be your enemy,” and why it’s not always necessary to sweat the small stuff. He then demonstrates how to harmonize a slight color imbalance that’s evident in the merged image, and there are can couple options available. He employs a few other quick tricks to complete the rehabilitation, and Matt reveals keyboard shortcuts for streamlining the process.

At this point you’re barely a third of the way into the video, which includes examples of photos with other types of damage, and the solutions required to restore them to a semblance of their original glory. So stick with the video until the end, get motivated by these powerful techniques, and start working on all the  scratched, torn, and faded photos that you’ve ignored for so long.

Then take a look at Matt’s instructional YouTube channel that’s full of video lessons for expanding your shooting and editing skills.

We also recommend watching the tutorial we featured recently with another post-processing expert who demonstrates his secret for exposure blending bracketed photographs for perfect results. And he provides a free plugin that eliminates all the complicated steps.

Autumn is the favorite time of year for many experienced outdoor photographers because of the spectacular coloras that paint the landscape. Unfortunately, our results sometimes fall short of expectations, and when they do it’s easy to transform an OK image into a great one with a little help from Lightroom.

Instructor Birk Enwald is German landscape pro who says, “Capturing beautiful places, memories, and emotions with my camera is what brings me the greatest joy.” He was recently in Berlin where the autumn colors were absolutely stunning and lit up the forest, but an image he captured turned out rather dull.

His promise for today’s episode is this: “I’ll walk your through a few simple post-processing steps to make those red, orange, and yellow tones really pop and add depth to your fall shots.” There a link for downloading his Raw file in the description beneath the video so you can follow along and make the changes yourself as they’re explained.

Enwald begins with several basic adjustments to the overall scene using simple sliders. He increases exposure to brighten up the scene and boosts contrast to bring put more detail. The next step is lowering highlights to further recover details in the brightest portions in the frame, and he significantly opens the shadows to reveal more information in the dark areas of the shot.

He then slightly increases the whites while dropping the blacks which adds a bit more depth and dimension. Enwald then turns his attention to color, and leaves White Balance at shot, but he boosts Vibrance and Saturation while warning “not to overdo it.”

The fun part of the lesson begins when Enwald turns to HSL enhancements. And you’ll see how adjustments to orange tones, increasing luminance and saturation, makes a huge difference in the impact of the photo. Modifying the yellows is also part of the equation as is giving green tones “a more earthy look.”

Enwald turns to selective masking once the local adjustments are complete, and this is where the real magic occurs. Here he says, “we have a lot to do” and the straightforward steps are covered in detail—with the result being a beautifully vibrant and balanced image that retains a realistic look. Compare his before/after images and we think you’ll be impressed.

There’s much more to learn about shooting and editing landscape images on Enwald’s instructional YouTube channel. So be sure that you pay a visit and explore.

We also suggest watching an earlier tutorial we featured with another accomplished outdoor shooter who explains why he and other landscape photography pros prefer shooting in Aperture Priority mode instead of Manual.

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