Most outdoor photographers know that using a Curves adjustment in Photoshop or Lightroom is one of the best ways to add contrast and boost the tonality in an image to make it more compelling. But there’s a unique trick for using Curves in Photoshop, and it works wonders with one simple adjustment.

Austin James Jackson is a young, professional landscape photographer based in Southern Utah, whose shooting and editing skills belie his age. In this quick tutorial he demonstrates a method for using Curves that he relies upon for “almost every single photo that I edit,” and it’s easy enough for anyone to use.

James says that even if you’ve used Photoshop’s Tone Curve in the past, “I’m going to show you something you don’t know that will make any photo look amazing.” While this technique is a no-go in Lightroom, it can be replicated with any photo-editing software that lets you fully adjust the tone Curve.

James begins with a pretty forest scene on his screen and grabs the Curves adjustment tool. Before jumping into his trick, he provides a quick overview of how the Curves graph works to lighten or darken an image—simply by dragging and moving the diagonal line in the box. He also illustrates why the “S-Curve” is so commonly used.

Now it’s time for James’ favorite quick Curves adjustment that he prefers to a standard S-Curve that often results in bright areas that are too bright, and dark portions of  scene that are overly dark—often obscuring details in both portions of the frame. His technique works because you can make as many points on the Curve as you want.

James drags up the bottom left point and drags down on the right point. As you’ll see, this essentially protects the highlights and shadows while enhancing details and interest in both areas of the shot.

These simple adjustments take less than 20 seconds, and a quick glance at the before/after images reveals the effectiveness of James’ unfamiliar trick. He repeats this quick maneuver with two more landscape photos, one of a stand of redwoods and another of a seaside scene, just so that you’re convinced. In all cases his results are impressive.

You can find more straightforward editing techniques by paying a visit to James’ YouTube channel, and by watching a tutorial we posted earlier that explains a simple technique for fixing any photo with a skewed perspective or converging vertical lines.

If you’ve been playing around with the beta version of Photoshop 2024 for what seems like forever, it’s time to get real as the official release has been unveiled. We enlisted the help of one of the world’s most acclaimed image-editing experts to help you understand and use the most important new capabilities.

Instructor Unmesh Dinda lives in Mumbai, India but he’s an internationally acclaimed image-processing expert who teaches workshops across the globe. There are almost five million subscribers to his wildly popular YouTube channel and if you’re not already a follower it’s time to take a look.

In this episode Dinda takes a deep dive into the headline features of Photoshop 2024, and insists that “with new Filters, Generative AI, and several fixes, this update changes the course of Photoshop forever.” So set aside 12 minutes, pull up a chair, grab pen and paper, and let’s dig in.

Dinda begins with what he calls “Filters on steroids” and this description isn’t too far off base, because there’s a myriad of new options and he demonstrates how they work. You can easily modify every aspect of this tools, modify the intensity of colors, and change the opacity of each effect. All of these filters are non-destructive in nature, so you have the option of a do-over whenever you want.

If you’re unfamiliar with executing an update Dinda explains how to do that by going to your Creative Cloud desktop app to quickly get this “shocking” new version. Then Dinda turns to a description of Photoshop’s new Remove tool and the updates it includes. As you’ll see it offers more control and versatility than ever before.

Next on Dinda’s list are what provoked all the excitement over the beta—namely the remarkable AI-based Generative Fill and Generative Expand features. If you’ve yet to experiment with these amazing tools Dinda will quickly get you up to speed today. Photoshop 2024 also includes a guided tutorial you can always refer to if you run into a jam.

Some folks have wondered about any potential limitations for using Photoshop’s generative features, and Dinda clarifies all that, while explaining how Adobe’s “Generative Credits” work. Basically, you’ll receive a certain number of credits, depending upon your plan, and you’ll spend them whenever using any of the generative capabilities.

Dinda explains how to determine the number of credits you have. You’ll still be able to use Generative Fill and Generative Expand once you’ve used up your credits, but the process will slow down. At some point in the future Adobe will offer the opportunity to purchase more credits if you so desire.

There’s much more to learn in this lesson for speeding up the learning curve, to take a close look and jot down a few notes. Then head over to Dinda’s YouTube channel for more image-editing tips and tricks.

And for those of you who are Lightroom users, be sure to check out the beginners guide we posted that explains everything you need to know about tools in the Basic tab.

Lightroom Classic is a powerful image-editing tool, with a myriad of tools for photographers of all skill levels. New users, however, may initially be bewildered by the wide array of features, but we’ll solve that today in less than 10 minutes.

The Behind the Tripod YouTube channel is designed to help inexperienced photographers shoot and edit better photographs, and the beginners guide below is a great example. This straightforward tutorial explains everything you need to know to get started by demystifying LRC’s Basic tab.

Instructor Steve Mills demonstrates a step-by-step process for enhancing your photos so you can make the most of the tools necessary and establish a simple workflow today. As he says, “If you shoot in Raw, it’s in my humble opinion that Lightroom Classic is perhaps the best option for editing your photos.”

Mills says LRC is far easier to learn than Photoshop, and everything begins in the Basic tab. Once you feel comfortable with the preliminary tools you can then move on to more advanced features. He kicks off the episode by opening an image in the Library, navigates to the Develop module on the top right of the screen, and quickly gets to work.

You’ll then see a panel on the left that includes presets and the important History option. There’s also a panel on the right with straightforward sliders for adjusting a variety of image attributes. LRC works in a non-destructive way, meaning you always go back for a do-over, and Mills explains how the History tool enables you to easily do that.

Once you click on the Basic tab you’ll see “all the bits” Mills discusses today. He says that his workflow typically begins with careful cropping when that can help improve the composition of a shot. He then explains how the adjustment tools in this tab work, including a quick method for converting color images to b&w.

When it comes to enhancing color photos Mills prefers the default Adobe Color profile because “I like to start with a blank canvas.” He then demonstrates how to use simple sliders in the Basic tab to adjust parameters like White Balance, Tint, Exposure, Contrast, Highlights and Shadows.

Other simple sliders provide adjustments to Texture, Clarity, Dehaze, Saturation, Vibrance and more, and you’ll see how all of these work. Mills is a firm believer in taking a subtle approach with all of these enhancements and says “overcooking” adjustments can easily spoil an otherwise nice shot.

Everything you learn is so easy to accomplish that you’ll no longer feel like an LRC beginner by the time you’ve finished watching the lesson. There’s much more to learn on Mills’ instructional YouTube channel, so be sure to take a look.

We also recommend watching the tutorial we posted earlier, explaining why Lightroom’s AI Denoise feature may let you down unless you understand a few tricks.

We’re big fans of using old lenses on modern mirrorless cameras for a variety of reasons. Not only is vintage glass far less expensive than modern counterparts build quality is often superior, and the necessary adapters are readily available for less than 20 bucks. The wide-angle prime discussed in the video below is a perfect example

We often turn to Malaysian pro Robin Wong for solid advice when considering the purchase of new (or old) gear, and in this episode he sings the merits of the vintage Canon 35mm f/2 lens for shooting on the street. It’s also a great choice for other forms of photography

Wong is using the old EF 35mm f/2 on an original 12.8MP Canon EOS 5D DSLR for this demonstration, hence a lens adapter isn’t needed. And unlike when adapting vintage lenses to a mirrorless camera, he has access to autofocus. Wong discusses why this lens is so impressive and provides examples of his results.

Surprisingly Wong says he prefers the combination of this old DSLR and even older lens to his fixed-lens Fujifilm X100F, and he provides a link to an earlier video detailing his comparison. During this behind-the-scenes photo walk in Kuala Lumpur he explains his affection for the EF 35mm f/2 wide-angle and provides several great tips for elevating your street photography skills.

One of the appeals of this lens is its “fantastic” image quality, even at maximum aperture and when shooting up close to a subject. And autofocus is fast and precise with the EOS 5D. Wong also appreciates that this budget 35mm f/2 prime is lightweight, compact and “very easy to work with.”

Other attributes worthy of note are the sharpness, contrast, and bokeh quality that this wide-angle lens consistently delivers. Wong adds that the 35mm f/2 offers good subject separation and shallow depth of field for street portraits—particularly when used on a full-frame camera.

The only drawback to this lens, according to Wong, is that build quality is a bit “plasticky.” That’s to be expected because it wasn’t intended to be a pro-grade lens when introduced way back in 1990. But if your primary concern is image quality, and your wallet is a bit thin, the old EF 35mm f/2 is well worth considering.

You can find much more of interest by paying a visit to Wong’s popular YouTube channel, and watching the earlier tutorial we posted, explaining why another accomplished pro says the superiority of full-frame digital cameras “is a myth.”