Unless you shoot in black-and-white, the effective use of color can make or break a photo. Having a good eye certainly helps, but a basic understanding of color theory can make all the difference.

The eye-opening tutorial below comes to us from Nucly, an instructional YouTube channel dedicated to helping photographers improve their imagery with very helpful tutorials on photo retouching and other Photoshop techniques. This 30-minute episode is a bit longer than most, but it imparts some valuable information that will help elevate your skills

Instructor Rikard Rodin is an accomplished author, photographer, and Creative Director currently based in Los Angeles. He has two goals for this important tutorial, the first of which is explaining how the Color Wheel works. Then, with that knowledge under your belt, he demonstrates how to use “Color Harmony” in Photoshop to create the most pleasing images possible.

As you’ll see, there are actually different types of color harmony, that include Complementary Harmony, two types of Split Complementary Harmony, Analogous Harmony, and what’s known as Triadic Harmony. Less important that the terminology is how these color styles can be used to advantage with a few basic tools in Photoshop.

As Rodin notes, “We’re going to take five images, and for each determine the key color, decide on a harmony, and then adjust the colors of the image in Photoshop to achieve our chosen harmony.” It’s a unique form of color enhancement that we haven’t discussed before.

Make sure you check the description beneath the video where you’ll find three helpful links you’ll want to explore. The first two direct you to the color wheels used in this tutorial, just in case you wish to purchase them for yourself.

The third link is for photographers interested in a more comprehensive discussion of these matters, which you’ll gain by watching Rodin’s online Color Grading Masterclass. There’s also much more to learn by paying a visit to Rodin’s interesting YouTube channel.

We also recommend you watch the tutorial we posted from another pro earlier this month, demonstrating what he says are “five basic landscape photography tips every beginner should know.”

Here is another helpful how-to designed to give landscape photos an uncommon look. Like others we’ve posted in the past, it will enable you to capture unique images and set you on the path toward creating a style all your own.

This episode from acclaimed Danish photographer Mads Peter Iversen is all about using telephoto lenses to narrow the focus of unremarkable scenes and directing a viewer’s eyes to one essential subject. The technique works equally well with long primes lenses telephoto zooms.

Iversen is a professional landscape photographer whose remarkable images are immediately recognizable because of his eye-catching minimalist style. And as you’ll see, one secret to his success is leaving a wide-angle lens in the bag and reaching for a longer focal length instead.

In this behind-the-scenes episode you’ll watch Iversen work his magic in Tuscany, a destination he calls “a telephoto zoom lens paradise.” The advantage of a zoom, as compared to a prime, is that you can experiment with more expansive framing if the situation arises. Or you can shoot the scene wide and up close and determine which image you like best.

Iversen explains his preference like this: “Although a wide-angle lens can definitely be used, it’s the long lens in combination with great light and atmosphere that delivers the most incredible results”—especially when shooting in this beautiful (yet sparse) region of Italy.

You’ll follow Iversen as he visits several locations while explaining his techniques for this style of photography. During this excursion his two weapons of choice are a Tamron wide-to-tele 28-200mm zoom, and a longer Sony 100-400mm when more reach is required.

Along the way you’ll pick up valuable advice on composition when minimalist photos are the goal. Exposure and other camera setting can me important too, when photographing a lone subject against a bright sky—without much else in the frame to balance the light.

In other words, this approach to landscape photography is a much different challenge than when photographing conventional landscapes that often have dense foliage surrounding a primary subject and in the background. Iverson has a variety of straightforward tips and tricks for getting the job done.

After watching the 16-minute tutorial head over to Iversen’s instructional YouTube channel for a variety of lessons on photographing the great outdoors.

We also recommend watching the tutorial we posted from another pro recently, explaining a simple Photoshop technique for giving unremarkable landscape photos a soft, dreamy glow—another way to achieve photos with a unique look.

Photoshop’s easy-to-use Gradient too is useful for a wide variety of purposes when editing an image. It enables you to create gradual changes in color and exposure, and there are different type of gradients from which to choose. The popular tool recently received an update, making it faster and more effective than ever.

From a practical perspective Adobe says “Gradients can help draw focus to a point in your image by creating a glint of light or color that gradually fades into shadow.” You’ll see how this works in the tutorial below from one of our favorite image-editing experts.

Instructor Julieanne Kost is a photographer, author, self-described “digital-imaging evangelist,” and an expert at all things Adobe. In this quick episode she walks you through the step-by step process of using the Gradient tool and taking advantage of everything it offers

As Kost Says, “You’ll discover a variety of tips and tricks to master the new non-destructive Gradient tool, including how to make the most of on-screen editing controls, and working with Gradient Fill layers. She also demonstrates new options in the Properties panel, how to use Layer Masks, and the method for changing Gradient types.

The episode also includes timesaving keyboard shortcuts, several Quick Actions, and other helpful tips and tricks. Kost dives right in, skipping the small talk, and covers all these topics in barely 10-minutes. So be sure to have pen and paper handy and jot down a few notes.

To create a Gradient you can either tap the “G” key or select Gradient from the toolbar. You’ll then see that Photoshop ships with a variety of Gradient presets. Rather than choosing one of these at the onset Kost uses the Photoshop’s Basic’s panel to select the Foreground-to-Background option to demonstrate how to make adjustments yourself.

This approach uses the foreground and background color swatches found in the toolbar. Then you can select a Gradient style by either choosing one of the icons in the Options bar, or by clicking the right bracket key to cycle through the Linear, Radial, Angle, Reflected, and Diamond gradients.

Now it’s time to get busy, and Kost provides the straightforward steps for getting the job done. It’s all pretty simple to understand and accomplish by following Kost’s advice. Once you experiment with her instructions you’ll quickly become proficient at using the versatile new-and-approved Gradient tool for a variety of image-editing tasks.

Kost’s YouTube channel offers an abundance of Photoshop and Lightroom lessons, so take a look and check back often whenever you find yourself in a bind.

We also suggest you watch the tutorial we posted recently from another expert, explaining how to quickly improve photos with five easy Photoshop tips and tricks.

This is the second day of the week, which means it time for another great episode of “Tutorial Tuesday” from the experts at Park Cameras—one of the leading photo retailers in the UK. Today’s topic is Photoshop’s powerful new Remove tool that you’ll learn how to use to clean up your work.

Instructor Gareth Evans is an adept instructor with an exuberant teaching style that makes his videos both informative and very fun to watch. In today’s lesson he explains everything you need to know for taking advantage of Photoshop’s new Remove tool, and he does so in seven minutes flat (jokes included).

As Evans explains, “Photoshop’s new Remove tool works a bit like the Spot Healing brush, but so much better.” That’s because it has a lot more power when it comes to eliminating distracting objects from a photo, whether they’re a fence post emanating from the subject’s head, unsightly trash on the ground, or anything else you find objectionable.

Evans explains how this versatile tool works, how easy it is to use, describes any minor limitations, and demonstrates how to employ it for just about any photos you shoot, He’s so enthralled with this new capability that he calls it a “game changer.” After giving it a try we think you’ll agree.

This tool is found in the upper left of the screen in the panel with the Spot Healing brush and a few other options. He begins with an image of a camera on the ground that he wants to remove from the shot. You’ll see what happens when he first uses the Spot Healing brush and then the new Remove tool to accomplish this straightforward task.

As you’ll see, he results speak for themselves. The Spot Healing brush seems to work pretty well, until you zoom in on the image and see that the photo is far from ideal. What he achieves with the Remove tool, on the other hand, is a really clean image with no visible artifacts.

As Evan’s put it, “You’d never know the camera was there.” He then pulls up a few other images to demonstrate the finer points of using the Remove tool, with equally good results. And if you run into a glitch, he has straightforward solutions for solving the problem.

There’s a lot more to learn on the Park Cameras YouTube channel, especially on Taco…I mean Tutorial Tuesday, so be sure to pay a visit.

You may also want to check out the tutorial we posted from another image-editing expert earlier this month, explaining why Photoshop’s HDR capabilities are the key to editing high-contrast photos.