One of the first things many of us learned when first getting started is to always use the lowest ISO setting possible. While this rule may be true in certain situations, other times it can be detrimental to the images you make.

Too often photographers adhere to conventional wisdom, and the video below points out a good example. The preference for low ISOs is rooted in the notion that using higher sensitivity settings will introduce noise in a photo, and may degrade image quality due to lens diffraction (a topic we covered back in October).

While none of this is what you’d call “wrong,” one experienced pro provides the flip side of the coin in the eye-opening tutorial below—explaining why, in certain situations, shooting with a low ISO can actually “ruin” your photos.

Jan Wegener is a German nature photographer specializing in birds and other forms of wildlife. He’s also a good instructor, and in this episode he puts things bluntly: “Too often we adopt a low-ISO mindset that can actually cost us the photo of a lifetime.”

In addition to explaining the why and how of shooting with higher ISOs, Wegener presents his workflow for editing these types of images. He discusses “crucial camera settings,” his view about ISO and image quality, and even what he calls, “my biggest mistake.”

When it comes to deciding whether you should adhere to the low ISO rule or choose a higher setting depending upon the situation, Wegener asks a pertinent question: “Why not do both?” He also reveals his “crucial” camera settings for various conditions.

Along the way you’ll pick a bunch of great advice for making the best images possible when shooting with high ISOs. His “top tip” is revealed as the lesson concludes, and we’re not going to be a buzzkill, to be sure to watch until the very end.

There’s much more to learn about nature photography on Wegener’s instructional YouTube channel, so take a look and subscribe.

If you wish to learn how lens diffraction affects photos (and what to do about it), don’t miss the tutorial we mentioned above.

Photographers experienced with Photoshop know that using the best tools for a task is only part of the equation when editing their images. Another very important consideration for achieving optimum results is making adjustments in the correct order.

With all that in mind, the tutorial below explains how to harness the power of Photoshop’s Tone Curve to improve the look of an image, and why this should be the last step in an edit. So in essence, this lesson does double duty in barely 16 minutes.

Tutorials from German landscape photographer Christian Mohrle are among the most popular we post, partly because of the great images he uses to demonstrate his tips and tricks. Today he provides step-by-step instructions “to make use of Photoshop’s Tone Curve to add final post processing adjustments to landscape photos.”

Mohrle’s demonstration image for this episode is a pretty, but somewhat dark, outdoor scene with beautiful reflections in the small foreground pond. His goal for the transformation of this sunrise shot is to accentuate its soft, dreamy colors.

The first task is making several basic adjustments in Photoshop’s Raw editor. The image is underexposed because Mohrle metered for the highlights. He starts by changing the profile to Adobe Standard which immediately brightens up the darkest portions of the scene.

Other quick adjustments include modifying White Balance to neutralize a slight yellowish cast, bumping up exposure to open up shadows, dropping highlights, and pumping up contrast and texture. Next he places a linear gradient in the right corner of the sky, to help make it stand out with adjustments to Saturation and Clarity.

Mohrle then does some simple sharpening and color grading before turning to the final Curves adjustments. With all that out of the way it’s time for the meat of the tutorial, and Mohrle demonstrates exactly how it’s done.

There’s a wealth of powerful tips and tricks on Mohrle’s instructional YouTube channel, so pay a visit often and see what’s in store.

We also suggest you check out another tutorial we posted, explaining how to use Photoshop’s simple Selection tools for clean and precise results.

Just to be clear, we’re not recommending that anyone become a one-trick pony when editing their image. In the interesting tutorial below, however, you’ll learn how to use one simple Lightroom slider to dramatically enhance landscape photos and other images shot outdoors.

Instructor Tom Sloan is a professional photographer with an eclectic mix of landscape and portrait imagery. He’s also a respected editing expert who posts simple tutorials for quickly improving the look of all sorts of photos.

In today’s episode he discusses “the one Lightroom slider I never knew about,” and how this “editing secret” now has a prominent place in his workflow. What he describes can really add pizazz to an image, and it’s so simple that it only takes him four minutes to demonstrate.

This discussion is all about Lightroom’s Calibration panel and the powerful Saturation slider that’s partly responsible for Sloan’s great images. He demonstrates his approach by finishing up the edit of three different photos—using the Saturation slider to ”give the images a little Pop in color.”

While this basic technique may not be a secret to everyone, Sloan explains the best way to get the job done. He begins this session with a basic description of how Lightroom’s Calibration panel works. If you want to take a deeper dive on this topic after watching the lesson, you can find links to more comprehensive tutorials in the description beneath the video.

Sloan moves on to his straightforward three-image processing session, where you’ll see how he employs the Saturation slider to significantly enhance the look of his trio of photos. He typically uses this technique as a final step in the editing process, which is where each of his edits begins.

Sometimes all that’s required to improve a landscape shot is pulling the Blue Saturation slider to the right for a more vivid sky. As you’ll see, however, other photos require a bit more thought, but even then this method is super simple. Sloan also explains the important differences between changes to HSL settings vs. those involving Calibration when editing RGB images.

If you appreciate Sloan’s comfortable approach, you can find more videos like this by visiting his popular YouTube channel.

And speaking of landscape photography, check out the earlier tutorial we posted that explains why some landscape pros are switching from wide-angle to telephoto lenses.

We’ve all been there: You’re out and about running errands without a camera and come upon a striking scene that deserves to be photographed, so naturally you pull out your phone. But if you always shoot in Auto mode the images you capture won’t be as awesome as possible.

In the video below from MountMedia, an instructional site with up-to-date camera reviews and shooting how-tos, you’ll see how to dramatically improve your mobile photography by using powerful iPhone features that you’ve ignored in the past. By the end of this episode you may even think of your iPhone as a “real” camera after all!

Instructor Werner Plank covers a lot of ground, so we recommend having pen and paper handy to take careful notes for future reference. He demonstrates what he calls “15 amazing tricks”—many of which you’ll find yourself using over and over again from now on. Plank refers to Apple’s iPhone 14 and 14 Pro (Max) in this demonstration, but much of what you’ll learn is appropriate for shooting with other models too. And he provides links to more helpful information in the description beneath the video.

The “magical” tricks in this episode include everything from controlling the iPhone with Siri voice commands, and convenient hidden features of the shutter button, to capabilities of the robust iPhone Photos app. There’s also an interesting tip for using Live Photo to create impressive long-exposure effects.

Plank provides powerful advice for those interested in capturing motion. You’ll see how to create a gif from a burst, an easy way to convert a Live Photo to a video, and how to take photos and videos for the shared library. There’s also a quick method for shooting a Hyperlapse with your phone.

Several tricks are geared specifically for improving the quality of iPhone photos, including those for enhancing depth of field and taking the “perfect” portrait with the help of Live Photo. This is only a smattering of what you’ll learn, so grab your iPhone and note pad, and hit the “play” button now.

There’s much more of interest on the MountMedia instructional YouTube channel, so pay a visit when you have time.

You’ll also want to check out the tutorial we posted last month, with more mobile photography tips and tricks.