Some photographers shy away from employing presets when editing their work because of a misconception that they’re difficult to use. Nothing could be further from the truth, and as you’ll see in the quick tutorial below, you can even create your own custom presets with ease.

Simply put, presets are a collection of previously made edits that are saved as a batch. Then they can be applied to an appropriate photo, or multiple photos, as fast as you can click your mouse

Hence, these timesaving tools are really worth considering if you haven’t already jumped on the bandwagon, whether you purchase an affordable package or make them yourself. As you’ll see, they work their magic in several ways. A common approach is to apply a preset to similar images from the same shoot before importing them into Lightroom or Photoshop.

Once you open the editing program of your choice, you can use the imported images as is, or make a few simple tweaks if that’s what a particular photo requires. In addition to dramatically speeding up your workflow, presets also enable you to establish consistency among a wide range of images, thereby creating a recognizable style all your own.

In the eight-minute tutorial below from portrait pro and educator Justin Laurens you’ll learn everything necessary to use and create presets today. And we guarantee that once you start editing images in this manner you won’t stop,

Laurens demonstrates a five-step formula for getting the job done, saying that, “The secret is how to fine-tune a preset to make it fit perfectly with any image you want to apply it to.” He also explains how to “batch edit photos with lightening speed.”

Be sure to watch this episode until the end, when you’ll learn how easy it is to create presets of your own that will work perfectly with your particular style of shooting.

There’s much more to see on Laurens’ instructional YouTube channel, so be sure to pay a visit and subscribe.

And if you like quick-and-easy tricks, check out the tutorial we posted explaining how to use a simple slider that will change how you edit photos in Lightroom.

Earlier this month we featured a tutorial explaining why low ISO settings can ruin the photo of a lifetime. Today we have another video contradicting conventional wisdom, and you may discover that you’re been making a simple mistake all along.

Many photographers use UV filter filters to reduce the amount of ultraviolet light that passes into a camera. Another so-called benefit is that these affordable accessories also protect the front element of a lens from dirt, fingerprints and damage.

It’s obviously preferable to replace a cracked filter than buying a news lens. But according to German landscape pro Jan Wegener, “Today I’ll show you why using UV filters is such a awful idea, and why it’s actually best to remove them and throw them away.”

Before digging into your camera cabinet and trashing all your UV filters, you should watch the video and learn Wegener’s rationale. By doing this you may feel better about the money you wasted. Wegener provides real-world examples to reinforce his view.

“But what about protecting my lens?” you ask. Well, Wegener has a better solution for doing that too. His main point, however, is what these filters do to image quality, and he put things bluntly: “You can be the best photographer in the world, with the best gear, and a perfect setting. But if you use one of the filters in front of a lens you’re very unlikely to take great images.”

OK, WOW! How can this be true? According to Wegener, inexpensive filters may make a lot of money for camera retailers, “but they come with a steep downside for you as a photographer.” To settle this debate once and for all, Wegener purchased two filters; a cheap one for $30 and a high-end option costing over $100.

Equipped with the filters, a $5,000 100-500mm zoom, and two pro cameras, Wegener headed out in the field for a shootout. His approach was simple: Make the same image without a filter, and two more using both the cheap and expensive filter.

Take a look at his results and see what you think. Personally, I’m going to use my UV filters as beverage coasters from now on. How about you?

You can find many more tips and tricks on Wegener’s YouTube channel. Earlier this month we posted a tutorial on another “image-killing” practice, explaining why low ISO settings can ruin your photos.

Most photographers are always on the lookout for effective editing tips that shorten the time they spend sitting behind the computer. The goal, of course, is to finish post-processing as quickly as possible and get back out in the field doing what we all love most.

The tutorial below is designed to do exactly that by using a simple slider to avoid more time-consuming tools. This is another episode from Park Cameras, a leading retailer in the UK that’s been around for over 50 years. Most of the lessons they post are short and to the point, and this one runs only five minutes.

Today’s discussion is all about using Lightroom’s simple Midtone slider instead of the other more involved tools that “sometimes don’t always cut it” depending upon the image at hand. The Midtone slider, on the other hand, easily make images more compelling by brightening or darkening midtones—sometimes even both,

Gareth Evans is the popular instructor for the weekly tutorials shared by Park Cameras. His lessons are not only informative, but also really fun to watch because of the entertaining style he uses to demonstrate his very helpful tips.

As Evans explains, adjusting exposure with the conventional approach is to use tools like the Tone Curve to improve highlights and shadows. But when your goal is to specifically target midtones there’s an effective and much easier approach.

Evans demonstrates how the Midtone slider can make a big difference in an image, and it does so without affecting highlights or shadows. By using this approach, midtones almost appear as though you used “negative dehaze” in a very subtle way.

Evans provides multiple images to illustrate the effectiveness of this method, and you’ll see how it improves detail and tonal values in clouds, adds much-needed contrast just where you want it, and a few other enhancements.

You can find more helpful lessons like this by visiting the Park Cameras YouTube channel on a weekly basis.

And for another Lightroom trick for accelerating your workflow check out the tutorial we shared earlier, explaining a one-click trick for better edits in Lightroom.