Have you ever been out in the field on a nice day, found a great subject, and framed up the shot perfectly—only to discover that the images you captured are far less impactful that you expected? If your answer is “no,” then you’re better or luckier that the rest of us.

There are numerous reasons for disappointing outdoor images and we’ve discussed many of them in the past. Maybe the exposure was wrong, the Color Balance option was incorrect, or another camera setting missed the mark. Whatever the cause, this six-minute Lightroom tutorial from instructor Casey Herzog will help you rehabilitate dull images and give them the WOW factor.

Casey specializes in travel photography, but the “five essential Lightroom hacks” in today’s episode will work wonders when processing just about any type of images that you capture in the great outdoors. Best yet, even though he says these techniques are “advanced,” they’re super simple to accomplish for photographers of all skill levels.

Casey promises that his handful of tried-and-tested tips are different from those you’ve see in the past. At the top of his list is “a method I use to separate my subjects from the background and give them a unique look.” This one involves increasing Exposure and adjusting Dehaze to create eye-catching Contrast.

Tip #2 demonstrates how to achieve perfect White Balance “every single time,” by first moving the Vibrance and Saturation sliders all the way to 100. As he explains, “this give us a very clear view of where our White Balance is.” Then it’s far easier to modify Color Temperature to make the image warmer or cooler as needed.

Casey describes his third trick like this: “I use the Curves tool based upon where the information is in the photo, instead of just using a generic Curve.” That because, “in some photos the information is heavily pushed in one direction or the other—or it may be squished together.” This can result in photos with an unbalanced exposure.

There are two more techniques left to be discussed, and they are just as quick and powerful as the enhancements mentioned above. One describes Casey’s secret for creating “perfect masks,” and the other reveals “my most-used hotkeys in lightroom.” So check it out and improve your Lightroom workflow today.

Casey’s instructional YouTube channel is a great source of post-processing tips “you won’t find anywhere else.” So check it out and learn something new.

We also encourage you to watch a beginners guide we featured recently, demonstrating how to shooting dramatic black-and-white photographs or convert color images to monochrome.

Even though it’s been about 15 years, I still see it as if it were today: For the first time, I’m standing in a South American cloud forest with a camera and a 300mm zoom lens. Suddenly, from a nearby thicket, I hear the familiar chirp of a Masked Flowerpiercer. A handful of blue feathers appear in a tangle of dense branches. I raise the camera to my eye, aim, and press the shutter. I got it! Or did I? Well, the bird is in the frame, but it’s just a small number of blurry, blue pixels. My newfound passion for wildlife photography is quickly replaced by the sobering realization that I have a long and thorny road ahead of me if I want to make my wildlife photos better.

Over the past couple months we’ve been featuring a series of tutorials from Patrick’s Boudoir Photography Secrets designed for those of you who are new to this popular genre. If you’ve watched earlier episodes you know that they all have this common theme; how to capture sensuous images of inexperienced models while using simple gear and available light.

Today’s lesson uses this same basic approach and demonstrates how to make flattering b&w images by window light with a simple and comfortable pose on the couch in your home. Patrick explains how to take advantage of natural illumination to emphasize a subject’s best physical attributes without being too explicit.

In less than three minutes you’ll learn how to improve image structure for maximum impact, why this particular pose is perfect for models of all body types, tips for framing your photos, and how to create interesting lighting effects without artificial light when shooting indoors. Achieving dramatic highlights and shadows is also an important part of the process—especially for b&w imagery.

Another important consideration for those just getting started is understanding how to provide encouragement and simple direction to a subject so that she feels like a partner in the creative endeavor. In this regard you’ll discover how slight adjustments in body posture can enhance femininity in a way makes your subject feel proud.

Patrick also discusses the best camera settings to use for this particular style of provocative portraiture, and he provides several other recommendations that will make your shoot a success. The video concludes by walking you through a quick step-by-step process for editing your results.

There’s much more to learn about evolving your boudoir photography skills on Patrick’s popular YouTube channel. You’ll also find earlier installments of this beginners series, so be sure to take a look.

And if you missed the last boudoir photography tutorial we featured with Patrick, you can find it here,

Are you struggling to overcome the frustrating limitations of Lightroom’s Cone Tool? If so, the simple hacks in this tutorial from the Digital Photo Mentor YouTube channel is just what you need to get back on track.

Instructor Darlene Hildebrandt is educator known for her popular workshops, guided photo tours, and problem-solving online tutorials that run the gamut from in-camera techniques all the way through the final image-editing process. In today’s three-minute episode she reveals a few “mind blowing” Clone tool hacks that  “will revolutionize your Lightroom workflow.”

Hildebrandt kicks off the lesson by posing a question: “Have you ever had an issue with the Clone tool when you apply it to one spot and it does a pretty good job but doesn’t get everything, so you go back and try to clone over the same area again.” If so, you already know that Lightroom won’t let you apply one clone adjustment atop another.

One of today’s Lightroom hacks will quickly resolve this particular issue, along with others that you may not yet have confronted. Hildebrandt’s first sample image is of a freshly made bed in a hotel room, and her goal is to remove a small sign in front of the pillows. She opens the Clone tool and paints over the area she wants removed.

As you’ll see, remnants of the sign are still visible, and Lightroom won’t let her clone over the spot again. Or will it?  As Hildebrandt says, “There are actually two ways we can hack this problem.” The first trick is to close the Clone tool and open it again. Now that the original cloned area is no longer selected, you can resize the spot are paint over the area that was missed in the initial attempt.

Hildebrandt demonstrates her second solution on a different area within the frame. This time the result is a total mess. For this complex type complex removal she first tries Lightroom’s Generative AI, but the results are far from satisfactory. And once again, painting over the area is a no-go. But watch what happens when she calls upon her second hack. Nice, right?

There are more hack yet to come, and Hildebrandt demonstrates how effective are for solving other Clone tool misfires. Be sure to update your Lightroom workflow once the video concludes. Then head over to Hildebrandt’s instructional YouTube channel for more powerful shooting and post-processing techniques.

We also recommend watching a tutorial we featured with another image-editing expert who explains why changing three simple Preferences will greatly speed up Photoshop imports and simplify your workflow.