Photo How To

If you’ve paid attention to the image-editing tutorials we’ve shared from German landscape pro Christian Mohrle, you know that the first thing he does when opening an image in Photoshop or Lightroom, is choose the most appropriate Camera Profile for the task at hand.

Freezing rain is falling, your tomcat is suing you for royalties from the YouTube videos he starred in, and every bird in the city boycotts your feeder because of your snoopy telephoto lens. Cheer up! We all have those days when we feel like f/16 in an f/1.4 world. But there’s always something to take pictures of—and it often can be found as close as our own kitchen.

Let’s face it: Image noise is your enemy, and these grainy artifacts can destroy an otherwise great shot. Noise occurs when using certain camera settings, especially when shooting in low light with high ISO settings.

Shooting at night with slow shutter speeds is a great way to capture eye-popping photos. Light trails from passing cars are really dramatic, and scenes that look boring during the day are transformed into sparkling tableaus as soon as the lights come on.

We’re going to let you in on a big secret in today’s Photoshop tutorial; namely the “secret to eye-catching foregrounds” when editing travel, nature, and landscape images. 

There are three zoom lenses I consider absolutely essential to provide the versatility that travel photography demands: the 14-24mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm. It's no exaggeration to say I don’t leave home without them, and if travel is in your plans for the upcoming season, those lenses can play a big part in how well you tell the story of your journey.

Every so often it’s fun to do something different so your images stand out from the crowd. In the quick Photoshop tutorial below you’ll learn an easy method for creating a convincing watercolor effect in Photoshop.