Photo How To

Outdoor photographs often need local adjustments to balance a bright sky against a dark background, or when one side of an image is brighter than the other. The trick is using Lightroom's Linear Gradient tool to create soft transitions in a fading pattern to make the necessary enhancements.

One great way to gain recognition for your hard-earned work is to hang framed, oversized prints in your home or office where you can enjoy them too. But there are a few thing to know before sending files off to the lab so that they can deliver the best possible output.

A primary goal of all photographers is to capture images with accurate colors, unless a special effect is the name of the game. When it comes to editing photos with skewed hues, Lightroom's White Balance tools are often sufficient for getting things right.

This interesting post-processing tutorial demonstrates how to use Photoshop's Radial Blur filter with the option of Zoom to accentuate motion in a way that conveys a dynamic impression of speed. As instructor Pablo Garcia says, "this is a great choice for giving our photos a sense of movement towards the inside of the image."

Most photographers would agree that our craft is all about striving for a perfect shot. And many times that involves capturing what the great Henri Cartier-Besson referred to as "the decisive moment." The ultimate goal is to get things right in the camera, but this Photoshop tutorial is all about what one pro describes as "cheating the perfect moment."

Sunrise photography presents several challenges, the first of which is getting up early enough to arrive on location before the sun peaks above the horizon. You also need to understand how to deal with rapidly changing light, key camera settings and  techniques, along with the proper gear to use for optimum results.

Is Lightroom's Tone Curve panel part of your everyday workflow? If not, you're missing out on a very versatile tool that's useful for enhancing just about any photo you capture. The video below will get you up to speed with a quick primer from "digital-imaging evangelist" Julienne Kost.