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Those of you who follow our website know that Manny Ortiz is both an adept photo instructor and a very fine portrait photographer. Yet, according to Ortiz, knowledge, skill and practice is far more important that talent if you want to become a great photographer. 

We’ve all confronted a landscape scene that would have made a gorgeous photograph, were it not for a dull, drab sky. And while there are numerous ways to “fix” or replace boring skies in post processing, this tutorial explains how to get a great shot in the camera.

This morning Adobe announced an update to Photoshop CC, named “Version 19.1,” with a host of enhancements including selection improvements, advanced support for Windows high-density monitors, and more.

You’ve probably heard someone boast that, “You’re not a real photographer until you switch your camera’s mode dial from 'Auto' to Manual.” While we don’t intend to debate that claim here, there’s no doubt that shooting in the Manual mode offers far more creative control.

Professional photographers live by their lenses—they know they’re one of the keys to capturing high-quality images. That’s why they often spend thousands of dollars for a lens that’s optimized for their type of shooting, or gives them an edge over their competitors. But is it possible for serious photo enthusiasts without deep pockets or a business write-off to acquire lenses that deliver professional caliber imaging performance for a lot less money?

We all have to clean up an image on occasion, whether it’s to get rid of a distracting background element, remove litter in the foreground of a street scene, or to eliminate artifacts caused by a dirty lens. In the video below, you’ll learn five practical methods for using Photoshop’s Clone Stamp tool for doing all that and more.

Q. My Windows 10 computer is old. I built a modest machine a few years ago and am starting to select components for a new build. My question: Do Lightroom and Photoshop use the graphics card to assist in processing images? I convert the Canon 5D Mark IV Raw CR2 files to DNG files and then process them in Lightroom. I then make both 60 percent and 20 percent JPEGs, the former for on-screen viewing and the latter for e-mailing. Rendering DNG and JPEG files is often slow enough to make me impatient. On occasion I process large files in Photoshop and want maximum speed. Will a fast (and expensive) graphics card be a worthwhile expense? I want this new build to last at least four or five years. By the way, if you want to recommend a graphics card and a processor that would be just fine. Thanks!