There are all kinds of excuses for unappealing landscape photos: The sun is too bright, weather is awful, no clouds in the sky, dull, drab light—just to name a few. But if you’re serious about photography, and know your way around Photoshop, it’s time to stop complaining and transform these duds into something really special.

Unless you shoot in black-and-white, the effective use of color can make or break a photo. Having a good eye certainly helps, but a basic understanding of color theory can make all the difference.

Here is another helpful how-to designed to give landscape photos an uncommon look. Like others we’ve posted in the past, it will enable you to capture unique images and set you on the path toward creating a style all your own.

This is the second day of the week, which means it time for another great episode of “Tutorial Tuesday” from the experts at Park Cameras—one of the leading photo retailers in the UK. Today’s topic is Photoshop’s powerful new Remove tool that you’ll learn how to use to clean up your work.

Photoshop’s easy-to-use Gradient too is useful for a wide variety of purposes when editing an image. It enables you to create gradual changes in color and exposure, and there are different type of gradients from which to choose. The popular tool recently received an update, making it faster and more effective than ever.

The quick tutorial below from the Adorama TV YouTube channel is all about the basics of using ISO when selecting your camera settings, and when choosing the sensitivity setting should be the first thing you do. Then, depending upon light levels and the scene at hand, you can modify shutter speed and f/stop if need be.

Just so you’re not confused, this is the second tutorial of the day from two German landscape pros with the same first name. This one is from Christian Mohrle of the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel—not Christian Irmler who is responsible for the earlier discussion on using different aspect ratios for more effective landscape photos.

Some photographers think all that’s involved is a decision to frame a scene in either a vertical or horizontal orientation. But as you’ll see in the tutorial below, there’s much more that factors into the equation. One is creative cropping, and another is whether to modify the native aspect ratio of the camera you use—which varies from one model to another.

Using a hard shell case to protect sensitive camera gear has its advantages—until you try to carry it for a few miles over rough terrain. So professional photographer Laurens Parsons, founder of RucPac, invented the Hardcase Strap system that effectively turns your hard-sided case into a backpack. This is just one of the many useful and innovative products in the RucPac photo accessory stable.

Have you ever wondered how to shoot dynamic photos with soft silky water, cotton-like clouds moving across the sky, or light trails emanating from cars cruising down the road at night? If so, the comprehensive guide in the video below is all you need for getting the job done.