Photoshop How To

Masks may be one of the most misunderstood tools in all of Lightroom. Last week we shared a tutorial on how to use masks in Lightroom and how not to use them. Because if you don't use this tool properly, it really can ruin your photos.

There are some tools in Lightroom that photographers use all the time and some we avoid. But just because we avoid these tools, doesn't mean they aren't extremely useful.

One nagging issue with digital cameras is that they tend to give teeth in portraits an unappealing, yellow cast. Combine this with the fact that a lot of people consume coffee, sodas, and other substances that can stain teeth, and you likely have a lot of yellowy choppers popping up in your portraits.

As the great Ansel Adams once said: "You don't take a photograph, you make it." But what makes a dramatic landscape photo? There are, of course, lots of things but photographer Mark Denney zeros in on one specific effect that can make or break a shot.

One of the biggest challenges faced by landscape photographers is arriving at a proper exposure when shooting scenes with a wide-range of tones that exceed the dynamic range of their cameras. In such cases conventional camera-settings or editing methods may not be up to the task.

This tutorial begins with a surprising self-effacing admission for someone who has been teaching and using Lightroom for years: "I'm so stupid I thought this was a Lightroom bug; but it's actually an obscure tool." We encourage you to watch the four-minute explanation, just in case you've made the same mistake.