Photoshop How To

Dynamic Range is one of the most important photography concepts to understand, both with regard to a camera's capabilities and how you edit your work. Some shooters don't know exactly what the term means, but just about everyone knows they want more.

Yesterday we debunked a popular myth that shooting in Manual mode is the only way to capture great images. Today we're going that route again by addressing the conventional wisdom that Raw files are always better than Jpegs.

We've had discussions in the past about how a heavy-handed approach to post processing can be worse than no editing at all and can really mess up an otherwise nice shot. There are also times that problem occur because of a failure to understand how common tools work, and this often results in easy-to-correct mistakes

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.

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.

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."

Experienced Photoshop and Lightroom users understand the difference between enhancing images in a realistic way and ruining an otherwise nice shot by creating an "overcooked" effect. This quick tutorial from the Yorkshire Photo Walks YouTube channel explains where to draw the line.