Photoshop How To

We’re going to let you in on a big secret in today’s Photoshop tutorial; namely the “secret to eye-catching foregrounds” when editing travel, nature, and landscape images. 

This unique method uses both focal length blending and perspective blending to emphasize interesting foreground objects by making them bigger and brighter, while creating a nice balance with the background of a scene. All you need is a base image with the main subject, and another for the background.

We regularly turn to German outdoor photographer Christian Mohrle for powerful editing tips that are easy to execute. This episode only takes 15 minutes to watch, and it will make a huge difference in your results. Before hitting the “Play” button, be sure to download the Raw files in the description beneath the video, so you can follow along and make the adjustments yourself in real time.

Before demonstrating his powerful merging technique, Mohrle makes several basic adjustments to the overall image. His goal is to add warmer colors and give the photo a soft, dreamy look. He adjusts White Balance for more warmth, drops both highlights and shadows, and slightly increases the blacks.

Mohrle also uses a sky selection mask to dark the top right portion of the photo, and he employs a radial gradient to add glow. A couple quick color adjustments and you’re ready for the meat of the tutorial.

After synchronizing the Raw files, Mohrle merges them using the clone stamp tool. Then he adjusts the size and position of the flowers in the foreground using the Transform tool.

For his finishing touches Mohrle adds more glow with the Brush tool, brightens the foreground flowers with a bit of dodging, and makes the colors even stronger. Bottom line: quick, easy, and very effective.

You can find more editing tips on Mohrle’s YouTube channel, so be sure to pay a visit and subscribe.

And check out another important tutorial we posted recently, explaining five reasons for mediocre photos and how to do things right.