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Last fall during Photokina we ran a report on the weirdest lens we’ve ever seen, the Laowa 24mm f/14 2X Macro from Venus optics. And now, although there is still no information on availability or price, the Chinese company has released three short videos illustrating the capabilities of the lens.

There’s nothing quite like red to catch the eye, whether it dominates the photograph or is a spot of bright red within a complementary color field. In fact, one travel photographer we know always carries a red umbrella in his travel kit, just to add some visual spark when he’s on assignment and gets stuck with a murky, overcast day. For this “Red!” assignment, we wanted shots that popped the color as well. Boosting saturation a bit was permitted, but we asked that you kept it as close to the “real” red as you could.

The Tone Curve is one of the most powerful tools in Photoshop, Lightroom and other image-editing software. The proper use of Curves adjustments is also unfamiliar to many photographers, and the five-minute video below will set you straight.

Have you ever wondered why photos and videos of a helicopter in flight look unpredictably weird? Sometimes the helicopter blades appear as a blur, while other times (as in the video below), the blades look like they’re not moving at all.

Weird Lens Guru Mattieu Stern is at it again with this DIY project explaining how to make a Lenbaby style tilt-shift lens for a mere $30. All you need is a cheap vintage Soviet Helios lens, a rubber tube, and you’re good to go.

Image-editing impresario Nathaniel Dodson of Tutvid is our go-to source of in-depth Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials that are guaranteed to make a huge difference in the quality of your images. The video below provides a wealth of information on 10 hidden and obscure Photoshop tools that you’ll use from now on.

Everyone want nice crisp images, right? But there’s a difference between “crisp” and “crispy” as you’ll learn in the video below. Photoshop offers a variety of sharpening tools, filters and techniques, and this tutorial explains the best approach for various types of photos.