12 Photoshop / Lightroom Tutorials For Improving Landscapes

Landscapes are a popular photographic subject and even though good shots can be produced straight out of camera, most of the time people find themselves making small tweaks to their images when they're back home, sat in front of the computer.

The list of edits that can be made to an image is rather lengthy and includes less noticeable things such as adjusting the exposure slightly as well as bigger changes like adding rainbows, rain or replacing skies.

In this quick round-up we've picked out 12 tutorials that cover a variety of ways landscapes can be improved, added to and enhanced. You can find more Lightroom and Photoshop tutorials in ePHOTOzine's technique section.

How To Straighten Horizons In Photoshop

It may sound like a simple edit but it's one that's well-worth doing. Have a look through your landscapes and if you find any with wonky horizons have a read of this tutorial. 

How To Turn A Coloured Landscape Mono

On days when skies are gloomy and the light's not great for colour photography you can seek out strong shapes in the landscape and convert your images to black & white.


 

Adding Realistic Film Grain In Photoshop

This isn't a tutorial that can just be applied to landscapes, however if you're creating a moody mono, a little bit of grain can enhance the effect. As Robin Whalley says in the introduction to the tutorial: "There is nothing quite like a dramatic, gritty, black and white landscape image to evoke an emotional response."

How To Give Skies More Drama In Photoshop

A great sky can help make a great landscape and in this tutorial, Robin Whalley will show you how to blend part of an image with itself to create a cracking sky.

How To Use The Dodge And Burn Tool In Photoshop

You apply dodging and burning to selective areas of an image to either lighten or darken them. By doing so, your shot will have more impact and appeal.

Working With The Tone Curve Tool In Lightroom

This is another tutorial that isn't specifically about landscapes as the Tone Curve Tool can be used to adjust various types of images. The Tone Curve Tool's purpose is to adjust the tones in an image so that they can be made lighter or darker.

Improve Shots Taken In Foggy Conditions

If you have a landscape where a veil of fog is hiding a little too much detail, there's an easy way in Photoshop to edit the shot so your subject is more detailed and distinct.

Replace A Sky In Photoshop

If your sky's not quite right then change it for a better one with the help of Photoshop. It's easy to do so long as you have a collection of skies to pick from. 

How To Add A Digital Rainbow To Shots

If you have a landscape with a moody sky you can add a rainbow to the shot with the gradient tool in Photoshop.

Using Graduated Filters In Lightroom

The graduated filter in Lightroom is a very useful tool for balancing exposures so if you have a landscape that's lacking definition in the sky, you can apply a graduated filter to improve the overall look of the shot. 

How To Add Snow To A Shot In Photoshop

The snow may not be falling outside but don't worry; there's an easy way to create it in Photoshop!

How To Add Digital Mist To Images In Photoshop

Adding mist to a landscape photograph is surprisingly quick if you use Photoshop's Gradient tool.

 

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