Landscapes aren't particularly hard to Photoshop, as really there is minimal work to be done, unlike portraiture. Well it depends if you are creating an image from a number of pictures, but I dont do this because it seems kind of deceitful to the viewer.

Anyway this will be a quick and easy tute on how I Photoshop my landscapes. I don't use it on every landscape, of course, but it is good for enhancing the colours in sunsets.

step one: open your image, I took this one earlier tonight.


Pretty ok, but the colours are kind of washed out (I like to overexpose a little so to get detail in the ground). A grad filter would enhance the sky colour, but what about the water? So to fix this duplicate the layer, and Gaussian blur this layer, at about 20. Then set this layer to soft light. I get something looking like this.


If you are pressed for time, you can leave it like this, or add a simple curves adjustment. But I will continue because thats one thing I got plenty of, time ! Anyway. I dont like the blurred vegetation so add a layer mask (the rectangle like box below your layers) and paint away with a black brush. See tip #7...

Capturing landscapes can be a rewarding and fun way for us to use our digital cameras. Here’s an easy-to-follow tutorial that shows us the import things to keep in mind when we want to take our landscapes pictures from ordinary to exceptional.