Videos And Articles
Lightroom’s New Feather & Edge Mask Controls Explained
Have you ever subtracted an object from a Lightroom mask, only to find a thin ridge left behind around the selection? Cleaning that up usually means reaching for the Brush tool and carefully painting along the edge.
Lightroom Classic’s new Feather and Edge controls give you a faster way to soften, expand, or contract many AI-generated masks. In this video, I’ll explain how the controls work, which masking tools support them, and where Edge is already saving me cleanup time.
Use What Lightroom’s AI Landscape Mask Leaves Behind
What happens when Lightroom’s AI landscape masking doesn’t recognize the subject you want to edit? Sometimes, the missing selection is exactly what you need.
In this video, I combine Lightroom’s vegetation and mountain masks with inversion, subtraction, and a radial gradient to isolate the architecture at Machu Picchu. The result adds depth to the scene and guides attention without requiring painstaking brushwork.
When Lightroom Distraction Removal Is Too Aggressive
Lightroom may correctly find every person in a photograph and still make a mess when it tries to remove them. That’s what happened with this image from Machu Picchu—the AI rebuilt so much of the scene that walkways and structures no longer made sense.
The better approach was to keep the removals that worked, then break the difficult areas into smaller, more targeted pieces. The AI still does the heavy lifting, but you give it a more manageable problem to solve.
The Final 5%: Make Black & White Details Pop With Intersect Masks
Most edits are finished long before they're truly complete. In this video, I'll show you a simple masking technique I use to bring out important details in black and white photos—the final 5% that helps guide the viewer's eye and strengthen the image.
Using Harsh Light to Shape the View in an Alley Scene
Harsh light doesn’t have to ruin a photo—it can shape it. In this quick edit, I show how a simple radial mask turns a Denver alley into a strong, guided composition.
Flat Light? Create Directional Light in Lightroom
Flat light doesn’t have to ruin a good composition. In this new Lightroom tutorial, I show how I use masking to shape directional light, guide the eye, and create more drama from a dull scene.
The Lightroom HDR Trick That Improves SDR Editing
Lightroom’s HDR mode has a hidden benefit even if you never edit HDR photos. In this quick tutorial, I’ll show you how Visualize HDR can help you find and target your brightest highlights for stronger SDR edits.
Masking Gets Easier When You Think in Segments
Masking gets a lot easier when you stop thinking about tools and start thinking about your photo in segments. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how breaking an image into objects, tones, and colors can help you build better masks faster.
Live Edit! Unscripted & Uncut | Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park
A foggy morning at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park turned into a perfect candidate for a live edit. Come along as I work through the image start to finish — shaping mood, reflections, atmosphere, and depth in real time.
Lightroom's HDR Editing Explained – Is It Worth It?
HDR editing in Lightroom isn’t a default upgrade—it’s a creative choice. The best image is the one that serves the scene, whether that’s HDR or a more restrained SDR edit.
Lightroom’s HDR Editing Explained – HDR Limit (Revisited)
The HDR Limit slider in Lightroom is simple on the surface, but there’s more going on behind the scenes. This video explains how HDR Limit, display capability, and monitor brightness all work together so you can make better HDR editing decisions.
Lightroom’s HDR Editing Explained – SDR Rendition
Not every screen supports HDR — and that’s where the SDR rendition sliders come in.