Videos And Articles
A Better Way to Add a Vignette to Black and White Photos
A vignette can help guide the viewer toward your subject, but lowering exposure around the edges of a black and white photo can quickly bury important shadow detail.
In this quick tutorial, I’ll show you a more controlled approach using a radial gradient and the Whites or Highlights slider. You’ll still get that visual nudge toward the subject without making already-dark areas disappear.
Embrace Constraints and Find the Photograph That Is There
What do you do when the weather is dull, the surf is uninteresting, and a dead battery takes away one of the tools you normally rely on?
You can spend the outing wishing conditions were different—or let those constraints narrow your choices and point you toward another photograph. In this video, I share how I adapted during a recent seascape outing and why limitations can sometimes give your photography clearer direction.
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.
Soften Water To Make Your Subject Stand Out
When water isn't the subject, it may be competing for attention. Here's a simple masking technique that softens and darkens water so your real subject becomes the star of the photograph.
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.
Start With Crop: Strengthen Your Composition First
Want stronger compositions in your photos? Start with the crop — here’s a winter landscape example that shows exactly how I think ahead while editing.
This One Small Adjustment Brought My Black & White Photo to Life
Brightness isn’t always your friend—sometimes it flattens depth and makes part of your photo feel visually “heavy.” In this tutorial, I show how a simple burn adjustment restores dimension and balance in a black-and-white scene.
The Journey of a Photo: Shaping Light & Shadow
A handful of local adjustments seemed enough to guide the eye toward a forgotten doorway—until curiosity pushed the edit further. Join me as I shape light and shadow, exploring “what if” moments that transformed the mood of this abandoned whaling station.
Control The Light, Own The Narrative
When you take command of light in your edits, you take command of the story your image tells.
Revisiting a 10-Year Old Photo: How My Editing Evolved
Revisit a 10-year-old photo with me and see how much can change when you focus on visual storytelling over time. By reshaping light and refining tone, you’ll see how an image becomes more natural, stronger, and more compelling with a more mature vision.
Live Edit: High Key Black & White
An unscripted black and white edit, shaping a foggy morning of boats into a high key, dreamlike scene. From raw frame to final image, it’s all about light, mood, and letting the photograph lead the way.