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No matter what photo editing software you use—Lightroom, ON1 Photo RAW, Luminar—it all comes down to one thing: knowing your tools. If you understand the masking options available to you, you can select and refine any part of your photo. Whether it's a sky, a subject, or a subtle edge, each program gives you the power to isolate what matters. It's not about which software is better—it's about how well you know the tools at your fingertips. In this video, I’ll show you how I accomplish the same selection in multiple photo editors.
Selection in Lightroom
Selection in ON1 Photo RAW
Selection in Luminar Neo
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
When you take command of light in your edits, you take command of the story your image tells.
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.