Beginner users of Adobe Photoshop are often tempted to jump right to brightness and contrast to adjust their photos during post-processing. But there’s a better way - the levels tool.

The levels palette in Photoshop displays the image’s histogram - a visual representation of the brightness data within an image. By knowing how to manipulate the levels sliders, you can increase the contrast in an image. The levels tool makes a big difference in images taken outside on an overcast day or on any other type of photo needing a pop.

Check out our Photoshop video tutorial on levels after the jump.

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Getting the sky right in a photograph is hard. Even with the exposure set exactly right, harsh lighting can result in a sky that is blown out and boring. The solution has long been to use a polarizer, which increases the contrast in the sky. But these filters are expensive, and many cheaper digital cameras cannot even support their use. Instead of breaking out your wallet to spring for an expensive filter, here’s Photoshop to the rescue. I’ll take you through how to enhance your skies and simulate the effect of a polarizer in this latest Photoshop video tutorial. Watch it after the jump, and click here to see our first Photoshop video tutorial if you missed it earlier this week. Read the rest of this entry »

Cheapshooter helps get your images from gray to pure white in our first Photoshop video tutorial. This is a great way of taking your photos from the Do-It-Yourself Lightbox one step further. See how after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »