Here’s a common scenario that many of us have faced on occasion: You travel to a distant location that you’ll likely never visit again and get totally skunked by the weather despite the numerous opportunities that abound. We not talking about rain or storms, but rather boring blue skies every single day.

Fortunately, there’s a straightforward post processing trick that will enable Lightroom users of all skill levels to transform these ho-hum images into attention-grabbing winners with the WOW factor. And that’s what instructor Nickolas Warner explains how to do in the next 10 minutes.

Warner is a globe-trotting pro who specializes in landscape and travel photography. He’s also a respected educator whose YouTube channel is designed to help others up their game in the field and behind the computer by gaining insight into how he shoots and processes his images in Photoshop and Lightroom.

Today’s example is a well-composed image captured at Sapat Beach in faraway Pakistan on one of those days that everyone loves—except for photographers, i.e. there’s nary a cloud in sight. He jumps into Lightroom’s Develop module by pressing the keyboard shortcut “D.” He next walks you through several preliminary adjustments that will help retrieve a bit of dynamic range.

Warner chooses the Adobe Neutral profile that he says is a good choice for images shot against the sun. Then he increases overall exposure, opens the shadows and blacks, and takes down those highlights. He also modifies contrast and brings up vibrance to recapture some of the color that was muted due to the Neutral profile in use.

At this point his base image is ready to go as soon as he eliminates a few distracting dust spots. Now it’s time for the meat of the tutorial—namely dealing with the bland sky—and Warner devotes the remainder of the video to demonstrating the simple step-by-step process. Compare his before/after images and you’ll be very impressed.

When the video concludes head over to Warner’s popular YouTube channel where there are many more interesting photo adventures and how-to videos to be found.

We also encourage you to watch the tutorial we featured with an accomplished Australian pro who reveals five essential post-processing tips that he says every landscape photographer should learn immediately.

We all love photographing birds, whether we’re shooting a local reserve, a nearby park, or even in the comfort of our backyard. Unfortunately, there’s a common focusing problem that occurs when the subject is perched among tree branches that can easily fool a camera’s AF system.

In the video below from expert Paul Miguel you’ll learn an effective solution for capturing sharp bird photos when distracting elements like branches or foliage make this difficult. He’s a professional wildlife photographer based in the UK, specializing in birds, with a popular YouTube channel dedicated to simplifying the process for beginner and novice shooters .

Miguel explains why a camera’s Focus-Tracking mode doesn’t get the job done, and why he recommends choosing the Spot Focus mode instead and how it can be used to pick out a bird through the branches. He admits that that this approach may fail when the cluster of branches is really thick, in which case you may think it’s time to select Manual focus instead.

But not so quick, because what if the bird suddenly moves to a less obstructed position where autofocus can be really helpful for nailing the shot? This is the reason for Miguel’s “hybrid” focusing technique that he demonstrates in the next seven minutes.

Miguel explains the process like this: “I temporarily lock the autofocus, grab the focus ring on my lens, and focus manually, and this works well if you’re using back-button focus.” Then if the bird moves to a less-cluttered spot it’s a simple matter to reengage autofocus and fire away.

As you’ll see, there are a few ways you can configure the camera appropriately depending upon your preferred method of shooting. Miguel urges you to be willing to experiment and accept the fact that there may be a few frustrating failed attempts, because there’s no doubt that these situations can be a hit-or-miss affair.

That said, your odds of success will increase dramatically by taking the aforementioned hybrid approach and understanding the specific details you’ll learn as this episode unfolds. Then head over to Miguel’s instructional YouTube channel and consider joining his 43K enthusiastic subscribers.

And be sure not to miss the earlier tutorial we featured with an Australian pro who insists that shutter speed is your camera’s most power exposure option for capturing unique photographs with a creative flair.