All landscape photographers need to learn how to edit their images. The problem is that there are countless tutorials on editing landscape photos using Photoshop. To get you started, I’ll show you the basics of how to edit landscape images with Photoshop.

How to edit landscape photos with Photoshop

You can edit your landscape images in millions of different ways. This is why many photographers go to great lengths to create images that do not look like the main scene at all.

It is important that your landscape photos look natural.

The purpose of editing landscape images using Photoshop is to correct camera errors and sensor limitations.

If you want the best results, it is important to note that you must take photos in RAW format . Only then can you use all the tools and functions that Photoshop offers.

 

Step 1: Start editing from the Camera RAW section

This is the first way I work when editing a landscape image in Photoshop. I am using this image of Cotopexy volcano that I took a few days ago.

Step # 1- Discovering Your Purpose

The first problem with this photo is that I had to take it a few steps darker to preserve the details and texture of the snow.

Open the RAW file in Photoshop. The Camera RAW window appears. Using the Exposure section knob, adjust the brightness so that the whole image appears correctly exposed.

In this example, I’m not paying attention to snow right now.

Step 2: Adjust shadows and highlights

After adjusting the brightness, some parts of the photo may not look right. In my case, the snow has faded and swelled. Use the Highlights  and  Shadows handles to restore texture and detail to those areas. It doesn’t have to look very good yet, we will add final edits in Photoshop.

Step 3: Adjust the white balance

It was a very sunny day, and the camera corrected the white balance a little too much (!). This scene looked warmer when I took the picture. Use the White balance knob to make the whole image warmer or colder. For example, photos taken at dusk are often better when there is more blue in the photo.

 

Step Four: Color and saturation ( Colors and Saturation )

The colors look a little too flat (!) And so-called “dull”. I want to make them a little more visible. Use the handles of the Vibrance and Saturation sections to adjust the colors and overall appearance of this landscape photo.

Do not overdo it. It’s good to try these handles, but you have to keep the colors real and natural.

Try to stay as close as possible to the main scene of the photo.

Sometimes there is a lot of fog in the distance of the image. This affects the contrast of your landscape photo.

Use the Dehaze section grip to add contrast to those parts of the photo.

Step 2: Final editing in Photoshop

Always edit the final details in Photoshop. Some landscape photo editing tutorials in Photoshop are overkill. I like to keep it simple.

The first step: Levels Set

At the bottom of the layers, click on the ( Add adjustment layer ) icon and select Levels . 

Click on the small triangles in the Levels window and drag them inwards. This will reduce the contrast of your photo. In this example, I have to pull the white triangle inwards a lot to create the overall contrast of the image.

However, this does affect image highlights. So we have to correct it.

Step 2: Restore the highlights

Select the Brush tool from the sidebar and place it on Darken in the top bar . 

Now, the brush will only affect the highlights of the image.

Be sure to select the layer mask thumbnail in the Levels adjustment layer you created.

Now, start drawing the brush on the highlighted parts of the image. The color of the brush should be set to black and the layer mask should be on the thumb part. You will see the changes.

Because it was a sunny day, I do not care if the snow shines a little (!) But it should be a reference to its texture.

Step 3: Dodge and Burn tools

Now, we can use the Dodge and Burn tools to lighten or darken certain parts of the image. Dodge to brighten and Burn to darken. I used Dodge to brighten up the background of the photo.

Select one of these tools to drag on the image.

In the top menu you can choose whether you want the highlights ( Highlights ), mid tones ( Mid-tones ) or shadows ( Shadows ) affect your photos.

You can also undo the changes you made with the Ctrl + Z key combination on Windows (or Cmd + Z on Mac) and go back.

Step 4 : Crop

Finally, crop the image. Select the Crop tool and set a dimension ratio for it. Usually you have to keep the original dimensions.

For example, sometimes it looks better when the image is cropped to 16: 9 or square. Capture and drag the corners of the image until it is well cut. 

 

and over…

These are the basic edits you need to know and start trying.