I get asked a lot what sort of post processing techniques I use by people looking for some more advanced photography tips. It's a tough question to answer because I use a lot of different programs and techniques and am always picking up new ones. One of the main pieces of software I now use on almost all my landscapes is Color Efex Pro.

COLOR EFEX PRO REVIEW

You can see a review along with some of my sample photos I posted on my blog: Color Efex Pro Review

There are also some more advanced sharpening tricks I like to use in conjunction with Color Efex Pro.

LIST OF SHARPENING TECHNIQUES

There are three ways I'll sharpen an Image. One is self explanatory using the Basic Sharpening Tools in Lightroom. It's a decent tool and fine for my basic everyday stuff. 

There are two other techniques listed below I like to use for my Landscapes. 

HIGH PASS FILTER

I learned the High Pass filter technique from this Tutorial. I've expanded on it more than what he shows here and have added a few new tricks in the mix. Instead of creating a single High Pass layer with a high setting I use two layers. One with higher radius, then one low around 1-2% to really pull out the micro details.

UNSHARP MASK + FIND EDGES

The other sharpening technique I like but don't use as often involves using Find Edges in a Channel Mask with the Unsharp Mask. You can learn how to do that with this Tutorial.

Those three sharpening techniques and Color Efex Pro are some of my primary tools I use on almost every photo, along with Photomatix and Lighroom. I almost always do final touches in Lightroom since it's by far the easiest and fastest tool for adjusting photos. I'll be adding a whole photography tips section to the site soon for those looking to learn more about how I like to post process my HDR photography.

Today's HDR Photo

With this photo I used the techniques above. It's a shot in Iwakuni Japan during the Fall of some of the Japanese Maple Trees. Autumn in Japan is amazing and very colorful.