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2018-08-05: Processing with Luminar

As I mentioned in my July in Review post, this month I am going to be exploring editing images using Luminar 2018.  When I was still using Lightroom and Photoshop, I used the MacPhun plugins quite a lot (especially the Tonality plug-in) so some of the interface and working of Luminar feels familiar, but I really wanted to take a deep dive with the program and get proficient is using it and develop a workflow around it.

Just to get this out of the way, I don’t have any affiliation with Skylum, the makers of Luminar or with any of the creators of the resources I may mention or share links to.  Luminar is one of several editing programs that I use, and any links that I mention are from my searches online for Luminar editing tutorials and resources.  I’m including links to them in case someone else may find them useful.

In terms of resources, the most logical place to start is direct with the developer.  There are loads of videos on the Skylum Youtube Channel from Getting Started videos to tutorials that deal with specific processing situations such as landscapes and portraits.  I watched a few of the Problem Solving, Core Skills, Quick Knowledge and Inspiration videos when I first got the software to give me an overview of where to find things, and have just watched a few chapters from Anthony Morganti’s Mastering Luminar 2018 as a refresher, since I only used the program once since purchasing it.  Over the coming week I’ll post more resources as I work through them.

I decided to work on an image that didn’t need a lot of work, just some basic refinements including removing dust spots, cropping, adding some detail and contrast, and adjusting the tone of the sky.

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This is the Raw file, exported from On1 Photo Raw.  The only thing I did is add my photo logo and resize the image on export.  I use On1 Photo Raw as my main photo editor and organizer tool.

I sent this image to Luminar from On1 Photo Raw, selecting the “Edit the raw file option”.

The settings I used in Luminar for this image are below:

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Luminar has a handy before and after view; the slider can be adjusted to show more or less of the before image.
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Here is the image edited with Luminar.  I’m not really happy with the logo application, but there is a special preset that can be downloaded to help with that which I haven’t done yet.  To be fair, I’m not 100% happy with the logo function in On1 either.

 

 

 

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2018-04-02: Monochrome Monday

Does this bring back memories of childhood for anyone else?  Of the times when your sibling was being a complete jerk and Mom looked on and told you to sort it out for yourselves??? 🙂

Happy Monday Everyone!

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Got your tail!  A pair of leopard cubs play under the watchful gaze of their Mom.  Londolozi, May 2017.
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2018-03-27: WPC Favourite Place

The topic this week and last are very similar for me.  Last week, I told you that I’d rather be on safari and this week I’m going to tell you that my favourite place is being amongst the elephants in the African bush.  I must admit, I don’t really like the concept of a favourite place per se, because it feels like it discounts so many amazing experiences over the years.  But, I have often said if I could only limit myself to traveling to one place the rest of my life (and even so far as if I had to choose only one animal to spend the rest of my days with) it would be in Africa amongst the elephants.

There is just something about being in the proximity of elephants, feeling their rumbles, listening to their calls, watching them interact and go about their days that fills me with such peace and joy.

I hope you enjoy my selection of images this week.

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Elephants playing in the Boteti River in Botswana.
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A large bull elephant at Nxai Pan in Botswana.
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A pair of bull elephants at a small waterhole on Phinda Game Reserve in South Africa.
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An elephant family drinking at a broken water pipe on Londolozi in South Africa.
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Pushing on the tree to shake down fruits in the Okavango Delta.
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Part of a larger herd that I spent time with one morning on Phinda Game Reserve.
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A desert adapted elephant seen near the Skeleton Coast in Namibia.

WPC: Favourite Place

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2018-02-04: Revisiting old work

For February, I have decided that my topic for the month will be revisiting old work.  It was one of the shortlisted topic ideas that I had come up with back in December, and lately, it is a concept I have been encountering over and over in the educational resources I am working through, in articles that I read and podcasts that I have been listening to.  I think it is an excellent concept as there have been improvements in photo editing software over the years, plus I’ve added a lot more tools into my editing toolbox and my skills at editing have improved with time and practice.

I am going to try to look for a mix of images that I can show both a then and now edited version of an image, and also work on images for the first time.  I am sure there are many images that I passed over throughout the years because I simply didn’t have the skills to correct for errors in the field, difficult lighting scenarios or heavy noise.

Here is my first instalment of revisiting old work:

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I originally edited this giraffe image upon returning home from a trip in 2014.  below is my revisit to the image.
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Today’s take on the same image; the changes are not dramatic, but textures in the images are definitely a lot more apparent.
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I love the surreal nature of this deer at sunrise in thick fog.  Taken along to Pitt River October, 2013.
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Way back to the first trip where I had a DSLR camera, a Nikon D5100 with kits lens.  I was on a Caribbean cruise and spent loads of time shooting images off the balcony, but never edited any of them till much later.  January, 2012.
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Wild horses on Grand Turk, January 2012.  This was a shore excursion on the same trip as the image above.  I took a short walk from the main tourist area along the beach and found these two horses grazing. It felt like a rather improbable sighting at the time, but during my travels I have come to learn that many animals can survive quite well in areas that seem to have rather meaner resources.

 

It’s been fun rooting through my photo catalogues for old images to work on.  Pop by next Sunday to see what else I turn up.

 

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.