Luminar 4 Update

I bought Luminar 4 for its Portrait capabilities but just this week, I started using it for landscapes shot in my backyard and around my neighbourhood.

In a word: AWESOME! If you are on Instagram and you search for #luminar, you'll find some amazing photos.

Here's a Before and After using 5% Photoshop and 95% Luminar. The Before is a SOOC JPG, AWB, using an APS-C Sony A77II and a 25 year-old Minolta 70-210 F4 (the Beercan), It was overcast and the fog was just lifting off. I had gone out hoping to shoot a pair of mallards that visit the seasonal pond in the woods behind the house, as it is their annual thing to do. I didn't see them so I shot this scene, more as a record and not really hoping for any print-worthy images. If I had expected potentially amazing scenes, I would have used my Sony A7III and the far sharper Tamron 70-200 F2.8.

There is a plethora of imaging software out there, almost all doing the same things. I typically use Camera RAW in Adobe Photoshop. Based on my initial use, I find Luminar 4 to have more specific tools with more nuanced controls. For example, for this set, the Gradient Tool, and Dehaze to reduce the fog/mist, is superior to anything else that I have tried.

Based on this exercise, Luminar 4 seems to offer the possibility of getting more out of my SOOC JPGS, for maximum results. I can't wait to revisit the Olympus JPGS that I have from a Philippine trip 12 years ago. I had to use Photomatix HDR to get the best out of those files.

26Mar2020