Remember the word "fun?" It's one of those very special, easily understood words that are too often lost in business today. "Fun," often disappears under the baggage of business and the stress of responsibilities and commitments. We forget to make the time for fun. A month ago I was introduced to Luminar 2018, and it's added a new dimension of fun to my images. Two weeks ago I shared the first post in Luminar Corner, a new SCU feature. Chamira Young and I are taking turns every other Wednesday having fun with Skylum's Luminar 2018. Each week we're sharing a different tool or combination of filters and then using the before and after slide bar. I pulled today's image from my archives going back to Szalay's farm stand in Akron two years ago. It was about this same time of year and loaded with pumpkins and the typical fall collection of squashes, dried corn, and a harvest theme. The original image was shot in 2016 with one of my favorite cameras to travel with, the LUMIX FZ300. It was shot at f3.2 @ 1/160 ISO 100. I combined two of Luminar's tools. First, I used the "Tonal Compressor" preset. While it's easily adjustable, I left it at 100%. It recovers highlights and opens the shadows and adds a hair of contrast, saturation and clarity. Second, I love the "Structure" filter which I pushed just a little. The definition of what it does, right from the drop-down box in Luminar 2018 is: "Enhances clarity and micro-contrast in surface areas between edges detected in an image improving perceived detail and making photos stand out." I know everybody has their own opinion on stuff like this. For me, it was fun giving a flat, boring image a little more personality and a stronger illustrative look. It's what I was going for, and it's an especially good way to demo what this amazing software is capable of doing! It's a NO-Brainer!Put in the special discount code of "SKIPCOHEN" and receive an additional $10 off. That means you can buy Luminar 2018 for $49 USD and upgrade from the previous version for $39 USD. The code also applies to the purchase of Aurora HDR 2019. Please Note: For every purchase made between now and November 30, 2018, through the SCU link on the left, SCU will be donating $5 to Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.
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