 By Chamira Young After hearing all the buzz about Skylum's Luminar 2018, I couldn't help but become at least a bit curious. For an editing software to become so popular so quickly, I knew there had to be a reason. And when Skip suggested we start this "Luminar Corner" to have some fun testing it out, I nearly jumped at the chance. While I pay the bills doing mostly portrait photography and have an editing workflow I'm quite comfortable with, I believe it's important to periodically experiment with new software and re-evaluate your workflow. You might discover something you like better! Today's image: Because this was my first time dipping my toe into the waters of Luminar, I chose a simple flower photo to enhance. The irony is I couldn't keep a plant alive to save my life, and yet this image is one of my favorites. I also couldn't tell you what kind of flower it is, because I simply have no idea. I still love it though! Getting started with Luminar 2018 was very easy in that the presets give you an easy avenue to start experimenting and having some fun right away. While it was a toss up between the "Image Enhancer" preset and the "Vivid" preset, I ultimately choose the "Vivid" preset and made some custom adjustments, all by eye. I lowered the Shadow slider a bit, thus increasing the appearance of shadows, and also raised the Contrast slider by about 16 points. And tempting as they were, I chose to leave the Saturation and Vibrance sliders alone, because I didn't want to overdo the image. My goal was to make it pop a bit while still being tasteful. While I thought the original image was lovely enough, I was quite pleased with the quick boost I was able to give it in, all in about 2.5 minutes. Oftentimes, especially with nature, it can be tough to capture an image the way you saw it. Being able to easily restore those visual qualities in the editing phase is awesome. Let's take one more look at the finished product. I may very well print that on a canvas and put it on my wall! To check out the complete Skylum lineup and learn what all the buzz is about, just click on the banner below my flower image.   Click for more info 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 right, SCU will be donating $5 to Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.
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