Speaker 3 (00:01.164)
Welcome to the LumaCast, your premier gateway to the universe of limitless photo editing.
into the galaxy of Luminar software and the dynamic world of AI photo editing. Join us weekly for a burst of creativity and the drive to transform your photos with confidence and skill. Broadcasting directly from Clever Photographer headquarters, it's time to welcome your hosts, Jacob Boars and Holly Linton.
Hello everyone and welcome back to the third episode of Lumicast. We are back together with Holly and we are here ready to talk to you about photo editing, photography and of course Luminar Nio. Well, you already been with us before but my name is Jacob Bors, I'm landscape photographer based in West Sussex, England and on the side of me is the biggest fan of Luminar Nio in North America, Holly Linton. Holly, how are you?
Brilliant. So last week we talked about the myths of editing in Luminar Neo. The week before we gave some awards to Luminar Neo tools and this week we are here to talk about
Speaker 2 (01:15.968)
Awesome. Are you a big fan of Spring?
Speaker 2 (01:41.87)
And I guess we should mention that you quite recently moved more to a countryside or is that right?
Speaker 2 (02:00.078)
Great. So spring photography. Well, talking about spring photography, I think it's really exciting. I guess depending which part of the world you're from, but in general, spring obviously does come after the quite long winter, which again, depending what type of photographer you are, but it can be a little bit dull and long and you know, the weather kind of goes on and off. So there is less opportunities to go out with a camera. So I think we both just like all the photographers out there really welcome the spring and its arrival.
and we go out more. in general, think spring photography is known for nice saturation, colors, fresh colors, beautiful glow, a beautiful kind of mystical look to it. And you can photograph anything from landscapes and cityscapes, families and animals arriving and yeah, all stuff. Now I am more the landscape guy, but I know that Holly does like to take pictures of animals.
Speaker 2 (03:04.278)
awesome. So what is the last animal you photographed?
Speaker 2 (03:13.004)
Awesome. Anyway, so those are all the things you can photograph in spring and that brings us nicely into Luminar Neo where now we're going to be talking about tools we like to use when we edit spring photos. Holi, what about if you start? What are your favorite tools you use when you're your spring photos?
Speaker 2 (05:14.958)
Great! Overlays or layers panel and color tools across luminaries was Holly's tips. I also use color tools. I'm a massive fan of HSL panel and for that kind of really saturated pictures in a spring, talking about tulips and flowers and trees, this is, I think it's almost necessary to go in and adjust your tones for your greens and for your flowers and just to be really careful that you don't over saturate the image.
And at the same time, just finding a really good view, guess that's what I'm looking for. So definitely color tool is also one of my favorite. When we talking about some of my pictures for spring, I already mentioned that I really like to capture images with kind of warm glow because after the winter, I think, you know, when we see the glow, think it's really warm up people and it create emotions. And that's something that I like to do with my photos.
So there are different ways you can do this in Lumina Neo, but one of my favorite is just to bring in overlay with a nice warm glow, apply it to the image, know, change the blend mode from normal into the screen and just be really creative with that. I think that works really well. Color tool I already mentioned. Another thing which works very well in Spring is to capture like a mystical captures with maybe a little bit of fog or mist in a forest or maybe across the fields in the morning.
It's hard to describe the method to my madness. With regards to the edits I've done in the last few weeks, I will say that I've chosen to take spring also as a time of seeing what lenses I have in my closet and in my camera drawer that I haven't used in a while, kind of re-familiarize yourself with all your gear. So I had a few lenses from Santa that I hadn't even opened yet.
And if you want to enhance that even further, I think the Atmosphere AI tool is great for that. I think lots of people think that you have to use it just for adding fog, because it hasn't been there, but actually you can use it also just to enhance the fog in the image. And I think that can work really well. And I couldn't run my list of tools without mentioning the Mystical Tool, because there is no edit for Jacob without using the Mystical Tool. So I like to use that a lot and spring photography is definitely.
Speaker 1 (06:56.534)
A few lens baby lenses, not everybody might be familiar with. They're really just creative art lenses and they're all manual and they have all sorts of effects built in. So you were talking earlier about glow and mystical and stuff. My vision is by using those lenses is already got the glow and it's almost like a blur. They have a center of focus and everything blurs around it depending which lens you're using. So I guess my creative vision.
Definitely another category where I use it a lot. Just one more thing which works really well with Easter is also cinematic look. You know, when you have these kind of open scenes, open landscapes or cityscapes or fields, I think creating a little bit of cinematic effect can work really well. And tools I like to use for that is, for example, FilmGrain. I think that's really cool because we all get used to watch
already is leaning towards that ethereal type of look for springtime photography.
maybe like old photos or maybe older movies. And when we see a little bit of that grain, it makes us think of cinematography. So I think that works well. Another really cool tool for that is a matte tool with a little bit of fade. For some reason, the connection between film grain and matte tool works really well. You know, when you kind of crush, you don't have really dark, black parts of the image. They are a little bit crushed. I think that can work really well too. And of course, a little bit of toning when you can maybe add a little bit of sepia or something in your photo can work really well.
Lensbaby.com. Yes, the actual name Lensbaby. And then I did a presentation on it once and I said, it's not a lens shaped like a baby. So we could talk about that at another session. I have a lot of knowledge about it just because I own pretty much every one that they have. so anyway, light flares are part of it too. They have a system of different, they're called Omni Wands and it's all different crystals that you attach.
Speaker 2 (07:56.43)
So that's definitely another way to enhance your spring photos. Well, with that, we have managed to run through the first part of our podcast. So we're to take a little break. We're going to listen to this ad and when we come back, we're going to actually talk about the editing techniques we like to use when we edit our spring photos. So don't go anywhere. We speak to you in a minute.
to your lens and so I have a lot of rainbow flares and light leaks. You can create your own kind of, it's like built in overlays basically. So I don't know if you would call that my thought process, but that's just what it's like all the magic is kind of already built in. I don't, my thought process is that I don't have much to do when I'm editing using these lenses. So it is just more of the basic adjustments and just like I'll find I'm just doing a few.
If you're listening to the LumaCast Podcast, then we share something in common. We love editing photos and we love Luminar. It's almost breathtaking what this amazing tech can do for you. On our website, you'll find countless different things to help you be more creative than you ever thought imaginable. From our photo manipulation masterclass to our power bundle with 986 elements, our essential preset bundle, editing software and extensions
simple edits to it and then I'm sitting there like, what else can I do to this? Well, there's nothing else I can do. It already looks great. So that's that part of it. It already kind of has a beauty of its own built right in. But then I've been using textures and some of your backgrounds. So if you've bought assets from somebody like Clever Photographer,
to our tutorials. Harness the power at the website at www.cleverphotographer.com slash luminar. Again, that's cleverphotographer.com slash luminar. Now, back to Lumacast.
Speaker 1 (09:05.258)
look through them and use that as a way of like, that's my project for today. I am using, you know, pick a background out of the collection. So for example, I picked a field of flowers that was in your Easter bundle. And then I say, what could I put in this? What pictures do I already have? Ooh, ooh, I could put a cow in that field and try to make that look realistic or even just have fun with some of it. Let, let other people's assets spark your imagination. So
And we are back with the second part of our podcast where we still talking about spring photography. We have already gone through our favorite tools and now we're to talk about the creative process when it comes to photography and photo editing of our spring captures. So I will go first on this one talking about what I'm thinking when I'm editing my spring captures. So I already mentioned that I'm a big fan of landscape photography. I also photograph cityscapes and seascapes, but somehow
Like thought process is just, don't know if it comes more natural to some people like to be creative or do something out of the ordinary. So I guess that's kind of what I covered. Now there's one other thing that I could mention. I don't know if this is part of a creative process per se, but I just recently got this thing called Bird Buddy. It's a bird feeder that has a camera built in.
During the spring, I really like to go out to forests and fields and mountains and hills and photograph that. So I capture my landscape images. Generally, I try to skip to golden hour time. So that's my way of capturing it. And then when I come back home and when I edit it, I look at the picture and what I'm looking for is maybe a little bit of drama and saturation. I really like my images to create emotions. And that can be often easily done with my spring captures by looking for bold colors.
So I can now edit pictures that that camera's taken and I can also look at the app on my phone and do a live shoot and get pictures of birds that way.
Speaker 2 (10:05.046)
also controlling the lights and just be really creative with it. So of course we always do the basic development and all that stuff, but then when it comes to the actual editing, if the sky is maybe a little bit dull or not working, spring is often the season when I go for sky replacement. I think that can make a big difference. Another thing, as I mentioned earlier, I like to enhance my sun or the light that can be done through different tools in Lumina Mio, like your sun rays or maybe even the magic light, or really easily by using
simple glow overlay, know, just placing it in an image, getting the nice glow. I think that can work really well too. And then when I kind of bring everything together and blend it together, as I mentioned already, I'm looking for that cinematic look. Now, first, I always adjust my colors. I use HSL panel in color tool all the time. And in the spring, I'm even more careful making sure that everything looks as realistic as possible. So I adjust that. And then I go through my mystical tool, adding a little bit of warmth and glow.
I do use the film grain and fade using the matte tool just to add a little bit of that. And finally, when I'm finished, in general, I take a few minutes away because I have a probably quite common problem when I look at the image for too long. I stop seeing things or I start to over process the images.
No, one of my favorite ones I got for $115 when it was on sale. they're pretty much the most expensive lens is probably only about $400 because they are manual. So that keeps the cost down. But because they're manual, forces you to kind of slow down and, you know, use manual exposure. nothing electronic components of your camera will not work with it. It's so fun. It's a whole world of creativity. I'm a big cheerleader. I'm a big cheerleader for lens baby.
So I go for coffee or just maybe look at the garden and I come back and have a look at it. And that's when I do the final part of the editing, like vignette or maybe just a little bit of dodge hand burn. Just these kind of important and powerful edits, but more subtle just to kind of make sure that everything work out together. So that's my way of doing it. And now we're gonna listen to Holly and how she goes through her creative process.
Speaker 2 (11:46.638)
You should try.
Speaker 2 (12:48.022)
If somebody would want to find out more about the lenses, like what would be the brand or type or where could they find out more about them?
That's the actual name.
Speaker 1 (15:20.47)
All right, well, I agree with everything you just said. And then just based on my own experience since spring has sprung would be take advantage of if you have in this part of the world, we have daylight saving time. So now it's a lot brighter. You could be out shooting, you know, till almost eight o'clock at night. So you have the advantage of shooting at the golden hour or the blue hour. So I'd say, you know, maybe.
It's a great idea. This is like a wildlife tip almost that you can do. I actually had a student, and this is maybe like two, three years, who had a similar thing, but it wasn't for birds. He was basically taking pictures of squirrels or chipmunks.
and it was a similar idea and I thought it was super cute. No, that's a great tip. That's a great tip. And I love your creative process. And I think you're a hundred percent right. Sometimes we almost have to give ourselves like a task or homework. I don't know how you would call it, you know, but you have to kind of push yourself a little bit because otherwise we just keep doing the same thing over and over and we stick only with what we comfortable with, I think. If it doesn't come to you naturally, another great way is to just watch tutorials, watch other people work.
paying attention to the times of day that you're shooting. However, in the case of certain, like I went to a tulip field, it closes at five o'clock. So, and you have to get a time ticket. So I got it for one o'clock and I was walking around and it's super bright. And then was also very windy. I didn't have a tripod with me. Think outside the box, well, what can I do to make this a successful shoot? I just ended up putting my camera on multiple exposures and just having fun trying to create.
I think going to photographic galleries is a great way to get inspired and just keep an eye open around for other photographers. That can be done across the different channels we can use as a photographer. So that's a great tip. So I love all these tips. The bird body sounds great. Baby lenses is my favorite. I need to totally check that because that sounds like lot of fun. Out of curiosity, is it a lot of fun? Out of curiosity, is it expensive? Are they quite expensive or?
Speaker 1 (16:12.812)
something kind of artistic. And so take advantage of just because it's super windy or maybe it's starting to rain or something doesn't mean that you you can't take pictures. And then I would also say if you're doing composites and having fun with some of these bundles and different collections to make sure that you're color matching everything. And if you add, you know, an overlay, make sure or like a
If you're adding a cow into a picture, make sure it has the proper shadows. I'm still learning that technique, making sure that the light is matching up. If the direction of the sun is going one way, but the light on the object is a different way, make sure you fix all that. So those would maybe be some mistakes if you're doing composites this spring. I guess that's really about it.
that's brilliant. And I think you're right. I think we need to do an episode about it, actually. I think that will be lots of fun. And that brings us nicely to the next part where we're to talk about things you should be wary of or you shouldn't do with your spring photos or things that can go wrong. So from my side, probably the biggest thing I notice over and over, and I can see now when I open Facebook and Instagram, when I see other photographers' feeds, I see it just all the time. And that's over saturation. It's really...
dangerous especially at this time of the year because the green, the yellows, the blue skies they can really come across super powerful and if you're not careful it just makes the image look like a almost like a video game or like a very very kind of AI processed image so you want to be careful with that obviously there are different ways around it
You just need to be a little bit more gentle when you do your basic development, know, your highlights, shadow, you need to be careful there. But more importantly, you can of course adjust it using the global saturation slider and vibrant slider. And the way I do this, I actually take the saturation slider. This is like my technique for students. You take the saturation slider and you bring it all the way down to minus 100 or whatever zero is there to basically end up with black and white photo. So there are no colors at all. And then you keep your mouse on that slider.
Speaker 1 (18:02.722)
Thank you, bye everybody.
Speaker 2 (18:14.124)
But you don't look at the slider, you look at the image and start to increase the slider up. So towards the zero mark to where it's time to get color. And you go up, you don't look at the number, you don't look at the slider, you just look at the image and you let go at the moment when you like the result. And you will be surprised how many times people let go in like minus 19, minus 20, minus 25 on saturation. And they look at it and they're how is it possible? And the reason is here that we as a...
Humans and photographers and artists, we are fixated on numbers or on the amount of the slider. So when we look at it, and if I tell you put on your saturation minus 25, you would be like, no, it's going to be, it will lose all the colors. Where when you don't look at the slider number, you look at the image, you will be able to dial the minus 25. So this is my little trick. So it's a saturation. That's definitely one thing to look out for. And another thing which comes in connection with the colors is the white balance. Often,
when the camera sensor will see an image where there is a lot of dominant color, like green or blue, it will actually start to take this color and apply it to other areas of the photo. So if you have an image landscape where there is lots of pure blue sky, rest of the image will start to get a blue tint. And similar when you have an image with lots of bright green, it will then take the green and start to apply it to every other parts of the photo as well. Sky, rocks, mountains.
houses and everything. And actually there is very easy way around it and that's just the two white balance sliders. So if you have too much blue, you just take the warm slider and bring it up towards the warmth that will remove the tint. And if you have too much green, you will take the tint slider and rather than going into the green, you will bring it up towards the tint. And that will solve half of the misery for you. There is also a slider in Luminar Mio in the color section called remove color cast.
And I like to use it, but sometimes it's a little bit of a hidden miss because it works on some images and not on the others. But if the white balance didn't do a great job, try the Remove Color Cast slider in a color tool because that can also help with the white balance problem. So from my side, over saturation, one thing to look out for, and also white balance, especially the blues and greens leaking across the image. And now we're going to find out what about Holly, what she thinks you should avoid in spring photography.
Speaker 2 (22:16.814)
Okay, on that note, I think that brings us nicely towards the end of our episode where we talk about spring photography. So we talk about our favorite tools, we covered our thought processes and creative thinking when it comes to photo editing. We also talk about some of the tones in editing spring photos, which I think was a lot of fun. Now we're to be back again next week where we're going to be talking about common editing mistakes and how to avoid them. So actually talking about saturation, talking about
oversharpening, white balance. think lots of these points will be there and we will go even deeper in trying to help you to avoid them and if they are there how to fix them. So that should be lots of fun. Now for today, thank you very much for joining us again. It was a lot of fun. If you can, definitely give us a follow on your favorite platform. If you're watching us on YouTube, give us a like and leave us a comment under the video. If you have any tips on a future episode, we would love to hear them and
For today, that's me. Thank you very much. And Holly, have a good afternoon, night, day. We'll speak to you again next week.
And that's a wrap. Now, there's only three things left to do. Subscribe to this podcast so you never miss a future episode. Visit our website at cleverphotographer.com slash lumacast to see what we have in store next. And stay creative and keep editing your photos no matter what anyone says.
