ADVERTISING FEATURE
Make your travel
shots sing with
Skylum
Luminar
subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 18 April 2020 23
W
itha lotofphotographers
unabletogetoutmuchat
themoment,it’sa perfect
timetoworkonyourphoto-
editingskills.If youhaven’ttriedit before,
SkylumLuminaris a powerfulediting
applicationanda greatalternativeto
LightroomandPhotoshop.Herearesome
editingtipsfromMaxRive,anadventurer
fromtheNetherlandswhois luckyenough
toableabletocapturesomeofthemost
picturesqueplacesonourplanet.His
careerinlandscapephotographybeganin
2008 withhisfirsttriptotheSwissAlps.
Inthistutorial,Maxsharessomeofhis
favouriteeditingtechniquesinSkylum
Luminar4.Itis basedona handheldshot
hetookinArgentinianPatagoniaonan
autumnmorningwiththeNikonD800
andNikon14-24mmlens, but can be
appliedtoanyimage.
1.StartintheEssentialstab
Afterinstallingthesoftware,theEssentials
tabis theplacetolocateyourimageand
startthekeyeditsinvolvedinmaking
yourtravelimageslookasgoodpossible.
around16.7milliondisplaycolours,EIZO
ColorEdgemonitorscover99%ofthe
AdobeRGBcolourspace*supporting30-
bitcolour,andcanextendthecolour gamut
intoover1 billioncolours.
2.Getexposurespoton
We’llbeginwiththeexposure,making
sure we have plenty of details in both the
TopDutchphotographer, MaxRive,shows
howtouseSkylumLuminar tomakehis
travel shots look even morespectacular
darkerandlighterpartsoftheimage.
Here,Maxdecreasedthehighlightsby 100
andincreasedtheshadowsby 42 It’sbest
toadjustthecontrastattheend because
furthereditswillaffectit.
3.UsingtheAIEnhancemenu
Next,MaxusestheAISkyEnhancertool
todarkentheskyandaddcontrast– really
usefulona lotoftravelimages.Inthis
case,hesetAISkyEnhancerto100.Note
thatthebluesarenowoversaturated, but
thiscanbefixedlater.
4.Saturationandbrightness
IntheAdvancedmenu,wecanincrease
thesaturationandbrightnesstoenhance
theautumnalfoliage.Let’sdarkenand
decreasethesaturationofthebluesto
makethemmorenaturalandprovide
separationfromthebrightmountain,
usingEdits(Hue/Saturation/Luminance).
Thesettingsare:red(0/+61/+63);Orange
(-9/+31/+46);Yellow(-40/+8/+30);Green
(0/0+79); Aqua (0/- 40/+66); Blue (0/-26/-
33).
5.UsingtheDetailsEnhancer
AdjustingsmalldetailswiththeDetails
Enhancersharpenstheimagewithout
changingtheoverallcontrast.In this case,
MaxsetsSmallDetails to 17.
6.Getmystical
Nowwe’llgototheCreativetabandadjust
theMysticalamount,leavingtheshadows
alonesotheimagelooksdreamy.Inthis
case,MaxsettheMysticallevelto 30
7.UsingtheProfessionallab
Now,continueintheProfessionaltab
withanAdjustablegradienttodecreasethe
saturationofthebluesanddarkenthesky.
GotoSetorientation,movethegradientto
thetop,resizethegradientsothemiddle
is aroundthetopofthemountain.Then
DecreasetheHighlights by 22 and the
Vibrance by 44.
8.Dodgeandburn
Thisdone,usethedodgeandburntool
ontheriveratvarioussizesandwith50%
strength.Brighteningtheriverseparates
it fromthesurrounding forest and makes
ita leadingline.
9.Splittoning
Finally,gototheSplitToningmenuto
boostthewarmth.Theeasiestwaytopick
a toneis toincreasethesaturationbya lot,
seeif youlikethecolour,thenslideit back
tosomethinglike31.Fortheshadows,
Maxusesthesametechniquebutfor
bluishtones,hesetstheSaturationto 13.
10.Fine-tunethesaturation
Nowthattheadjustmentsarefinished,
let’sreturntostep4 tofine-tunethecolour
saturation.Maxsetstheorangeat 24 and
blueat-42.A a finalstep,exporttheimage
asa JPEGwiththesRGB colour profile.
Step 2
nVisitwww.skylum.comtodownloada 14-day
trialof Luminar4 andstarteditingimmediately.
If youliketheresults,usetheexclusivediscount
code AP to save £10 on the full purchase price
Step 7
AsMax’sfinalshot
reveals,thisis a great
programforperfecting
your travel shots
MaxRive:travel
photographer
