Luminar Neo (and Vanelli)

It’s #TravelTuesday and I, Dave Williams, am here as always bringing you a dose of my world. This week is no different and in fact, there’s a familiar face to include – Vanelli!

You may or may not know that Vanelli is the Director of Education over at Skylum and we caught up at The Photography Show last week, having not seen each other for a few years. The usual antics occurred – I tried to sneak up on him with my super-stealthy skills but was thwarted by his super-human strength whenever I got too close, however I was able to steal the keys to the Vanelli-mobile and take it for a spin of the show floor at the NEC! I’m taking that as a small win. But let’s stay on track – today I want to tell you a little about Luminar Neo. If you’re a reader of Photoshop User you’ll see a more in-depth review soon, but here’s what I have for today: –

There are several companies on the scene giving us Adobe Photoshop plug-ins (and more) right now, and each has their own merits. I have all the main players’ software for use and review so I’m in a position to point out the benefits and downfalls of each of them, and I have to say that I’m particularly impressed with Luminar Neo. You’ll have noticed, I’m sure, that it’s all about Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, and this is even reflected within Photoshop’s Neural Filters. Luminar Neo has taken the input of millions of images to kick out some killer image processing abilities, with more coming soon. There’s Sky AI, Relight AI, Atmosphere AI, Face AI, Skin AI, Structure AI, the list goes on and on. Each of these tools is on-point.

Some photographers are extremely averse to the AI tech we’re seeing introduced all around us but let me tell you, it isn’t going away. We have to find the tech that will help us and improve our photography and creative processes, and embrace it as part of our workflow. Software like this is here to help us so it’s important that we give it a try (which I mean quite literally – they all offer a free trial.)

The funny thing is that all the tricks we’ve learned in Photoshop for our edits are now simplified into ‘one-click’ actions, which kind of makes all our previous learning obsolete in places but also makes our lives that much easier moving forward. The thing is, if it’s going to make our lives easier it really shouldn’t require any real effort or further learning, which is why I place Luminar Neo above its competitors. Each of the pieces of software out there looks and feels different, but Luminar Neo is intuitive and easy. Every tool is where you’d expect it to be and it’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into the UX and UI. Having such an effective and intuitive aesthetic within the software and combining it with such powerful tools driven by AI is a game-changer for us as photographers and creatives.

Much love
Dave

(PS – I got hold of an extra copy to give away to one of you! To win, check my Facebook)

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