Professional photographers can often get caught up in the editing process. This can result in the actual quality of their photography declining. Whilst editing is undoubtedly important, the quality of your compositions cannot take second place.
Luckily, Skylum has created a superb editing tool in Luminar 3 that can greatly reduce the time needed to perfect your post-processing. Using Luminar 3, you can spend less time editing, and more time perfecting your photography skills. In the article below, we look at how Luminar can free up valuable time that you can use for shooting more quality work.
Capturing that perfect set of photos is more important than Editing
Before even considering editing, you have to master the art of photography. Understanding how your camera works, and how to take quality photos are the most important processes. Moreover, you should have a firm grasp of common photographic rules and techniques. Why is this so? Read on to find out:
A poor quality photo cannot be made perfect
Consider this scenario. You take a close-up macro photo of a bee. You fail to check the photo and return to your computer only to find that it is out of focus. You have focused on the wrong part of the bee – its legs are in focus, whilst its body and wings are blurry. In reality, this photo cannot be salvaged – no amount of post-processing can rectify a photo whose subject is out of focus. If you could spend more time during your photo shoots composing the images as opposed to rushing back to edit, the overall processing time would improve.
Refining your technique means less time spent editing
Spending less time editing will also allow you to spend more time practicing and learning new skills. As a photographer, your skillset can continually be refined. Moreover, you can continually learn new composition techniques. Using a speedy editing program such as Luminar 3 can give you this vital time to develop your photography skills.
Spend less time editing using Luminar 3’s advanced features
So how can Luminar give you extra time to concentrate on your photography? Luminar 3 is a superb program with a plethora of amazing features. The latest updates such as 3.1.1 have included many performance improvements. Moreover, Skylum has ensured that Luminar 3 gives users a speedy and hassle-free editing workflow. The following are examples of time-saving features that this best photo editing software for mac offers:
Synchronize adjustments across multiple photos
First and foremost, Luminar has adjustment synchronization features. You can edit a single photo and perform adjustments such as resize image and color changes. Using the synchronize adjustments tool, these changes can then be applied to multiple photos. If you have 100 photos to edit, for example, you could fully edit the first, and sync the changes to the other 99 images in a matter of seconds. This is a huge time-saving feature that also provides consistency to your edits.
Batch exporting functionality
To speed up the whole process, Luminar also takes into consideration exporting. You can export multiple photos at once using the export tool. Moreover, you can rename them sequentially i.e. travelPhoto-1.jpg, travelPhoto-2.jpg, travelPhoto-2.jpg, etc. This advanced exporting feature can allow you to quickly turn your RAW files into usable JPEGS or other file formats.
Automated editing using Accent AI and other filters
Instead of spending hours changing the parameters of each photo, Luminar 3 allows you to automatically enhance images using AI filters and pre-set looks. Accent AI is a magnificent tool that first analyzes your photo, and then second, makes edits to improve its overall appearance. Using this filter, you can process hundreds of photos with minimal effort and time.
Luminar Looks and pre-set filters, on the other hand, turn your photos into creative masterpieces. These filters transform your images into a variety of different styles such as landscape, architecture or black and white. As with accent AI, these filters can be applied quickly.
Other AI editing tools including Sky Enhancer & Foliage Enhancer
Aside from Accent AI and Luminar Looks, this program also features two other fantastic time-saving tools – Sky Enhancer and Foliage Enhancer. Sky enhancer performs quick edits specifically on any sky present in your images. It can reduce highlights, boost color and generally balance the sky so it looks realistic.
Foliage Enhancer, on the other hand, does exactly the same but edits only natural elements such as trees and plants. These two filters can provide quick, specific edits, especially for specialist landscape and nature projects. There is no need to look for free Photoshop plugins or other tools – everything can be accomplished in Luminar 3.
Don’t let your photographic skills slip! Post-processing only works for images that are correctly composed and shot using the right settings. Can you realistically edit a photo that is out of focus for example? Not really – even if you boost colors and contrast, the photo itself will remain out of focus. This is why using a quick and quality editing program such as Luminar is so beneficial. You can spend more time using your camera, and less time stuck behind a computer.
