Arguably the best software for making high dynamic range photos is Macphun’s (soon to be Skylum) Aurora HDR 2018. This image editor can be used as by itself or in conjunction with their popular Luminar photo editor (as well as a plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, and Elements). Wi

One of the main strengths of Luminar by Macphun, soon to be Skylum, is how it makes a suite of professional-style editing tools available to even the most casual of photographers. It does it all with a user interface that is clean, simple, and easy to understand. In contrast to some other editing pr

With Macphun (soon to be Skylum) keen to promote Luminar 2018 as a replacement for Lightroom, there’s no doubt that there are many photographers who are interested in trying it. Unfortunately, that’s where the confusion may start as the Luminar interface is completely different from both

Grunge. It’s a great look for gritty, edgy, photos, and you couldn’t have it simpler than doing it in Luminar 2018. In this article, you’ll see how to examine Presets and use elements from those Presets to create your own custom Grunge look. Presets are fantastic, but the best way

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it’s that time of year again. It’s cold, windy, snowy and very, very white. Winter wonderlands are the ideal things to shoot this time of year. When everything around you is frosted with snow and ice, even everyday things take on a magical feel

Aurora HDR 2018 has plenty of tricks up its sleeve, and one of those is versatility. It’s not a one-trick pony when it comes to creating your HDR look. The range of different tools really allows you to create a huge variety of looks really easily. Part of that is knowing what your available to

Luminar’s powerful, customizable approach to image editing is wrapped in a cloak of simplicity which is great for photographers who tend to feel intimidated by the hundreds of buttons, menu options, and sliders available in other post-processing programs. The more you use it the more you will

Over the past few months, I’ve been testing out the features of Luminar. I’ve looked at the time-saving features that can help reduce your editing headaches. I’ve also played around with the AI filter to see how it holds up in quickly editing holiday photos and now it’s time

Focusing on color can help you communicate style and emotion. This approach is often referred to as color grading. Color grading versus color correction You may have wondered how this differs from color correction, which is more of a technical adjustment. A tungsten bulb, for example, will produce a

Aurora HDR is one of the best and easiest photo editing programs available for quickly creating HDR images. With that said, it has a wide range of tools and filters to help you achieve your HDR goals. To help you sort through them all, this article will highlight seven tips for creating natural-look

My recent article, 3 Alternative Post-Processing Applications that Challenge the Adobe Throne, presented just three of the many post-processing software packages available (both free and paid) that provide excellent post-processing capabilities. In this article, I’ll give you a much longer lis

What is an ultra-wide angle lens? What type of effects do ultra-wides produce? And should you use them in your photography? I’ve been working with ultra-wide angle lenses for well over 30 years, and in my view, they’re incredible. They offer plenty of practical benefits, they’re a

What is spherical aberration, and how does it affect your photos? Spherical aberration is a fairly technical term, one that’s not often used and frequently confused with similar concepts such as chromatic aberration. However, it’s very likely that your photos are affected by spherical

A ring light is a simple, relatively inexpensive way to get started with studio photography – and with the right approach, it can look really, really good. Here are just a few photos I’ve taken using a ring light: But how can you use a ring light to create portraits like these? And fur

If you’re looking to create a stunning low key portrait, then you’ve come to the right place. Because in this article, I’m going to give you a simple, step-by-step process for creating low key photos. In fact, it’s the same setup I use when capturing my own low key shots, s

Looking for some senior portrait tips to take your photos to the next level? In this article, I’m going to give you plenty of helpful tricks, techniques, and advice – so you can capture stunning portraits, consistently. Specifically, I’ll share: A handy trick that guarantees you

According to British photojournalist Donald McCullin, “There is no such thing as bad light, just misunderstood light.” Yet many photographers still consider low light to be bad light. The purpose of this article is to encourage you to not consider low light as inferior or unusable, but

Cropping your photos either in-camera or during post-production helps to create more interesting compositions. Capturing a strong composition as you take a photo is always satisfying, but can be difficult.  Learning to compose well takes time and practice. However, you can often create better c

When we are asked to think of popular subjects for landscape photography, images of beautiful sunsets and sunrises immediately come to mind. What outdoor photographer worth their salt doesn’t have at least a couple of images of the sun dipping below the horizon? In most people’s minds

NOTE: Check out our Ultimate Guide to Nature and Outdoor Photography. Most wildlife is active during dawn or dusk, and photographing animals in low light can be frustrating when you’re pushing your equipment to the limit. Even if you’re shooting on the latest and greatest DSLR camera, yo