Achieving perfect exposure is a tough skill to master for any photographer. However, by using Luminar, you can edit the exposure of a photograph in post, and balance out any unwanted inaccuracies within your image Learning how to perfect these adjustments is a hugely beneficially skill to have. It allows you to create perfectly exposed photographs in Luminar or add certain looks to a image, achieving differences in mood and tone.
Use the RAW Develop filter in Luminar
First off, navigate to the Edit tab in Luminar when to find your image adjustment options such as Exposure, Contrast, and Highlights. If you don’t see them in the workspace on the right, you can easily add a the RAW Develop filter to the workshace.
I usually start with adjusting the Exposure slider to get a good overall light level in my photograph. To adjust the Exposure, just move the slider left or right to change the darkness or brightness of the image. Try and set the slider to a level that balances your photograph nicely, aiming to retain detail in both the highlights and shadows. However, don’t worry if any information in your whites or blacks are lost during this process as they can be pulled back later on. Although a lot of what you’re doing throughout this stage will be based on personal preference, just remember that you’re more likely to see noise in your photo if adjust your exposure too high.
Once you have your exposure set to a level you comfortable with you should now move onto adjusting your Highlights and Shadows. RAW files give you much more detail when it comes to working with shadows and highlights, and you’ll see that you can now pull back any detail you may have lost when originally adjusting the exposure of the image. Use the Whites and Blacks to increase the contrast in your photo. You can toggle to see if any highlight information is being lost by holding down the Alt key when using Windows, or the Option key on a Mac. This also works for your Shadow detail.
Add more contrast and clarity in Luminar
In the RAW Develop filter you also find sliders for contrast and clarity. By adjusting your Contrast you’re making the difference between your whites and blacks more prominent. This is a good way to give more depth to your photo especially if you’re worried about it looking too flat. If you used the Whites and Black before you probably don’t have to use this slider anymore.
Finally, the Clarity slider adjusts the difference between your dark and light edges. It improves things in your image and gives your photo more of an impact. Photos with more texture can benefit from a larger increase in clarity, as it helps bring out more of the detail.
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