Do you need an Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer to make an apple pie? Of course not. You can accomplish the same task with a knife. But if you have a lot of pies to make, you’ll really appreciate the efficiency, quality and consistency that one of these little tools delivers.
Processed using Luminar by Macphun Software.
Photoshop is like my kitchen for baking great images. I can accomplish just about anything with basic kitchen tools - like Photoshop - but I like to add other tools that provide efficiency and consistency when I’m processing these images
We’ve found a wonderful photographic “Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer” in a product called Luminar by Macphun. Luminar combines all kinds of pro-level photo tools in one package. But unlike other tools, Luminar brings layers and blending modes, luminosity masks, radial and gradient masking, histogram, and much more.
This shows the Before/After processing by Luminar.
Luminar can run stand alone or it will run as a plugin for Lightroom or Aperture. If you were an Aperture fan who’s disappointed that Apple has discontinued the product then give Luminar a test drive. Today it lacks the file management portion of Aperture and Lightroom but that functionality is just over the horizon.
Now, we know that Luminar is an Apple Mac platform product only. But, this is such a significant product and Macphun is certainly committed to the photographic market that I’m confident that a Windows version will be available.
Lake Moraine in the Canadian Rockies. This was shot at our workshop last October and processed with Luminar by Macphun.
You can download a trial version but when you do, take some time to view their video tutorials. These are not just simple plugins. You have the ability to really manage how changes are done to your image. Understand how they layers work and how to create the masks. With a little practice, you too will be singing Macphun praises.
Here is the original out-of-the-camera image from our Canadian Rockies Workshop.
Here is a B&W version processed with Macphun's Tonality product.
If you want to understand a little more about our position on Macphun, then read on. Otherwise, go download the trial and start playing in the sandbox.
More Amazing Transformations
You can find more of our amazing transformations on our Instagram feed. Just follow us on Instagram @corbellworkshops. This week we'll be posting more images processed in Luminar.
Get More Information About Luminar
Visit Macphun software for more information about the Luminar product.
Why should you look for a Windows offering?
Why do I say that? When you look at PC’s used for photo processing, about 50% are Windows and 40% are Mac. (The remaining 10% is split between Other and Use Both.) From what I’ve seen, Macphun is very serious about their product development and marketing. To expand your marketplace you have two choices. Either offer a cloud-based solution or a Windows solution. Cloud processing is great for business apps but image processing is a resource hog - not a great candidate for platform-independent cloud processing. That leaves a Windows platform solution. We’ll see.
What about Nik Software?
What about NIK? If you’ve followed us for very long you know that we’ve been significant users of NIK. In fact, Tony worked for Nik in San Diego for years and we’ve even offered NIK classes. But Nik was acquired by Google in September of 2012. A year later, the software was branded by google and the collection offered for free. That all seems good but development has stagnated since. The last update release was July, 2015 and that was to fix an image loading failure with Lightroom Photoshop and Aperture. (A few weeks after the developer release of OS X El Capitan.)
Today, Macphun’s Luminar product is far more robust. It supports layers, luminosity masks, and other awesome pro-level features. We are so impressed by this product, and this company, that we met with them and asked them to become education partners with Corbell Photographic Workshops. And so, beginning this month, Macphun is one of our Education Partners. You can expect to see more about them at many of our educational events.