The Story Behind the Photo:

Something Out of Place

“Outta This World”

by Michelle Ray

Overview

I did not work up images for this assignment like I usually do. Something out of place seemed like an opportunity for humor, and will either be there, or it won’t. And although I kept my eyes open, I really hadn’t seen anything that was what you would consider spontaneous. But then, we have spent the last year staying home much of the time.

So for this particular assignment, I had to go to some past images and try to find or create something. Well, anything worth doing, is worth doing over the top......I mean, it had to be really out of place, or people wouldn’t get it.......

I had been testing some software featured by Youtuber PIXimperfect, called Skylum Luminar 4. I usually will demo software before purchase, and downloaded the free trial. After watching the instructional how to video, I decided to test it out on some of my photos, and selected an image I had taken a few years ago at the Winthrop Balloon Festival. The reason I selected this particular image is because it was an interesting topic, and had lots of sky space.

The Image

Now, just a few words about the image. Right time. Right Place. Great light. Magical experience. The drive up had been snowy, drizzly and gray. I was by myself, staying in some last minute AirBnB dive. I had never been to Winthrop, knew no one, but was determined to try my luck at this Balloon event just because it was on my bucket list. The next day dawned clear and beautiful, and the balloons launched at dawn. The general public was welcome to watch the launching process, and then as they took off, I drove ahead and found a place that seemed to be promising. It was by the river, and pretty soon other people started to show up. A local couple, who belonged to a local photo club, introduced themselves, and they said that this was a good place to observe from, as they local winds encouraged the balloonists to try and perform the “splash and dash” which is a balloon equivalent to a “touch and go” in an airplane. And the balloons lined up in the sky and one by one, they tried it. The images I took that day (which included birds, a hockey game, a night event involving inflating a ballon in downtown Winthrop) are some of my all- time favorites, and I really think that some higher power was at work, as it was almost a spiritual experience...one of those times when you are rewarded with an experience far beyond anything you actually hoped for.

Post Processing

Skylum’s Luminar 4, which will soon be upstaged by its Big Brother Luminar AI, can be used as a stand alone photo processing platform, or as a PhotoShop plugin. I found its claim to fame to be the good job it does at finding the horizon, and masking things with fine detail, and inserting interesting skies rather effortlessly. So, often in Photoshop, I battle to get fine details masked well, that it takes a long time, and the results can be disappointing. The software comes with basic stuff, and you can buy “accessories” to use with your software, such as glamorous skies, LUTs (which is a “look” or photographic style as near as I can tell) and many other items. I used it as a Photoshop plugin, and created the “Outta This World Photo” by dropping in a nighttime background containing the Milky Way. I added Jupiter and it’s moon Io (or is it Europa? Ganymede?) and placed an exaggeratedly large moon. It took very little time, and the software blends it nicely by adding a color gradient that ties everything together. It was so startling and effortless, it felt like cheating.

So, in case you are considering purchasing the Skylar software, here’s a list of Pros and Cons regarding Luminar 4. I personally use it almost exclusively for sky replacement, and inserting light rays.

Pros

It’s simple to use
It’s cost effective, no monthly fees
It does a GREAT job at sky replacement, realistic and unrealistic
It does basic editing pretty well, either via a manual “sliders” or by clicking an “AI” button, or a combo of both. AI, or Artificial Intelligence, is a thing with the newest software, but as far as I can tell, it does the thinking for you, which is not something I prefer. Likewise for the LUTs. If I want my photo out of focus or looking faded, I will probably do it myself or use the NIK filters.
It is a good alternative to people who want photo editing, and find Photoshop bulky, expensive and/or overwhelming.
It has some fancy features, which can give layer like results.

Cons:

You need a lot of RAM to make it work well, especially as a Photoshop Plugin. If you don’t have it, your system will be really slow, and crash. But that is not unique to Skylum. These bulking editing software programs hog RAM like nobody’s business.
When using it in Photoshop, I always use it as the last layer, because like most plugins, if you turn on/off the layer, or crop, it launches the software allover again, and you have a nervous breakdown wondering if you will have to re-create your masterpiece.

It is not non-destructive. Which is to say, you cannot go back and change one little thing in your step process (like Photoshop). Your edits are your edits and if you want to change them, you have to pretty much either not accept the changes, or start the plugin all over again. For example, the final balloon image consists of the original photo, and a Skylum Layer with everything else. I could not, for example, switch out moons without launching the plugin from the beginning.
It’s glitchy. I STILL get an error message from the trial, that says “Luminar quit unexpectedly, do you want to report it?” It’s glitchy too, because it seemed fussy about how much stuff you can add to the sky, and how close you can get the the edge of the frame. If you look closely at the image, you’ll notice Jupiter has a flat top, which I could not blend in.....this may have been addressed in the latest update, I don’t know.
Unlike Photoshop, it can be difficult to work on just a portion of the photo. Most of the changes are applied universally to the entire photo, so if you want targeted precision working on specific areas, this may disappoint.