[Greg Scott Participant Posts: 25]

New Article Announcements & Discussions

on: February 16, 2021 at 7:55 pm

A very thoughtful well written article about artificial intelligence in image editing.  I do share many of Mr. Rubner’s thoughts and preferences as I understand them.  I am an enthusiastic amateur using photography as a creative outlet.  It is worth noting that the article does not attempt to directly answer the initial question.

I did pre-order Luminar AI and I use a number of other tools based on AI.  I have been an enthusiastic customer of Macphun later rebranded as Skylum and I continue to use some of their earlier tools (Luminar 4 and Intensify Pro) as Photoshop plug-ins.  With Luminar AI, a number of changes were made that are incompatible with my workflow preferences.  Like Kevin Raber, I do all my RAW processing in Capture One and export to Photoshop CC for finishing.  My use of all Skylum tools is as PS plug-ins and support for layers and masks is essential to the way I work.  I do not find Luminar AI adds anything I want or need as I think about my creative approach to telling a story through photography.  Perhaps I am more old-school than I realized.  My current workflow makes sense to me and I feel I have more complete creative control over the final results.

I can see the attraction Luminar AI might have for people who do not have a strong preference for an editing style or people more interested in quick improvements in the “look” of their image.  I have often recommended earlier versions of Skylum products to people interested in photography.

Thank you Paul Rubner for writing this article.  The visual elements help to convey much of the emotional possibilities in photography and nicely complement your narrative.

On the road less traveled....

[Rand Scott Adams Silver Member Posts: 287]

Re: Should I Buy Luminar AI

Reply #1 on: February 17, 2021 at 9:47 pm

Nice article.  I’m fascinated by what can be done.  But much as my wife says when she sees another woman who is far north of her ideal weight and wearing spandex yoga togs, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should…”  I feel that way about Luminar AI.  In fact, I think we might want to create a new art form called Fauxtography.  🙂

Rand

Rand Scott Adams Rand47

[David Sutton Participant Posts: 5]

Re: Should I Buy Luminar AI

Reply #2 on: February 18, 2021 at 5:33 am

“Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should…”
Agreed. I see it as neither creative nor art.

It’s a shame that Luminar is being pushed for its AI features. Because its demosaicing, especially of Fuji files, is really quite good. Equal to C1 for the files I tried it on.

Last time I looked the two things it lacked were dual monitor support and a robust catalogue/metadata support. I would ditch C1 the moment Luminar got a good catalogue system up and running. And live in hope for the dual monitor thing.

 

 

[Mike Nelson Pedde Participant Posts: 641]

Re: Should I Buy Luminar AI

Reply #3 on: February 18, 2021 at 5:34 pm

Rand Scott Adams wrote:

Nice article.  I’m fascinated by what can be done.  But much as my wife says when she sees another woman who is far north of her ideal weight and wearing spandex yoga togs, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should…”  I feel that way about Luminar AI.  In fact, I think we might want to create a new art form called Fauxtography.  🙂

Rand

I can go for that. I remember when Vincent Versace started referring to his work as XDR rather than HDR to separate it from overly tone-mapped images. Everyone gets a choice, but it’s not for me.

Well written article, though.

Mike.

_____
Mike Nelson Pedde
Victoria, BC
https://www.wolfnowl.com/

[John Sadowsky Participant Posts: 169]

Re: Should I Buy Luminar AI

Reply #4 on: February 25, 2021 at 3:29 pm

For the “doesn’t mean you should” people, I think Rubner already addressed this:

“So where does all this discussion leave us in regard to the intersection of AI and photography?  First, in regards to manipulating images, there is nothing new to report.”

In Ansel Adam’s day, perhaps there were those who said ‘just because you can dodge and burn doesn’t mean you should.’

AI is a tool.  A hammer can be used to drive a nail or smash someone’s head.  Just because a few have used hammers for the latter doesn’t mean our lives would be better off without hammers.

JSS

[Kevin Raber Silver Member Posts: 1311]

Re: Should I Buy Luminar AI

Reply #5 on: February 25, 2021 at 6:01 pm

well, put. I am not a big fan of Luminar AI because t lacks a few things I think are essential.  Like everything in photography if it works for you and makes you happy and productive then that is what counts.

 

Kevin Raber
Owner and Publisher of photoPXL

[Jeremy Roussak Gold Member Posts: 1047]

Re: Should I Buy Luminar AI

Reply #6 on: February 26, 2021 at 2:57 pm

There’s a medical maxim I was taught a long time ago: “the feasibility of an operation is no indication for its performance”. I’m no purist: I remove stuff from photos, doing the best I can with my rudimentary Photoshop skills. I’ve not seen anything about Luminar AI that tempts me, I confess.

Jeremy

[Mike Nelson Pedde Participant Posts: 641]

Re: Should I Buy Luminar AI

Reply #7 on: February 26, 2021 at 8:27 pm

Fortunately, everyone gets to have an opinion! 🙂

 

_____
Mike Nelson Pedde
Victoria, BC
https://www.wolfnowl.com/

[John Sadowsky Participant Posts: 169]

Re: Should I Buy Luminar AI

Reply #8 on: February 26, 2021 at 9:08 pm

In honor of this topic, I’ve changed my avatar to an image that was processed using AI by the Deep Dream Generator website.  Check it out – seriously!  It is obviously not for every shot, but hey, have some fun with it.

JSS

[Greg Scott Participant Posts: 25]

Re: Should I Buy Luminar AI

Reply #9 on: February 26, 2021 at 9:15 pm

Seems very appropriate for the topic and I like it.

On the road less traveled....

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