Do-Overs

Because we're supposed to stay home with the latest pandemic lockdown, and because the cold weather has finally come to Ottawa and has not made me want to go outdoors, I've been giving my cameras a bit of a break.

But because I've been getting used to new photo-editing software over the past month or so, I've been going back to photos I have already processed, going to the original RAW file, and re-processing them.

Exploring the features in Luminar AI, I've discovered a portrait AI tool that lets me quickly retouch my model photos. When I edit my model photos with PaintShop Pro, it can take up to 10 minutes to give my subjects more glow, to bring out the colour of eyes and lips, and to remove any unflattering blemishes.

With the Luminar app, the AI automatically corrects shadows in the face, smooths the skin and hides blemishes, and even lets me artificially slim lines—which I personally would never do to my subjects.

I looked through my photo library and decided to use photos of Dutch model, Fredau. I've worked with her a few times but chose photos from our first shoot, back in 2014, when we focused on low-light and high-key nudes, using white and black backdrops, and various types of lighting. I've shared some of these shots, previously, in The Brown Knowser.

Oh, by the way, while the photos I share in this blog post are only implied nudity, they are probably not safe for work anyway.

The following is a photo that I edited, in 2014, using Corel AfterShot and PaintShop Pro.

Here's the same photo, edited with Luminar AI.

I then chose a photo that I hadn't edit before and did it now, with PaintShop Pro 2021.

And again, with Luminar AI.

Which editing tool did a better job?

Truth be told, editing photos of Fredau is relatively easy. She already has strikingly beautiful blue eyes, so I didn't really need to manipulate them. When I edited the photos in 2014, I used AfterShot to increase the luminosity and saturation of her eyes and lips, then moved the photo into PSP to complete the editing. Her skin was naturally smooth and blemish-free, so a photo would take less than five minutes to edit.

But with Luminar AI, it took less than a minute to apply a pre-set template and the portrait features. The most time-consuming task in editing the high-key photo was to set the white balance and remove the marks that were on the white backdrop, which had been dirtied and marked from years of being walked upon. But even with Luminar AI, that process was faster than with PSP.

Just for an experiment, I used the slimming tool to see what it did, but because Fredau already has a perfect figure, using this tool on her detracted from her natural beauty, and so I cancelled that action.

These photos with Fredau have been my first experiments with using my new software. I'll have to try more photos with different models, where removing blemishes was required.

While I'll continue to use PSP for most of my photo editing, I may switch to Luminar AI for my future model photos. That is, if this pandemic ever ends and I can take photos of people again.

Happy Friday!