How to Transform Your Photos With Texture Layers in Luminar 2018 Part 1

In the digital darkroom, we can take two paths with our images. The first is to use your photo processing software to get your image looking as close to what you saw when you took it. This is your standard digital darkroom workflow, adjusting your exposure, getting rid of spots, cropping, etc., with more of a focus on realism.

The second path is to take that photo and transform it into something completely different. It may be combined with other photos as a composite, have various effects applied, and generally will look completely different from what you started with, but in a good way! Here the focus is on creating something new, using your original image only as the first ingredient. This is compositing, combining multiple images and effects to produce an original piece of art. In this article I’ll take you down the second path, introducing how to use Skylum’s new Luminar 2018 to start doing your own composites.

LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY SOFTWARE TUTORIALS

ViewSonic’s VP 2785-4K is such a beast!
The worst thing you can do in your workflow as a visual artist is to blow a whole lot of money on expensive camera gear, and skimp out on the equipment that is needed to view what you capture. Having a poor monitor is just as bad as having a super poor lens– I mean, it’s great if you’re being spontaneously artistic and aren’t expecting realistic colors. I’ve been given the opportunity to take a look at the ViewSonic VP2785-4K display, and I think that this screen is super awesome! Here’s a few reasons why…
the other ViewSonic monitor I ended up playing with, the 24″ VP2468, I fell in love with the sleekness that ViewSonic put into this basically frameless series. The VP2785-4K looks like the older brother of the 24-incher with a very strong family similarity. This monitor is feature-packed, with some standing out more than others.

This 27-inch monitor comes with a load of hook-ups for various inputs: two HDMI 2.0, a DisplayPort, a MiniDP, a USB-C and a USB Up-stream that hosts a USB 3.1 Hub that gives you 3 USB-A ports to use as a docking station if you’re working with a laptop.

Like its brother, this VP2785-4K can be raised and rotated vertically, making it quite a bit easier to retouch a portrait oriented image. It can also be tilted up 5º and down 21º to help match whatever viewing angle you’re at. Something that is super nice about this monitor is the stability of it. I’ve played with some monitors made by Samsung and LG that are super wobbly– specifically, if you touched it, but if you bumped the desk or pushed your chair in, the screen would shake. That’s not the case with the VP2785-4K. This thing is solid and really has a feel of luxury. The base also allows you to swivel the display a good 120º, making it easy to show off your images to the people around you.