How Street Photographers Can Use Luminar Neo To Edit Their Photos Quickly

In this article, we’ll show you how street photographers can quickly edit their photos using Luminar Neo as a standalone app. Let’s get started.

Where to Get Luminar Neo

You can buy Luminar Neo on Skylum’s website for $79. If you already own other Skylum products, you’re eligible for a discount. They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not happy with the software.

The Importance of a Photo Editing Workflow

A photo editing workflow is just as important as the type of software that you use, or at least it can be, especially for street photographers who routinely shoot, import, and edit hundreds of images at a time.

Let’s take a look at workflow possibilities for editing street photos in Luminar Neo, beginning with importing photos from your camera to your computer.

How to Import Batches From Your Desktop

Like any good professional photo editor, Luminar Neo makes it easy to import photos from your desktop.

First, go to the Catalog tab at the top of the Luminar Neo console. Click on Add Photos. Choose Add Folder for multiple images or Add Image for a single image.

There are no surprises here. The import feature works as expected.

How to Use Luminar Share to Import Images From Your Phone

Street photographers may be surprised by the fact that they can import images from their phones too. This is accomplished by using the Luminar Share app that can be downloaded for free on both Android and iOS.

After you download Luminar Share, follow these easy steps:

In Luminar Neo, go to File > Share > Luminar Share. In Luminar Share, press the Scan QR option. 2 Images Close Scan the QR code on your desktop or laptop. If successful, you’ll get a Connected confirmation on your phone.

Once connected, you’ll have three options. You can view your Imported Images, share images from your desktop to social media using Mirror Luminar Neo, or send images to your desktop by selecting the Send Photos to Luminar Neo option.

Black-and-White Editing

Black-and-white processing is a popular choice for street photographers. In Luminar Neo, it couldn’t be easier to edit your shots into stunning black-and-white images.

Here’s one fast and effective workflow that Luminar Neo users can use to edit black-and-white images. This workflow will also work for color images that have already been edited on your phone or another photo editor.

Import your image into Luminar Neo. Under Essentials, select Black & White. Click Convert to B&W. You can also adjust the sliders here to find the best look. An optional but recommended step would be to start at the top of the Essentials menu and explore the Develop tools. If you’re already working with an edited image, you may not need to edit any more of the basics. Enhance AI is a fantastic tool to consider for most images. It should be your first or second choice in your workflow after converting your image to black-and-white. Consider Erase for any dust spots on your images. Luminar Neo makes it easy to remove these as well as power lines. Structure AI will be a must for many street photographers. Details is another essential that helps images pop. Play with all three sliders (Small, Medium, and Large Details) and also use the Sharpen slider. In the Professional module, it’s advisable to check out the Supercontrast sliders. This really adds a finishing touch to make images pop. At the end of the editing process, it’s always nice to see if a vignette would work for an image. Skip back up to Essentials and choose Vignette.

Naturally, you can leave out these steps and include many of the other features in Luminar Neo to edit your black-and-white images. This only represents a basic workflow that works well with many black-and-white images, with an emphasis on making the image really stand out.

Before

After

To learn more about the editing features in Luminar Neo, check out Everything You Need to Know About Luminar Neo.

Color Editing

Now, let’s explore a quick and easy color editing workflow for street photography. Keep in mind that like with the black-and-white editing workflow, there are many other features that can be employed. We’re only demonstrating a basic workflow that’s essential for color editing.

With the image loaded into Luminar Neo, go to the Crop AI menu. Find the appropriate crop and press Enter. The Develop module isn’t optional for color images straight out of the camera. Be sure to explore all the options to get a good starting point. Enhance AI is always worth exploring for just about any kind of image. Structure AI is another indispensable tool for many images. The Color sliders are the next logical choice for editing color images. These are great tools that are also found in professional editors like Photoshop. Once again, use Details to sharpen images and make them pop. The Mood module has a list of very useful LUTs that can be applied to color images to give them an entirely new look. Back to the bottom and the Professional module, use Supercontrast to bring out the highlights, shadows, and mid-tones. Use Color Harmony, also found in the Professional module, to fine-tune the color. Last but not least, consider applying a Vignette once more to emphasize your subject.

Let’s have a look at the before and after.

Before

After

If you’re looking for a set of free plugins that are great for black-and-white and color images, consider checking out DxO’s NIK Collection.

Presets in Luminar Neo

One of the most exciting features that are currently found in Luminar AI, is the ability to create presets (called Templates) based on your own editing preferences. Templates are highly valuable for street photographers who take a lot of photos and want them to maintain a specific style for their work.

Unfortunately, you can’t create your own presets in Luminar Neo, so you’ll have to make manual adjustments to every photo. There is a selection of presets that comes with the program; they’re basically nice-looking filters.

We’re anticipating that the ability to create your own presets in Luminar Neo will come with a future update.

Luminar Neo Is the Perfect Program for Street Photographers

We’ve demonstrated two simple but effective workflows that street photographers can use for their black-and-white and color images, in 10 steps or less. For street photographers looking for an alternative to more expensive and complicated photo editors, Luminar Neo may be the perfect choice to get the job done fast and efficiently.