As the artificial intelligence race intensifies among photography software companies, Boris FX is filling a completely different niche with their editing software Optics. With their latest release, Optics users now have access to their powerful Particle Illusion generator, which can create thousands of useful emitters like explosions, smoke, fire, and other particle effects. Today, we take a look at the new Optics 2022 release which is available as a plugin for both Photoshop and Lightroom, as well as a standalone application.

Let’s talk about the newest software from Skylum called Luminar AI, editing software that is powered by AI technology.

Were you wanting to do some HDR work in Luminar Neo? It's about to be offered as a paid extension. HDR Merge compiles multiple exposure-bracketed images into a single HDR image. It can merge up to 10 photos and deliver an increased level of color enhancement, making the final result look as close as possible to what the eye sees. HDR Merge is scheduled to be released on July 28, and the preorder starts today.

Both Lightroom and Photoshop are complicated and nuanced applications with wide ranges of capabilities and features. This excellent video tutorial details 10 helpful tips and tricks for using them that will help you edit more quickly, find new capabilities and ways of doing things, and create better overall images.

Today, we're going to discuss how dodging and burning can improve your photos and show you how easy it is in Capture One 20.

For most beginners, distinguishing hues, or noticing over saturated areas, can be an issue. Even some most advanced retouchers still have problems color correcting their images. Reaching the point where our eyes see colors properly takes time and a lot of practice. Fortunately enough, visual help layers in Photoshop can aid us separate luminosity, hue, and saturation. In this article, I will show you how to isolate the latter two to facilitate your color correction.

It’s officially hot outside in my neck of the woods, but that doesn't mean I can to take a break from shooting outside! I still have to sweat it out, hauling my gear around from location to location and that means my clients have to feel the sting of the summer heat as well. Although it’s steaming out, I don’t want my images to look like they were taken inside the nearest oven set to broil. Thankfully, there is a super quick and easy way to fix those heat flushed skin tones.

Like Photoshop, Lightroom is a powerful piece of software. Sadly most of us learn the basics and don't take advantage of all that is has to offer. One powerful feature is called the "Survey View." Are you taking advantage of it? If not, take a couple minutes to watch this two minute video where I go over how to use the tool and the shortcut to get there.

The art of creating an appealing and memorable, moody portrait is often in the post-production of that image as much as it is in the lighting. In this short video, you get some tricks for getting the most out of your shot when you're creating a moody edit.

In Part 1 of this series, I explained the basics of how Lightroom works, the best way to import your photos, and the different options you have when culling your images. In Part 2, I want to show you the essentials of the Develop module. This module is the area of Lightroom where you can color correct, crop, straighten, sharpen, and perform several other adjustments as well.

Luminar Neo is getting its release with the HDR extension on Thursday, and I was sent an advance copy to see how it works.

Many photographers already use a tablet like the Wacom Intuos to work in Photoshop. You would think that an iPad would be even better because you can touch the very screen that you work is on but it's not that simple. Due to a number of issues like lack of pressure control and the fact that your hand itself will "select" parts of the screen, the iPad never took off as a professional tool. That is until I saw this video.

A few weeks ago in a boudoir forum I came across a subject on what was the most time-consuming portion of most photographers' flow. The majority of the comments referred to culling and editing. So if you are looking to speed up your own workflow with minimal editing this video is for you.

We've become quite accustomed to unpermitted retouching damaging the reputation of photography competitions. In particular, press photography is especially susceptible to this. Strict rules on maintaining the sanctity of reality combined with environments in which outside factors frequently affect the ability to achieve clean and pleasing competition often beget a strong temptation for photographers to doctor images. However, such manipulation has now become an issue in a genre in which one normally does have the luxury of time and compositional choice: architecture.

Most photographers look back at their very earliest work and cringe; I am no exception. But what could I learn from harshly critiquing my earliest imagery and what value might it hold for beginners? Let's find out.

Technology marches forward and the market has certain demands. AI seems to be on everybody’s lips and some claim it will change landscape photography forever. I think not.

A few weeks ago you may remember Ikea's attack on product photography. Today news has spread that the Saudi Arabia franchise has photoshopped all females out from catalogs distributed throughout the Islamic nation. Women aren't the only ones being censored, however, as even glasses of wine have been transformed into less offensive "festive cups". What does Ikea have to say about the post processing changes found in their catalogs?

TourBox is a new piece of portable hardware designed to make working with Lightroom and Photoshop and other software easier and more intuitive. Looking more like a video game controller than a midi interface, it works alongside your mouse or tablet with the intention of making your workflow smoother and less fiddly.

Portable monitors are becoming very common, especially because many more creative professionals adapt an on-the-go lifestyle. However, this feature-packed monitor might be perfect for photographers and other digital visual creatives.

Have you ever tried to remove an object from a photo, but just couldn't get it to look right, whether it be because of the lighting, color, or actual selection? This tutorial provides a handful of tips for perfectly removing objects in Photoshop.

The newly announced Microsoft Surface Book 3 is reportedly their most powerful laptop ever. So could it be good enough to destroy the competition? Namely, the new Apple Macbook Pro 2020. Photographers and creatives alike love Apple products for editing workflows, but could this be the beginning of the end for Apple's domination of the creative market?

In Part 1 of our Dramatic Beauty Portrait Tutorial, we looked at the lighting setup, gear breakdown, and shooting of our dramatic beauty shoot. In Part 2 of the tutorial we will now look at two different ways of exporting and preparing your image for retouching. The first method involves creating versions in Lightroom and exporting directly to Photoshop. The other method utilizes Adobe Camera Raw and the ability to make variations within Photoshop. I will also discuss the overall goal of our pre-edit stage.

Landscape photography can be tricky, especially when your raw files look flat compared to what you see with your eyes. Understanding how to process these files can turn your photos from dull to stunning.

There are endless articles and videos discussing the pros and cons of shooting in raw versus shooting in JPEG. I’ve long been a proponent of raw for the editing capabilities, but what's more important than file sizes and editing? Longevity.

For as long as I've owned Photoshop, I've steadfastly held the belief that post-production skills separate most photographers. Here, we see seven pro landscape photographers given a single raw image to work with, and the final results are not only quite amazing, but incredibly different.