Making use of Luminar 4 AI Sky Replacement

I was out wondering with my camera when I came across this horse silhouetted against the sky. I was only able to grab a couple of frames before the horse bolted!

As you can see the sky was really boring and the lighting even and flat. However, I was determined to make something out of this shot that would please me.

When processing my images I tend to use three or four programmes.

• DxO Photolab – My go to RAW file editor.
• Perfectly Clear Complete – AI photo enhancements.
• NIK Collection by DxO – Filters and effects.
• Luminar 4 – AI enhancements, AI Sky replacement and Augmented sky object placement.

These 4 programme cover most of my processing needs.

After using DxO Photolab to apply default corrections based on my camera and lens combination, I then exported the image to Perfectly Clear Complete (PCC) to exploit its AI technology in enhancing and improving every pixel in my image.

This gave me well balanced image to take into Luminar 4.

Luminar 4 Sky Replacement and Augmented AI Sky Tool

Replacing the sky with Luminar’s AI Sky replacement tool is a breeze. It only took me a minute to find the right sky and Luminar 4 did its magic in seconds, replacing the dull blue sky with something more dramatic. I also used Luminar’s AI Augmented Sky Object placement tool to place the lightning bolt in the image.

I exported the image back into DxO Photolab and used DxO NiK collection three to add a little more drama to the image.

I’m really pleased with the final result. All of this may seem complicated but because I’m exploiting each applications key strengths I only spend a few minutes creating the final image.

If you have not tried Luminar 4, you can download a free trial here