How to add a spotlight effect with Lightroom Classic's new masks

The examples I’ve shown so far of the new masking tools in Lightroom Classic were interesting enough (check the previous blog posts if you missed them), but they still fell in the category of regular image editing. But the new masks are so powerful, that you can also use them to go beyond ‘corrective’ editing and move into ‘creative editing’, something that would normally require Photoshop. In the video below, I’ll add a spotlight effect behind the model.

Do you want to know more everything about the new masks in Lightroom Classsic?

As you could see in the video, the new masks are nothing short of amazing. In fact, they’re so game-changing that I’m doing a two part live webinar about them, featuring dozens of practical case studies. These case studies cover all kinds of photography: landscape, portrait, studio, product, real estate, … If you’re halfway serious about Lightroom Classic, you really should not miss this two part training. I already held the same training in Dutch for my Belgian and Dutch audience and it was my best (and most visited) webinar of 2021!

The English webinar will be on February 7 and 9, from 9 to 11 PM CET. But if you can’t make it to one or even both live sessions, don’t worry because each participant will also receive streaming AND downloadable access to the recordings! Plus, if you book at the early-bird rate, you’ll also receive a set of 10 masking presets (some people would charge the early bird price for just those presets alone!).

(Early bird price of US$29.95 + taxes, if and when applicable, valid until February 1)

The new Lightroom Masks: not only for people portraits!

In the previous blog post, you saw me brighten only the face in a portrait without ever having to resort to complex brushing. Such is the power of the new masking tools in Lightroom Classic, especially when you start to combine them using the Invert, Add, Subtract and Intersect options. In this new video, I show you how you can apply exactly the same technique to other types of photography, like wildlife.

Do you want to know more everything about the new masks in Lightroom Classsic?

As you could see in the video, the new masks are nothing short of amazing. In fact, they’re so game-changing that I’m doing a two part live webinar about them, featuring dozens of practical case studies. These case studies cover all kinds of photography: landscape, portrait, studio, product, real estate, … If you’re halfway serious about Lightroom Classic, you really should not miss this two part training. I already held the same training in Dutch for my Belgian and Dutch audience and it was my best (and most visited) webinar of 2021!

The English webinar will be on February 7 and 9, from 9 to 11 PM CET. But if you can’t make it to one or even both live sessions, don’t worry because each participant will also receive streaming AND downloadable access to the recordings! Plus, if you book at the early-bird rate, you’ll also receive a set of 10 masking presets (some people would charge the early bird price for just those presets alone!).

(Early bird price of US$29.95 + taxes, if and when applicable, valid until February 1)

How to brighten only a face with Lightroom Classic's new Masking tools

If you follow this blog, you probably know one of my favourite plug-ins for Lightroom is Luminar AI. And one of the reasons that it’s one of my favourites, is the Face Light tool, that lets you automatically brighten faces in images, without having to make a single selection, let alone paint anything.

With the new masks in Lightroom Classic, you can do something similar, straight within Lightroom. It’s not 100% automated as in Luminar AI, but the two simple steps it takes are easily performed in the time it would otherwise take you to open the image in Luminar AI. Let me show you how in the video below.

Do you want to know more everything about the new masks in Lightroom Classsic?

As you could see in the video, the new masks are nothing short of amazing. In fact, they’re so game-changing that I’m doing a two part live webinar about them, featuring more than 50 practical case studies. These case studies cover all kinds of photography: landscape, portrait, studio, product, real estate, … If you’re halfway serious about Lightroom Classic, you really should not miss this two part training. I already held the same training in Dutch for my Belgian and Dutch audience and it was my best (and most visited) webinar of 2021!

The English webinar will be on February 7 and 9, from 9 to 11 PM CET. But if you can’t make it to one or even both live sessions, don’t worry because each participant will also receive streaming AND downloadable access to the recordings! Plus, if you book at the early-bird rate, you’ll also receive a set of 10 masking presets (some people would charge the early bird price for just those presets alone!).

(Early bird price of US$29.95 + taxes, if and when applicable, valid until February 1)

Editing group shots with Lightroom Classic's new Masking tools

In this second in a series of tutorial videos about the completely revamped masks in Lightroom Classic, I’ll show you how you can edit specific people in a group shot: you use Select Subject to have Lightroom Classic do the heavy lifting, and then tweak your selection with any of the 7 remaining tools.

Do you want to know more everything about the new masks in Lightroom Classsic?

As you could see in the video, the new masks are nothing short of amazing. In fact, they’re so game-changing that I’m doing a two part live webinar about them, featuring more than 50 practical case studies. These case studies cover all kinds of photography: landscape, portrait, studio, product, real estate, … If you’re halfway serious about Lightroom Classic, you really should not miss this two part training. I already held the same training in Dutch for my Belgian and Dutch audience and it was my best (and most visited) webinar of 2021!

The English webinar will be on February 7 and 9, from 9 to 11 PM CET. But if you can’t make it to one or even both live sessions, don’t worry because each participant will also receive streaming AND downloadable access to the recordings! Plus, if you book at the early-bird rate, you’ll also receive a set of 10 masking presets (some people would charge the early bird price for just those presets alone!).

(Early bird price of US$29.95 + taxes, if and when applicable, valid until February 1)

Re-edit old images with new tools

What do you do when lockdowns and strict travel restrictions are wreaking havoc on your travel and photography plans? Well, one thing you can do is to take a trip through your photo archive and re-edit your old photos with the latest tools and knowledge that you've acquired over the past years.

In this video, I re-edit a 12 year old black and white conversion. In my new edit, I make ample use of the new local adjustments that were introduced in Lightroom Classic at the end of 2021.

Do you want to know more everything about the new masks in Lightroom Classsic?

As you could see in the video, the new masks are nothing short of amazing. In fact, they’re so game-changing that I’m doing a two part live webinar about them, featuring more than 50 practical case studies. These case studies cover all kinds of photography: landscape, portrait, studio, product, real estate, … If you’re halfway serious about Lightroom Classic, you really should not miss this two part training. I already held the same training in Dutch for my Belgian and Dutch audience and it was my best (and most visited) webinar of 2021!

The English webinar will be on February 7 and 9, from 9 to 11 PM CET. But if you can’t make it to one or even both live sessions, don’t worry because each participant will also receive streaming AND downloadable access to the recordings! Plus, if you book at the early-bird rate, you’ll also receive a set of 10 masking presets (some people would charge the early bird price for just those presets alone!).

(Early bird price of US$29.95 + taxes, if and when applicable, valid until February 1)

How far can you take a Fujifilm GFX100 file in postproduction?

TL/DR version: pretty, pretty far ;-)

Fujifilm GFX 100 | GF110mmF2 R LM WR @ 110 mm | 1/60 sec. @ f/2 | ISO 200

Longer version:

I had the honour of doing a demo with the GFX100 during the camera’s launch events in The Netherlands and Belgium. During the demo in Belgium, which took place in the incredible Lites Studios, I wanted to showcase both the IBIS feature and the ability to recuperate underexposed images. In fact, the ‘postprocessability’ – if that is even a term – of the GFX files is probably what I like best about them, even more than the resolution. In the video below, you’ll see me increase the image’s Exposure by more than three stops and apply a liberal dose of positive Shadows. So… how does the GFX100 hold up?

I’m by no means a Capture One expert, but I wanted to try C1 as Lightroom’s support for the GFX100 is still preliminary. I have to say I was amazed by the quality of the output.

Master Off-Camera Flash with this practical PDF ebook.

Disclaimer: the above links are affiliate links. If you buy Capture One true these links, MoreThanWords will receive a commission which is already included in the price. So you don't pay extra compared to purchasing directly. This commission helps me to run this website and to produce the many free video tutorials that you can find here. Thanks for purchasing through my links.

What happens if a veteran Lightroom user plays around with Capture One?

One of my new year’s resolutions was to pay closer attention to Lightroom alternatives. Not that I’m planning to switch over my 250,000 image catalog any time soon, but I think it’s good to know what’s out there on the market. I have been using (and teaching) Lightroom Classic for more than ten years now, but that does not mean that I should be blind to advantages other applications might have. As the saying goes: ‘It’s not because you already ordered that you can’t have another look at the menu.’

Not everybody likes subscriptions

Personally, I think the $150 a year or so subscription for Lightroom Classic and Photoshop isn’t outrageous, but still quite a number of Lightroom users don't like that in order to enjoy the most recent updates and features, you need to have a subscription. The most recent version of Lightroom that you can still buy as a so-called perpetual license, is Lightroom 6 and that version is now more than a year old. Even more, some features, such as the Map module simply don't work anymore and there’s also no official support anymore for it.

Lightroom alternatives: horses for courses

So, it's no surprise that there are a lot of alternatives popping up: Alien Skin Exposure, Skylum Luminar and On1 Photo Raw are but a few. They all claim to be the one and only Lightroom-killer and although they all have their merits in terms of image editing, in terms of image management they’re still miles away from Lightroom's catalog approach.

Capture One… The only real Lightroom alternative?

In my opinion, there is currently only one application that is really comparable to Lightroom and that's Capture One Pro 12. Just as Lightroom Classic, this Capture One Pro 12 works with a central database (although there’s also a so-called Session-based workflow) in which the edits are stored. It has a capable search functionality, keywords support, regular and smart collections and so on. And… not only can you subscribe to Capture One Pro, but you can also still buy it as a regular, perpetual license with optional (paid) upgrades.

Capture One exists in the number of versions. The Express version is a stripped version that amongst others lacks the layers functionality and which is sometimes bundled for free with specific cameras. But the most interesting and comparable to Lightroom is obviously the Pro version. This exists in a Universal version, which is compatible with hundreds of cameras by different brands and which will set you back € 349 / USD 349.

Save 50% on the Sony and Fujifilm version of Capture One Pro 12

However, there is also a Sony and a Fujifilm specific version (which also supports the film simulations). Those versions will only work with the supported cameras of these respective brands (including the GFX 50S and 50R in the case of Fujifilm) but in turn, it’s € 100 / USD 100 cheaper. And there’s even better news: until the end of April 2019, both of these brand specific versions enjoy a spectacular 50% discount, leaving you to pay only € 124 / USD 124. In order to enjoy that discount, just use the links below. No special code needed! If you want, you can add a number of Styles to your purchase and those will also be discounted by 50 percent. Styles are comparable to Lightroom presets.

if you're interested in Capture Oe and you are a Sony or Fujifilm user, now is your moment! Phase One (who make Capture One) doesn't often do discounts like this! The discount also applies to the subscription formula although it's not clear to me whether it’s only for the first year or permanently.

Capture One or Lightroom Classic?

Obviously, that's a choice that everybody has to make for himself. But the fact is that Capture One Pro 12 is very complete and especially portrait photographers seem to love it because of its many tools to work with skin tone - something I might do a future video of. If you're working with a Sony or a Fujifilm camera, the application is great value right now thanks to the 50% discount. In the video below, I walk you through a before and after edit from the perspective of a Lightroom user and I give you a number of useful tips that will help you make the transition. If you're already a Capture One user, and you know of other advantages or disadvantages compared to Lightroom, let me know in the comments.

Save 50 percent on Capture One 12 for Fujifilm.

Save 50 percent on Capture One 12 for Sony.

Disclaimer: the above links are affiliate links. If you buy Capture One true these links, MoreThanWords will receive a commission which is already included in the price. So you don't pay extra compared to purchasing directly. This commission helps me to run this website and to produce the many free video tutorials that you can find here. Thanks for purchasing through my links.

Meet Luminar Flex: a new plug-in for Lightroom that uses Artificial Intelligence - and save $10

If there is one developer of image editing software that doesn't seem to sit still, it's Skylum (formerly known as Macphun).

At the end of last year, Skylum released an update to their Luminar 2018 app, called Luminar 3. Luminar already had a couple of interesting filters on board, such as the Accent AI filter, that uses artificial intelligence to automatically enhance your images. Recently, they added the AI Sky Enhancer which, as you might guess, automatically recognizes and improves the skies in your photos. Another strong point is the ability to work with layers and layer masks in the plug-in.

Luminar 3…

The Luminar 3 update also added a Library functionality, or at least the start of it. While you could also use Luminar 3 as a plug-in for Lightroom and Photoshop, that wasn't really the intended use and the workflow wasn't ideal. Luminar 3 really positions itself more as a Lightroom alternative rather than a Lightroom plug-in.

However, not every Lightroom user is willing to throw their existing workflow overboard and start completely from scratch with a new application. Some people (such as myself) would prefer to integrate Luminar’s strong features in their existing workflow, such as the Artificial Intelligence driven filters and the ability to apply all adjustments locally instead of just a handful as is the case with Lightroom.

… versus Luminar Flex

If you're one of those people, then you will be super excited about the new Luminar Flex. At its core, Luminar Flex is basically Luminar 3 without the library functionality but with improved plug-in support for Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Photos (on Mac).

Existing Luminar 2018 and Luminar 3 users get a free license for the current version of Luminar Flex, which is a nice move from Skylum. The code for that free version should have been added automatically to your Skylum account. Skylum did announce however that from now on, Luminar 3 and Luminar Flex will be treated as separate apps with separate development trajectories and separate upgrade paths which will in the future also require separate upgrade fees. But that's only logical: normally, you will want to work with one or the other, not with both, and therefore you would only need to update one of them.

It's also important to know that future versions of Luminar 3 will no longer be usable as a plug-in.

Save $10 with code MORETHANWORDS

if you're not yet using Luminar, but this blog post raised your interest, then you can obviously just buy Luminar Flex. You can do so via this link. Luminar Flex is affordably priced at $59 and on top of that, code MORETHANWORDS shaves off another $10 (click on the blue text that says Enter Promotional Code in your shopping cart). Artificial intelligence has never been so cheap :-) By the way, the code also works for Luminar 3, if you prefer that solution.

Also for Lightroom 6 users

Quite a lot of Lightroom users are still working with Lightroom 6 and if you're in that situation, then Luminar has another ace up its sleeve for you: the ability to work with pixel layers inside of the plug-in. Indeed, it's possible to combine different images into one by using Luminar’s built-in layer functionality. I’ll explore this interesting feature in a future video on the blog!

What's new in Lightroom Classic CC 8.2

Hello folks, I’m currently traveling to explore some new photo workshop options, so I don’t have access to my regular video tools, but I quickly wanted to drop this video of the new features in the just-released Lightroom Classic CC 8.2. Apart from the usual bug fixes and new camera support, there’s two interesting new features. The first is improved and faster tethering for Nikon users, bringing the tethering experience on par with the one Canon shooters could already experience a while back. The second (starting at 1’50”) is the new Enhance Details option, which lets you extract even more details from a RAW file. In the video, I show you an example and I talk a bit about the pros and cons of the new feature.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts about this new feature. Do you have examples of where it truly shines, where it doesn’t? Let me know!

IMPORTANT: if you are a Windows user, please be advised that in order for the Enhance Details feature to work, you’ll need the October 2018 version of Windows 10. As I understand it, this update isn’t necessary to run the rest of the 8.2 update, only the Enhance Details part as it uses some technology that was only introduced in that particular Windows update.

In other news, if you are interested in joining the Omo Valley Portraits Workshop, there are only two spots left.

Save $10 until February 28 with code CLASSIC10

The Steampunk Sessions, part 1

I’m connected to a lot of photographers on Facebook from all over the world. And as much as I like these virtual interactions, I like it even more when I get the chance to meet one of these Facebook friends in real life. This happened last week with David. David’s a Belgian photographer who lives in Thailand most of the year. He’s an amazing travel photographer and he popped over to Belgium for a couple of weeks. So we decided to go on a shoot together. I like doing these kinds of spontaneous, last-minute freestyle shoots with other photographers because I think we can all learn from each other.

Steampunk @ the factory

I love shooting in abandoned factories and lately, I’ve been into photographing steampunkers, too. These two subjects are a match made in heaven. So I called up Major TC Theodoricus, one of Belgium’s most passionate steampunkers and we all met up in an old paper factory about an hour’s drive from where I live. Another friend, Frank, came along to make some BTS shots.

Gear-wise, I brought the Fujifilm GFX 50S, the GF 110 mm, GF 32-64 mm and the GF 23 mm. As for lights, I packed my three trusted Godox AD600B flashes, my SMDV Alpha 110 gridded softbox and my two Nicefoto strip lights, which have become an essential part of my lighting kit. Last noteworthy item was my Scotty II portable smoke machine. No steampunk shoot should happen without a smoke machine :-)

I was immediately struck by the vast hall with the cast iron pillars and thought they’d make great compositional elements in the frame. Now I’m a slow shooter and I prefer to get a couple of images that I’m really happy with.

In total, I got seven images I like in about five hours of shooting.

That’s actually a nice harvest for me. Here’s the first two in this blog post. With a dramatic subject and a dramatic backdrop like this, I think the lighting and the postprocessing needs to be dramatic, too. So I used a cross lighting setup and I positioned my main light in a way that The Major would be short-lit. I also wanted a moody, atmosphere so although I could have made the entire scene a lot brighter (I was only at 1/32nd power on the flashes), I went for a low-key look.

As you can see from this setup shot, there are two more lights in this shot: one strip light to the left of The Major, just out of frame and a second one behind him, pointed at the steel pillar. I did that to make the lighting more coherent. Apart from editing out the softbox on the right and adding the flame coming out of the gun in Photoshop, the complete styling and color-grading was done in Lightroom, using the profiles in my Creative Profiles Starter Pack.

This ebook teaches you all you need to know to make dramatically lit images like the ones in this blog post.

The Fujifilm GFX, the ideal camera for this sort of work

Two things I love most about the GFX are the incredible dynamic range, which lets me do quite nice things in postproduction as you can see from the before & after above, and the resolution. In fact, this is a 16:9 crop from the 4:3 original and it is still over 36 megapixel! Having more flexibility in choosing your aspect after the fact is also one of the reasons I’m secretly already lusting for the GFX 100S…

Here’s a 1:1 crop in Lightroom. The detail of the GFX is simply amazing. I just love that camera.

Smoking gun

I personally like the version with the understated gunfire best, but I also played around with a more extreme version, as you can see below. Adding fire like that is simpler than you might think. I used an image from Adobe Stock. If the fire’s been photographed on a black background, in Photoshop, just change the blending mode of the layer to Screen, and you’re good. If you still see some artefacts around the fire, that’s a telltale sign that the background isn’t pure black. Just add a Levels adjustment and click with the black eyedropper on the black of the flame’s background to turn it completely black and in the Screen blending mode, the black will magically vanish!

The image above was shot with the 23 mm, which corresponds to an 18 mm on a fullframe camera. That’s a super wide lens so it takes in a lot of the environment. However, because of it being so wide, and having a relatively slow maximum aperture of f/4, it’s difficult to use shallow depth of field to separate your subject from the background. That’s why I also brought the 110, the bokeh monster of the GF lens lineup.

In the image below, I stitched a couple of vertical shots I took with the GF 110 wide open at f/2 into a panorama using Photoshop. I then colorgraded the image in Lightroom. If you’re on a fullframe camera system, try using an 85 mm 1.4 or 1.8. If you’re on a crop camera, try something like a 50 mm 1.4 or, in the case of Fujifilm, the 56 1.2.

With the GFX, I tend to underexpose more than I used to because there’s so much leeway in bringing up shadow detail.

The result is an image with a wide angle of view but at the same time the super shallow depth of field of a portrait lens. And as a bonus, you get an even crazier resolution. The image below is a whopping 10.860 x 8.145 pixels! That’s almost the resolution of the upcoming GFX 100S!

Fujifilm GFX 50S | GF110mmF2 R LM WR @ 110 mm | 1/125 sec. @ f/2 | ISO 250

Again, other than the merging of the panorama which I had to do in Photoshop because it offers more control, the entire look of the image was created in Lightroom. Below is a 1:1 screenshot.

The controlled lighting and the super shallow depth of field really make the subject stand out from the background.

That’s it for this blog post. If you live in or near Belgium, speak Dutch and you’d like to photograph The Major yourself, you might be interested in the next edition of the Epic Steampunk Workshop, which is held on March 8, 2019. More information here (in Dutch). Ticket sales start January 31, 8 PM Brussels time. Below’s a 90 second impression of that workshop.

Also, don’t forget that until the end of January, you can save 25% on my brand new ‘Learn Lightroom Classic in 2.5 hours’ video course. Check it out here.

Save 25% on my new Lightroom Classic Tutorial:

left to save 25% on my new ‘Learn Lightroom Classic in 2.5 hours’ course AND score a bonus set of 10 Creative Profiles

My GFX 50R Review

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to test drive a preproduction model of the GFX 50R in Ethiopia. My buddy and fellow X-Photographer Matt Brandon came with me and documented our trip for a short video that will be released later. But because the shipping date of the GFX 50R is getting nearer, and because I get a lot of questions from people what it was like shooting the camera and if they should get it or rather the GFX 50S, I decided to make this video review.

3 disclaimers:

1. I’m a Fujifilm X Photographer and a Fujifilm ambassador so I’m probably not the most neutral judge. But on the other hand, I became an ambassador because I love the quality of the Fujifilm cameras. I have been shooting with them for almost seven years now, starting with the X-Pro 1. After trying out the GFX 50S in India, I bought one myself and I would not have done that if I did not love the system and believe in its potential.

2. All the images you’ll see in the video have been processed (many of them with my Lightroom Creative Profiles Starter Pack). They are not straight out of camera images. As much as I love the Fujifilm film simulations, for me they’re just a starting point. I love processing images, in fact I probably love it even more than actually making them. Through my processing, I try to convey the way the scene felt to me when I was there. In fact, one of the reasons I love the GFX system so much, is because these files can take a beating in postproduction. The dynamic range is stellar and the sharpness of the lenses incredible. I can do just about anything with a GFX50 raw file. In Lightroom! I love having that amount of flexibility.

3. Other than the fact that the GFX 50R has a 50 megapixel, 33 x 44 mm sensor inside, I won’t bother you with other technical specs. You can find those on the Fujifilm website.

So, with that in mind, here’s my review. I suggest you only watch it if you have some money to spend, because chances are you’ll either want a 50R or a 50S by the end of the video… Don’t say I did not warn you :-) I have included some sample images but the poor compression really does not do them much justice. If you have any questions or remarks, hit me in the comments.

By the way, this was also a scouting trip for a new photo workshop on location lighting and portraiture in Ethiopia. We’re currently working out the details for a 2019 trip. If you want to know more about that, sign up for the newsletter and you’ll be the first to hear. As a thank you for signing up, you’ll also get a set of 10 free Lightroom presets.

As you may have noticed in the video, I use a lot of flash in my travel images. I like the way how flash can amplify, modify or sometimes even downright overpower the available light and let me create my own lighting rather than having to deal with what the climate gods decide to throw at me on any given day - which in Ethiopia is a glaring, way too contrasty sun from early morning until late in the evening. If you want to learn more about using flash on location, have a look at my Light It Up! ebook: it’s loaded with advice on how to use flash for travel and location portraiture.

Fujifilm GFX 50R | GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR @ 64 mm | 1/125 sec @ f/8 | ISO 100

Fujifilm GFX 50R | GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR @ 32 mm | 1/500 sec @ f/8 | ISO 200

And here is a 1:1 crop of that image:

Special thanks to…

Special thanks to Fujifilm Belgium and Fujifilm Japan, Matt Brandon, Billy, Jan and the entire team at Starling travel and their Ethiopian counterpart for organising this trip. Also thanks to Lacie, Compagnon and Godox importer Disnet for providing us with some of the essential other tools we needed to make this trip happen. Could not have done it without all of you!

What's new in Lightroom Classic CC 8.1?

Adobe just released the latest update to Lightroom Classic CC: 8.1. In addition to speed improvements (faster grid scrolling and faster switching between Library and Develop on 4K and 5K monitors), there’s also a couple of interesting new features, the most noteworthy of which is that you can now customise the order of the Develop Panel Modules!

The video below shows you how, and also talks you through the other new features.

5DayDeal 2018 Flash Sale: a free preview of my new Lightroom Library Beyond the Basics Tutorial

The 5DayDeal irrevocably ends in…

A big chunk of this year’s 5DayDeal bundle is Lightroom-related: there are a couple of tutorials and almost five hundred presets and of course there’s the Luminar plug-in, which I talked about extensively in yesterday’s blog post and video.

“How Piet expertly curates the information is what makes this program truly stand out as one of the best Lightroom training programs I’ve come across (and I’ve seen a lot).”

— Chris O'Donnell (creativeRAW)

One of the Lightroom tutorials is a bit special for three reasons:

1. First of all, because it’s mine and it’s my very first full-blown English Lightroom tutorial, an accomplishment of which I’m quite proud :-).

2. Second because it’s a launch exclusive: for the moment, it’s only available as part of the 5DayDeal and you can’t get it anywhere else yet.

3. And lastly, because it focuses entirely on the Lightroom Catalog and Library. It’s an intermediate to advanced 3+ hour tutorial and I made it because every day, the workshops I teach and the emails I get in my inbox remind me that there are still a lot of people struggling with the whole concept of Lightroom.

Well, I made this tutorial for all of you: after watching it, you’ll be a full-blown Lightroom Library Ninja and you’ll leverage the advantages of Lightroom a lot better and avoid many of the pitfalls the program sometimes throws at its users, too.

Below is a 30 minute free preview of one of the chapters in the tutorial. I’ll leave it on the site as long as the countdown timer is running :-) This chapter’s about Collections and Smart Collections and although I personally consider that to be more of an entry-level feature, each workshop I teach there are quite a number of - even long term - Lightroom users that don’t (or hardly) use these powerful organisational tools. So I decided to include a video about them in the tutorial.

“Piet doesn’t throw a barrage of information at you, overwhelming you with useless data...instead, he’s taken that extra step to create an engaging curriculum that tells you exactly what you need to know.”

— Chris O'Donnell (creativeRAW)

Even if you feel like you already know your way around collections, I’m pretty sure you’ll pick up a thing or two. For example, I hardly know anyone who uses Target Collections and yet they’re super handy! And if you want to know what else I cover in the full course, here’s a list of all the other chapters. This 3+ hour video tutorial is the culmination of 10 years of teaching Lightroom, writing about it and most of all, using it almost every single day!

1. Introduction: 14’ 35”

2. Importing: 41’

3. Tethered Capture: 15’ 16”

4. File & Folder Management: 37’ 39”

5. Two Lesser Known View Modes: 22’ 29”

6. Collections, Smart Collections & Filtering: 37’ 55”

7. Metadata & Keywording: 24’ 30”

8. Exporting: 21’ 23”

9. Publish Services: 10’ 52”

10. Exporting as a Catalog & Importing from Another Catalog: 26’ 19”

11. Working with an External Catalog Drive: 13’ 40”

12. Bonus Chapter: Back up or Back off: 14’ 40”

“If you learned something new in this free 30 minute clip, imagine how much you can learn from the 60+ hours of tutorials in the entire 5DayDeal bundle!”

— Yours truly :-)

Still on the fence? The 5DayDeal also includes Luminar 2018 (a $69 value), one of the most innovative Lightroom plug-ins out there. I did a free 30 minute video tutorial about it. You can watch that here.

And don’t forget, if you buy the 5DayDeal through the links on my MoreThanWords blog, you’ll receive a special bonus: my brand new high resolution Textures Pack, Vol. 01!**

*: + VAT for European citizens. If you have a valid VAT number, you can enter that upon checkout and you won’t be charged VAT.

** Texture pack will be sent out free of charge in the week after January 15 to those people who bought the 5DayDeal bundle via the links on the MoreThanWords blog or in the MoreThanWords newsletter.

The return of the 5DayDeal 2018: my free Luminar 2018 mini-course

When the 5DayDeal originally was released in October, I put up a this mini-course on Luminar 2018. With the flash-sale reprise of the 5DayDeal, only until Midnight, EST, November 25th, I thought it would be a good idea to put bring the mini-course back. Regardless of whether you want to buy the 5DayDeal or not, there’s some interesting information in there, I think :-)

The 5DayDeal irrevocably ends in…

“The inclusion of Luminar 2018 makes this year’s 5DayDeal an absolute no-brainer!”

— Yours truly :-)

So, the 5DayDeal is a bundle of high-quality resources for photographers: tutorial videos, Lightroom presets, textures, actions, you name it. It’s a whopping 50 gigabyte of goodies at a super steep discount. In yesterday’s blog post, I dug a little deeper into the training content that’s in this year’s 5DayDeal. But the 5DayDeal folks really outdid themselves this year, because there’s also two entire software packages included, the most important of which undoubtedly is Luminar 2018. My original plan was to make a quick three minute overview of what Luminar is but you know me: I don’t do quick very well. So it turned out to be a 25 minute mini-tutorial full of cool processing tips in general and Luminar tips in particular.

Unlike with some other bundles, this version of Luminar 2018 is exactly the same as the $69 retail version that you can buy directly on Skylum’s (makers of Luminar) website, but you’d be crazy not to pay the extra $20 and get it as part of the 5DayDeal bundle!

“Buy the 5Deal through the links on my blog and you’ll receive my High Resolution Texture Pack, Vol. 01 for free* !”

— Yours truly

This year’s bundle includes a Luminar 2018 license, an interesting Lightroom and Photoshop plug-in that some people even use as a complete Lightroom alternative. In one of the next blog posts, I’ll go a little deeper into the unique features of Luminar that make it stand out, especially when used in conjunction with Lightroom. Until Sunday, November 25th, a copy of Luminar 2018 is included in this year’s 5DayDeal bundle. Click here for more info.

*: + VAT for European citizens. If you have a valid VAT number, you can enter that upon checkout and you won’ be charged VAT.

** You will receive your bonus textures in the week after November 15, 2018

Surprise return: this year's 5DayDeal is back... for just 72 hours...

The 2018 edition of the 5DayDeal ended over a month ago, but… the 5DayDeal people decided to bring it back to life for 72 hours only on occasion of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. So, it’s effectively like a 3DayDeal now :-) If you have already purchased the 5DayDeal back in October (it’s the same thing), no need to buy it again obviously, but if you were on the fence then… now is your chance. You’ll get over $2.500 worth of photographic resources for only $89, including my not yet released Lightroom Library Beyond the Basics course. And… just like in October, I’ll throw in my $24.95 High Resolution Texture Pack if you purchase the bundle through my link!

The Reprise Flash Sale of the 5DayDeal really, positively and irrevocably ends in…

For those of you who don’t know, the 5DayDeal is a unique bundle of training content and creative tools for photographers. If you were to buy everything separately, you’d be out of more than $2,500. Now, and until November 25, 23.59 EDT only, you pay $89*. The bundle contains dozens of hours of top notch video training, multiple eBooks and hundreds of Lightroom presets and Photoshop actions. In total nearly 50 gigabyte worth of content! Specifically for this year, there’s a lot of attention to drone photography and videography, including a drone course by no one less than Trey Ratcliff.

Look at who’s standing next to Lightroom guru Serge Ramelli? Yes, that’s me and there’s also a brand new Lightroom course by me in this year’s 5DayDeal! That alone should be a reason to buy it :-)

Of course, you’re wondering if the bundle is really worth it. Is it worth $2,500? Maybe not: there’s always something that’s not quite your cup of tea but then again, there’s also a couple of hidden gems each year that you would never think of buying but that turn out to be really interesting. So, the real question is: ‘Is it worth more than $89'?’ And the answer to that question is a solid ‘Yes, absolutely!’ This bundle will do more for your photography than a new camera bag or a couple of UV filters!

Obviously, I’m slightly biased as in those 60+ hours of video training, there’s over three of my own: In 'Lightroom Library Beyond the Basics’ I guide you through some of the more advanced concepts of Lightroom Catalogs, including working with multiple catalogs, leveraging collections and smart collections, using publish services and more. This brand new course is currently only available as a part of this year’s 5DayDeal Photography bundle and is in itself valued at $99, which is more than the price of the entire bundle. As a matter of fact, there are quite a lot of tutorials in the 5DayDeal bundle that have a list price that is higher than the entire bundle.

So what’s the catch, I hear you ask? There isn’t one… by offering so much value, the 5DayDeal folks aim to sell lots of units as to make it worthwhile for all the contributors, even at that crazy discount. The only catch so to speak is that you have to buy before November 26 because the offer is valid for only 3 days. Why is it called the 5DayDeal then? Well remember, the original 5DayDeal ran in October. This is a surprise reprise, on account of Black Friday, and that’s why it only lasts three days. So think of it as the 3DayDeal :-)

If you think that you need insane budgets to produce fashion-style images, you’ll be in for a treat in Lindsay Adler’s ‘Creativity on a budget’: Lindsay first shows you how she makes six different fashion accessories on a shoestring and then continues to photograph all six.

An expensive hat? No, it’s an expertly folded placemat. Or how craftsmanship, light, lighting and pose can turn a cheap kitchen accessory into high fashion. An eye-opening course, and another one that normally retails for more than the entire 5DayDeal bundle.

To make it easier for you to determine if the 5DayDeal bundle is something for you, I’ve highlighted the content by three broad areas of interest: image editing, portrait and landscape photography. You’ll notice that even if you’re only interested in one of these topics, the bundle is already worth purchasing. If you’re interested in multiple topics, it’s really a no-brainer.

1. You’re mainly interested in image editing

The total value of the highlighted items alone is $1495. The full bundle is yours for less than a tenth of that.

In ‘The Art of Black & White in Lightroom & Beyond’, Andrew Gibson explores the beautiful world of monochrome.

Traditionally, image editing is one of the strongholds of the 5DayDeal. This year is no different. In addition to my own advanced ‘Lightroom Library beyond the Basics’ tutorial, on which I’ll expand a little more in a future blogpost, there’s also an entire Lightroom course by Serge Ramelli. Other highlights are:

• Travel Pro Kit:
  A vast collection of Lightroom presets that use a similar structure as I use in my own Black & White preset pack (which is currently being reworked for Lightroom Classic). By working with ‘effect-presets’ on the one hand and ‘finishing touches’ presets on the other, Travel Pro Kit creates a complete click-based editing workflow that yields impressive results in no time. The accompanying PDF shows examples of how specific looks were made in just a couple of clicks.

• The Art of Black & White in Lightroom and Beyond
  A great course on Black & White conversion in Lightroom by Andrew Gibson, who I know from back in our Craft & Vision days. His material is always spot on, well-researched and expertly taught. This is another course that retails for more than the 5DayDeal’s bundle price.

• Adobe Photoshop Foundations
  In this tutorial, Photoshop Guru (and founder of the well-known f64 site) Blake Rudis delves deeper into a number of Photoshop topics, ranging from selections and masks to retouching images.

Great news: this year’s 5DayDeal includes a full Luminar 2018 license!

There are several other editing-related goodies in the bundle, but probably the biggest highlight is the fact that this year’s bundle comes with a complete licence for Luminar 2018 by Skylum (formerly known as Macphun). This license alone is worth $69. Luminar used to be Mac-only, but now it’s also available for Windows. Some people use it as a Lightroom alternative, but I think it’s at its best when used as a Lightroom plug-in. In one of the following blog posts, I’ll show you a couple of the more interesting features of Luminar.

This year’s bundle also includes a Luminar 2018 license, an interesting Lightroom and Photoshop plug-in that some people even use as a complete Lightroom alternative. In one of the next blog posts, I’ll go a little deeper into the unique features of Luminar that make it stand out, especially when used in conjunction with Lightroom. Click here for more info.

2. You’re mainly interested in photographing people, with or without flash

The total value of the highlighted items is $732. The full bundle is yours for less than 15 percent of that. If you’re into photographing people, I found the following tutorials to be interesting:

Zack Arias takes nobody seriously and certainly not himself in his new Photo 101 tutorial. I like that attitude (or lack of it) :-)

• Photo 101.
  A new tutorial by Zack Arias, the man who, along with David Hobby, taught an entire generation how to use flash. This time, he leaves the flashes unplugged, though and focuses on the basics of photography. Photo 101 is Zacks own introductory course. I’m listing it with the portrait courses because after the introduction, Zack takes you along on three portrait shoots where he uses minimal means to produce cool shots.

• Creativity on a Budget.
  Lindsay Adler is another big name in the photo tutorial business and rightly so. Her course to me was the surprise of this year’s bundle. In ‘Creativity on a Budget’ she shows you how you can turn cheap and often everyday items into fashion accessories but she does not stop there: in part 2, she actually photographs the fruit of her handicraft and produces some amazing results!

• Photographing the Bride.
  This tutorial focuses on what is probably the most important type of portrait photography: bridal portraits!

• Finding Rembrandt: Shoot Like the Old Masters.
  One of my favourite tutorials in this 5DayDeal is by one of my favourite teachers. Just like me, Chris Knight has a thing for dramatic, Rembrandt-style lighting patterns. In this video course, he dives deeply into Rembrandt portraits and he also takes you through his postproduction. Another highly recommended tutorial that by itself costs more than the entire bundle.

“A new camera makes you no more of a great photographer than a box of cake-mix makes you a great pastry chef.”

— Zack Arias in Photo 101

My favourite light setup: short light (in this case: short loupe light). In this tutorial, Chris Knight explores the tools and techniques to create dramatic looking portraits. Until October 16, this tutorial and many others is yours for only $89 as part of the 5DayDeal.

3. You’re mainly interested in product, landscape and architecture photography.

Admittedly, this list is shorter but that’s mainly because I only highlighted the courses that deal with the photography side of things, not the postprocessing. In practice, the other courses (such as Serge Ramelli’s Adobe Lightroom Masterclass and the Mastering Luminosity Masks course by Nick Page) contain a lot of content that is geared towards landscape and architectural photographers.

Still not convinced? I’ve got 5 more arguments for you:

1. This way of learning is by far the cheapest way to improve your photographic skills at your own pace, when and where you want. Most of the tutorials are downloadable video files, so you’re not tied to subscriptions or internet access to watch them. The 5DayDeal bundle gives you 60+ hours of video tutorials for less than $1.5 per hour. Yours to keep forever! The eBooks and presets come on top of that. And that’s without counting Luminar 2018!

2. A large part of the 5DayDeal bundle is new and if it is not new, it’s never been offered as part of another bundle.

3. This extra flash sale of the 5DayDeal bundle is gone forever on Sunday, November 25, 23.59 EDT

4. 10 percent of the turnover goes to charity. In total, previous 5DayDeals have collected over $300.000 for various charities.

5. There are two optional bundles that you can purchase upon checkout:

   • The Charity Bundle and the Pro Bundle ($19 and $29, respectively). Here’s the complete list of what these bundles contain. The latter one focuses on pro photographers and includes a full wedding photography course!

*: + VAT for European citizens. If you have a valid VAT number, you can enter that upon checkout and you won’ be charged VAT.

Black Friday: save 50 percent on my ebooks, Creative Profiles & Textures

On account of Black Friday, almost everything in the MoreThanWords store is a whopping 50 percent off! My two ebooks (Light It Up! and Lightroom 6/CC Unmasked), my Creative Profiles Starter Pack and my just released Texture Pack. On top of that, I wanted to make it easy for you. No need to fuss around with discount codes: the discount is already applied in the prices you see. But don’t wait too long: Monday evening at midnight, the prices double!

New: ‘Piet Van den Eynde Collected’

Especially for Black Friday, I have also made a bundle, aptly called Piet Van den Eynde Collected, which contains my two English ebooks, my Creative Profiles Starter Pack and my Texture Pack. This bundle retails for 15 percent less than the individual products it contains and for Black Friday, it is also discounted by 50 percent! This means you can get these 4 products for less than $35!

‘Piet Van den Eynde Collected’:

until 11/26 only $34.97 € instead of $69.95

2 ebooks, (together over 600 pages of industry-leading instruction) + 25 high-res textures and backgrounds, photographed with the Fujifilm GFX + 10 Creatieve Profiles for Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC - the very same profiles I use on a daily basis to edit my own images, including my recent Ethiopia series!

Buy the full bundle now

---

25 High-Res Textures & Backgrounds

until 11/26 only $13.75 € instead of $27.50

25 high-res textures and backgrounds, photographed with the Fujifilm GFX, ideal for all your compositing projects or to overlay as a texture on a grey studio background.

Buy the high-res Texture Pack now

---

Creative Profiles Starter Pack:

10 Creative Profiles for Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC

until 11/26 only $7 instead of $14

10 Creative Profiles for Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC - the very same profiles I use on a daily basis to edit my own images, including my recent Ethiopia series! With Lightroom’s Amount Slider, you can easily fine-tune the effect of a profile.

Improve your images with these one-click profiles

---

Light It Up! Techniques for Dramatic Off-Camera Flash-

Deluxe Edition

until 11/26 only $17.47 instead of $34.95

Learn to light like a master with this comprehensive ebook. I teach you everything I have learned in the past 10 years of using big and small flashes on location. This book is aimed at beginners and more advanced users. The latter will appreciate the more elaborate case studies. Contains a special chapter on lighting and postprocessing. This Deluxe version contains 45 minutes of bonus video and five bonus Lightroom presets.

Learn how to light with Light It Up!

---

Lightroom 6/CC Unmasked - eBook.

until 11/26 only $12.47 instead of $24.95

One of the most comprehensive Lightroom books on the planet.

Buy Lightroom Unmasked now

5DayDeal 2018: a free preview of my new Lightroom Library Beyond the Basics Tutorial

The 5DayDeal irrevocably ends in…

A big chunk of this year’s 5DayDeal bundle is Lightroom-related: there are a couple of tutorials and almost five hundred presets and of course there’s the Luminar plug-in, which I talked about extensively in yesterday’s blog post and video.

“How Piet expertly curates the information is what makes this program truly stand out as one of the best Lightroom training programs I’ve come across (and I’ve seen a lot).”

— Chris O'Donnell (creativeRAW)

One of the Lightroom tutorials is a bit special for three reasons:

1. First of all, because it’s mine and it’s my very first full-blown English Lightroom tutorial, an accomplishment of which I’m quite proud :-).

2. Second because it’s a launch exclusive: for the moment, it’s only available as part of the 5DayDeal and you can’t get it anywhere else yet.

3. And lastly, because it focuses entirely on the Lightroom Catalog and Library. It’s an intermediate to advanced 3+ hour tutorial and I made it because every day, the workshops I teach and the emails I get in my inbox remind me that there are still a lot of people struggling with the whole concept of Lightroom.

Well, I made this tutorial for all of you: after watching it, you’ll be a full-blown Lightroom Library Ninja and you’ll leverage the advantages of Lightroom a lot better and avoid many of the pitfalls the program sometimes throws at its users, too.

Below is a 30 minute free preview of one of the chapters in the tutorial. I’ll leave it on the site as long as the countdown timer is running :-) This chapter’s about Collections and Smart Collections and although I personally consider that to be more of an entry-level feature, each workshop I teach there are quite a number of - even long term - Lightroom users that don’t (or hardly) use these powerful organisational tools. So I decided to include a video about them in the tutorial.

“Piet doesn’t throw a barrage of information at you, overwhelming you with useless data...instead, he’s taken that extra step to create an engaging curriculum that tells you exactly what you need to know.”

— Chris O'Donnell (creativeRAW)

Even if you feel like you already know your way around collections, I’m pretty sure you’ll pick up a thing or two. For example, I hardly know anyone who uses Target Collections and yet they’re super handy! And if you want to know what else I cover in the full course, here’s a list of all the other chapters. This 3+ hour video tutorial is the culmination of 10 years of teaching Lightroom, writing about it and most of all, using it almost every single day!

1. Introduction: 14’ 35”

2. Importing: 41’

3. Tethered Capture: 15’ 16”

4. File & Folder Management: 37’ 39”

5. Two Lesser Known View Modes: 22’ 29”

6. Collections, Smart Collections & Filtering: 37’ 55”

7. Metadata & Keywording: 24’ 30”

8. Exporting: 21’ 23”

9. Publish Services: 10’ 52”

10. Exporting as a Catalog & Importing from Another Catalog: 26’ 19”

11. Working with an External Catalog Drive: 13’ 40”

12. Bonus Chapter: Back up or Back off: 14’ 40”

“If you learned something new in this free 30 minute clip, imagine how much you can learn from the 60+ hours of tutorials in the entire 5DayDeal bundle!”

— Yours truly :-)

Still on the fence? The 5DayDeal also includes Luminar 2018 (a $69 value), one of the most innovative Lightroom plug-ins out there. I did a free 30 minute video tutorial about it yesterday. You can watch that here.

And don’t forget, if you buy the 5DayDeal through the links on my MoreThanWords blog, you’ll receive a special bonus: my brand new high resolution Textures Pack!**

*: + VAT for European citizens. If you have a valid VAT number, you can enter that upon checkout and you won’t be charged VAT.

** Texture pack will be sent out free of charge in the week after November 15 to those people who bought the 5DayDeal bundle via the links on the MoreThanWords blog or in the MoreThanWords newsletter.

5DayDeal 2018: my free Luminar 2018 mini-course

The 5DayDeal irrevocably ends in…

“The inclusion of Luminar 2018 makes this year’s 5DayDeal an absolute no-brainer!”

— Yours truly :-)

So, the 5DayDeal is a bundle of high-quality resources for photographers: tutorial videos, Lightroom presets, textures, actions, you name it. It’s a whopping 50 gigabyte of goodies at a super steep discount. In yesterday’s blog post, I dug a little deeper into the training content that’s in this year’s 5DayDeal. But the 5DayDeal folks really outdid themselves this year, because there’s also two entire software packages included, the most important of which undoubtedly is Luminar 2018. My original plan was to make a quick three minute overview of what Luminar is but you know me: I don’t do quick very well. So it turned out to be a 25 minute mini-tutorial full of cool processing tips in general and Luminar tips in particular.

Unlike with some other bundles, this version of Luminar 2018 is exactly the same as the $69 retail version that you can buy directly on Skylum’s (makers of Luminar) website, but you’d be crazy not to pay the extra $20 and get it as part of the 5DayDeal bundle!

This year’s bundle includes a Luminar 2018 license, an interesting Lightroom and Photoshop plug-in that some people even use as a complete Lightroom alternative. In one of the next blog posts, I’ll go a little deeper into the unique features of Luminar that make it stand out, especially when used in conjunction with Lightroom. Until October 16, a copy of Luminar 2018 is included in this year’s 5DayDeal bundle. Click here for more info.

*: + VAT for European citizens. If you have a valid VAT number, you can enter that upon checkout and you won’ be charged VAT.

** You will receive your bonus textures in the week after November 15, 2018

The 5DayDeal: What's in it for you?

The 5DayDeal irrevocably ends in…

Oh yes, it’s that time of year again. Once a year, for 5 days only, you can purchase the 5DayDeal Photography bundle. This year’s edition runs from October 11 to Tuesday, October 16, noon PDT (that’s 9 PM Brussels time). For those of you who don’t know, the 5DayDeal is a unique bundle of training content and creative tools for photographers. If you were to buy everything separately, you’d be out of more than $2,500. Now, and until October 16 only, you pay $89*. The bundle contains dozens of hours of top notch video training, multiple eBooks and hundreds of Lightroom presets and Photoshop actions. In total nearly 50 gigabyte worth of content! Specifically for this year, there’s a lot of attention to drone photography and videography, including a drone course by no one less than Trey Ratcliff.

Look at who’s standing next to Lightroom guru Serge Ramelli? Yes, that’s me and there’s also a brand new Lightroom course by me in this year’s 5DayDeal! That alone should be a reason to buy it :-)

Of course, you’re wondering if the bundle is really worth it. Is it worth $2,500? Maybe not: there’s always something that’s not quite your cup of tea but then again, there’s also a couple of hidden gems each year that you would never think of buying but that turn out to be really interesting. So, the real question is: ‘Is it worth more than $89'?’ And the answer to that question is a solid ‘Yes, absolutely!’ This bundle will do more for your photography than a new camera bag or a couple of UV filters!

Obviously, I’m slightly biased as in those 60+ hours of video training, there’s over three of my own: In 'Lightroom Library Beyond the Basics’ I guide you through some of the more advanced concepts of Lightroom Catalogs, including working with multiple catalogs, leveraging collections and smart collections, using publish services and more. This brand new course is currently only available as a part of this year’s 5DayDeal Photography bundle and is in itself valued at $99, which is more than the price of the entire bundle. As a matter of fact, there are quite a lot of tutorials in the 5DayDeal bundle that have a list price that is higher than the entire bundle.

So what’s the catch, I hear you ask? There isn’t one… by offering so much value, the 5DayDeal folks aim to sell lots of units as to make it worthwhile for all the contributors, even at that crazy discount. The only catch so to speak is that you have to buy before October 16 because the offer is valid for only 5 days. Once you’ve bought, you’ve got until November 30 to download your 50 gigabyte worth of goodies, though!

If you think that you need insane budgets to produce fashion-style images, you’ll be in for a treat in Lindsay Adler’s ‘Creativity on a budget’: Lindsay first shows you how she makes six different fashion accessories on a shoestring and then continues to photograph all six.

An expensive hat? No, it’s an expertly folded placemat. Or how craftsmanship, light, lighting and pose can turn a cheap kitchen accessory into high fashion. An eye-opening course, and another one that normally retails for more than the entire 5DayDeal bundle.

To make it easier for you to determine if the 5DayDeal bundle is something for you, I’ve highlighted the content by three broad areas of interest: image editing, portrait and landscape photography. You’ll notice that even if you’re only interested in one of these topics, the bundle is already worth purchasing. If you’re interested in multiple topics, it’s really a no-brainer.

1. You’re mainly interested in image editing

The total value of the highlighted items alone is $1495. The full bundle is yours for less than a tenth of that.

In ‘The Art of Black & White in Lightroom & Beyond’, Andrew Gibson explores the beautiful world of monochrome.

Traditionally, image editing is one of the strongholds of the 5DayDeal. This year is no different. In addition to my own advanced ‘Lightroom Library beyond the Basics’ tutorial, on which I’ll expand a little more in a future blogpost, there’s also an entire Lightroom course by Serge Ramelli. Other highlights are:

• Travel Pro Kit:
  A vast collection of Lightroom presets that use a similar structure as I use in my own Black & White preset pack (which is currently being reworked for Lightroom Classic). By working with ‘effect-presets’ on the one hand and ‘finishing touches’ presets on the other, Travel Pro Kit creates a complete click-based editing workflow that yields impressive results in no time. The accompanying PDF shows examples of how specific looks were made in just a couple of clicks.

• The Art of Black & White in Lightroom and Beyond
  A great course on Black & White conversion in Lightroom by Andrew Gibson, who I know from back in our Craft & Vision days. His material is always spot on, well-researched and expertly taught. This is another course that retails for more than the 5DayDeal’s bundle price.

• Adobe Photoshop Foundations
  In this tutorial, Photoshop Guru (and founder of the well-known f64 site) Blake Rudis delves deeper into a number of Photoshop topics, ranging from selections and masks to retouching images.

Great news: this year’s 5DayDeal includes a full Luminar 2018 license!

There are several other editing-related goodies in the bundle, but probably the biggest highlight is the fact that this year’s bundle comes with a complete licence for Luminar 2018 by Skylum (formerly known as Macphun). This license alone is worth $69. Luminar used to be Mac-only, but now it’s also available for Windows. Some people use it as a Lightroom alternative, but I think it’s at its best when used as a Lightroom plug-in. In one of the following blog posts, I’ll show you a couple of the more interesting features of Luminar.

This year’s bundle also includes a Luminar 2018 license, an interesting Lightroom and Photoshop plug-in that some people even use as a complete Lightroom alternative. In one of the next blog posts, I’ll go a little deeper into the unique features of Luminar that make it stand out, especially when used in conjunction with Lightroom. Until October 16, a copy of Luminar 2018 is included in this year’s 5DayDeal bundle. Click here for more info.

2. You’re mainly interested in photographing people, with or without flash

The total value of the highlighted items is $732. The full bundle is yours for less than 15 percent of that. If you’re into photographing people, I found the following tutorials to be interesting:

Zack Arias takes nobody seriously and certainly not himself in his new Photo 101 tutorial. I like that attitude (or lack of it) :-)

• Photo 101.
  A new tutorial by Zack Arias, the man who, along with David Hobby, taught an entire generation how to use flash. This time, he leaves the flashes unplugged, though and focuses on the basics of photography. Photo 101 is Zacks own introductory course. I’m listing it with the portrait courses because after the introduction, Zack takes you along on three portrait shoots where he uses minimal means to produce cool shots.

• Creativity on a Budget.
  Lindsay Adler is another big name in the photo tutorial business and rightly so. Her course to me was the surprise of this year’s bundle. In ‘Creativity on a Budget’ she shows you how you can turn cheap and often everyday items into fashion accessories but she does not stop there: in part 2, she actually photographs the fruit of her handicraft and produces some amazing results!

• Photographing the Bride.
  This tutorial focuses on what is probably the most important type of portrait photography: bridal portraits!

• Finding Rembrandt: Shoot Like the Old Masters.
  One of my favourite tutorials in this 5DayDeal is by one of my favourite teachers. Just like me, Chris Knight has a thing for dramatic, Rembrandt-style lighting patterns. In this video course, he dives deeply into Rembrandt portraits and he also takes you through his postproduction. Another highly recommended tutorial that by itself costs more than the entire bundle.

“A new camera makes you no more of a great photographer than a box of cake-mix makes you a great pastry chef.”

— Zack Arias in Photo 101

My favourite light setup: short light (in this case: short loupe light). In this tutorial, Chris Knight explores the tools and techniques to create dramatic looking portraits. Until October 16, this tutorial and many others is yours for only $89 as part of the 5DayDeal.

3. You’re mainly interested in product, landscape and architecture photography.

Admittedly, this list is shorter but that’s mainly because I only highlighted the courses that deal with the photography side of things, not the postprocessing. In practice, the other courses (such as Serge Ramelli’s Adobe Lightroom Masterclass and the Mastering Luminosity Masks course by Nick Page) contain a lot of content that is geared towards landscape and architectural photographers.

Still not convinced? I’ve got 5 more arguments for you:

1. This way of learning is by far the cheapest way to improve your photographic skills at your own pace, when and where you want. Most of the tutorials are downloadable video files, so you’re not tied to subscriptions or internet access to watch them. The 5DayDeal bundle gives you 60+ hours of video tutorials for less than $1.5 per hour. Yours to keep forever! The eBooks and presets come on top of that. And that’s without counting Luminar 2018!

2. A large part of the 5DayDeal bundle is new and if it is not new, it’s never been offered as part of another bundle.

3. The bundle is gone on October 16, noon PDT.

4. 10 percent of the turnover goes to charity. In total, previous 5DayDeals have collected over $300.000 for various charities.

5. There are two optional bundles that you can purchase upon checkout:

   • The Charity Bundle and the Pro Bundle ($19 and $29, respectively). Here’s the complete list of what these bundles contain. The latter one focuses on pro photographers and includes a full wedding photography course!

*: + VAT for European citizens. If you have a valid VAT number, you can enter that upon checkout and you won’ be charged VAT.

Exporting Facebook cover photos with Lightroom

Your Facebook Cover photo is the digital equivalent of your house’s front door. So, a new paint job every once in a while does not hurt. In this video, I show you how you can easily and quickly change your Facebook Cover Photos using a crop preset and an export preset in Lightroom.