Looking down on Cannon Beach

An aerial view of Cannon Beach, OR…such a beautiful stretch of coastline.

I really don’t fly my drone very much these days, and keep thinking that I might just sell it. We will see. But my suspicion is that if I get back into it, I may be able to get a smaller drone that is just as good, if not better. Regardless, that’s not what you cam here for. :-) This was captured while flying over Cannon Beach, OR which is just a stunning location, airborne or on the ground. It’s just about my favorite spot in the US.

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AirMagic by Skylum: First Look and Preorders!

AirMagic by Skylum is available for Preorder - check out this amazing software for automatic drone photo enhancement! It’s fun, and it doesn’t get any easier than this!

Well, Skylum has done it again - another new product that’s really fun to use!

Today Skylum is announcing AirMagic, an AI-powered editing software product for aerial photographs. It was created to automatically resolve issues inherent to aerial photography.

AirMagic works by first detecting the drone camera used to produce an image, then analyzing its lens and color profile. From there, it makes automatic lens corrections and other camera-specific optimizations. AirMagic uses smart algorithms and Artificial Intelligence to evaluate each photograph, applying modifications such as color reveal, haze removal, sky enhancement, and other finely tuned adjustments to make each photo look just as it was intended.

AirMagic will retail for an affordable price of just $39. Mixed computer households can share the same product key for Mac and PC, and each license can be activated on two devices. AirMagic comes with a 30-day money back guarantee. Pre-orders for AirMagic will begin March 7, 2019 with a release date of March 21, 2019.

Preorder AirMagic here: https://bit.ly/2H3pM4j

During the preorder, along with AirMagic, customers will receive a huge pack of bonuses worth $145.99 — the Drone Photography Guide eBook ($19), “Shoot Professional Photos with Any Drone” video course ($74.99), one AirMagic Premium Style ($12), and a $40 discount on a Lume Cube lighting kit for drones.

Here’s my first look video…because you know I like to make videos about this stuff!

Some features you want to know about:

  • Auto detects your drone camera and makes lens corrections (raw only) and other camera-specific optimizations such as distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting

  • Automatically enhances your photo - analyzes the images and makes improvements

  • Drag and drop any file, including raw files

  • Works as a plugin for PS and LR and a Photos extension

  • Has several creative styles built in (like presets)

  • Works on colors, removes haze, enhances the sky and more

  • Sync edits across images

While it’s simple on the outside, under the hood there is a lot going on:

  • color recovery

  • JPEG fix - suppresses compression artifacts

  • Foliage enhancement - color and sharpness

  • Auto Color Temperature

  • Auto Lens correction

  • Smart Dehaze

  • Sky enhancement

  • Exposure compensation

  • Natural Light Correction - keep appropriate tones to best represent time of day

  • Noise reduction 

  • Tint perfection

Thanks for checking this out and let me know if you have any questions!

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Macphun's Luminar is flying high!

My friends at Macphun have updated Luminar (again!), and this time it's specifically for aerial photography. New presets, a new workspace, a new filter - check it out!

Macphun provides another update to Luminar - this time for aerial photographers!

My friends at Macphun continue to innovate and push forward with updates and additions to their award-winning product Luminar. It’s my go-to editor for EVERY PHOTO and in my opinion it’s a true masterpiece of photo-editing software. I absolutely love it. (Read about it here.)

Well now there is a new, free update available for existing customers and it’s called Luminar Aerial (technically it’s an enhancement to the existing Neptune release). It contains a few new additions primarily centered around the idea of editing your aerial photos. They partnered with DJI (makers of the best drones - I fly a DJI Magic Pro myself and love it) and many drone photographers to craft this update.

Here’s what it includes:

  • Aerial Workspace - Unique new workspace that features the most commonly used editing filters for aerial photographers, including Macphun’s AI-powered Accent, Dehaze, Polarize and Clarity filters, and more.
  • Whites / Blacks filter - This new filter makes setting white and black points effortless.
  • One-click Aerial Presets - Instant styling and creative exploration for aerial photos.

If you want to read about it on the Macphun site, just click right here

If you would like to see it in action, here's my video tour of the new features:

Here's a quick overview of the updates Macphun just made to Luminar. It's mostly focused on aerial photography, though it's really good for any type of photo. You get a new workspace, a new filter, and a new set of presets! And yes it's a free update for current users!

I’ve been experimenting with this Aerial release for a little while now and must say that it works beautifully on my aerial shots taken with my drone (and on any type of short, really). I am pretty new to aerial photography, admittedly, but boy has it really captured my imagination. Since I have been on this lengthy road trip I have been capturing a lot of video and photos with my DJI Mavic Pro. It’s offering me some new perspectives, which is great. You'll see a lot more from me on this,

How about a couple of screenshots? Here's some preset views.

 
 

There's a new Aerial Photography workspace, too. It contains the following filters: Color Temp, Accent AI, Whites/Blacks (a new filter in Luminar!), Dehaze, Polarizing Filter, Saturation/Vibrance, Clarity, Top & Bottom Lighting, Sharpening, and Golden Hour. It's great!

And there's also the new Whites/Blacks filter. It's great for adding contrast and controlling the light in an image.


Below are some of my recent drone photos, all edited in Luminar!

If you want to learn more about Luminar, you can do so right here. Thanks and let me know if you have any questions!

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