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Home » Photography Challenges » 7-Day Photo Editing Challenge Day 2
Photo Editing Challenge Day 2 – Portrait and People Photography

Photo Editing Challenge Day 2 – Portrait and People Photography

by Darlene Hildebrandt | Last Updated: January 15, 2022

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WARNING: This challenge and Luminar 4 are both outdated and obsolete. A better option is to do my newest, most up-to-date photo editing challenge HERE!

This 7-day photo editing challenge will help you get started if you’re new to this process, or get unstuck if you’re in a rut. Today you’re going to get to work on a portrait I took in Vietnam. 

Today you will learn how to use the new AI Portrait Enhancement tools inside Luminar 4, and see how easy it is to edit a portrait with them. If you use Lightroom I have a video for you as well. 

Here are the before and after images.

Before – straight from the camera.
After editing in Luminar 4 using the Portrait AI tools.

New Challenge for 2021: With the launch of Luminar AI, we’ve created a brand new 5-day challenge using its amazing artificial intelligence features. Luminar AI has a free 7-day trial available (I provide that for you), which will allow you to follow along with the NEW video tutorials. If you’re new to photo editing, I recommend you take on the 5-day challenge.

If you already own Luminar 4 you can still do this challenge and practice while improving your editing skills.

Photography Challenge Themes for the Week

Over the course of the next 7 days, we’ll be working with these photography themes and practice these editing techniques:

  1. Street photography – learn about basic edits like contrast and color adjustments and how to apply a Look or preset.
  2. Portrait and people photography – learn how to do skin retouching and facial enhancements the easy way, and keep it looking natural.
  3. Black and white conversion – see how to do it the right and wrong way, and how to take your b/w images to another creative level with split toning.
  4. Details and masking – you’ll learn how to do local edits that apply to just part of the image, and how to enhance sharpness and detail in those targeted areas. 
  5. Landscape photography – take your nature photos up a notch, bring out details in highlight and shadows areas, and see how to replace the sky (not everyone’s cup of tea but you’ll see how easy it is with Luminar 4).
  6. Texture overlay – learn how to give your images a fine art style with a texture overlay (you’ll even get a few of mine to play with and try out)
  7. Night photography – learn how to apply many of the techniques you already learned and bring it all together to enhance and bring out details in a stunning night photo I took in Japan.

Step 1 – Photo Editing Software

You’ll need to have a copy of Luminar 4 photo editing software already installed.

Step 2 – watch the video tutorial

Next, watch the video below and follow along if you want. Feel free to pause if you need to, or rewind and watch any parts again. If you have any questions just leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

Step 3 – Process the image

Now it’s your turn!

Open today’s image in Luminar 4, or your software of choice, and give it a go. Have some fun with it, but remember to not go overboard.

If you use Lightroom for your editing give this video a watch.  

Photo Editing Challenge Day 2 - Portraits

AI Photo Editing: Read my review of Luminar Neo, the next generation photo editing using AI. It’s an industry game changer. If you’ve already got it, enrolling in my Luminar Neo course should be able to get you up and editing in days instead of weeks. Check it out.

Step 4 – Share your finished image

Lastly, we want to see what you’ve created – your final finished version (or a few of them). This is how to share your saved image. 

Use the commenting system on the bottom of this page to share your image, how you did it, and any experiences you had while doing the challenge.

More Photography Challenges: check out our entire collection of photography challenges. You’ll find our daily and monthly challenges with lots of ideas and inspiration for creative photos. Perfect for beginners or experienced alike.

Conclusion

There are 7 days of practical action taking steps in this photo editing challenge.

Join and follow along and you’ll find you get more confident each and every day. By spending some time each and every day practicing editing your photos, you’ll find your friends and family starting to say “WOW, that’s a great photo!”

Cheers,

Darlene Hildebrandt photographer DPM
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About Darlene Hildebrandt

Darlene is an educator who teaches aspiring amateurs and hobbyists how to improve their skills through her articles here on Digital Photo Mentor, her beginner photography course, and private tutoring lessons. To help you at whatever level you're at she has two email mini-courses. Sign up for her free beginner OR portrait photography email mini-course. Or get both, no charge!

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