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Home » Photography Challenges » Photo Editing Challenge Day 7 – Night Photography
Photo Editing Challenge Day 7 – Night Photography

Photo Editing Challenge Day 7 – Night 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WARNING: This challenge and Luminar 4 are both outdated and obsolete.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!

Today’s final day in our photo editing challenge revolves around a night photography image.

You will learn how to bring out details and enhance dark areas of the image. There will also be a chance to review all the techniques and tips you learned this week and put them all together. 

Your challenge is to keep going and apply all your newfound knowledge and skills to your own images. 

Before editing, as it was shot.
Final image editing using Luminar 4 including a sky replacement.

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 these 7 days, we’ll be working with these photography themes and practicing 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. Feel free to pause if you need to, or rewind and watch any parts again. If you have any questions just ask on the Facebook page under the photo for today.

Step 3 – Process the image

Now it’s your turn!

Open the 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. Avoid making overly obvious vignettes and halos in the sky. 

Experiment and play around with different filters and sliders and try some of the built-in Looks that come with Luminar 4. 

Here are two more variations I made of this image. 

Basic edits have been done here, prior to the sky replacement being applied.
After the AI Sky Replacement filter has been used.
Final image editing using Luminar 4 including a sky replacement and a Color Style (LUT) application.

Feel free to get as creative as you like with this. If you want to convert it to black and white, for it. Maybe you can try adding a texture overlay too. 

Sky Image Packs

In the video, I mentioned that I was using a sky image from a pack made by a friend, but I now have my own package available for you – CLICK HERE to learn more.

Take a look, these are just a few of the sky images in the set.

sky replacement pack
A sky replacement pack with a selection of high-resolution sky images to be used with your photo editing software. Photoshop, Luminar AI, or others.

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. You can also share on social media using the hashtag #DPM-7DayChallenge

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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