Luminar Neo HDR Merge - Is it worth a look? PROS and CONS

Skylum Luminar Neo HDR Merge extension is now available. Is it worth a look and what are the PROS and CONS? Is it better than Lightroom's HDR functionality? What about compared to Aurora HDR 2019? Lets have a look.
You'll also learn how you might already qualify for a FREE copy.
In this video, you'll see how Luminar Neo HDR Merge extension works, how it performs on a portrait HDR and how it compares to Lightroom, as well as Aurora HDR 2019. Which is better?
📢 BUY Luminar Neo HDR Merge Extension
👉 bit.ly/BUY-HDRMerge
📢 Buy my Luminar Neo course
👉 www.digitalphotomentor.com/lu...
Do you do HDR photography or want to try it but have hesitated or moved away from it due to the unnatural look of most HDR?
Tell me your thoughts on HDR in general in the comment area below. If you do it, do you prefer natural looking or more of a grunge style?
Want to know more about how to shoot HDR - then check out my HDR course
📢 Table of Contents
0:00 Introduction
0:58 First example of an HDR Merge using Luminar Neo
1:52 Where to find the HDR Merge panel
2:28 Where to find the settings for the HDR Merge
3:02 Where Luminar Neo puts the HDR Merged file
3:17 Result of first example HDR merged photo
4:16 Second example of HDR Merge with Luminar Neo
7:13 Luminar Neo HDR Merge vs Lightroom HDR results
7:39 Aurora HDR 2019 version for comparison
7:59 The PROS of Luminar Neo HDR Merge extension
8:26 Do you qualify to get Luminar Neo HDR Merge for free?
8:51 The CONS of the HDR Merge extension
9:45 How does HDR Merge handle chromatic aberration?
10:29 Where to learn more about HDR photography
10:45 How does Luminar Neo HDR Merge manage portrait HDR?
12:21 How does Lightroom HDR mange the same portrait photo?
13:49 Do you currently do HDR photography yourself?
📢 Buy DPM Products mentioned in video
HDR Masterclass
How to Do HDR Photography the RIGHT way!
➜ www.digitalphotomentor.com/pr...
📷 Amazon Resources (affiliate links)
Monitor Calibration Tool & Software ➜ geni.us/MonitorCalibration
Wacom Tablet Cintiq ➜ geni.us/WacomTabletClintiq
Best BEGINNER Camera's under $1000 ➜ geni.us/CamerasUnder1000
Advanced Cameras ➜ geni.us/AdvancedCameras
Computer Gear ➜ geni.us/ComputerGear
Photography Accessories Under $50 ➜ geni.us/AccessoriesUnder50
Luminar Neo Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet
➜ www.digitalphotomentor.com/fr...
📷 Related Videos to Watch
Luminar Neo Layers Tutorial
👉 • Luminar Neo Layers Tut...
Luminar Neo Dodge & Burn HACK
👉 • Luminar Neo Dodge and ...
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📷 FREE PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES
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#LuminarNeo #LuminarNeoHDRMerge #HDRmerge

Пікірлер: 57

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor
    @DigitalPhotoMentor2 жыл бұрын

    Watch next: Luminar Neo Update 1.2.0 👉 kzread.info/dash/bejne/dXxrqZefoavFetI.html

  • @WilliamWallaceRoss
    @WilliamWallaceRoss2 жыл бұрын

    I was unaware about turning on the clipping. Thanks for that tip. Now I will try some bracketing to see how the HDR Merge looks.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    You're welcome. If you want more just get my free Luminar Neo keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet here. www.digitalphotomentor.com/freebies/luminar-neo-keyboard-shortcuts-cheat-sheet/

  • @markmathews9818
    @markmathews981810 ай бұрын

    Thanks for the video. It was a bit helpful in my quest to understand Luminar neo. I use an earlier version of Luminar and Aurora. I sent you a note through your website. I use HDR by modifying and “bracketing” from capture one pro.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    10 ай бұрын

    Glad it helped! What do you mean you bracket by modifying? Like you create brackets from one image?

  • @RonaldBrown59
    @RonaldBrown592 жыл бұрын

    I’ve been into HDR photography ever since I met Trey Radcliffe many years ago. And I was using both Lightroom and Aurora to process my HDR images, but now I think I will switch to Neo with HDR Merge. Thanks for the great tutorial on the new software.

  • @RobCooper

    @RobCooper

    2 жыл бұрын

    She interviewed Trey 10 years ago. kzread.info/dash/bejne/jKiFua6xgZirps4.html

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    Totally agree! and I followed Trey as well in the early HDR years but his style is too much for me now

  • @acneubauer
    @acneubauer2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for showing how Merge is coping with slight movement

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    No problem

  • @thelongarmmarine
    @thelongarmmarine2 жыл бұрын

    I’m dabbling with Neo & 360 photos & the Z1…if you blend before stitching, it’s a complete no-go, but stitching 1st, then blending/adjusting, it seems ok…

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    Good to know

  • @emeregildo100
    @emeregildo1002 жыл бұрын

    HDR Photography for me is still a great tool to capture natural images with greater detail levels, which otherwise would not be possible to capture. I believe that caption feature is likely to be included as a built in camera feature in future technologies, however, in the meantime hdr blending is still being used.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    Many cameras do already have an HDR function. But I don't use it or recommend it, only for beginners. Letting the camera do it means you lose all control over how it is blended.

  • @emeregildo100

    @emeregildo100

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@DigitalPhotoMentor Yes, that's true. Mine does have it also, but in reality I don't use it either since it does not produce the results I look for. I believe however, that due to the advent of new ai technologies, it's quite possible that feature could generate the results desired in camera. In the meantime though, hdr blending in softwares like Lum. Neo is pretty much what we can do.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@emeregildo100 Agreed.

  • @phlotographer
    @phlotographer2 жыл бұрын

    Got to the part about the toggle to show the HDR merge panel and discovered that clicking on did not work but clicking just below it and the other options they would activate. I am rather used to simply clicking on the > (turned to the R 90 degrees so it points down) just in case someone else had the same issue. It would be interesting to see you do the edits including the one of Rob in Affinity Photo and see how their HDR and if necessary their toning would handle the issues you have found in LR compared to NEO. TIA

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    Sorry I don't have Affinity to test that though.

  • @ziv2liv
    @ziv2liv Жыл бұрын

    I use HDR bracketing a lot and it saves me time and enhance quality. One thing you haven't mentioned is that with Luminar Neo HDR you can also use a single image and improve the exposure balance a lot.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    Жыл бұрын

    Yes that's correct

  • @wolfiemedia
    @wolfiemedia8 ай бұрын

    Thanks for the video. I use the fully-fledged Aurora HDR, this looks a bit like a watered down version of it? Is it worth getting this Neo HDR Merge? Also, has that defringe thing been updated since this video? Thanks :)

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    8 ай бұрын

    Well you cam continue to use Aurora but it's not supported anymore. NEO and the HDR merge is the tool moving forward. Sorry which defringe issue? Been a while since I made this one

  • @wolfiemedia

    @wolfiemedia

    8 ай бұрын

    ...the chromatic aberration @@DigitalPhotoMentor you mention at 9:45 :)

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    8 ай бұрын

    @@wolfiemedia Ah okay, I literally had to rewatch it. This video is from 18 months ago. Yes there is a check box to handle Chromatic Aberration when you do the merge and it does a pretty good job. If there is some left it's easy to fix with the Blur tool. I show that in this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/a3tlttqCg87Anqg.html

  • @ThePNWRiderWA
    @ThePNWRiderWA2 жыл бұрын

    It is a subset of the older Aurora. They should have included it with Neo as it is with on1 and lightroom.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    I can understand it as an extension. Topaz has individual products that just do one thing. And lightroom and ON1 are more expensive. So if they include it and just raise the price, people that don't do hdr get penalized.

  • @venkataramanSantosh
    @venkataramanSantosh2 жыл бұрын

    Does it work within Lightroom as a plugin. Currently i use Neo as a plugin since LR is my default workflow and catalog

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    No it doesn't currently. I tried it and it just opened all the raw files individually and there was no plugin visible. I think I mentioned that in the video.

  • @CarlosSantos-oc1cz
    @CarlosSantos-oc1cz2 жыл бұрын

    We have reached version 1.2 of Luminar Neo, a program that since version 1.05 has a huge bug. After cropping a photo proportionally with, for example, the original dimensions of 5184x3456, when we finish editing if we export indicating that we want the original dimensions, Neo simply ignores the instruction and keeps the dimensions after the crop. As I mentioned the problem only arises I think in version 1.05 (or 1.06 I'm not sure anymore). And no one at Skylum detects the bug. As long as it persists, the acquisition is not justified.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    Well I don't see that as a bug though. If you crop off some of the pixels, then the cropped size IS the original dimensions. If you want it larger then you're upsizing and enlarging the file. That's a whole different thing

  • @adamloughran
    @adamloughran2 жыл бұрын

    Question: I have a Samsung S21 Ultra and want to do some HDR. Is there a way to automate the bracketing process to use with Neo HDR?

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    Not sure sorry. You'd have to consult the manual for your phone. Also, you won't get the best results doing HDR from phone images - they are very small and less data that raw files from an actual camera.

  • @larrypendergraft2696

    @larrypendergraft2696

    2 жыл бұрын

    Not that I know of. I have an older S10+, and there's no way I know of to shoot bracket sets in one shot. I wish there were, though!

  • @adamloughran

    @adamloughran

    2 жыл бұрын

    After a bit of research and to answer my own question...Hedgecam 2 is an app that does bracketing on my Android camera. It does shoot RAW as well.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@adamloughran great, give it a go and report back to us!

  • @aloftdrone
    @aloftdrone11 ай бұрын

    Real estate photographer here. I shoot all my sessions using bracketed shots. Sometimes 30-50 photos. Is there a way to HDR merge numerous shots at the same time or do you have to highlight/drag/drop 5 brackets at a time? That's very time consuming.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    11 ай бұрын

    Different sets of images? Currently no

  • @sue.Hoo123
    @sue.Hoo123 Жыл бұрын

    It looks like NEO does a great job of HDR, it is clearly very powerful. I haven’t bought it yet as I really want some easy to use editing s/w that can stitch panoramas too, I’m really surprised NEO doesn’t 🤔

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    Жыл бұрын

    I'd say wait a while. They seem to be adding more stuff. Stay tuned!

  • @sue.Hoo123

    @sue.Hoo123

    Жыл бұрын

    @@DigitalPhotoMentor thank you, most helpful. Good tutorial too, I like your style 👌

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    Жыл бұрын

    @@sue.Hoo123 Thanks so much! Please subscribe to the channel!

  • @mikejenner5610
    @mikejenner56102 жыл бұрын

    I have upgraded my Neo to v1.2.0 I ave the icon you describe in the top right of my screen that toggles the side panel. When I select it and the side panel opens I don't have the HDR box where you are dropping your images to be merged.

  • @RobCooper

    @RobCooper

    2 жыл бұрын

    You already own Aurora HDR?

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    You have to install the HDR extension separately. Click the puzzle icon next to the Luminar Neo logo upper left. Then install the extension. If you own Aurora HDR it is free for you. Just get the license code from your skylum account to activate it

  • @mikejenner5610

    @mikejenner5610

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@RobCooper no I realised that unless you already have Aurora it’s an extra £44.

  • @mikejenner5610

    @mikejenner5610

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@DigitalPhotoMentor I realised it’s going to cost me another £44 because I don’t have Aurora. Not sure it’s worth it for me at this stage.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@mikejenner5610 Only you can decide that. They do offer 30 day guarantee on all their products so you could buy it, try it, and then make your decision.

  • @johns7988
    @johns79882 жыл бұрын

    Could you demonstrate using HDR Merge with just 1 image and explain what it actually does since there are no other images to merge with? Whatever it does, is it possible to achieve the same result just using Neo without HDR Merge?

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    It would just attempt to blend the tones - I haven't tried it but I will do that and make a video, good idea. You will never get the same result from just a single image as you will from multiple bracketed images. One raw file carries data 2 stops either way (4 total) - when I bracket I do them at 2-stop intervals. In the example of the old door and wood stove, I took 4 shots - so those 4 images cover a range of 8 stops (12 with the range of them all combined). See the difference?

  • @RobCooper

    @RobCooper

    2 жыл бұрын

    Interesting idea. I'm curious to see what she comes up with when trying that. What would we call that? HDR Solo? While continuing to watch this video, I just realized the instructions say to drag 1 to 10 photos. It never occurred to me one could "Merge" a single image.

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@RobCooper No it's usually just called "single image HDR" or sometimes "faux HDR"

  • @ArminHirmer
    @ArminHirmer Жыл бұрын

    I tried the new HDR thing in Luminar NEO and at the same time with Capture One. Totally no comparison, I can use the Capture One files, but not the Neo.... just bad

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    Жыл бұрын

    I'd love to see both results. Contact me and let's email www.digitalphotomentor.com/contact/

  • @thegroove2000
    @thegroove20002 жыл бұрын

    No prosecco? .

  • @RobCooper

    @RobCooper

    2 жыл бұрын

    not yet anyway. The day is young!

  • @DigitalPhotoMentor

    @DigitalPhotoMentor

    2 жыл бұрын

    Maybe later lol

  • @thegroove2000

    @thegroove2000

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@DigitalPhotoMentor ha ha I bought a bottle of brandy earlier so it's going to be a relaxing evening.