How to Fix Dark Photos in Luminar Neo
If you are like me, you have quite a few dark photos in your collection. I tend to travel in cities, and wander with a camera in the evening, and thus I end up with quite a few images that might be considered unusable. They are dark, and that is because I was protecting the highlights (trying to keep from blowing them out), thus the rest of the photo tends to be pretty dark overall. It’s underexposed, basically. At first glance, this looks like a big problem.
But in reality, in Luminar Neo it is really easy to fix dark photos, and make them look quite nice.
First off - this is not just about increasing the exposure slider, which brightens the entire photo the same amount. Sure, that is something I do to a limited extent, but there is so much more to making sure you handle the light across the entire photo. Plus, lifting the exposure globally can create other problems in the image.
The key is that after making some global light adjustments, you want to brighten it selectively. So while the exposure slider is useful, it’s not the only thing to do. There are much better tools that give you greater control.
Here are some key steps I take:
Turn on the J key. This will show you the blown highlights and crushed shadows, and this is vitally important when you are adjusting the light in an image. You need to know what is happening as you start to brighten the image.
In Develop RAW - with the J key on - I actually do start with the exposure slider. But I only lift it a little bit, and I keep a watchful eye on the J key overlay while doing so (and the histogram, of course). Then I adjust the highlights and shadows in order to maintain control over the light. I may or may not adjust contrast here. It depends on the image. But we will certainly adjust contrast with other tools.
Light Depth is next, and it allows me to do a couple of things. First, I can mask my focal area and brighten it very quickly, while also adjusting it’s temperature. Then I go and adjust the Brightness Near and Brightness Far as needed. I also tend to adjust temperature in these regions as well. I like to play the warm/cool parts of the photo off of each other, and Light Depth is great at helping with that.
Supercontrast is next, and this allows me to manipulate contrast in each tonal area - highlights, midtones, and shadows. This also creates some brightening in those areas, depending on what moves you make.
After these three tools - Develop RAW, Light Depth, and Supercontrast - I have usually succeeded in adjusting the light properly, and bringing the appropriate amount of brightening to the overall photo.
This is where I start to do a little extra work on the light, and it’s usually centered around how to brighten up my subject or another prominent part of the photo. Essentially, I start to dodge and burn.
Usually I will open Accent AI and apply a mask (Radial Mask is very useful here) to my subject or key focal point in the photo. Then drag the slider until you like the look. Be sure you feather the mask really well so it blends with the rest of the image. Accent AI is like a super tool that impacts a lot of aspects, such as light, contrast and color - so it’s really great at helping draw the eye to an area. Just be careful you don’t overdo it.
My final step or two (again, depending on the image) is to open Develop and then use additional masks to accentuate some key parts of the photo. My most used masks here are Brush, Radial, and Object Masks - but again, this will depend on the image. After the mask is in place, I will use the exposure slider to slightly brighten the masked area. This is just a finishing touch to add a little accent to part of the image. Depending on what needs to be done, this could all be done with one instance of Develop, or multiples. Every image is different. Experiment and find what works best for your image.
I tend to end with a Vignette but that is just a personal preference. But remember that the Vignette tool in Luminar Neo has “inner light”, so you can drag that slider slightly to the right and it will brighten the center of the vignette (and of course, you can adjust the placement of the center of the vignette as well). This is a nice little finishing touch for brightening a photo and drawing the viewer’s eye to your subject.
These steps are general guidelines, and every photo is different, but they should give you a good idea about how to brighten a photo in Luminar Neo while maintaining control over the highlights and shadows, and ensuring you balance the light well in the edit.
Just because your photo is dark does not mean it’s not a good photo! It’s an easy fix!
I did a video covering this topic as well, which you can see below. Hope it helps and enjoy!
