Break the Creative Block

Getting Past that Creative Roadblock When You're Editing

Unfortunately, it happens a lot. I’m working away on an edit and I lose my creative direction. What started as an exercise in artistic expression, working away happily on a photo edit, quickly nosedives into the maze of Photoshop possibilities. So many possibilities that I don’t know where to go with my edit and my work grinds to a halt.

A few cups of coffee later and I’m still left scratching my head. Well, recently I’ve welcomed in a new solution that has really helped me. There’s a program that works as both a stand-alone editor and a plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom. I love it because it makes creative editing a doddle. It’s all slider-based and utilizes AI (Artificial Intelligence) to help improve your photos. You can lean on the AI or disregard it and go your own way with the edit. The bottom line is you’ve got options.

Because it’s easy to quickly try different effects it’s much more efficient for discovering new creative directions.

In my YouTube video below I showcase how I take a photo that I’d done an average black and white conversion and then got stuck as to where to go next. I utilize Luminar AI to demonstrate how you can jump from tool to tool to play around and unlock new possibilities. It’s actually a lot of fun!

I show a variety of creative tools in this edit, but without a doubt, my favourite has to be the sun rays tool. It’s a really clever bit of programming that lets you drag an imaginary sun across the screen causing light rays and beams to interact with your photo. I’ve used a lot for my landscape work!

If you’re interested in Luminar AI you can get it with a discount from this link. Simply use discount code ATSKY10 at the checkout. It's fantastic when used as a plugin as I have done here, but it also has a massive following as a photo editing program in its own right. Because it’s so easy to use beginner photographers just starting out with photo editing are being drawn to it.