Luminar Video Tutorials: How to Create a Grunge Look

In these two video tutorials, you’ll get some street photography tips, and learn how to add a grunge look to your images. You can apply these techniques to any image that you want to look like an antique faded photograph, or make it a style of your own that you use on collections of your images.

Recently I’ve had the honor of writing some articles and doing video tutorials for Skylum’s website. So I thought I’d share a couple of them with you here as well.

#1 Street photography tips and creating a grunge look

This first video was a Skylum Coffee Break with Vanelli (Skylum’s Director of Education), where we had a chat about street photography and looked at a few images.

Here are a few of the things mentioned in this video as take-aways for you.

Shooting tips:

• Panning tips and how to use it to add interest to your street photos
• How to incorporate humor into your images
• Including people in your street photos to capture a sense of the place and daily life
• Getting permission to photograph people on the street and respect their wishes
• Using a wide lens and engaging with people
• Why patience is a key street photography skill

Processing tips

• Which Luminar AI tool to use in order to add a grunge effect to your image
• How to save a style you like as a new Look for Luminar
• How to apply that same style to another image
• How to use Looks as a starting point and tweak it to taste on an individual basis

I will apologize in advance for some of the funky sound and screen sharing issues around the 14-15 minute mark. This one was recorded live so that’s one of the hazards of live video. But I hope you can ignore those glitches and still find value here. 

#2 How to create an antique faded look using Luminar

This second video tutorial will show you how to use the Split Toning tool inside of Luminar 4 to give your images the look and feel of an antique faded photo.

Some things you’ll learn in this video include: 

• How to make a warm black b/w image using the Split Toning tool
• How to make a sepia tone look with the same tool
• How to make a true split tone or duotone (two-tone)
• How to use split toning on a color image
• Using the Matt Look tool in the Creative panel for an added old-world effect

Update: Luminar 4 is no longer available and has been replaced with Luminar AI. If you would like, you can download a free trial of Luminar AI for Mac or PC (#aff) and try it out for 7 days.

I’m a Skylum Ambassador, as well as an affiliate partner with them. If you choose to purchase the software after the trial expires, I earn a small commission. There is no extra charge to you. I reviewed over 10 editors recently, and I concluded that Luminar was one of the best photo editing programs for beginners. I recommend it because I’m confident you’ll come to love it.

Use this discount code to save $10 USD off the regular purchase price (must be entered exactly, no spaces): DIGITALPHOTOMENTOR.

7-Day Trial: Luminar AI (#aff)

NOTE: This discount code is only applicable to the regular price. During a sale, the price is already reduced and a further discount is not possible.

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Your turn

Now it’s your turn. Show me your grunged-up street or travel images in the comment area below. I’d love to see what you create using these techniques. 

Cheers,