Nano Banana

 I asked Nano Banana to create versions of this photo:

And here are the results:

 

I was not pleased with the second photo because, by rotating the subject, it looked like a different kid, in my opinion. Here is the prompt that I used to get the first picture edited by Nano Banana.

"An expressive, natural portrait of a subject, bathed entirely in warm, directional golden hour sunlight. The light should be low, highlighting the texture of the skin and hair with a vibrant rim light. Camera/Settings: Captured on a Canon R6 with a 85mm lens, f/1.8, shallow depth of field (bokeh) in the background. Composition: Leading lines from a distant fence drawing the eye to the face. Style: Cinematic realism, saturated gold and orange hues, high dynamic range. Do not change subject position. Do not edit the face of the subject." 

In my experience, Nano Banana tends to always edit the face of the subject, which is the reason why I do not feel it’s a tool that can be reliably used for editing. However, you get decent results if you try to replace the background or use other tricks in that sense. If you do not put both pictures, the original and the one edited by Nano Banana, side by side, the results look nice, but if you compare them you can notice the AI editing right away. 

You can find other prompts and test them yourself here.  

 

Editing your wildlife pictures

Sometimes, people assume that you should not edit your wildlife pictures, that editing is only for human portraits and landscapes. They are wrong. You can enhance any of your pictures, no matter what the subject or topic is. Here is an example of how a wildlife picture, in this case of a bird, is edited to achieve better and more appealing results.

 

The secret that many do not know

 You can get a MacBook Air for a fraction of the price—and still enjoy Apple’s 1-year warranty!

Refurbished laptops may come with minor scratches or cosmetic imperfections, but they’ve been thoroughly inspected and repaired by the manufacturer. When you buy through this link, you're purchasing directly from Apple. And here’s the best part: when I bought my MacBook Air M3, it arrived looking just like a brand-new machine—no scratches, no defects. It was packaged exactly like a new MacBook Air. Honestly, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference!

Stop struggling with your old laptop or trying to edit videos on your iPhone. And just so you know—this isn’t a sponsored post. This is not an affiliate link. I'm not getting paid by Apple. I’m simply sharing my personal experience, nothing more. I’m sharing this to show how happy I am with my purchase after three months of using it to edit my photos and videos. 

DXO PureRAW 5

DXO PureRAW 5 has been released. I tested it a bit, and the new denoising engine seemed a little too soft for my taste — faster, but soft. Still, it’s a must-have for any photographer out there. Combining DXO PureRAW with Topaz Photo AI for sharpening can result in almost perfect images.

Here is a video explaining the main differences in this new version.

 

Pastel Color grading

 I recently shot an event where I decided to apply a pastel color grading to all pictures. 

The picture above is one of several taken during the event. You'll notice a pastel color tone, which is quite unique compared to unedited photos. This effect was achieved through careful color grading. Judging by the number of "likes" it received, it seems that people appreciated the results of this creative approach.