Actually for only $39 it's a great deal if you get in on the promotion. I subscribed to Luminar about 5 months ago and have had fun running thru the tools and trying out the AI sky swap. I don't use it for my wildlife but for landscapes it's a no brainer. The new bokeh AI for portraits is OK for the moment but is suppose to be improved with the new version. I'm starting to get more clients for my portraits so I'm using the Portrait features a lot. The fact that you will be able to change backgrounds for your portraits is also a big plus in the new version. On thing Luminar will not do and like all other softwares is take a crappy shot and make it Great. If in focused and exposed properly Luminar will vastly improve the image, but not a fix all. I use On 1 raw as my main editor along with Topaz and now Luminar as well. I think the extra $39 with the new features will bring the software up to date, not to mention all of the camera profiles will be upgrade so you no longer have to have a separate raw convertor to work in DNG with Luminar to get the full benefits of raw. It's One tool and if folks are really serious about exploring their creative side I think it's worth the investment. I can't tell you how much money I have in camera equipment that I no longer use. If I can take One Good image and Tweak it into one of a dozen Great images for the year then it's worth the money spent.. PS here is a link to a Real photographer that uses the software to Enhance his images, maybe he will be of help to a few folks here..
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChgx7AuAhkOCeMhKwGdg8Qg

Went in April.. Had to get a Covid Test for the trip home. Took an hour at a small clinic located in San Jose. Usually takes about 3 hrs for results but if you're nice and polite they get it done faster. Everywhere we went folks wore mask into the restaurants and places of business. No different than before. You are also Required to have insurance to cover the cost of lodging for two weeks if you test positive for the trip home. You have to stay quarantined for two weeks. Cost about $250 per person. Test was $50 per person.

Sounds like you're covered if backed up with iCloud and on a remote drive. I basically do the same thing on my Mac only difference I use ON 1 Raw as my stand alone photo library and from there I use lumunar and topaz software as plug ins. My Picture Files are just part of the chain of where my photos are located as well. The chain goes like this:
Local Drives/Macintosh HD/User/Martin fisher/PICTURES. That's normal nothing wrong with the way you do it. Folks will add additional drives to their computers when they run out of storage. I personal have 2TB of storage on my two different Macs and I just keep my images cleaned up so I don't need the extra drives. I only use extra drives for Remote storage. If you have External Drives hooked up to your computer and your computer is compromised then you run the risk of losing your images as well. Having iCloud and Remote storage is the best route, in my opinion.

You have to tell the camera where to focus.. Auto focus means it will only focus somewhere, anywhere in the frame. Did you know you had a Single Point to focus with?? You can place the focus point on the individual's face then Focus, then take the image.

I'm having problems downloading images on the site for the last month or so. Takes about a dozen attempts just to download what you see. You can see larger versions on my 500px site. No problems sending large size to them or clients or for printing, only the UHH

No to hard to find here in Florida.. Just hard getting close to them. They feed in open marsh or lake areas near the shore. I found an area with the birds and cattails to hide in..

Got more shots this morning.. I keep getting an Error message when I try to load images here on the hog. Have tried everything from turning off firewall to using my other computer. Both get error message and both are Mac computers. Even searched the net and this happens as well to other folks but no solution I can find. One minute I can load an image the next get error message for rest of the day..
Anyway a couple from today.....

Chasing snail kites this weekend

Where do I start. I've been six times the last being for the month of April this year, so a couple of points. I Highly recommend a full frame camera because 80% of the action is under a heavy canopy. I used a Nikon D850 and the new Nikon 500mm pf this year. Only once did I get close enough to fill the frame and clip the birds wings. Most of the birds are Small.....The longer the lens the better. I like the 500 pf for it's size and weight. That said if I was to get all new equipment I would go mirrorless and with Sony.
Costa Rica just changed the laws that make it unlawful to feed the animals including the birds. A lot of the resorts/birding destinations are following the rules. Even in places like Monteverde you will not find many humming bird feeders. It's not as easy as walking up to a feeder and getting a shot. Most importantly I would recommend getting a guide at least your first visit. I still hire guides when going to new locations. Thousands of birds, but the trick is getting close, even with a 500mm to get a good image. Guides are a Big Plus for this. I would also try and stay in only a couple of locations for the 10 day trip as well. Traveling from point A to point B can take so much longer than here in the states. Just traveling 60 miles down the road can easily take 4 hrs. A Good Local guide will cost around $100 a day plus meals and lodging. A Good guide will save you lots of money with lodging and food. They get the Teco price {instead of the American price} plus know where to eat the best food for the best prices. I know the ropes now, but not the first couple of visits. If you hire guides around the tourist towns and resorts they will charge an arm and leg....... If you know exactly where you're going and the dates, drop me a PM and I'll see if I've been there and can make recommendations.
I love Costa Rica but you should know their are two different types of people there. One wants to get in your pocket, and the other wants to share their country with you. The same anytime you go to a foreign country.
PS let me know if your renting a car, only one honest car rental company in the country
I just loaded some images on 500px a few weeks ago taken with the D850 and 500mm pf back in April in CR.
https://500px.com/p/martinfisher?view=photos

First tell us the program you want to use Topaz as a plug in With. Myself I use with ON 1 Raw. I can walk you thru it if that's the case. I also use a Mac computer

More likely a helicopter

From my last visit a few weeks back.. D850 16-35mm Nikon Lens 30seconds exposure

(Download)

If a Nikon mount I'd gladly give you $100 for it. Send me a PM and we can arrange the purchase..

Thanks. Those are Jumping Spiders my favorite macro subjects

I was in New York several years ago and tried taking images of individual buildings and I didn't like the results. They are so tall with no way of really giving a true perspective of their size and shape. On this trip I looked to the skies for patterns and angles. I walked the streets starting around 5:30 am to beat the traffic. Then I could stand and look up from the middle of intersections. I took several hundred images. Can't wait to go back again with what I've learned..