When Google acquired Nik Software back in September, the photographic community took it as a sign that the internet giant was focusing more intently on our passion. But last week, when Google announced it would be pulling support for the desktop version of Nik’s popular mobile editor Snapseed, the same people wondered if this spelled the end of the rest of Nik’s well-respected suite of plugins.
Fortunately, the opposite is the case. Google may have pulled their support for the desktop version of Snapseed, but the remaining offerings from Nik are not only still available, they will be sold in a record-low-priced bundle. Read more…
Unsharp Mask: the sharpening filter of choice for photographers everywhere. It’s a fantastic tool that can really take an image to the next level when used correctly and I’m here to tell you that you should never use it again. That’s right, bid it a fond adieu and stop using Unsharp Mask. Forever. Read more…
Film emulation software company VSCO has added another offering to its lineup of Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw plugins. VSCO Film offers the same high-end film emulation power as Film 01 and 02, except it’s designed for mimicking the look of instant films rather than standard color and black-and-white film stocks. Read more…
The vast majority of my photographic work is environmental portraiture, corporate and editorial photography, and interiors, some of my commercial photography does include product photos. Quite honestly, some of this stuff is pretty straightforward, take a nice representative image of the product on a clean white backdrop so it integrates onto a website (also white) seamlessly. Sometimes a client gives me a bit more artistic license, and sometimes I get to do a shoot that’s just for me. Read more…
French photographer Serge Ramelli made this short 30-minute tutorial that teaches the basics of using Lightroom 4 to post-process your digital photographs. If you’re just getting into using Lightroom and shooting in RAW, it’s a helpful primer that will allow you to hit the ground running.
If you’ve been thinking about buying a copy of Apple’s Aperture 3 for your post-processing work, you might want to hold off for a bit. A replacement may be on the near horizon — at least according to a new book listing that has popped up over on Amazon Canada. Read more…
When Space Shuttle Endeavour was making low level flyovers of famous landmarks across the United States a couple of months ago, Adobe Lightroom Quality Engineer Ben Warde was able to photograph it flying by the Golden Gate Bridge. The 10-minute video above shows how Warde post-processed one of his best shots from that day using basic Lightroom adjustments. While the information may be basic for many of you, it should be helpful for people who are just starting out with programs like Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw, or Aperture. Read more…
When Adobe unleashed Photoshop CS5 back in April 2010, one of the big features that had photographers buzzing was Content Aware Fill. With a simple selection and a few keystrokes, the tool could magically delete a portion of a photograph and replace the void with details from the surrounding area. The tool was so revolutionary that when a sneak peek demo went viral, viewers began calling the video fake and too good to be true. It wasn’t. Read more…
Since launching back in 2007, Gunnar glasses have received a considerable amount of attention in the tech world for their ability to combat computer vision syndrome (CVS). If you spend hours upon hours every day staring at your computer monitor while post-processing your photographs, you might have experienced the symptoms of CVS, which include eye fatigue, visual stress, irritation, burning, tearing, and dryness. Here’s the description of Gunnar glasses on the company’s website:
GUNNARS increase contrast, comfort and focus while minimizing eye fatigue and visual stress for anyone who spends long hours staring at digital screens. GUNNAR eyewear is powered by i-AMP lens technology comprised of a proprietary lens material in an advanced geometry tuned for intermediate viewing distance and finished with custom formulated lens filters, tints and coatings.
If you want to give it a shot, here’s some good news: until September 11, 2012, Woot is selling a number of Gunnar glasses for up to 77% off the price you’ll find at retail outlets. Instead of $100-$190, you can pick one up for just $35-$50. The ones being sold are marketed towards video gamers, but should work just fine for photographers as well.
Looking for free lessons on how to get started with using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom to post-process your photographs? Look no further than the official YouTube channel of New York City camera shop B&H Photo Video. The store often invites well-known professional photographers to hold lectures on subjects they’re knowledgable in and passionate about. The collection of videos aren’t as shared as other shorter tutorial videos you’ll find online due to their great lengths — they run up to two hours each — but they’re fantastic resources for learning the ins and outs of photography.
In the video above, photographer Tim Grey offers an overview of using Photoshop CS6 for optimizing your photos. His topics include adjustment layers, image cleanup tools, cropping, rotating, correcting perspective, and applying local adjustments. Read more…
