Award-Winning VFX Specialists Boris FX Releases Software for Photographers

There are many apps for photographers. Developing a workflow and testing each of them is all part of the process of developing a style and unique look. Some of us use Lightroom, others prefer Capture One or Photoshop or a combination of them all. And every once in a while, something is released that invigorates your work in a new way.

Boris FX is known in the film industry, and it’s here where they’ve been developing effects for award-winning movies and series like Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, and Avengers: End Game. But Optics is for photographers. It’s the first time they’re catering to us. And now, we can use these effects to get completely unique and great-looking effects in our images.

It can be used as a plugin for Photoshop or Lightroom, or it can be used as a stand-alone application. I played around with it for a few days for the review, and I am still coming to terms with how many unique looks they were able to include for the price of $149 (use code Fstoppers_2021 for 25% off). It’s truly incredible what they’ve released in the package.

Every filter and effect comes with its own set of parameters that guarantees a look that is totally your own. When diving in, the chances of creating the same effect as someone else are almost as close to you winning the lottery a few times.

What's Included?

There are 160 filters each divided into 9 categories. These filters each have thousands of customizable presets and looks. You can simulate optical glass camera filters, specialized lenses, film stocks, lens flares, optical lab processes, grain and you can add natural light and photographic effects. You also get 75 curated, Emmy award-winning Sapphire filters to match Hollywood style lighting effects, lens flares, glows, lighting effects, and more. Here is a short video to see how it works:

In the Fstoppers video below, stars are added to the sky based on where the photo was taken, and light behind a person is added using the software’s EZMask, which might even be a lesson for the developers of Adobe Photoshop’s masking workflow.

The fact that you have so many options and effects to choose from is one thing, but the fact that it’s so much fun to see what you can get out of it is what excites me even more.

User Experience

The software has a lot of depth, meaning each effect has a lot of parameters to set. You can even go into the technical aspects of an effect and change each lens’ flare individually. And the best of all is that they’ve made it very easy to get started.

I must confess that I was searching for the masking feature for a minute or two, but I think I now have a grip on how it all works.

I asked myself whether I would use it as part of my consistent workflow. I was able to save my favorites, and I've created some actions that do the round-trip to apply the effects as a new smart object layer, so I can now apply and tweak the effect and have fun doing so. 

I played around with some of my images, and it was a pleasure seeing how quickly I could get something I liked out of the software. 

What I Liked

I really enjoyed the film lab effects, where I could add and the AGFA RSX 100 Lo-Fi preset, change the parameters a little to suit the image, and then finished off with some film damage and grain to give it more of a printed look. Just this part of the software is worth the money, and you get so much more than that.

I liked the fact that you can subscribe to the software too, so for $7 per month, you can have access to it if you have a project where you need to inspire your and your clients' imaginations. $7 is also very cheap to take the software for a test-run. I would, however, state that the best value-for-money offering would be the once-off $149, which is often what some photographers sell a few Lightroom presets for. Now, you can use the presets and edit parameters to give you exactly what you want or inspire some new approaches to your work. 

I also liked the fact that the Color Correct presets are all named after the movies they reference from. Want your image to look more like Minority Report 1? Maybe Minority Report 2 or even Mary Poppins? There are many to choose from, and it's as if you now have access to what Hollywood has been using in all the award-winning movies of the last century. 

What Needs Fixing

I wasn't able to delete an effects layer. It seems like you can only deactivate it. But, because it’s the first release, I am sure this will be made easier or get fixed with an update.

I found the panning tool, which I thought was the selection tool, but I am still searching for the selection tool button and perhaps a shortcut. I was stuck panning for a while. Again, this can be fixed in a small update.

Conclusion

Boris FX is going to be a no-brainer for commercial photographers who work in the advertising and product photography industries. The same goes for landscape photographers who want a unique approach, having the ability to add stars based on your location, add and modify lightning bolts, add northern lights, and much more. They've got wedding, fashion, and portrait photographers who want to give their images a unique, vintage look with lens flares and film stocks covered too. In fact, real estate photographers, as well as photographers more into lifestyle will all be able to benefit using this software. 

If you see yourself as an early adopter who wants to have the edge in the industry, they're offering a 25% discount off Boris FX Optics. Make sure to use our special coupon code: Fstoppers_2021.