I reviewed the newly revived Nik Collection in June. It was nice to have the collection back, after Google bought it and then let it sit idle. Now it's been sold to DXO, and it's compatible with the latest PC and Mac operating systems.
Capture One 20, the newest version of the photo editing and organization software, has released today. Adopting a new, year-based naming convention, Capture One 20 boasts a number of improved features from Capture One 12, centering around refining the user experience.
The introduction of profiles in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw was a significant addition to editing for Adobe users. Not only can profiles improve your editing power, but they can also simplify your post-processing workflow.
Being a freelance photographer and digital artist, I have resigned myself to the fact that I will not always be able to use my own photography in the images I create for clients.
Have you tried taking film photographs and then scanning them in and performing post processing? Perhaps now is the time.
Over the years, education has taken a major turn. Shifting from in-person to online. But even now, online education is beginning to shift. After my recent experience at the Portrait Masters Conference, I heard a lot of good things from attendees about the Sue Bryce Education platform (SBE). So when I got home I decided to give it a try.
If you're looking for a raw processor that does more and are not currently using Capture One, it's likely that in your quest for a solution, Capture One has crossed your mind. Making the switch to Capture One from Lightroom, for example, is easier and quicker than you think, and right now, with Capture One's Black Friday sale, it's the perfect time to buy.
In this new video from my YouTube channel, I show you the behind-the-scenes photo edit of a beautiful perched yellow warbler.
It's headed toward Christmas and the vibe on instagram has certainly changed. In this video, I go over how to edit dark and moody photographs.
Nowadays, post processing images is becoming an entirely new discipline on its own. Every photographer needs a reliable machine to work on. The Asus Zen AIO (all-in-one) 24 PC is said to be quite the performer. Packing rather flashy specs, it's expected to bring amazing capabilities to the table (literally).
One of the things that I enjoy about Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw is that there is often more than one way to perform the same task. Perhaps the most flexible of these ways are all the different methods you can use to adjust for colors and tones.
Topaz Labs software has more recently been talk of the town in the wildlife photography community, and for good reason. Just like the needs for wildlife gear can get extreme with the 500mm and 600mm uber-expensive lenses and hyper-fast cameras, the demands for software that can squeeze every bit of fine feather or fur detail out of images is equally desired.
Cyberpunk is very "in" at the moment. With the impending release of the video game and the rise of Synthwave music, a lot of cyberpunk art is being created.
At the beginning of the year, I was contacted by Synthwave musician Megan McDuffee, who commissioned me to create some cyberpunk composites for her new marketing campaign.
Lawrence Sher, cinematographer for the new “Joker” film starring Joaquin Phoenix, has released a video explaining how he uses hue, saturation, and light to shape the mood, style, and story of a film.
The landscape of the portrait photographer has certainly been in flux over the last decade, in which time we’ve seen photos of people go from unreal alabaster-like skin to something much more real, color grading become prominent, and image resolution grow, even though the consumption of images has moved largely to smaller screens.
For those of you who keep hearing about Capture One, but wondering if it’s worth the trouble, this one might be for you.
I am not old. At least that’s what I tell myself in the mirror each morning between Googling cures for arthritis and wondering how my body can ache before I’ve even started my day.
Virtual Copies and Snapshots are powerful features in Lightroom that often go unused or underutilized. In this article, we'll cover what they are and how they can be used to make your editing workflow faster and easier.
“Is it difficult or different” should be the stock response to commentary that Capture One is either difficult or has a long learning curve, because the two terms are often conflated, and the reality is C1 is easy (especially the latest versions).
Photoshop for the iPad was touted as Adobe’s most important mobile application, with iPad owners very keen to use the image editing software. However, the app is lacking some key features, seems to have a horrific lag when using certain tools, and is now attracting shockingly bad reviews on the App Store. What happened?
AI has surely become a catch phrase, and we are seeing it all the time in photography applications. Luminar touts AI and Topaz, and even Adobe is jumping on the AI Bandwagon. Topaz Mask AI is one of the latest apps using AI, and I put it to the test.
Bit depth is one of those camera specs that is confusing for a lot of newer and even some experienced photographers. From capture, to file format, and even editing mode, this video gives a quick introduction to what bit depth is.
Sometimes, the smallest adjustment to a crop can make your photo much more effective. Check out this video for some tips from someone who consistently puts out jaw-dropping landscape imagery.
Adobe has updated Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Premiere Rush with a number of new features and improvements.
One of the most asked subjects people contact me about is how I color my images. Everyone expects a simple answer that solves everything, but unfortunately, it does not work like that.
For many photographers, the first type of photoshoot they will ever book is an engagement session. In this extended tutorial, I will walk you through four different setups that you can use regardless of your location or skill level.
Today, Loupedeck launched the new Creative Tool or "CT." They sent me a pre-production unit a month ago, and I've got some thoughts.
Today, Topaz Labs released Mask AI which leverages machine learning and neural networks to create masks based on simple brush outlines.
Photographer and filmmaker Michael Shainblum takes us on a journey to capture a panoramic shot of the Milky Way over the popular photography and nature destination Crater Lake, Oregon.
Adobe Creative Engine is a way for you to see what's happening in the creative world, especially if you need to get out of a creative rut, and it now supports Alexa.
If you want to see what other creatives are up to, or what the trends are with regards to your genre of photography, this might form part of your solution.
There has been much talk about the upcoming version of Luminar 4 from Skylum software. I've tested an early beta release and found the new features, particularly sky replacement, rather incredible. Others will be more interested in the new AI Portrait tools, to which I also gave some attention.
Events shooters can generate thousands of images in a very short space of time. But how do you manage that volume of photos, and what can you do with your workflow to make it as fast and efficient as possible?
Many photographers live and breathe by keywording their photos in Lightroom. Keywords can be used both for describing images, as well as combined with other features of Lightroom for organizing, searching, publishing, and exporting photos.
Are you using a tablet for your Photoshop and Lightroom editing? Yes? But are you getting the most out of your Wacom tablet? Probably not if you are like most photographers. You probably set it up on the first day and haven’t gone back to activate all those remaining features.
Our histogram shows 256 shades of gray. Besides pure black and pure white Ansel Adams used only nine shades to manipulate the contrast in his famous landscape photos. His zone-system can still be used for our modern digital photography.
Skylum are pleased to announce the features and date of editing software Luminar 4 released later this year. With the biggest update in the program's history, it packs several new features and changes in its interface.
If you're like me and primarily use Lightroom Classic for your photo editing, you probably occasionally edit a photo in Photoshop. If you do, you might be making the same Photoshop file mistakes I made.
The typical workflow, in this case, is that you right-click on a photo in Lightroom, select "Edit In," and then choose one of the following from the context menu:
There are not a lot of people who are photographing landscapes in black and white. Most of us prefer a nice color presentation of a landscape. Nevertheless, black and white conversion can help a lot when processing a color photo.
Sometimes it is good to step away from commercial work for a little while and practice styles or techniques you would not normally use or would like to get better at. The internet is full of sites with free stock for you to dust off your Wacom and get busy.
For many, wildlife photography is all about natural colors and objective realism. The light, composition, and behavior captured should do all the talking. And for the most part, I agree — for that other tiny little bit, though, I beg to differ. Please allow me to elaborate in more ways than one.
It seems as though almost every time I ask one of my close friends about a particular aspect of their photo, I usually hear the same reply: "I forgot" or "I didn't think of that." My answer is, typically, "make a checklist."
Getting familiar with Photoshop is a long process, and who better to reveal some little-known features than someone with more than 20 years of experience? This excellent video from Jamie Windsor will speed up your workflow and uncover some powerful features that you might not have known exist.
It’s no secret that with each new camera release, we’re seeing more megapixels, increased dynamic range and overall more information in our files. So what does that mean for professional photographers and retouchers who are working in the field today?
Dodging and burning is an old school technique that existed long before digital cameras and software. This does not mean it shouldn't be in a modern photographer's bag of tricks.
When it comes to alternatives to mainstream photo editing software, ACDSee has been one of the best and most popular options for many photographers. I've had the pleasure of using much of their software over the last year and I'm pretty excited about their latest edition.
Range masking is one of the less used yet more powerful features in Adobe Lightroom. If you haven't used them, check out this tutorial covering the ins and outs.
In today's Fstoppers video, I set out to create some conceptual fashion images with Puerto Rican model Krystal Xamairy. Using the brand new Tamron 35mm f/1.4 lens, a few strobe lights, and a couple colored LED panels, I will walk you step by step through the entire process.
As post-processing applications become more and more powerful, it is becoming increasingly difficult to trust an image as a relatively honest representation of a scene. Would a set of universal icons that indicated the sort of post-processing that had been done to an image be something you would support? This interesting video takes a look at that possibility.
Whether I'm teaching someone Lightroom or only showing a friend my photos in Lightroom for the first time, the one thing they usually comment about right away is my use of Lightroom's Secondary Display feature. It's a great feature that really makes me more productive.
Modern editing applications offer a veritable plethora of tools to both evaluate the information in your photos and to edit them to whatever creative vision you have in mind. This excellent video will show you five fundamental tools that every photographer should know how to use to edit their photos efficiently and effectively.
Dodge and burn are one of my favorite go-to techniques. It can be used in so many different ways by using numerous techniques. You can use dodge and burn to retouch, to globally guide a viewers eye around an image. It is great for adding contrast to specific areas for detail, as well as stylizing your images it gives it that painterly feel. The list goes on and on.