Back in July, I reviewed Alien Skin Exposure 5, and decided it was one of the best Photoshop plugins for photographers to date. With its gorgeous film presets and full customization of every tool imaginable, Alien Skin seemed to be miles ahead of the competition, making a system that works well for both the beginner and seasoned pro. This morning, Alien Skin announced the followup to their flagship plugin, with Exposure 6.
Perhaps the biggest separation with the new Exposure 6 and previous versions is the inclusion of Bokeh, a popular plugin from Alien Skin that allows you to add realistic bokeh to your images and adjust it as needed. With features such as lens simulation, motion blur, and tilt-shift effects, you're now able to create seamless effects with the power of one tool rather than multiple plugins.
The user interface has also been enhanced, to help provide better aesthetics and functionality to the system. With new panels built into the plugin, you're now able to use sliders for global adjustments, such as exposure, contrast, clarity and more. Along with the new features, included in the system is over 450 preset effects to use on your images, with the ability to create your own, to help speed up your workflow and keep your images looking great.
Examples from Exposure 6 -
© Cliff Mautner
© Cliff Mautner
© Felix Kunze
© Fer Juaristi
© Fer Juaristi
© Jeff Ascough
© Jeff Ascough
© Parker J Pfister
© Parker J Pfister
While we haven't yet had an opportunity to try their software, if it's as any bit as good as the previous installments, it will be great. Alien Skin Exposure 6 won't be available til June 2014 for $149 and available as an upgrade from Exposure 5 or older for $69. Anyone who buys Exposure 5 will receive a free upgrade to the Exposure 6 system when it becomes available. Exposure 6 will work with Photoshop CS6 or newer, Lightroom 5 or newer, Aperture 3 or newer and is also available to work as a standalone program.
Cliff Mautner using post-prod to create bokeh? o.O
I see on their promo video for Bokeh2 they have some aged filmed video effects on their opening bumper....does Alien Skin now make software for Premiere too?
mmm, I'm not sure. I'm shooting film in an old canon film camera and practically there is no labs in my country with skilled technicians to process the film, and they cannot print directly but they scan it so in the end it's just another digital product. It would be much more economic buy just once a plugin but I am still thinking that that would be a bit ridiculous as I'd dress as a woman and would say "see, I am a woman!" when I am a man (please I refer only to dress, I'm not talking about choosing gender or something like that). So, although I've said before if u want film quality so shoot film, today: I'm not sure.
Well put. Thank you.
Yet to counter, a more forgiving view of the plug-in would say there is more than one way to skin the cat (and with lots less fuss). And instead of worrying that it's copying film... I like to think it's just similarly adding soul.
I'm confused - are they giving Exposure 6 to Exposure 5 users as a free upgrade or for $69? I just want to know if I can buy now or if I should wait until June.
If you buy Exposure 5 from now til the release of Exposure 6, you'll get a free upgrade. If you already have bought Exposure 5 before the announcement of 6, you can upgrade it for $69 when 6 becomes available
Perfect. Thank you!
As for me, both Exposure and VSCO breathe new life into the boredom of predictable histograms and obedient perfection of digital images.
Here's a peek using both from a recent shoot:
http://lifeascinema.blogspot.com/2014/05/rocket-blast.html
I'd love it if the made a video version for final cut and adobe products. Great plug in highly recommend it!