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Review: Photomatix Pro 4.0.2 (HDR)

May 052011

Photomatix Pro 4

HDR or High Dynamic Range imaging is a relatively new workflow in digital photography, designed to compensate for our modern cameras’ inability to capture the full range of tones in a scene (in a single exposure). Another way to put that is, the camera rarely captures everything that we perceive, in terms of tonal details that span from the very brightest to the very darkest areas. Essentially HDR is a “workaround” for this limitation; we can shoot a series of bracketed exposures with our camera (using a tripod and unchanging aperture and focus point), and then “merge” those exposures together with special software tools.

There are several good HDR software programs on the market, including a built-in HDR function inside of Photoshop CS5 (learn more in my book). But the one I’d like to focus on today is Photomatix from HDRSoft. There are two versions available, Photomatix Light 2.0 (which is a simpler version, demonstrated in one of my recent articles), and Photomatix Pro 4, which is the comprehensive version reviewed in this article. Continue reading »

Adding Style to Low Contrast Photos in Lightroom

Posted by Dan Moughamian

Apr 082011

Lightroom is a great tool for styling an image to match the scene. © Dan Moughamian, 2011

We’ve all encountered situations where we are forced to photograph in overcast light or other suboptimal environments, due to time restrictions on location. Afterward we often discover we like the subject matter or composition, but the light throws us.

However that’s not always a good reason to delete those shots! Hang on to the best ones and see if you can use Lightroom’s excellent raw editing tools to tweak the focus, contrast and colors in a way that accentuates the scene, rather than attempt to manufacture what wasn’t there. My recent article at Lightroom Secrets shows you the way!

Changing Seasons with HSL in Lightroom

Posted by Dan Moughamian

Oct 222010

This week’s tutorial focuses on the HSL and Split-Toning panels in Lightroom (or ACR), and how they can be used to style the color relationships in your photos and even change the season with a few clicks! Hope you like it.

Adobe Releases Lightroom 3

Posted by Dan Moughamian

Jun 082010

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

Good news; Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is finally “in the house”, finished and ready to roll. Many people have already given Lightroom 3 a look in the public betas but there’s a lot going on in this update. Here are a few of the biggest plusses in my book:

• Incredible Luminance Noise Reduction – it still amazes me, even after testing the product for many months, how easy it is to breathe new life into old photos with this tool. You can clean up so much of the noise while leaving details intact (and which can be enhanced as well with improved capture sharpening) that it really changes the whole NR / sharpening workflow for me. Cuts out extra steps.

• Improved Import – the new import dialog is fantastic. Gets the pictures into my catalog quickly, the way I want them set up. The only missing thing here is a Favorites option for the Drive / Folders list but hopefully that will be available down the road in a future update.

• Lens Correction – like the Photoshop and ACR versions there are still some kinks to be worked out here but the idea that Lightroom can auto-detect which lens was used and if a profile exists, correct for geometric or CA problems on the fly, is great news. Especially for a lot of wide-angle architectural shots.

I will post more information on Lightroom as the week moves on, to tell you about my upcoming book and training video! Thanks for dropping in, as always. -Dan

ACR 5.7, Lightroom 2.7 Available from Adobe

Posted by Dan Moughamian

Apr 212010

If you missed it, Adobe has released updates for Camera Raw and Lightroom, bumping things to ACR 5.7 and Lightroom 2.7. Aside from support for additional camera types (including the Panasonic G10 and several medium format digital backs), the new versions provide new demosaic algorithms to improve compatibility with the new processing and tools in Lightroom 3 Beta 2. You can read more here.

Adobe Releases 2nd Beta of Lightroom 3

Posted by Dan Moughamian

Mar 222010

Beta 2 shows you a more finalized version of the impressive new Luminance Noise Reduction controls, as well as other enhancements not seen in the previous beta. Definitely worth a look, especially if you’ve been using the first beta part time for the improved Develop features. Probably the most exciting development is the addition of new Tethered Shooting controls (which work well with a D700 in my testing). Below are the official bullet points from Adobe.
• Improved performance throughout the application for faster importing and loading of images

• Native tethered shooting support for select Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras

• Luminance noise reduction has been added to the previous color noise reduction improvements available in the first public beta

• Support for importing and managing video files from DSLR cameras for better overall photographic workflow control

• Improvements to the import experience in the first beta to reflect public feedback

• Improved watermarking functionality from the first beta to reflect public feedback

Free ACR & Lightroom Presets

Posted by Dan Moughamian

Nov 252009

Photoshop plugin maker OnOne Software has some pretty cool products in its arsenal, including advanced masking and background removal with Mask Pro, detail enlargement capabilities with Genuine Fractals and more. But one of the cooler things they offer is a selection of high quality presets for ACR and Lightroom users, which you can download for free. Presets allow you to quickly apply subtle color or tonal characteristics like sepia or soft focus, without having to jump into Photoshop. Having a good collection of presets beyond the ones that ship with Lightroom and or Photoshop can be a useful thing; it’s definitely worth taking a few minutes to download and install these freebies IMO.

Meantime, for those of you in the US, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and safe Thanksgiving. See you next week! -Dan

Adobe Updates Camera Raw, Lightroom

Posted by Dan Moughamian

Nov 032009

For those of you who don’t keep regular tabs on the version of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) or Lightroom that you’re using… you should! A few weeks back Adobe announced the ACR 5.5 and Lightroom 2.5 update. The reason these types of updates are usually released together is that the color and tone processing algorithms inside ACR are the same ones that drive Lightroom. This ensures that regardless of which software you’re using to process your raw files, you’re going to get the same results if you use the same controls and settings. This also helps when starting a raw edit in one environment and then continuing later in another; you can basically pick up where you left off.

Typically ACR and Lightroom updates only contain support for new cameras (and perhaps a bug fix or two), rather than new features. This may not seem like a big deal to you except when you consider that if someone sends you a raw file from one of the newer cameras, your version of ACR or Lr might not support that file if you haven’t updated in a while. So check for updates every couple of months at least. It only takes a minute or two to download and install the updates, so it’s something I do several times a year and which I find -as a professional photographer- to be a worthwhile exercise.

ACR 5.5 for Mac

ACR 5.5 for Windows

Lightroom 2.5 for Mac

Lightroom 2.5 for Windows

Enjoy!

Lightroom 3 Beta Available

Posted by Dan Moughamian

Oct 212009

Awesome news for Lightroom users: Adobe has just released the public beta version of Lightroom 3. You can head over to Adobe Labs’ Lightroom page and download the latest and greatest to get an idea of what’s in store for the final version. Over the last few years I’ve been lucky enough to work with Adobe’s internal beta testing teams on products like Photoshop CS4 and After Effects. I can tell you Adobe is working hard to deliver a really impressive update this time around.

There is a brand new Import workflow that allows you to choose your locations quickly, preview thumbnails if you need to, add metadata and keywords and even rename files prior to import. There have also been enhancements made to capture sharpening and big changes to the quality of color noise reduction, though unfortunately the beta version doesn’t yet offer the improved Luminance reduction they’re working on. Other improvements include being able to lock in a filter combo when jumping from folder to folder, and the ability to access collections directly from the Develop module. I am currently wrapping up a 4 part series of articles introducing some of these improvements, which will be published on Peachpit.com. I’ll link them up as soon as they’re available!

Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha

Colortrails

Review: Photomatix Pro 4.0.2 (HDR)

Adding Style to Low Contrast Photos in Lightroom

Changing Seasons with HSL in Lightroom

Adobe Releases Lightroom 3

ACR 5.7, Lightroom 2.7 Available from Adobe

Adobe Releases 2nd Beta of Lightroom 3

Free ACR & Lightroom Presets

Adobe Updates Camera Raw, Lightroom

Lightroom 3 Beta Available

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