Tag: software

Foggy Morning on the River Crossing Project

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Ironworker #2
Loading Steel Onto The Construction Barge.

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Yesterday morning the Ironworkers were loading more steel onto the barge they are building the caisson on. The caisson is the internal reinforcement for the bridge pier which will be lowered into the steel casing before the concrete is poured. The size and amount of steel that goes into one of these caissons is incredible. The horizontal elements in this caisson are at least two inches in diameter while the rings around it are close to one inch in diameter. Loading the steel onto the barge is a very controlled process that requires coordination among the ironworkers on the barge and the crane operator to accomplish safely and efficiently. The man in the photo is communicating with hand signals to the crane operator to lower the load onto the steel beams that will support it while it is on the barge deck.

I processed this image from a single frame using Topaz Clarity to reveal the colors in the scene and to show the river fog engulfing the Kennedy Bridge in the background. I find Topaz Clarity to be very good at allowing me to control the contrast and colors in an image while avoiding halos and artifacts that sometimes occur within these types of images. After applying the Topaz Clarity adjustment I returned the image to Aperture 3 where I adjusted the sharpening and applied a small vignette.

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Download a free trial of Topaz Clarity at the link below and give it a try; I think you will agree it is a great addition to any photographer’s workflow. Plug-ins like Clarity really speed and simplify my post processing and allow me to experiment with different approaches to my images in a timely way without spending hours looking for just the right combination of adjustments and enhancements in Photoshop CS5. With a project as large as this one where I’m shooting nearly every day Topaz plug-ins allow me to maintain a relatively fast paced post processing workflow while still creating photos that reflect my feelings for the subject matter.

http://www.topazlabs.com/705.html

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onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 8

Posted on by Nick Roberts

boxes_3 editions

OnOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 8, a complete photo editor for every workflow. The new Perfect Enhance module, Perfect Eraser, Perfect Batch utility, and re-engineered Perfect Effects module create a complete photo editing solution that seamlessly integrates into any workflow.

OnOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative and timesaving solutions for digital photography, today announced Perfect Photo Suite 8—the photographer’s choice for photo editing. Perfect Photo Suite 8 is a full-featured, standalone photo editor that integrates seamlessly with Adobe® Photoshop®, Lightroom®, Photoshop Elements, and Apple® Aperture® and it includes all the best tools a photographer needs to create extraordinary images. Key new features include the Perfect Enhance module for essential photo adjustments, the Perfect Eraser with content-aware fill technology, the Perfect Batch processing utility for applying workflows to multiple images at once, and a re-engineered Perfect Effects module with twice as many filters, customizable presets, and integrated FocalPoint™ technology.

The new tools and capabilities alongside Perfect Photo Suite 8’s eight modules—Effects, Enhance, B&W, Portrait, Mask, Layers, Resize, and Browse—allow photographers to enhance, retouch, and stylize images in a layered workflow, replace backgrounds, create high-quality enlargements, prepare images for output, and batch process workflows. The modules share a unified interface, each targeting a specific image processing task. Each module provides only the tools necessary to complete the job at hand, eliminating screen clutter and confusion for the user.

“We listened intently to the digital photography community about what they wanted for their image processing in today’s world of plug-ins, online apps, and subscriptions,” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “We made it a priority to respond quickly and design a cohesive new product that continues to focus on photography and is built for photographers of all levels, from enthusiasts to professionals. We’ve leveraged our extensive experience as a plug-in company and evolved the Perfect Photo Suite into a complete and powerful photo editor that, unlike existing plug-in collections, works as one, elegantly designed product that seamlessly integrates into any workflow.”

New in Perfect Photo Suite 8:

• Perfect Enhance module – Perfect Enhance provides essential tools for basic enhancements. Use it to adjust brightness and contrast, remove a color cast, remove dust spots and power lines, and add sharpening and vignettes. It is an ideal module to start with when using Perfect Photo Suite 8 as a standalone application or when quick corrections are needed.

• Perfect Eraser – Using content-aware fill technology and simple brush strokes, the Perfect Eraser removes objects and automatically reconstructs the image with realistic results.

• Twice as Many Filters – The Effects module now includes new adjustable filters including: HDR Look, Dynamic Contrast for tonal clarity, Vintage, Grunge, Antique, and more.

• Customizable Presets – All built-in presets included in Perfect Photo Suite 8 may be deconstructed by their filter settings and personally customized.

• FocalPoint is now in the Effects Module – The best parts of FocalPoint technology to create bokeh, tilt-shift, and selective focus effects after the shot, are now in the Effects module as the

Lens Blur filter.

• New Browse module – Images can be browsed and directly accessed from Perfect Photo Suite wherever they are stored—on the computer, an external drive, a connected network, and even on a cloud-based storage service like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Apple’s photo stream.

• Perfect Batch Utility – Powerful batch processing of actions from one or multiple modules, including the insertion of a watermark.

• Multiple File Handling: As a photo editor, you can now open and work with more than one image at a time. Move between images to edit or copy layers from one file to the next.

• Improved Masking Bug: Redesigned Masking Bug in the Effects and Layers modules make mask creation easier and more intuitive.

• Higher Quality Effects: Performance enhancements improve effects by minimizing artifacts without sacrificing processing speed.

• Improved RAW file handling: Open and process RAW files faster and with better quality. Support for new cameras also added.

Availability and Pricing

The new Perfect Photo Suite 8 will be available November 26, 2013. Pre-orders are available immediately at www.onOnesoftware.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=459. Perfect Photo Suite 8 is available in three editions: Premium, Standard, and an edition for Adobe Lightroom & Apple Aperture. The Premium Edition works with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop Elements, and as a standalone application. Owners of previous versions of Perfect Photo Suite Premium Edition can upgrade for $99.95. New users may pre-order the Premium Edition for $179.95. For a limited time, pre-orders of Perfect Photo Suite 8 Premium Edition will include a complimentary Essential Video Guide to Perfect Photo Suite 8, which provides a comprehensive collection of getting started training videos for Perfect Photo Suite 8 ($40 value).

Perfect Photo Suite 8 for Adobe Lightroom & Apple Aperture works with Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop Elements, and as a standalone application. It is available for $129.95 | $79.95 upgrade. The Standard Edition works as a complete standalone photo editor and is available for $79.95. New users who pre-order Perfect Photo Suite 8 will immediately receive a complimentary license for Perfect Photo Suite 7.5. Customers who pre-order Perfect Photo Suite 8 will receive all upcoming Loyalty Rewards that will be delivered monthly to owners of the Perfect Photo Suite 8. For those who have purchased Perfect Photo Suite 7.5 on or after August 1, 2013, onOne Software will issue a complimentary upgrade to Perfect Photo Suite 8 via download when it is available. For more information on Perfect Photo Suite 8, visit http://www.onOnesoftware.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=459

About onOne Software

onOne Software, Inc., is a leading developer of innovative software tools and apps for digital photography and offers time-saving software solutions for photographers of all levels, from enthusiasts to professionals. Leveraging its extensive history as successful plug-in developer for Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom, and Apple Aperture, and continued development of cutting-edge technology, onOne publishes unified solutions that offer both full-featured photo editing capabilities and the flexibility of traditional plug-ins.

For additional information, visit OnOne using the link below:

http://www.onOnesoftware.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=459

Topaz Labs Introduces It’s Latest Product “Clarity” Today

Posted on by Nick Roberts

Clarity_box_clear

As I noted in yesterday’s post there are currently a lot of new and exciting products coming out to help in post-processing our images. Topaz Labs released one such breakthrough product today with the release of Topaz Clarity.

I am especially interested in the ability of Topaz Clarity to minimize halos and the new masking feature. I’ll be working with it over the next few days and sharing my thoughts and results with you as I explore these features.

Here are some of the unique features introduced in Topaz Clarity:

1. Selective Contrast Control. With Clarity, Topaz Labs has developed a cutting edge process of selecting specific contrast variations in your original image, allowing you to quickly target and then increase or decrease the contrast and clarity in that specific variation.

2. Breakthrough Halo-Free Algorithm. Boost contrast and clarity without emphasizing transitions between light and dark areas, eliminating the common problem of halos, noise and artifacts.

3. Advanced Hue/Saturation/Luminance Technology. Using IntelliColor technology, you can easily enhance your image with the HSL filter, getting stronger, yet more natural HSL adjustments.

4. Re-Imagined Masking Workflow. The masking module, now attached to each adjustment tab contains a comprehensive set of tools including an edge-aware brush, gradient mask, smart feather tool, color aware tool and more.

5. User Interface Design. With Clarity, they have continued to develop a cleaner, more modern and efficient interface to improve usability, workflow and overall aesthetics.

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Clarity will retail for $49.99, but will be available at a special reduced price of $29.99 through May 31st with with this promo code: claritynew

Please use the Topaz link below when going to the Topaz Labs site. 

http://www.topazlabs.com/705.html

I’m an affiliate of Topaz Labs and earn a small commission on any sales made through my referral link which helps me offset the cost of producing SpeedDemon2. 

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Cawker, Kansas Tractor

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Kansas Tractor #3
Kansas Tractor #3

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Here’s another image from Cawker, Kansas. I chose this one because I like the composition with the wheel coming forward in the frame as if it is on the verge of entering the viewer’s space. I had a polarizer on my Nikkor 12-24 mm lens which really cut down on the glare and saturated the colors before any processing was done. The sun was almost directly overhead but by using Topaz Adjust with the Spicify preset I was able to bring out the texture and patina on this tractor.

One thing I currently strive for is to keep from overdoing the texture in these types of images. I like bold color but I try to avoid getting too much texture when applying the various filters to my Topaz work. I wasn’t always so restrained and when I go back to some of my earliest examples I wonder how I could have been so heavy handed with the software back then. I also credit Topaz Labs for refining their entire line of software and giving us the tools to take greater control of the various filters in it. As with many skills in photography the more one uses a given technique, or tool, the better one gets with it and they evolve into becoming a better photographer.

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Memo From the Department of Shameless Self Promotion

I am still accepting participants for my next HDR Workshop on May 17-18, 2013 here in Louisville. The last session was a great success; the participants all felt that it was time well spent and were applying the things they learned the next day. Here’s a link to the sign up page at Outdoor Photo Gear.

http://outdoorphotogear.ticketleap.com/using-hdr-photography/