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Improve Your Photography in 2018 with These 6 Deals (48 Hours Only)

26 Dec

This year’s 12 days of Christmas was huge with some amazing savings on some great photography training and software.

However – because it’s a busy time of year – we know some of you missed out.

So for the next 48 hours only we’re brining all 6 deals back!

That’s right – all of our ebooks, presets, and courses are rarely all on sale at once, so now you can create your dream learning library – but only for 48 more hours.

We also have 3 amazing partner deals so be sure to check those out too while you still can.

Here are all the deals one last time…

23 dPS Photography eBooks, only $ 9 each
THIS WAS HOT > 44 printable photography field guides, only $ 29, Save $ 191
60% on All dPS Lightroom Presets
70% Off ‘Behind the Scenes’ Travel Photography Course
62% on All dPS Photography Courses
67% on the Ultimate Lightroom Workflow Toolkit from 3 Colors

Don’t miss out.

Access our exclusive Partner Bonus Offers from New York Institute of Photography, KelbyOne, Perfectly Clear and ON1 when you purchase any dPS Christmas Deal. Check your purchase receipt email for the access link!

The post Improve Your Photography in 2018 with These 6 Deals (48 Hours Only) by Darren Rowse appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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2018 Holiday Schedule at dPS

25 Dec

Happy holidays again – it’s Christmas day in the west and the holidays are in full bloom. We just wanted to let you know what to expect here on dPS over the next few days.

The dPS team is taking a little down time so we can give our writers a break and time with their families too. So we’ll be taking a short break from our regular programming of two articles daily.

Coming up next – the best of dPS 2017

It’s that time again when I go through the articles over the last 12 months to find the best, and most popular ones, for you to read.

So starting tomorrow with the top landscape articles, there will be a new topic each day, with several articles for you to read or review. So get out that new camera or lens you just got, and brush up on your skills, or if you’re just beginning get started with the basics.

Start off 2018

We’ll get back to our regular schedule of two articles every day on January 2nd (Australia time). For the first couple days you’ll see the wrap-up of the Best Of series, and just one article per day from us, then it’s back to business as usual.

So expect some good reading coming up. If you have some time you can catch up on a few articles you may have missed or focus on learning a new, specific technique.

The post 2018 Holiday Schedule at dPS by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to do Powerful RAW Conversions with Luminar 2018

19 Dec

One of the most powerful new filters in Luminar 2018 is the RAW Develop Filter. RAW files, straight out of the camera, appear flat and boring, but with capable RAW conversion software like Luminar 2018, you can transform the RAW data into a detailed and vibrant photograph.

Luminar 2018’s RAW handling has seen significant improvements over previous versions. It performs faster and the tools in the RAW Develop Filter reveal additional details in the highlights and shadows, display more accurate color, and reduce noise.

Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Filter

LUMINAR 2018’S RAW DEVELOP FILTER

The RAW Develop filter is organized into three categories:

Adjust – Essential Color and Tone Adjustments.
Lens – Remove Image flaws caused by the lens.
Transform – Correct perspective issues caused by the camera’s physical position.

These three tool sets form a powerful triad for correcting many of the problems encountered with unprocessed RAW image files.

QUICK TIP: JPG Shooters get access to the same tools in the Develop Filter.

Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Filter Tabs

ADJUST

The Adjust tab inside the RAW Develop filter contains fundamental color and tone adjustments. Settings include:

White Balance – Choose from white balance presets that are similar to the settings in your camera.
Temperature – Warm up (yellow) or cool down (blue) the color temperature of the photo.
Tint – Correct color casts by adding magenta or green.
Exposure – Adjust the overall luminance of the photograph.
Contrast – Adjust the overall contrast of the photo.
Highlights – Adjust the brightness of the brightest areas of the photo.
Shadows – Adjust the brightness of the darkest areas of the photo.
Whites – Adjust the white point of the histogram and white tones in the photo.
Black – Adjust the black point of the histogram and black tones in the photo.
Clarity – Adjust mid-tone contrast.

LENS

The Lens tab in the RAW Develop filter allows you to fix flaws caused by the lens. Settings include:

Distortion – Correct barrel or pincushion distortion.
Chromatic Aberration Fix – Correct for color fringing along high contrast areas.
Devignette – Remove darkened edges caused by lens vignetting.

TRANSFORM

The Transform tab in the RAW Develop filter allows you to compensate for perspective problems caused by the position of the lens at the time of capture. Settings include:

Vertical – Tilt the image forward or backward on the X-axis (helpful with key-stoning).
Horizontal – Tilt the image right or left on the Y-axis (helpful when shooting at an angle from the subject).
Rotate – Useful for straightening a photo.
Aspect – Expand the height or width while contracting the opposite direction.
Scale – Use to hide the edge gaps after transforming a photo.
X Offset – Shifts the image left or right.
Y Offset – Shifts the image up or down.

HOW TO PROCESS RAW IMAGES IN LUMINAR 2018

Open your photograph in Luminar, navigate to the Add Filter button and click on RAW Develop in the ESSENTIAL category. The interface is intuitively designed, suggesting the order in which to make your adjustments:

Step 1 – Adjust
Step 2 – Lens
Step 3 – Transform

EXAMPLE 1

Cappuccino Before Luminar 2018 RAW Develop

RAW/Unprocessed (© Angela Andrieux)

Straight out of the camera, the photo above was somewhat flat and slightly underexposed.

Cappuccino After Luminar 2018 RAW Develop

After Luminar 2018 RAW Develop: Adjust + Lens (© Angela Andrieux)

In the Adjust tab of the RAW Develop filter, small adjustments to the Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, and Clarity make subtle, but noticeable, improvements to the photograph.

Cappuccino Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Settings Adjust

In the Lens tab of the RAW Develop filter, a small adjustment was made to remove the lens vignette from the corners.

Cappuccino Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Settings Lens

EXAMPLE 2

Balboa Park Corridor Before Luminar 2018 RAW Develop

RAW/Unprocessed (© Angela Andrieux)

The photo above, in its unprocessed state, has blown out highlights, an unpleasant pink color cast, barrel distortion, and a slightly awkward perspective.

Balboa Park Corridor After Luminar 2018 RAW Develop

After Luminar 2018 RAW Develop: Adjust + Lens + Transform (© Angela Andrieux)

With the help of the Adjust panel in the RAW Develop Filter, the color cast was removed, the highlights were toned down with some detail recovered, and architectural details were enhanced.

The Lens panel in the RAW Develop filter fixed a slight lens distortion and removed chromatic aberrations.

This photograph had significant chromatic aberrations in the high contrast areas. Notice the patches of sunlight in the “Before” image below – each sunlit spot has a greenish fringe around the top and a magenta fringe at the bottom. The Chromatic Aberration Fix sliders did a great job of minimizing the unwanted color fringe.

QUICK TIP: Zoom in to 200-300% to check for chromatic aberrations in high contrast areas.

Balboa Park Corridor Before Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Lens Correction

Before Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Lens Correction (zoomed to 200%) (© Angela Andrieux)

Balboa Park Corridor After Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Lens Correction

After Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Lens Correction (zoomed to 200%) (© Angela Andrieux)

Balboa Park Corridor Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Settings Lens

The Transform panel in the RAW Develop filter corrected for a slight upward tilt of the camera when the photo was captured and straightened the vertical lines.

Balboa Park Corridor Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Settings Transform

EXAMPLE 3

Avila Beach Pier Before Luminar 2018 RAW Develop

RAW/Unprocessed (© Angela Andrieux)

The unprocessed RAW photo above has a color cast, is underexposed, lacks detail and contrast, and has both lens distortion and perspective issues caused by a wide-angle lens. The tools in Luminar 2018’s RAW Develop filter corrected each of these issues.

Avila Beach Pier After Luminar 2018 RAW Develop

After Luminar 2018 RAW Develop: Adjust + Lens + Transform (© Angela Andrieux)

The Adjust tab of the RAW Develop filter corrected the color cast and white balance issues, increased the exposure, added contrast and brought out detail in the shadows under the pier and movement in the water.

Avila Beach Pier Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Settings Adjust

The Lens tab of the RAW Develop filter made easy work of correcting the substantial lens vignetting, removing some barrel distortion, and cleaning up the chromatic aberrations around the pier pilings (high contrast areas).

Avila Beach Pier Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Settings Lens

The Transform tab of the RAW Develop filter straightened the horizon and the legs of the pier, correcting for both the position of the camera and the distorting effect of a wide-angle lens.

Avila Beach Pier Luminar 2018 RAW Develop Settings Transform

Conclusion

Each example above shows the power of the RAW Develop Filter in Luminar 2018. A RAW image file contains an abundance of data, but it takes a skilled photographer and a high-quality RAW conversion tool like Luminar 2018, to turn those files into beautiful photographs.

LUMINAR 2018 HOLIDAY SPECIAL OFFER

Ready to transform your RAW files into amazing photos? Visit Luminar 2018 until December 31 to take advantage of the holiday offer!

Get Luminar with an awesome pack of bonuses, plus get an extra $ 10 OFF with the coupon code: DIGITALPHOTOGRAPHYSCHOOL.

Disclaimer: Macphun, soon to by Skylum, is a paid partner of dPS.

The post How to do Powerful RAW Conversions with Luminar 2018 by Angela Andrieux appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Sony will start making CFast memory cards: 510MB/s cards coming in 2018

29 Nov

Sony has announced that it will introduce the CFast memory card format to its professional range in the first quarter of next year, and odd and exciting move when you consider that CFast 2.0 competes directly with the XQD card format Sony helped pioneer.

The series will launch with three memory cards that boast maximum read and write speeds of 530MB/s and 510MB/s, respectively. These G-series cards will be aimed at cinematographers and those shooting high bit-rate video, as well as stills photographers working with high frame rate cameras like the Canon 1DX Mark II.

As mentioned above, the cards boast a maximum write speed of 510MB/s, but more importantly they also guarantee a minimum sustained write speed of 130MB/s under the Video Performance Guarantee. This helps to ensure cards do not force cameras to stop recording during lengthy sequences.

And since pros need their cards to be sturdy as well as fast, Sony says the new CFast cards have been carefully tested for drop, vibration, shock resistance and rigidity, and states that they work in a wide range of temperatures and are highly resistant to static.

The cards will be available in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities for $ 120, $ 200, and $ 350, respectively. For more information, read the full release below or visit the Sony website.

Press Release

Sony completes Pro memory card line-up with new CFast range

November 28, 2017 – Sony is launching a range of high performance CFast memory cards, which are designed to meet the needs of professional photographers and videographers. The G Series CFast 2.0 memory cards will be available in 32GB (CAT-G32), 64GB (CAT-G64) and 128GB (CAT-G128) capacities, responding to the ever increasing capabilities of high-end DSLR and 4K cinema-grade broadcast cameras. The cards offer lightning-fast write speeds of up to 510MB/s and read speeds of up to 530MB/s and join an established range of media that includes Professional internal SSDs, XQD and SxS cards, as well as the world’s fastest SD card, while strengthening Sony’s position as a leader in professional memory solutions.

Step up to industry-leading write speeds

Professional photographers demand faster speed for continuous burst shooting of higher resolution images including RAW. With up to 510MB/s write speed, far outperforming the capabilities of existing CFast cards, Sony’s G Series supports high-speed burst shooting of high resolution RAW, maximizing the capability of high-end DSLR cameras like the Canon 1DX Mark 2.

Super-fast read speed for ultra-effective workflow

Efficient workflow is essential for professional photographers and videographers working in challenging environments on tight deadlines. With a blazing fast read speed of 530MB/s, Sony’s G Series CFast dramatically reduces the time it takes to transfer RAW files, long 4K video footage and high-resolution images to a PC.

Reliable 4K video recording with VPG130 support

As well as ultra-fast read and write speeds, the new CFast cards support VPG130 for reliable recording of Cinema-grade or high-bitrate 4K video. A minimum sustained write speed of 130MB/s is guaranteed, making the new media ideal for stable recording of professional grade 4K video, such as Cinema RAW light mode with Canon C200 video cameras.

Designed for strength and reliability

The new CFast cards have passed a variety of stringent drop, vibration, shock and rigidity tests, making them perfect for shooting in many different locations. They work reliably across a wide range of temperatures and are highly resistant to static. With a hard case and Sony File Rescue software, which is available when used with a card reader in a Removable Disk configuration, the cards can recover accidentally deleted photos such as RAW images and videos, allowing professionals to shoot with confidence in the toughest conditions.

Pricing and Availability

Sony’s G Series CFast cards are planned to be available in early 2018 for a suggested retail price of $ 119.99 for 32GB, $ 199.99 for 64GB and $ 349.99 for 128GB.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How to Process Real Estate or Architectural Photos with Aurora HDR 2018

21 Nov

If you’ve ever tried your hand at real estate or architecture photography, you know that these are two of the most complicated forms of photography out there. The challenge is due mostly to having to balance out shadows created by harsh or uneven lighting. Thus, it’s no wonder that High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is one of the most-used techniques for capturing real estate and architecture photos.

Before I go any further, let’s make it clear that this article is not about defining what HDR photography is or debating its merits. There is a myriad of arguments for and against HDR, but let’s save those are for another article. For now, let’s talk about Aurora HDR 2018 and how it might help you capture and process better HDR images.

How to Process Real Estate or Architectural Photos with Aurora HDR 2018

Simple, intuitive interface

If you’ve made HDR images using other photo editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop, you’ve probably had trouble figuring out how to use the software. One of the best features of Aurora HDR is that it is very stripped down, presenting you with only a few essential options that you can select to create your image. This greatly reduces your learning curve and makes it easy to get started immediately.

Use as standalone or with other programs

Speaking of other photo editing programs, you can use them in conjunction with Aurora HDR. It’s very easy to do. When you install Aurora HDR 2018 you can set it up to work both as a standalone program, or as a plugin for Lightroom, Photoshop, and others.

You don’t need a tripod

Historically, you’ve always needed to shoot bracketed images with a tripod to make sure they’re all aligned before merging them into a single HDR image. Not so with Aurora HDR. Thanks to their handy Alignment feature, Aurora HDR can automatically align your bracketed images (more on this in #2 below). This means that you don’t necessarily need to capture brackets with a tripod.

Of course, your images should be relatively aligned beforehand, but you don’t need the pinpoint accuracy that you used to need with other HDR photo editing programs.

Macphun Aurora HDR Photo Editing

Getting started with Aurora HDR

1. Open Aurora HDR and load images

When you first open Aurora HDR, you’re presented with a straightforward dialogue box that offers you three options (as seen in the screenshot above).

a) Open Image – In the very center is a button labeled “Open Image.” You can click on the button to select your images, or drag and drop them.

b) Batch Processing – If you have multiple sets of bracketed shots that you want to process all at once, drag and drop them into the Batch Processing dialogue box! Aurora HDR is intuitive enough to sort through the batch of files for you and automatically detect and match up your bracketed images.

Aurora HDR Batch Processing

c) Open Sample Image – This is a blue hyperlink below the “Open Image” button that you’ll probably only use the very first time you’re getting your feet wet with Aurora HDR. It exists mainly for demonstration purposes.

2. Set additional settings

For now, let’s assume you chose to Open Images (or, in the demo screenshots below, Load Sample Images). After doing so, another dialogue box appears with just a few options. The Alignment option is visible, and the others pop up when you click on the “Additional Settings” button.

Aurora HDR Brackets

Alignment

As mentioned above, checking the Alignment box will make sure all of your bracketed images line up properly. This means that you could possibly hand hold your camera while taking bracketed shots. But if you’re shooting a paid job, I’d still recommend shooting on a tripod to make sure you get the right shots, in perfect registration.

Ghost Reduction

If you happen to have a moving subject in your HDR brackets, enable the Ghosts Reduction setting. This can minimize the effect of ghosting in which moving objects may appear translucent or ghost-like in your final image. For real estate and architecture photography, you’re unlikely to have moving subjects unless you’re incorporating people in your photo or you can see moving tree branches through a window.

Get to Ghosts Reduction, Color Denoise, and Chromatic Aberration Removal by clicking on the gear icon (seen here in orange).

Color Denoise

Reduces the low-light noise in color pixels that can sometimes occur when merging photos together. This option is automatically enabled (as seen above), but you can shut it off if you wish.

Chromatic Aberration Reduction

It’s not unusual for real estate or architecture photos to have chromatic aberrations. Luckily, Aurora HDR has an option for minimizing the appearance of the purple and green glow along your image edges that is a clear indication of chromatic aberration.

3. Merge your photos

After checking the settings, click on the blue Create HDR button, and wait for your images to merge. This is perhaps the only downside to Aurora HDR (or, the whole HDR process in general). It takes a minute or two for the images to be merged together, so sit tight!

4. Select a preset or edit with the tools

Once Aurora HDR is done merging your photos, you’ll be presented with a more robust workspace where you can edit your HDR image further.

At the very bottom of the screen are a bunch of presets that you can choose to automatically adjust your image to a certain style. The Basic presets are selected by default, but if you click on the yellow “Categories” hyperlink, a bunch more will appear. For real estate, the Architecture presets are particularly helpful. Once you select a preset, you can adjust the amount to lessen or magnify the effect to your taste.

If you prefer to manually edit the photo with or without presets, use the far right panel where you’ll find basic photo editing tools. Scroll down to find even more editing tools such as Adjustment Layers and Dodge and Burn (more on these below).

Preset categories here.

Lessen the effect of a preset by lowering the slider.

5. Add Adjustment Layers

Another fantastic feature of Aurora HDR is the ability to easily add Adjustment Layers in order to make targeted, non-destructive edits to your image. This is extremely useful in real estate and architecture photography, as you often need to make color and tonal adjustments to your image without inflicting permanent changes on the pixels.

For example, the image below illustrates the addition of an Adjustment Layer that targets the blue tinge in the staircase and chairs in the middle of the image, with the goal of color correction. Adjustment Layers also exist in Photoshop, and they function very similarly in Aurora HDR. The best part is that it is much more intuitive and easier to find in Aurora HDR than they are in Photoshop.

Adding an Adjustment Layer for local color control in selected areas.

6. Dodge and Burn

If you’ve upgraded to the brand new Aurora HDR 2018 version, you’ll find a couple of essential real estate photo editing tools that are much handier to access: Dodge and Burn Tools! If you’re unfamiliar with dodging and burning, you can read up on these photo editing processes in this dPS article.

In short, dodging helps you brighten targeted areas of an image while burning lets you darken them. Both techniques are essential for real estate photography retouching. In the new version of Aurora HDR, these tools are easily accessible in the right-hand panel. Simply scroll down to the “Dodge and Burn” panel and click on “Start Painting.” This will activate a few settings right above your image.

Use the Dodge and Burn tools to do special localized tone control in your image.

In Conclusion

If HDR photography sounds interesting to you and you’re looking for an easier way to post-process your images, give Aurora HDR 2018 a shot! Its intuitive, clutter-free interface is relatively easy to learn and you can begin enhancing your real estate photos in no time.

Disclaimer: Macphun is a dPS advertising partner.

Final image edited with Aurora HDR 2018.

Aurora HDR Sample Images

Before – a single image of a series of brackets.

Before

01 Macphun Aurora HDR Photo Editing

Before

01 Macphun Aurora HDR Photo Editing

The post How to Process Real Estate or Architectural Photos with Aurora HDR 2018 by Suzi Pratt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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ON1 Photo RAW 2018 takes on Lightroom with more features and improved Raw processing

10 Nov

After releasing it in beta last month, ON1 has officially announced the latest version of its image editing and organization software: ON1 Photo RAW 2018. With this newest version, ON1 wants to establish its application as a viable alternative to Adobe’s Lightroom, and says most of the improvements to the new version are a direct result of community input.

The new app comes with an updated raw processing engine and a new HDR function that merges a bracket of photos for increased dynamic range. Pano Stitching combines multiple photos into a single panoramic image and a host of new masking tools allow for precise selection of image areas and background masking.

ON1 has also updated the UI for a cleaner and more modern look, and has added support for the Nikon D850, Olympus EM-10 III, Panasonic DMC-G85, preliminary support for Sony a7R III, and a range of new lenses.

Other features include: re-editable adjustments for exposure, contrast, color, shadows, highlights, lens correction, and transform tools, as well as hundreds of customizable photo effects.

ON1 Photo RAW 2018 for Mac and Windows is available now for download as a free 30-day trial from the ON1 website. Previous owners of any ON1 app (or ON1 plug-in) can upgrade to the new version for $ 100, while new users will have to pay $ 120. However, a single license can be activated on up to five computers.

For more information and a full list of updates, check out the video below and read the full press release below that.

Press Release

Portland, OR – November 9, 2017 – Today, ON1, Inc. announced ON1 Photo RAW 2018 is officially available. Along with the essential tools and features needed in a photography workflow, ON1 Photo RAW 2018 includes key updates to the fast, non-destructive raw processing engine. Photographers now have an integrated tool with accelerated photo management, precise photo development, hundreds of customizable photo effects, fast and beautiful HDR, pano stitching, masking and blending adjustments, layers, and much more – in one app.

From the beginning the ON1 community has driven the development of ON1 Photo RAW based on what’s most important to them. Almost every feature and improvement made to the app in version 2018 is a direct result of community input through the ON1 Photo RAW Project.

This type of transparency is what customers can continue to expect from the ON1 team. This process has solidified ON1 Photo RAW as the app designed by photographers for photographers and a great alternative to Adobe® Lightroom®.

ON1 Photo RAW 2018 includes major updates and enhancements in many areas. Key new features include the following.

ON1 HDR – Create stunning HDR photos that merge all tonality from a bracket of photos in a fraction of the time (test results have shown up to seven times faster than other HDR apps). Automatically aligns photos and removes ghosting from motion between exposures. Includes full non-destructive editing with natural results and can be turned up to 11 for a surreal look.
Pano Stitching – Combine multiple photos into a single panoramic or matrix photo. Automatically aligns photos, even if they are not shot on a tripod, and blends them together seamlessly. An option to embed panoramic metadata for Facebook panning is also available.
Global Mask Editing Tools – These include new mask Density and Feather sliders to allow for changing the density or opacity of masks as well as blur masks for softening.
Luminosity Mask Updates – Adjust the levels of a mask to increase the contrast or brightness as well as set a tonal window to only affect a certain zone. These updates allow users to target just the area they want, based on the photo.
Color Range Masks – Create a mask from a color range selection.
Blur and Chisel Mask Tools – In ON1 Effects, the Blur and Chisel mask tools are now included. The blur tool is perfect for softening or feathering a mask selectively. The Chisel tool lets the user push or pull the edge selectively, to remove halos. All of these new masking options are re-editable and non-destructive.
Versions — Versions are virtual copies of the same photo. Each version created can include non-destructive settings, including crop, retouching and adjustments. Versions work just like any other photo without taking up more space on your computer.
Updated UI — Clean and modern UI where your photo is the center of attention. Custom name filters and layers to easier keep track of work. Also select your own UI accent color.
Paint with Color Brush — Painting with color can be a solid color, perfect for skin smoothing and making annotation layers, or paint with just the color and leave the underlying luminosity in place to change the color of objects like eyes.
Selectively Add or Remove Noise — Brush away noise in areas like skies or add noise for an artistic effect.
Improved Highlight Recovery –– The algorithms for highlight recovery have been improved.
ON1 Photo for Mobile — Take the best shots with you on the go with the free ON1 Photo for Mobile app. It’s a great way to share portfolios. It can also sync new photos taken on phones back to the desktop so those photos are ready for editing.
Additional Camera & Lens Support — Added support for the Nikon D850, Olympus EM-10 III, Panasonic DMC-G85, preliminary support for Sony a7R III, plus a ton of new lenses.

ON1 Photo RAW 2018 differentiates itself from other apps by allowing photographers to both browse and catalog their photos from the very beginning of their workflow. This hybrid system provides one of the fastest digital asset management tools available today. The ultra fast photo browser is perfect for quickly viewing and culling through photos without having to wait on an import process. Once the culling process is complete, the ability to create and catalog those photos is the next step in common workflows.

There is plenty more available within the app’s non-destructive photo development. These features include re-editable adjustments such as exposure, contrast, color, shadows, highlights, lens correction, and transform tools. The hundreds of unique photo effects are also perfect for finishing off your photos to add that extra punch. Photographers have complete control of how each effect is applied using masking brushes, gradients masks, and local adjustments. Each effect is also completely customizable to save any look as a custom preset.

Photo editing technologies such as live blending options, apply to, smart layers, smart photos, and mask refinement tools also make ON1 Photo RAW 2018 a more advanced pixel editor without having to launch a separate app. The ability to combine photos together with layers, masks, and selectively apply filters and effects to raw photos gives users a big advantage.

ON1 Photo RAW 2018 isn’t just for raw files. Supported file formats include JPEG, TIF, PSD, PSB, PNG, and DNG are supported and benefit from the speed, performance, and abundance of editing tools in the app. Photo RAW 2018 also continues to work seamlessly within current photography workflows. The app integrates as a plug-in for Adobe® Lightroom® Classic CC and Photoshop® and further builds its case as a complete standalone photo editor or alternative to the Adobe Photography Plan. Version 2018 also integrates with the major cloud services to allow for uploading, managing and editing photos across multiple computers. This also allows users to sync photos and their edits across multiple computers or in a studio setting.

Price and Availability

ON1 Photo RAW 2018 is available for download as a free 30-day trial from the ON1 website. Previous owners of any ON1 app (or ON1 plug-in) can upgrade for $ 99.99. Those who don’t own an ON1 app can order for $ 119.99. ON1 Photo RAW 2018 is also bundled with some excellent bonus materials which include: Three ON1 Photo RAW 2018 Courses by Product Director Dan Harlacher, and all of their 2017 and 2018 Loyalty Rewards. ON1 Photo RAW 2018 works with both Mac and Windows and includes activation on up to five computers.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Macphun unveils Luminar 2018, takes on Adobe Lightroom CC

02 Nov

Macphun—the photo editing software company that will rename itself ‘Skylum’ at the end of the year—has just unveiled the latest version of its full-featured photo editing suite Luminar. Meet Luminar 2018: a photo editor and (eventually) digital asset manager that seeks to compete with Adobe’s Lightroom at a time when many Lightroom users are looking for an out.

Available for pre-order starting today, Luminar 2018 features speed improvements, a dedicated RAW develop module, LUT support, AI-powered filters that can do some strange/interesting things like create intelligent light rays, and a digital asset management system (coming soon) that will allow you to organize your photo library sans subscription.

Macphun is very much hoping disgruntled Lightroom users will give Luminar 2018 a go:

Luminar 2018 has been re-built from the ground up for dramatic performance boosts.

[…]

Instead of stuffing menus with boring effects and old technology, Luminar only puts in filters that photographers want and need. Luminar offers more than 40 filters to correct color, sharpen details, and release creativity. New filters include the ability to enhance color with Brilliance, selectively lighten or darken specific areas of an image with Dodge & Burn, as well as the ability to change the lighting in a photo with Sun Rays.

Want a whole new way to stylize images? Try the new Lookup Table adjustments, known as LUTs . Creative color, perfect black and white conversions, and even digital films stocks are just a click away. Lightroom users who rely on custom presets created for Lightroom can also easily convert those presets into LUTs (with a free 3rd party tool) and use them inside of Luminar 2018.

Here’s a closer look at the interface:

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_3300296879″,”galleryId”:”3300296879″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });

And a few before and after images to show what Luminar 2018 can do when you put it to work on your images:

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_6390293885″,”galleryId”:”6390293885″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });

Most of the features discussed will launch with Luminar 2018 later this month, with the exception of the DAM, which is scheduled to ship “in 2018.” Pre-orders start today at a special discount price of $ 60 for new users (usually $ 70) and $ 40 for users of the current Luminar (usually $ 50).

To learn more about Luminar 2018, head over to the Macphun (soon Skylum) website by clicking here.

Press Release

The new Luminar 2018 takes on Adobe Lightroom

New Luminar 2018 delivers a breakthrough photo editing experience for photographers on Mac & Windows with new filters, tools, non-destructive editing, major speed boosts, and a digital asset management platform that will arrive in 2018.

San Diego, CA – November 1, 2017 — Macphun, the California-based software developer today announced Luminar 2018. New users will be able to purchase Luminar 2018 for $ 59, and current users of Luminar may upgrade at a special price of $ 39. Preorders start November 1 at www.macphun.com/luminar.

Luminar 2018 offers everything a modern photographer needs for photo editing, including new filters powered by artificial intelligence, major speed improvements, a dedicated RAW develop module and a forthcoming in 2018 digital asset management platform. Users will also benefit from the new intelligent Sun Rays filter, LUT support, and real-time noise removal. With adaptive workspaces that match styles of shooting, Luminar adapts to deliver a complete experience that avoids clutter and complexity.

Luminar 2018 has been re-built from the ground up for dramatic performance boosts. Existing filters deliver richer colors and depth in less time. A brand new streamlined user interface speeds up working with presets, filters, and masks. With full support of pro options like layers, masks, and blending modes, complex repairs and photo composites can be easily accomplished.

And, importantly, Luminar works on both Mac- and Windows-based desktop computers*.

“We’ve taken the time to listen to photographers, and what they want is performance and quality. The less time photographers have to spend in front of computers, the more time they have for taking pictures,” said Alex Tsepko, CEO of Macphun. “Our mission is to get Luminar streamlined with just the tools and controls photographers need. The goal is simple: enable the best-looking images with the least amount of effort.”

Luminar offers a new RAW Engine that can handle high-quality images faster. Plus, it’s easy to solve image problems caused by camera lenses with Lens Correction features that resolve vignette, distortion, and color aberrations. If the photo has unwanted perspective problems, a new Transform tool can quickly solve them.

Instead of stuffing menus with boring effects and old technology, Luminar only puts in filters that photographers want and need. Luminar offers more than 40 filters to correct color, sharpen details, and release creativity. New filters include the ability to enhance color with Brilliance, selectively lighten or darken specific areas of an image with Dodge & Burn, as well as the ability to change the lighting in a photo with Sun Rays.

Want a whole new way to stylize images? Try the new Lookup Table adjustments, known as LUTs**. Creative color, perfect black and white conversions, and even digital films stocks are just a click away. Lightroom users who rely on custom presets created for Lightroom can also easily convert those presets into LUTs (with a free 3rd party tool) and use them inside of Luminar 2018.

Luminar 2018 will become available in November 2017, and in 2018 a free update will provide a new image browser/digital asset manager to help photographers manage their image libraries.

Photographers will be able to sort, rate, organize, and backup their photos at great speed. The new digital asset management platform in Luminar will work without subscription and will work with any storage (cloud or local). It will also bring a number of unique features, that the current Lightroom library can’t boast.

* Workspaces, Clone & Stamp, blend modes for layers, luminosity masking, flip and rotate, as well as some other tools and features will be available in the Mac version at launch, and arrive in the PC version with free updates by the end of the year.

** Look-Up Table (LUT) – is mathematically precise way of taking specific RGB image values form a source image – and modifying them to new RGB values by changing the hue, saturation and brightness values of that source image. LUTs are used creatively to impose a specific ‘Look’ on a source image.

Availability

Pre-order for Luminar 2018 will run from November 1 until November 16.

Pre-order customers will receive a special price and value-add bonuses such as:

A pack of signature presets & textures from a Pro photographer Nicolesy.
An exclusive pack of LUTs.
1-year Power plan from SmugMug ($ 72 value). For new accounts only

Pricing

Mixed-computer households can share the same product key for Mac and PC which can be activated on five devices.

Current users of Luminar may upgrade at a special pre-order price of $ 39

New users can purchase Luminar at a special preorder price of $ 59

The retail price for Luminar 2018 after November 16 will be:

$ 49 upgrade for current Luminar HDR users

$ 69 for new users

The digital asset management platform will arrive in 2018 as the free update for all the users of Luminar 2018.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Video Tutorial: How to Make Realistic Images Faster with Aurora HDR 2018

18 Oct

As a landscape photographer who relies heavily on HDR to pull off much of my work, I’m always keen to learn about better ways of doing what I do. Most of the time my art tends to run towards natural looking images in contrast to the wild and crazy stuff of HDR’s reputation. The HDR software I use matters when I’m going for a more natural looking photo in my post-processing.

Going natural with Aurora HDR 2018

Aurora hdr 2018 cactus before after

You can see several examples of the natural-looking results I’m getting in from Aurora HDR in the accompanying video and the several before and after images included here in the article.

Aurora HDR 2018 delivers, even more, natural-looking photos than before

The latest version of Aurora HDR is fresh out of the factory and I’ve been in a tire-kicking session with it for a few days making several photos. As expected, it’s a worthy upgrade. Do you want to see what’s new and how it helps when you want to keep the look of your HDR photos on the natural side?

Before

After processing with Aurora HDR 2018.

Under the Hood of Aurora HDR 2018

The Macphun engineers have been very busy for many months re-building Aurora HDR from scratch. It’s like Walter White always says in Breaking Bad, “It had to be done.” In order to create a cross-platform Windows/Mac application, all new code was required. Big job.

The resulting product is something they can be proud of. The new HDR algorithm in Aurora HDR 2018 churns out very natural looking HDR images when it’s used correctly and with natural HDR being the goal. Of course, Aurora HDR 2018 is a perfect fit for my landscape photography work. It uses the most modern tone-mapping technology and an advanced image-processing engine, which makes very clean images, as you’ll notice in my examples.

Before

After processing with Aurora HDR.

Video tutorial: Keeping it natural and real in Aurora HDR 2018

All the new features, just added to Aurora HDR 2018 in this release, bring it ever closer to becoming the only app you’ll need to process your HDR images and keep them as natural looking as you want. When you watch the video you’ll see how I use some of the new major features packed into Aurora HDR 2018 when creating my natural looking HDR landscapes. Watch the demo video:

Embracing the faster workflow using Aurora HDR 2018

You probably love photography as much as I do. Getting new tools that really help me get to my intended vision faster, or easier, or just better in any aspect, are quite welcome. They make it even easier to love what I do.

Kudos to the completely rewritten HDR algorithm and the advanced image-processing engine in Aurora HDR 2018. I’m finding that it’s speeding up my workflow significantly. That’s because of how good my photos usually look immediately after tone mapping even without even doing anything else in Aurora.

If I were brand new to photography, I’d be totally happy leaving my photos in that initial tone-mapped state with no further processing. They are that clean!

Before

After

Back in the day (before Aurora HDR), it could take me up to a couple of hours to finish an HDR photo. Even then, it wasn’t all that natural looking much of the time. Thankfully, things are always evolving in exciting ways.

Ever since my foray into HDR photography eight years ago, my skills have improved. But I honestly have to credit the improvements in software, like Aurora HDR 2018, for dramatically reducing the time it takes me to finish a photo to just a few minutes while getting better, more realistic, results.

My intention is keeping my post-processing time to five minutes per image and striving for consistently higher quality photography. Aurora HDR 2018 is a big piece in my HDR workflow making that happen so it’s now a permanent tool in my HDR arsenal.

Be sure to watch the video, then I invite you to check out more Aurora HDR images in my SmugMug gallery.

Disclaimer: Macphun is a paid partner of dPS.

The post Video Tutorial: How to Make Realistic Images Faster with Aurora HDR 2018 by Keith Cuddeback appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018

11 Oct

Aurora HDR 2018 is tremendously easy, fun software by Macphun, designed for processing HDR (High Dynamic Range) images. If you’ve been following popular contemporary photography for a while, you’ll know that dramatic HDR is no longer in style. It fell out of photography fashion as quickly as wine-lovers stopped drinking merlot. Knowing how to create natural-looking HDR images is a very practical tool to have in your wheelhouse though, so let’s take a look at how to do that with Aurora.

How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018 - ice cave

Realistic & Detailed Aurora HDR 2018 preset.

When do you need HDR?

If you’re shooting a location where there are very bright tones, along with very dark shadows, your camera probably won’t be capable of capturing exactly what your eye sees. If you bracket your images as you shoot, you can capture the entire dynamic range of the scene – every tone from very bright to very dark.

What is bracketing?

Bracketing means you shoot multiple images of the same thing, changing the exposure of each individual image. Most photographers choose to shoot between three and five images, though as few as two will work. Sometimes a situation requires seven or more. By bracketing your exposures this way, you generate the raw materials you need to use in Aurora HDR to create a final image that records all of the bright and dark tones your eyes saw.

How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018

My three bracketed images inside Lightroom.

Setting your camera up to bracket

First, attach your camera to your tripod, compose your scene and fine-tune your focus. Now, configure your bracketing. You can set the auto-bracketing feature (AEB) on your camera to shoot multiple images, approximately one to two stops of light apart, depending on the situation. The first image will be very light, or overexposed. The second image will be correctly exposed – or what your camera interprets as correct. The third image will be very dark or underexposed. Many photographers find three images to be effective, especially when they’re striving for a natural-looking HDR look but you can shoot as many as you think you’ll need.

How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018 - back of camera AEB on

Bracketing settings on a Canon camera.

NOTE: If you don’t have a camera with an auto-bracketing feature, don’t worry, you can bracket manually too. Create multiple exposures for each scene using your exposure compensation dial to increase and then decrease your exposure (make sure to use Aperture Priority and only change the shutter speed as altering the aperture will result in images that do not blend properly). It takes a little more time and patience while you are shooting but it’s worth trying if your camera doesn’t have an auto-bracketing feature.

How do you process the brackets?

After your shoot, upload your images to your computer just like you normally would. Aurora HDR runs as stand-alone software but if you’re a Lightroom user, it can be installed as a plug-in too.

Starting in Aurora HDR 2018

Double click the Aurora icon to open the software. Click the Open Image button.

Choose the folder where your images live and select them. Click Open.

The Aurora dialog box appears with your selected images. Click the Create HDR button.

Note: Tick off the “Alignment” checkbox if you think there was any movement of the camera between shots. The program will scan the images and attempt to align them. You can also click the little gear icon for additional settings like removing ghosting (subjects that moved from image to image).

Starting in Lightroom

Go to the folder containing the images you want to process in HDR. Click to select them. Right-click to bring up the menu. Select Export > Aurora HDR 2018 > Open Original Images. The Aurora dialog box appears with your selected images. Click the Create HDR button.

How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018

Note: If you made adjustments to your images in Lightroom, such as lens corrections, cropping, straightening, spot removal or noise reduction, instead of selecting Open Original Images, choose Use .TIFF with Lightroom Adjusters.

Aurora HDR’s Realistic Presets

Part of why I opened this article with the statement that Aurora HDR 2018 is both easy and fun is because of its presets. Along the lower part of the screen, just above the filmstrip, you’ll see a menu called Categories. Click on it to bring up the preset menu, then click on Realistic HDR.

How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018

My four favorite natural-looking Aurora presets live in this folder:

Realistic & Detailed
Realistic & Balanced
Realistic Bright
Realistic Neutral

These presets make my images look and feel the way the ice cave looked and felt when I was there. To me, recreating an image faithful to that memory is what natural-looking realistic HDR is all about.

How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018

Choose your favorite

The best way to choose your favorite Realistic HDR preset is to scroll all the way to the left on the filmstrip and then work your way right, clicking each one. As you select each preset, the larger image above the filmstrip will show you a more detailed preview of how each preset affects the look of your image. Once you find your favorite, it might look so perfect that all you might need to do is save it. Or, you might want to personalize the preset before you save. Here are a few tips on how to do that.

Modifying the Opacity

Let’s say that you love the Realistic & Detailed preset but it’s just a touch too much. The first – and easiest – way to modify its effect is to reduce the overall opacity of the preset. To do that, click on that preset in the filmstrip. Slowly shift the slider to the left, reducing the opacity, and lowering the effect (I often find that between 75-80 is the perfect amount). Save the image at this point if you are happy with it.

How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018

Another method of reducing opacity is layer-based. Look to the upper right corner of the Aurora HDR develop panel, just below the histogram. See where it says Layers? The Opacity adjustment slider for that layer is just below that. You can increase it or decrease it (each layer) there as well.

Fine-tuning the preset

If you’d like to use your chosen preset as a starting point, you can easily modify it. On the right-hand panel of the screen, in the editing panel, just below the Layers section, you’ll see a section called Filters. The first one is called HDR Basic which adds clarity, contrast, vibrance, and a bit of saturation. I’m calling this adjustment out specifically because it does so much to your image.

Just for kicks, push the HDR Enhance slider all the way to the right, so that it’s at 100. Your image is now the opposite of what most people consider natural-looking HDR. Next, adjust the slider to zero to get a feel for what this slider does to your image.

Realistic & Detailed Aurora preset, with HDR Enhance set to 100. Compare this to the lead image of the same ice cave, with the HDR Enhance set at 50. This image is quite a bit more contrasty, with sharper edges throughout.

Most of the Realistic presets are set below 50 for HDR Enhance. If you want to stay in a natural-looking range but your image needs a touch more pizazz, slowly move the HDR Enhance slider to the right until you reach the level that feels right to you.

Additional fine-tuning options

As you work your way through Aurora’s Filters, you’ll see additional options like Color, HDR Structure and Glow. The preset you’ve chosen dictates the setting of each Filter. But again, you can shift each slider individually to give your image more, or less, pop.

This HDR image was made from three exposures using the Realistic & Bright preset, set at an opacity of 80, with no other changes made.

To learn the effects of each tool, I suggest moving the sliders all the way to the right, so that the effect is at 100 and then doing the opposite, so the effect is at zero. Nine times out of ten I think the Aurora HDR design gurus have chosen the right level, and I leave the preset at its original amount. If you do choose to make a change just remember that if your goal is natural-looking HDR, a little Structure or Saturation can make a big shift in the appearance of your image.

Glow

Glow is an interesting option, giving images an almost Orton-like effect. While it’s a popular style option for many photographers right now, it’s not what I usually call natural-looking. In all four of my favorites, Realistic HDR presets, the Glow setting is set to 0. For ice cave images, 0 is the perfect amount but for some subjects, like this barn, a touch of Glow softened the natural look of this HDR image and made it feel more inviting.

This HDR image was made from three exposures using the Realistic & Bright preset, set at an opacity of 100, with Glow set at 15. Both are very small changes but compare this image to the one above. This one has a little more of a bright, dreamy feel while still looking natural.

While I probably sound like a broken record at this point, remember to move the slider just a touch to the right if you want your HDR image to have that natural, I-just-stumbled-on-this-gorgeous-vista-and-took-this-amazing-picture sort of look to it.

Top and Bottom Adjustment

The Top and Bottom Adjustment Filter is a “selective adjustment” meaning that, unlike global adjustments, it only affects parts of your image. If you have an image where the sky reads overexposed and is much brighter than the foreground, or conversely, where the foreground is dark and underexposed, adjust the image using this tool.

This HDR image was made with the same three exposures using the Realistic & Balanced preset, at 80% opacity, plus a Top Adjustment of -5 Exposure, +5 Contrast and +15 Vibrance. I added a Bottom Adjustment of +10 Exposure and +5 Warmth. Of the three final HDR images, this one feels the most natural and faithful to the barn itself.

For this final version of the barn, after applying the Realistic & Balanced preset, at 80% opacity, I ultimately decided that the sky was a bit too light and the barn was a little too dark. I added a Top Adjustment of -5 Exposure, +5 Contrast, and +15 Vibrance. I also added a Bottom Adjustment of +10 Exposure and +5 Warmth. These adjustments help to enhance the sky and even out the overall exposure of the image.

Of the three, this version is my favorite. Which is yours?

Saving your image

Once you’ve completed all of your adjustments, it’s time to save your image. If you started in Aurora and want to create a JPEG or TIFF, select File > Export and then select the correct folder and rename the file as appropriate for your workflow.

If you want to create a native Aurora .mpaur2 HDR file, select File > Save and then select the correct folder and rename the file. This format saves the history (and any layers) as well and allows you to continue to go back in and make changes to your image.

How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018

Saving your image to your Lightroom Catalog

If you started in Lightroom, it’s a snap to save your image. After you finish processing your image in Aurora HDR, click the Apply button in the upper right corner of the interface. This saves and also catalogs your image in Lightroom. The new file name will end in AuroraHDR2018-edit.tiff.

How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018

Your Turn

Hopefully, you’ve been following along and processed a few images in Aurora as you were reading this article. Now take a minute to upload your best natural-looking HDR version. Share with the dPS community about how you created it using Aurora as well as any other tips or tricks you’ve discovered.

Disclaimer: Macphun is a dPS advertising partner.

The post How to Make Natural-Looking HDR Images with Aurora HDR 2018 by Lara Joy Brynildssen appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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On1 Photo RAW 2018 announced: Adds HDR processing, advanced masking and more

06 Oct

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On1 just released the newest version of its stand-alone RAW photo manager and non-destructive editor: On1 Photo RAW 2018. Put another way, there’s now yet another alternative to Lightroom out there, and with this new update the program is more capable than ever, adding features like HDR merge and panorama stitching, advanced masking capabilities, and more.

You can get a decent overview of the new features in the 2018 version in the video below:

The main additions to this version of On1 Photo RAW are On1 HDR, panorama stitching, new advanced masking options like Feather and Density that allow you to alter a mask globally, Color range masking, versioning, selective noise reduction, and an updated UI that On1 characterizes as “clean and modern.” There’s also a new “Paint with Color Brush” that allows you to either paint with a solid color or leave the luminosity of the underlying layer intact to change things like eye or hair color.

You can get a full breakdown of these and other new features on the On1 blog.

The app is being released as a free Beta on Friday, with an official release slated for the end of October. The full app—which promises ‘much more’ when it arrives after the beta period—will cost $ 120 for new users, while current On1 users will have the option to upgrade for a discounted price of just $ 80 (usually $ 100). Both the full version and upgrade package are already available for pre-order.

To learn more about the app or pre-order your copy, head over to the On1 blog by clicking here.

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