Software Updates

I talked about software updates in one of my previous articles. Also when I believe many software updates are more profit orientated and not always aimed at providing the photographer with improved tools, I can also point out specific cases that resulted in real performance improvements. One such example is Optics Pro 7 from the software company DxO. In parallel to Optics Pro 7, DxO also recently released FilmPack 3. Both software packages are absolutely outstanding.

Why not using Lightroom 3? I tested Lightroom and although I think it is a good option I am a little worried that it will follow the same pattern as what Adobe CS and Elements did. Each year mentioned packages receive updates in the form of new releases. To benefit from these new releases the user is basically forced to upgrade. The reason is the RAW converter in both older versions receive no further updates once the new releases are out. If the user keeps the same camera then all is OK and RAW files will be treated as "normal" in the older versions. If the user upgrade to a new body then working with RAW files in this example becomes a lengthy process.

Here are one of my HDR creations. I used HDR Effect developed by NIK Software to create this Image.

Photoshop Elements use a basic or scaled down version of the full CS version RAW software. Up to Elements V8, the Mac version of Elements were supplied with Bridge and by opening the RAW file in Bridge the Mac user had access to the full CS version RAW converter. That has now changed and from PSE9 onwards Adobe supplies a different looking image organizer with Elements. No need to say I prefer to use Bridge. In addition I use iPhoto to manage my photo collection. Nothing is as quick as iPhoto when working with large image databases.

RAW Converter Advancements

Optics Pro from DxO

The final aspect I briefly like to touch on is the ability of Optics Pro 7 to capture the full dynamic range of the RAW image. Any RAW converter can do that and depending on the user's skill more or less dynamic range can be extracted from a RAW image. What I find outstanding with Optics Pro 7 is the dedicated slider or function that will allow the user to optimize dynamic range in seconds. The results are absolutely outstanding, leaving the user with beautifully balanced images. It is that good that I find myself returning to the more natural "HDR" look plus I hardly ever use my dedicated HDR software. This function was already available in V6, from my initial tests its difficult to say if the HDR function were further improved or not.

I hope you enjoyed this short article talking about software or editing techniques. I hope to find the time to talk more in depth about Optics Pro 7 in the future. My advice is go download the trail version and try it.

Siegfried

From the time that I can recall, the digital image straight out the digital camera, were generally speaking flat, lifeless, not interesting, plagued by color casts, typical inconsistent color rendering on a camera to camera basis, often over sharpened, often with signs of to much noise reduction and on and on the list goes. I think it is difficult to have a more depressing, but true, introduction to an article on digital photography. The few Olympus enthusiasts like myself, that still dare to voice public opinions generally believe the Pro Grade E5 DSLR has the best quality out the camera JPEG image. That said I recently saw a few E5 images that were absolute stunning but I also saw many that have much of the above described trademarks. What are the causes for differences between the one and the next image?

Figure 1 - The above image was taken with a Canon 7D and is not edited

Looking at the above image description, I can hear many Canon supporters say, now what is wrong with this image Siegfried? For one, let me tell you a small secret, the 7D is one of the worst dynamic range performers I ever owned and believe me I tried a few cameras. Don't get me wrong, it is a great camera and I love the 7D, but it is far from being the perfect camera. If I owned an E5 today I would not switch over to a 7D and the simple reason is they both have wonderful strength's plus not so exciting weaknesses. If you read about these two models on the top review websites then you would simply believe the 7D is by far the better one of the two. Before I get carried away, lets continue talking about the images we get from digital camera bodies.

The above image (Figure 1) I will for example not use myself as it is, plus I would not forward it to any of my clients without spending some time on it in Photoshop. Again I hear voices saying, but I refuse to spend time in-front of the PC, I want them good out-the-camera. The good news is that it is possible to get great images out-the-camera but and again I start with a BIG "but"…….. Yes it is true, when you take the time to correctly set-up your camera plus you take the time to really dial in the correct exposure settings, only then the chances are that the image will not look like the one above. The worst possible mistake many forum trained hobby photographers does is to dial in "corrective" camera settings. These are adjustments that alter the camera sharpness, image noise settings, brightness, saturation, all settings that could typically damage JPEG files.

Allow me to add one more aspect to the above discussion. I believe that folks that rely too much on the camera image processing engine, that those photographers never really grow to develop their own photographic signature. What signature do you refer to Siegfried? In today's competitive market it is critical for each photographer to develop his or hers own photographic signature. What in your images identify with your own style and how does people know that this is an image from the photographer, Markus, for example? The only way to achieve that ability to recognize an image style is to develop a unique image style of your own. To do that you need to master a minimum amount of image editing techniques or alternatively you really need to master you camera and the setting up your camera for a particular image or scene.

Consider the following example. I came to you and asked you to take a great looking portrait image of me. If you are not comfortable with how you will ask me to stand and pose during the shoot, what settings you will use, how you will apply your external flash unit, if you had only the slightest fear or concern doing the shoot then you are not ready getting the most out your camera. If your answer was yes you're OK taking the image then my next question is, will you over or under expose? Those who prefer to get the right image out the camera should really consider getting to better know a package like Aperture 3 on Mac or Photoshop Elements. Personally I make use of the following strategy. I do use carefully selected images out my camera and I do prefer to use the bulk of my images directly out the camera. You will be surprised at how well printed images look which are directly out the camera. Less than 20% of the images I take I carefully edit to get the result I want.

Figure 2 - Image cropped and edited in Photoshop Elements

How can one develop this signature we talked about in the previous paragraphs? There are various ways to do develop an own signature, for example one can decide to do only one type of photography, something like wedding photography, macro photography or portraits. Doing that people will associate you with the type photography you do most. Another option is to adapt one or more specific styles of photography which will tell clients that it is your work. These different styles could be the classic HDR type look, some photographers use a special way of over saturating images, it could be the use of unique in-camera filters and on and on the list goes. Finally one can add a physical name or signature to the bottom left or right of the image. I think a good example of somebody we all know well and who successfully adapted a unique image style is Simon. Just by looking at Simon's portrait work in our forum and one could guess who the photographer is. In conclusion one can say the image in figure 1 is typical a mass type image and therefor straight out the camera. In figure 2 one start having a closer look because its clear that this image has a unique signature and most probably come from an more experienced photographer.

Figure 3 - Olympus E-PL2 image not edited

Olympus is known for its good JPEG files or the JPEG image-out-the-camera image. These Olympus out-the-camera images are typically colorful, they are reasonably true in color and they have good levels of image details or image information. Having said that it is also true that the above E-PL2 or it could even be an E5 image belongs to the mass-image category and it therefor does not offer anything unique that will allow the customer to link the image to the photographer.

Figure 4 - EPL2 imaged edited in Elements

The final image (figure 4) I edited or changed aggressively to show you what can be done. This image was not edited using special HDR software or any special technique that requires higher levels of experience. In reality, a basic 4 steps procedure was applied to the above image. As said I over processed the image on purpose and I like to invite you to spend a few minutes to really study the two pictures (Figure 3 & 4). By doing that you will see that picture 4 has a lot of potential and that is the result of using the right editing technique. It also has a few problem areas one should avoid, more about that in my next article.

In my next article I will discuss a few of these "high power" techniques that can help you to develop your own unique signature. Happy shooting…..

Siegfried

New DxO FilmPack 3 Provides Unrivaled Film Fidelity and Opens Up Boundless Creativity Opportunities

New features include redesigned User Interface, and extended connectivity with Lightroom, Photoshop and Aperture. DxO FilmPack 3 is available at launch with up to 30 percent discount. Paris, France - June 15 2011 – DxO Labs today announces DxO FilmPack 3 for Mac and Windows, the latest version of its reference software simulating silver halide film rendition based on DxO Labs’ unique 10 years of recognized expertise in calibration. DxO FilmPack 3 allows photographers, from experts to beginners, to recreate the magic of dozens of black & white or color film stocks in one click, offering limitless creative options for their digital images.

Unrivaled Film Fidelity

Ease of use

Exceptional Introductory Discount, Availability and Editions

New DxO Optics Pro v6.6 announced in Paris, France - June 15, 2011 - DxO Labs is pleased to announce the immediate availability of DxO Optics Pro v6.6 for Mac and Windows, which provides improved image correction, along with RAW support for:-

- Nikon D5100 (Standard or Elite edition)
- Olympus E-5 (Elite edition)
- Panasonic DMC GF1 (Standard or Elite edition)
- Panasonic DMC GF2 (Standard or Elite edition)
- Pentax K-R (Standard or Elite edition)

Further, more than 100 new DxO Optics Modules are now available to DxO Optics Pro users, covering numerous Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Panasonic, Pentax, and Sony cameras. With this version, users with cameras supported by DxO Optics Pro will be able to easily command more control over noise in their JPEG images thanks to a newly extended range of the chrominance noise slider. Additionally, noise can be manually reduced from JPEG images taken with any camera. With this new capability, all corrections available for supported equipment are now available in manual mode for any unsupported equipment.

Based on customer feedback, a new color control slider has also been added to preserve the depth and colors of objects with certain saturated colors. DxO FilmPack 3 plug-in for DxO Optics Pro, made available today from DxO Labs’ e-store, extends the product’s scope by providing up to 60 color and B&W film renderings with unrivaled precision, and powerful B&W conversion controls.

Comment:

DxO Pro has become my own favorite. It is powerful, uses a great “RAW Engine” and the results is good. The disadvantage is that not all camera models plus lens combinations are supported. Those that are, enjoy access to the best RAW converter on the planet I believe. Second best and also a favorite of mine is Bibble. Why that and not Capture One or Lightroom you could ask? Bibble can do just that little more the others can’t and the most recent update moved Bibble into the Super RAW converter league.

Bibble 5.2.2 Update Now Available

Adding Support for Canon's sRAW and mRAW formats, two additional Sony cameras, and Nikon's D1x

Bibble 5.2.2 is new available for download now, and provides broader RAW file support, improved stability, and resolves minor issues found in previous releases of Bibble 5.  Bibble 5.2.2 add support for Canon's sRAW and mRAW formats, Nikon's D1x, and Sony's a290 and a390 cameras.  This update is free for all current Bibble 5 customers.

Bibble 5.2.2 also improves interaction with plugins that change the size of your photo, like zFrame and zShadow, and seen in the screenshot below.  These plugins allow you to add creative frames and drop shadows to your images - directly within Bibble 5.  Output images will look exactly like the preview in Bibble, ready to publish and share.  You can create Presets with your favorite zFrame and zShadow settings to quickly add your finishing touch to every image in Bibble.

Bibble 5.2.2 is our third free update so far in 2011, and shows our continued commitment to constantly improving Bibble 5, adding not only newer cameras like we did in 5.2.1, but also older, popular cameras, creating one workflow tool for all your digital photography needs.

HDR Effect from NIK software company is one of the hottest image software solutions in years. I read in a publication from NIK that they were totally surprised at the absolute success they experiencing with HDR Effect. Olympus experience a similar success with their Dramatic Art Filter build into the E5, the E-PL2 and the new XZ-1. I saw an article from Olympus specifically promoting the camera using the dramatic art filter as the bait....

I tried HDR Effect in December last year and were very impressed with the results. In February I decided to buy it. I did a few casual images using single exposures and using the RAW file of each image. First I "developed" the RAW image in the CS4 RAW editor. I then opened the image in CS4 and did a few of my most popular steps to edit the image to my style. That I then saved as the "True Style Image". When done I took that same "true style image" and opened it in HDR Effect as a single image HDR.

What I really like about HDR Effect is the presets NIK has build into the software as a standard offer. All the user needs to do is to study a few presets that represents the users style and to select one of those. Once selected one can fine tune the tone mapping process in an excellent "slider adjustment window" until the image is exactly what you want.

First is the image did in CS4

Second is the image edited in HDR effect.

I can write much more about this great image editing solution but I decided to leave it with these 2 images because they are telling a story themselves.

Best

Siegfried

DxO Image Science is an optics company with its head offices in France. In the software department of this specialists company a dedicated team of optics and software specialists are working with endless energy collecting and testing camera bodies and lenses. All the data they capture using high precision measuring equipment are documented and presented on their website.

I have been fortunate to have had the chance talking to the guys over at DxO and it's refreshing meeting guys so enthusiastic and dedicated with what they do. Personally I think they are doing the industry a huge service. It's the only place I know, where data is measured and presented in a consistent way and where one can compare the tested specification from the one product to that of another.

Last year I decided to buy the excellent DxO Optics Pro RAW converter plus image editing software plus the DxO Filmpack 2 all developed by DxO, a decision I have not regretted. It takes a little effort getting use to and once mastered one can kick off working with it. That said personally I think it has the best workspace of all the different packages I tried to date, its logical and relatively easy to work with. It has a really interesting single image HDR function. This function works so well with RAW files that I often think its all I ever need. The only aspect withholding me from doing that, is it's not open to more artistic styles of HDR editing. On a later stage I will do a more in-depth "review" of DxO Optics Pro.

I placed two sets of images in the image pages of the site, in the "Free Style images" page you will see HDR images I did using the DxO high dynamic range (HDR) function. In the "True Style Image" page I placed a set of images I took of my son and his fiancé. I used DxO plus the DxO Filmpack 2 to edit these images. The "True Style Images" were taken with my E620 fitted with the 12 - 60 mm lens. The "Free Style Images" were taken with my E-P2 fitted with 14 - 150 mm lens.

The picture below was taken with my E620 and edited with DxO and Filmpack 2.



I hope you all have a great week, always take your camera with you and use every opportunity to capture that special moment!!

Siegfried

We often think Photoshop is the only option and nothing else. While Elements are well recognized as hobby image editor it has two downsides. It's not that easy to master and it's only supported during the 8 - 12 months it is the current version. Thereafter it has no RAW updates and it very seldom receive other updates after a new version is released. Often one read reviewers write that the previous version had this or that problem. I have never experienced that such problems were fixed. Thinking back, I can recall how difficult it was to master Elements when I started with digital photography. It literally took months to master the basics. The reason is there are many editing basics one needs to master first and at the time training material was not that freely available.

The good news is that there are other alternatives. In this short article I like to introduce three interesting and exciting alternatives. These are three Mac specific solutions I learned about and they are thus not Windows compatible.

iPhoto

IPhoto is part of the basic iLife software Suite that each Mac is supplied with. It has a powerful photo organizer as the backbone of the program. The organizer has map (GPS) functionality, face recognition plus other functions linked to face recognition. It seamlessly integrates with other software in the Mac PC. Iphoto uses "events" to view stacks of images. With these events, the user can page through hundreds of images in seconds. I have not seen anything like this before.

In the editing page the user has access to three different areas, quick fixes, adjust, and effects. The editing functions were designed for ease of use and "guaranteeing" good results. Tough call but surprisingly well implemented by the software engineers at Mac. The "Quick Fixes" area consists of different pre-programmed image correction buttons. One of these buttons is a global "Enhance" that works really well. It does what others do using several steps in Photoshop. In the "Adjust" area one has access to several sliders. These will adjust things like Contrast, Brightness, Vibrance and other. At any time one can hit the reset button and the image will return to its original status. The "Effects" area use a series of icons for each editing function. To adjust the white balance the user can select between four icons, each with a image showing a different white balance setting. What I like most is the fact that one can develop RAW images with iPhoto. It's the most basic developer I have seen to date but enough to give the user a really good feel for what one can do with RAW files.

IPhoto has build in links to popular web addresses like Facebook, twitter and others making life a breeze uploading images to these services.

IPhoto is good enough to replace any supplied software. It's only supplied RAW converters that will be the better choice. For those interested in using iPhoto I see no problem using it in combination with a supplied RAW editor. In fact in most cases they will compliment each other. The advantage using iPhoto is that at any time one can upgrade to Aperture and what I really like is the fact that one can transfer the complete iPhoto library over to Aperture.

As a general comment I believe Mac today is such a good solution, that its hard for me to picture a photographer without a Mac. I made the switch about 18 months ago and have never regretted it.

Pixelmator

Pixelmator is different to iPhoto, it looks and feel like Photoshop Elements but with unique and interesting differences. Other than Elements, it was designed with many advanced functions, build into a unique and user friendly operating interface. Pixelmator was designed from basic principles and therefore integrates perfectly with the Mac environment. For example one can access the iPhoto or Aperture image libraries directly from Pixelmator. This means, you can continue using iPhoto as your main organizer. You can also continue to use the iPhoto editing functions and at any stage you can switch to Pixelmator for additional and more advanced functions. For example while working in Pixelmator, a special iPhoto organizer screen stays open.

The Pixelmator editing area surprises with a sophistication normally only linked to more advanced editors. Having said that, one also notice that the designers did their best to keep it simple. For example when one select the curves function, it has everything one requires but at the same time the user interface is basic. Advanced functions like curves, color mixer, channel mixer and levels use basic user interfaces. They have been designed to keep it simple to work with. I think the developers of Pixelmator really did a good job of keeping it simple.

Also included in Pixelmator is the ability to work with layers. It has only basic functionality but for most people getting introduced to working with layers I think this format is perfect. For example combined with it's friendly masking functions and good selection tools layers will take on a completely new dimension or value to the photographer learning editing techniques. I honestly think there are no better way to be introduced to layers.

One can write pages on all the functions of Pixelmator, I like to summarize it by saying, Pixelmator has good to powerful editing commands and its geared to the individual that wants to learn all about image editing.

Pixelmator has everything necessary to integrate images to the web, it can upload images to social blogs or image hosting services like Flickr. The designers have written an excellent users manual that is available free of charge. Selling at approximately $35 I think Pixelmator is a great buy.

I have no concern recommending Pixelmator, especially at the price it's selling for. Once mastered I can see one of two things happening, the user will continue using it or the user will be much better prepared for something like Photoshop Elements.

Acorn

Acorn is a more basic solution when compared to Pixelmator but at the same time it has other areas that are more powerful. Again the user interfaces of these two editors are similar and at the same time completely different. Both use a modern Mac, look and feel interface, making them feel alike. Acorn is by no means less effective, in-fact it has what is needed to get most out any image. What the designers mastered with Acorn is to simplify the interface even more. The question is, who would use Acorn and at which level user it is aimed at? Personally I can see it fits perfectly to the user that is happy using iPhoto, plus a user that likes to have access to functions like layers but that does not want to work with a complex editor.

For any photographer serious about editing images, layers is important. With layers one can add text to an image or one can combine two differently exposed images in HDR style or one can build collages plus many more. What is interesting is that Acorn has added a number of art type filters and brushes that will help the user to be really creative.

Then Acorn also added a number of unique and also powerful lens correction tools to Acorn. I was surprised to see so many advanced type lens related filters in a scaled package like Acorn. Obviously a photographers dream, something many photographers would love to use.

Acorn is not just an image editor, for example it has the ability to work with vector shapes, it has really interesting text and drawing capabilities, one can mock up screen shots and lots more. It is really worth a visit to the Acorn homepage, to go there, click on the above Acorn icon.

Again I do not have any concerns to not recommend this software to the user that is keen to start with photo editing. A little expensive at $49 I think, especially if one consider that for not much more one could get Photoshop Elements.

Conclusion

Siegfried

Bibble Labs announced the immediate availability of Bibble 5,2

• It has a unique and powerful organizer (I find it better than anything else I used to date in a RAW converter)
• One can download or create unique camera/lens profiles
• It is fully compatible with noise ninja plus one can develop unique camera lens combination profiles
• Many of its core and extended functions like plug-ins are computed during the actual RAW data to final format conversion process.
• It offers outstanding printing functionality
• It offers really powerful layer and selective editing features.
• With a bit of practice the photographer can do almost anything possible with this RAW converter.
• This is really a photographer’s friend. Bibble is not only a RAW converter it is an enabler......

The Bibble Survival Guide

Noise Ninja

Where to buy?

The Photoshop Elements User

We spend a fair amount on gear including lenses, software, filters and more. Most of us tend to look the other way when we see a service like this being advertised in our mail inbox. I understand that its difficult to find good training schools and that not everyone is happy to listen too trainers on u-tube and similar services. I have been using The Photoshop Elements Users for nearly four years and I have never been disappointed. I can recommend this service to you with an absolute open heart. Look at the two year option, it’s really a good deal plus I have found that a one year subscription is just too little if you a starter with Elements. For the person more comfortable with Elements, The Elements User is a great reference service. I get no benefit from promoting services on this site. I recommend only equipment or services I use myself and are that I am happy with.

I have always been interested in HDR photography. I never tried PhotoMatix which is the industry standard for HDR photographers. Instead I bought a package called EasyHDR and later another called Essential HDR. They were not expensive at the time and they gave me a chance to start working with HDR images. As you know HDR photography helps the photographer to create true images of scenes that typically has a dynamic range that far exceeds that of the camera. Then as I bought my MAC I could no longer use my Windows software and I decided to upgrade to PhotoMatix for MAC. In a next discussion I will talk about PhotoMatix.

Over December I tried a few other packages of which HDR Express was one. In fact Unified Color the holding company has different HDR solutions. Over the December period I also tried the HDR Effects plug in from NIK Software. Later I was really interested buying HDR Effects because instead of being faced with many sliders that should build the final HDR image, HDR Effect has the coolest presets. The reason I ended up not buying the software is because NIK traces the potential client’s IP Address and when they see you not from the US then you forced to buy through a local company. I am OK with that until I have to pay significantly more plus I never heard of this distributor. I completely lost interest when I saw the reply from NIK software after enquiring about the situation.

To get back to HDR Express, this is how it works. With your camera on a tripod you take a series of three to seven images of the scene you want to use. There are several sites that will tell you how to take the different images and what settings you should use. I use my histogram on my camera to make sure I cover the histogram from left to right in equal steps. When home you feed these differently exposed images into HDR Express. It takes a while, sliders are filled to indicate its working and then the HDR image is displayed in its “virgin” state. Next HDR Express automatically does the tone-mapping and when finished it displays a nearly the perfect HDR image. It’s interesting to watch the software create the final HDR image. What I really like is that at this point one can further adjust the image because HDR Express has a full HDR plus Tone Mapping editor available to the user. In addition HDR Express has a number of presets one can use to prepare the final look.

I entered the above images into HDR Express. They were taken with my E3 fitted with 14 - 54 mm lens.

The above picture is the HDR results the HDR Express produced. I slightly edited it in Photoshop Elements. As you can see it is a very natural looking HDR image.

Happy shooting

Siegfried