Until recently, I’ve felt a little left out when it comes to the Macphun line of photo editing and effects software. I’m a Windows guy, a sometimes lonely place to be in the oft Apple dominated world of graphic design and photography. Until this year Macphun software wasn’t available for us PC’s. I figured Macphun’s software would always remain out of reach until Macphun released Luminar for Windows earlier this year. So, I tried it. And liked it. A lot! Getting a chance to take the new Beta version of Aurora HDR for a spin, I was cautiously … [Read more...] about First Impressions of the New Aurora HDR 2018 for Windows
NIK
Stories From The Set: Robert Wicker’s Golden Hour
Vanelli travels across the country, talking to some of the top photographers in the field as they share their experiences while shooting on set. You'll soon learn that even seasoned professionals encounter roadblocks during photo shoots. By staying calm under pressure, they rely on their skills to overcome these obstacles to capture an amazing shot. Sit back, relax and enjoy a Story from the Set. Nature and Real Estate photographer Robert Wicker shares how he uses Golden Hour to capture award-winning Real Estate photos. Golden Hour & … [Read more...] about Stories From The Set: Robert Wicker’s Golden Hour
Black and White at First and Last Light
I invited Jason and his wife Nicole Hahn to hang out on a special photo shoot I had lined up with about 20 people. Jason--a very talented nature and adventure photographer--expressed interested in seeing my group portrait workflow. He traded in his swamp boots for the day and traveled 3hrs on a Sunday just to spend a few hours watching me shoot portraits. Afterwards, we relaxed and had a nice dinner. He started talking about how he creates black and white sunsets images. After seeing a few samples of his work, I was hooked. I asked him to be a … [Read more...] about Black and White at First and Last Light
Google NIK Collection: Good News & Bad News
Did you see the NIK software announcement from Google? Truth be told, I’ve always wanted to play with and use NIK software but it was never an expense I was willing to part with. Like many of us, funds are limited and I couldn’t justify buying something when I need a new camera body first. When a friend shared with me the news from Google that NIK software was released for free, I was excited. I downloaded it right away and then came across some negative aspects of the free download. Good news, yes the software is indeed free. It’s the same … [Read more...] about Google NIK Collection: Good News & Bad News
Solution: Photoshop CC 2015 Missing Plugins
Like many, I installed Photoshop CC 2015. The installation went fine except none of my additional editing software Nik, onOne, Topaz, Tiffen, etc linked to CC 2015. On a deadline, I tried to fall back to Photoshop CC 2014 only to fine it was removed. I paused for a second and thought there is no way Adobe would leave me out to dry. Simple Solution I went to my Adobe directory and found my Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 folder. Inside it was the plugins subfolder. I copied the the Plugins folder plus a few extra files in the main folder. Said a … [Read more...] about Solution: Photoshop CC 2015 Missing Plugins
Remembering The Zone System for Better Black & Whites
As someone who learned photography in the Age of Analog, I often find myself cringing when I see those who have only ever known digital, under-utilizing the power of black and white with the quick click of the grayscale button. Their images can be so much more than the general gray blahness that just the unrefined desaturation command can do. In school, we were held to the standards of The Zone System; a method developed by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer. It was our constant benchmark of a dynamic exposure. And when one has a dynamic exposure, … [Read more...] about Remembering The Zone System for Better Black & Whites
Google Responds to Nik Criticisms by Slashing Prices
WIthin a few days of killing Snapseed, Google has announced a major price reduction in the price for the Nik plugins. The six plugins (HDR Efex Pro 2, Color Efex Pro 4, Silver Efex Pro 2, Viveza 2, Sharpener Pro 3, and Dfine 2) are now in a single bundle costing $149 (versus the previous $499). The individual plugins are no longer for sale, only the bundle can be purchased. Google does promise an interesting upgrade to its users... "If you've already purchased one or more Nik plug-ins in the past, then don't worry, we've got you covered. In … [Read more...] about Google Responds to Nik Criticisms by Slashing Prices
Google Kills One of the Nik Software Products
In a move that is far from shocking, Google has killed off Snapseed Desktop for Mac and PC. Beginning today well no longer sell or provide updates for Snapseed Desktop for Macintosh and Windows, said the Official Google Blog. Existing customers will continue to be able to download the software and can contact us for support. Well continue to offer the Snapseed mobile app on iOS and Android for free. While I use Snapseed on my phone almost daily, the desktop version was not a staple of my workflow. What concerns me though is that this is … [Read more...] about Google Kills One of the Nik Software Products
Get Errors Trying to Launch Your Nik Software?
I was pretty frustrated after a recent Photoshop update. All of my Nik software plugins wanted to be reactivated. Easy enough, I pulled out serial numbers and started entering them. But no dice... errors on activation. The telling sign is Errorcode -151. Well, I swallowed my pride and jumped over the their support page. It seems that system or application updates can break the plugin's ability to launch. You have two options. Try a full shutdown then a reboot. See if this clears up the plugin launch issue. If you're not asked to … [Read more...] about Get Errors Trying to Launch Your Nik Software?
How To Get Cleaner HDR Photos
In this tutorial I show you how to get cleaner HDR photographs. In this example I am merging three exposures shot from a bouncing and moving platform (aka a boat). The correction tools in Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 did an excellent job of removing unwanted distortion and poor overlap. ______ … [Read more...] about How To Get Cleaner HDR Photos
Are You a Nik Customer? Might Want to Transfer Your Registration Info
If you own any Nik Software products (such as Silver Efex Pro and HDR Efex Pro like I do), you should know that Google bought the company recently. That's not the news though. What's important is that you transfer your customer info over to Google if you want to get support or upgrades. Going forward, Google would like to provide you high-touch technical support for the Nik Software products. In order to be able to do this Google needs to receive the information that Nik Software has about you and your past software purchases such as your … [Read more...] about Are You a Nik Customer? Might Want to Transfer Your Registration Info
HDR Efex Pro 2 – Mini Review
I've use many of Nik Software's products over the years. Lately, I've been experimenting with some of their competitor's less expensive, but equally useful plug-ins. But HDR EFEX PRO 2 has brought me back to Nik. When HDR Efex Pro 1 came out I was impressed, but not enough to use it as my only HDR processor. I used to use a combination of Photomatix Pro and HDR EFEX PRO 1. Now I no longer need Photomatix. HDR EFEX PRO 2 is a standalone solution that provides the best of both worlds and adds a cornucopia of new features: New tone-mapping engine … [Read more...] about HDR Efex Pro 2 – Mini Review
Nik Snapseed for Mac
When Nik Software released Snapseed for the iPad it got quite a lot of attention. I'm one of those rare people who doesn't use an iPad for content creation. My iPad essentially serves only two purposes 1. To show off my portfolio 2. To consume data I wasn't all that interested in fixing photos on my iPad. But my laptop? That's a different story. So when I heard that Snapseed was available for my Mac laptop, I went to the App Store, plunked down my $19.95 and started playing. While most serious photographers I know (me included) like Nik … [Read more...] about Nik Snapseed for Mac
Preview of Nik Color Efex Pro 4.0
Make sure you don't miss a single Photofocus post - point your feed reader to the free Photofocus RSS Feed here and subscribe. I preview the upcoming Nik Software's Nik Color Efex Pro 4.0. Click here to watch the video of Nik Color Efex Pro 4.0. (NOTE: This is my first time using ScreenFlow and doing a screen cast in a long time so go easy on me. I usually have assistants help with this stuff but I did this one all by myself - so it may suck a little. Be patient with me. I'll get better as I shake off the cobwebs.) ___________________ … [Read more...] about Preview of Nik Color Efex Pro 4.0
Nik HDR Efex Pro – Mini Review
If you search Nik software on Photofocus.com, you'll quickly ascertain that I am a big Nik fan. Their plug-ins have consistently performed better than most of their competition for years in my opinion. So when Tony Corbell from Nik called me and said, "We got HDR," I was excited. I was allowed to play with the beta version of HDR Efex Pro before it was released and I knew right from the start Nik was on to something. But is it right for you? The current leader in the HDR space is Photomatix Pro. Read my review of the latest Photomatix version … [Read more...] about Nik HDR Efex Pro – Mini Review
Making it POP! Black and White Style
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a guest post by - Black and White is a style that I have more and more fallen in love with over the past few months. To throw fuel on the fire of that obsession is my favorite B&W conversion program Niks Silver Efex Pro. It is my main stay for all conversions into B&W and will stay that way for a long time to come. The image you see of Tony Llanes of Big Electric Cat, was taken at Alan Hess and Scott Diussas Real World Concert Photography Pre-con. The shot in color really did nothing for me it just didn't pop. … [Read more...] about Making it POP! Black and White Style
Nik Software Teases New HDR Plugin
I've been a fan of Nik Software for a decade. They make amazing software. I use all of their products, but I use Color Efex Pro and Silver Efex Pro every day. I was very excited when I found out they were going to make an HDR plug-in. So far, the best HDR/Tone Map solution I've used is Photomatix Pro. Photomatix has a beta version (4.0) in the hands of some photographers right now. I haven't seen it yet, but I hear it's quite good. Nik has a tall order to enter this crowded field and do something special. I was one of about 10 … [Read more...] about Nik Software Teases New HDR Plugin
Anatomy of a 25-minute Web Gallery
I went to the 2008 Seattle Auto Show this week and grabbed some images with my Panasonic LX3. I am still shooting JPGs since there is no RAW Aperture converter. That said, the LX3 is so good even in JPG mode that I don't mind. I wanted to see if I could download, select, adjust, convert to B&W and upload to a web gallery in 25 minutes. I used these photos as a test case. Let's see what happened. I shot about 45 images at the show. I wasn't shooting everything that moved. I tried to make good images that I knew I'd like to keep. … [Read more...] about Anatomy of a 25-minute Web Gallery
Noise Reduction Software
If your digital photographs are noisy, meaning they look like they have the digital equivalent of grain, consider trying Nik Software DFine 2.0. Dfine is a plug-in that works with Photoshop. It costs less than $99 and it's very easy to use. I suggest that you use this plug-in first before you make any other modifications to your photos. It can work on automatic for most photos. That is the way I use DFine. And I have never found a single photograph shot at ISO 400 or above that DFine couldn't improve. It works on any digital image whether … [Read more...] about Noise Reduction Software
Nik Silver Efex Pro Mini Review
Nik Software is working hard to create a string of plug-ins for Aperture and Photoshop. Their stable has grown again to include their newest product, Silver Efex Pro. This plug-in will give you complete control over black and white images in a way that neither Aperture or Photoshop can. I tested the product using my favorite photo editing software, Aperture. I assume it works identically on Photoshop since all Nik products (thankfully) share common interface traits. Once you have your color image selected, you simply edit with Silver Efex Pro … [Read more...] about Nik Silver Efex Pro Mini Review
Nik Software Launches Viveza
If you hate layer masks - you'll love Viveza. I had a chance to play with this plug-in at PMA and I have to say it's very, very cool. You can make all sorts of adjustments using Nik's U-Point technology. This eliminates the need for layer masks and it really works. They're offering a free 15 day trial. The retail price is $249.95, which isn't cheap, but in my opinion - well worth it. _______________ … [Read more...] about Nik Software Launches Viveza
