Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Because Every Detail Counts!
Introducing a more powerful Topaz Detail™ that features new tools, even more detail control and improved performance!
What’s New in Topaz Detail™ 3?
Detail™ 3 gives you a wider range of flexibility and control over detail manipulation and enhancement. It includes over 50 new presets that are organized into convenient collections, separate adjustment controls for shadow and highlight details and improved toning control – powered by IntelliColor™. Plus the built-in masking with edge aware technology makes it easier than ever to selectively put detail where you want it.
As a testament to our ongoing commitment to customer satisfaction, Topaz Labs are happy to offer the new Detail™ 3 as a FREE upgrade to existing Detail™ owners. If you previously purchased Detail™ or a bundle that included Detail™
Ready to maximize your details?
For a limited time, get Detail™ 3 for only $27.99. (That’s a 30% Savings!) Just enter coupon code:
” MoreDetail ” when purchasing. Need a bundle? This special 30% savings can also be applied towards the bundle and bundle upgrades. Expires: December 16, 2012.
Don’t forget, you can also try before you buy with our FREE, fully-functional, 30-day trial. Just click below to get started!
Compatibility Details:
System Requirements: Windows XP and above (32/64 bit);
Intel-based Macs 10.6 and above (64-bit only).
Host Requirements: CS3-CS6, PSE6-PSE11.
Use in iPhoto, Aperture & Lightroom requires photoFXlab™ or Fusion Express.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
onOne Software announced earlier today two new editions of the Perfect Photo Suite 7. They are releasing a Standard Edition and a Lightroom & Aperture Edition of Perfect Photo Suite 7 to go along with the Premium Edition (currently shipping) of the photography software suite.
The Standard Edition allows usage of the entire Perfect Photo Suite 7 as a standalone application. This edition is ideal for those who don’t shoot RAW or use Adobe Photoshop, Elements, Lightroom, or Apple Aperture but want to enhance, stylize, correct their JPG images with a professional touch, and create and edit multi-layered files without Photoshop.
The Lightroom & Aperture Edition of Perfect Photo Suite 7 is designed for the photographer who does not use Photoshop but uses Lightroom or Aperture as the hub of their editing and photo management workflow. It provides powerful image editing tools that do not exist in those products and gives them the ability to extend their image editing power, maximize their creativity, and solve the most common problems in photo editing. With the Perfect Photo Suite 7, users can work with a variety of image format including RAW, JPG, PNG, and TIFF, create and edit multi-layered files, and access any of the Perfect Photo Suite 7 modules directly from Lightroom or Aperture. After adjustments are made, edited images may be saved as a .PSD, .TIF, .PNG, or .JPG right next to the original image in their Lightroom or Aperture library. This edition of the Suite also works as a standalone application for quick touch ups and edits.
The Premium Edition is the version of Perfect Photo Suite 7 that has been available since October 31, 2012.
Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition
Full Version – $299.95
Upgrade Version – $149.95
Perfect Photo Suite 7 Lightroom & Aperture Edition
Full Version – $149.95
Upgrade Version – $79.95
Perfect Photo Suite 7 Standard Edition
Full Version – $79.95
No upgrade available
My readers can get a 15% discount on their purchase or upgrade when they enter discount code rdavisphoto at checkout. Click on the image below for this offer.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Somewhere near Pekan Teluk Bahang, I captured this image of a fisherman, working on his gear.
Enter discount code rdavisphoto for a 15% discount on your purchase or upgrade of any Topaz Labs plugin or the stand-alone photoFXlab! Click on the image below for this offer.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Here’s another shot of the beach at Pekan Teluk Bahang, Penang, Malaysia. If you take a look at my other photo of Pekan Teluk Bahang, you can see these two boats behind the buoy flags of the boat in the foreground. It’s no so obvious that it’s raining in this image.
In the background you can see a wooden pier that stretches out into the bay for the fishing boats to tie up against. If you look at the site on Google Maps today you’ll sea a new pier that, while it has a blue roof, has far less charm than the older, wooden piers.
Enter discount code rdavisphoto for a 15% discount on your purchase or upgrade of any Topaz Labs plugin or the stand-alone photoFXlab! Click on the image below for this offer.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
As I mentioned in a prior post, I rented a Honda Cub to get around the island of Penang, Malaysia. A Honda Cub is the light motorcycle seen in this image of the Georgetown Palladium.
I still have vague memories of the day I took off to ride around the island. I took off in an anti-clockwise direction from Georgetown staying as much as possible to the coastal road through Tanjong Bungah (don’t know what Tanjong means but Bungah means ‘flowers’) and Batu Ferringhi (which translates as ‘Foreigner’s Rock’) before pitching up at Pekan Teluk Bahang (Teluk Bahang means ‘Bay of the Heat Wave’, no idea what Pekan means or if google maps is even correct).
However I don’t recall it raining, not that the cat in the boat in the foreground right seems to be bothered by it. Maybe the rain was providing some relief from the ‘Heat Wave’!
Enter discount code rdavisphoto for a 15% discount on your purchase or upgrade of any Topaz Labs plugin or the stand-alone photoFXlab! Click on the image below for this offer.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Those who regularly read my blog will know I’m a big fan of Photoshop plugins. They save a tremendous amount of time in turning a RAW image into the final product. With a lot of time and energy you can get to the same end point through mastering layers in Photoshop, or you can let a plugin do the heavy lifting and get back to shooting.
Earlier today I received an e-mail from Ashley over at Topaz Labs offering a download of a beta pre-release of their upcoming Topaz Detail 3 plugin and I could not wait to get back to my studio, download the software and start playing with it.
I thought I’d give it a whirl on the image I’m planning for my Daily Photo for tomorrow. So I just imported the .tif file from my scanner (it’s a slide from 1989), duplicated the layer, went to the filter menu and selected Topaz Labs, Detail 3.
The interface was at once familiar yet different. Most obvious was the grouping of the provided presets in folder collections in the left-hand panel. There’s also a lot of new presets. The right-hand panel will be familiar to users of Detail 2 but there’s a new tab for Effect Masking!
With Detail 2, if I didn’t want the effect across the entire image, I’d use the masking power of Photoshop. Now I can switch to the Effect Mask panel and either brush in or brush out the effect with the usual controls you’d expect over the brush – strength, size, hardness, flow and opacity. Another nice feature on the masking brush is an ‘Edge Aware’ control. I can see this saving me yet more time in my workflow when using Topaz Detail.
Below I’ve posted a split screen of the image unaltered, from the scanner to the left and with an Architectural Detail II preset applied on the right. Below that is a screenshot of the Detail 3 desktop and below that a comparison of the Detail 2 desktop.
Unaltered image from scanner at left, Architectural Detail 2 preset from Topaz Detail 3 applied at right. Screenshot of the Topaz Detail 3 desktop. Screenshot of the Topaz Detail 2 desktop for comparison. Here are some of the new features found in Topaz Detail 3:
- Improved Functionality. Process faster and larger with a significant boost in processing speeds and the ability to handle larger images.
- Enhanced Detail Control. Go beyond control over detail size and enjoy added selective control options that specifically target details found in shadow and highlight areas.
- New Presets. Enjoy a variety of new presets that offer detail enhancement styles for every type of photographer.
- Preset Collections. Enjoy preset organization and the convenience it offers, plus the ability to create your own collections.
- Improved Toning Control. Achieve more natural and consistent tone throughout your image with the integration of the Topaz IntelliColor™ technology.
- Effect Mask. Selectively brush detail in or out using the tools in the Effect Mask tab.
- Opacity Slider. Control the overall strength of your applied detail enhancements using the Opacity slider.
- Interactive Sliders. With the improved image processing speed you can now see your results instantly as you move the adjustment sliders.
- Split Screen. Get the perfect look every time using the 2-screen split view for easy before and after comparison.
Detail 3 will be a free upgrade for existing users and there will be a discount offer at release for new users and is expected to be released in just a couple more weeks time. If you don’t have any of the Topaz plugins, you should definitely check them out – treat yourself to an early Christmas present and get something you actually want!
Enter discount code rdavisphoto for a 15% discount on your purchase or upgrade of any Topaz Labs plugin or the stand-alone photoFXlab! Click on the image below for this offer.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Do you remember that scene in Slumdog Millionaire when the boys are hustling at the Taj Mahal? That was the scene that flashed into my mind when I saw the scan below as it came off my scanner earlier this year. Except this photo was taken in August 1989 outside a temple in Penang, Malaysia. It may have been the same temple as the one yesterday’s Buddha resided in, but I don’t recall.
I like the way the first sign gives the instruction to not wear shoes. Then the lower blue sign attempts to address the unintended consequences of that directive. Curiously, while the directive sign is in English, Chinese and Malay, the blue sign in in English and Chinese only!
Enter discount code rdavisphoto for a 15% discount on your purchase or upgrade to Perfect Photo Suite 7. Click on the image below for this offer.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Even today I’m not particularly good at taking fastidious notes about the places I photograph. Although I don’t use a GPS attached to my camera, I’ll usually use GeoSetter to tag my photos with coordinates when I import them into Lightroom while I can still remember roughly where I took them. Alternatively I’ll make a snap with my iPhone to capture the coordinates.
This is a roundabout way of saying I’ve no idea at which temple in Penang this Buddha resides. I do know it was not the temple I’ve featured before.
I usually feel somewhat unsettled taking photos in religious spaces, always concerned I’m interrupting an worshiper event though I’m not particularly religious myself. Many houses of worship don’t allow tripods to be used and on this trip I wasn’t carrying one anyway, so this is a hand-held shot in low light so I’m pleased with the way it turned out given the film was Fujichrome 100.
Enter discount code rdavisphoto for a 15% discount on your purchase or upgrade to Perfect Photo Suite 7. Click on the image below for this offer.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Of all the shots I took of the Georgetown street variety show the one below remains my favorite. Back in the slide days, I actually had to wait several weeks to get my film processed and see the results so it was long after I captured this image that I got to see it. I just love the look on the face of the guy in the middle. While the two singers are dueting away, he’s giving me this sideways why-are-you-pointing-your-camera-at-me look!
Only two nights before I’d seen that same look from several audience members at the Chinese Opera performed on this same stage.
In preparing to post this image that I noticed that curiously he had both a Japanese and United States flag on his jacket. I could imagine a whole back story to this guy about his being some form of spy or triad member, using the stage act as cover. Not true in all likelihood but sometimes it’s fun to project such stories onto others to explain their idiosyncrasies.
Come to think of it, I don’t recall him actually singing during this particular piece so I don’t even know why he was on stage, other than to give me the evil eye!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
One of the acts at this Penang street variety show was performed by a group including several dancers holding candles. This is my favorite shot from that sequence. Given it was hand-held and shot on 100 ISO film, I’m very happy with this result.
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by Richard Davis