martinimages
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Registered: 01-2006
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 4144
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Re: Plug-ins links
quote:
I Simonius wrote:
Really? How about Photoshop and Lightroom?
All useful applications run on macs just not the toys, its a myth that there s no software for the mac.
Only kidding you, to be honest if I was not so into PC I would buy a Mac without hesitation
Martin
--- One to one workshop in monochrome, from capture to fine art print, printing service available
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8/Jan/09, 1:54 pm
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Little Zooey
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Registered: 07-2008
Location: East Sussex
Posts: 171
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Re: Plug-ins links
I'm not one of those who can see the finished article and know what I need to do in order to achieve that. In fact, I'm more interested in sticking to reality and maybe trying to improve it a tad. However, the more photographs I take, the more I'm beginning to realise it's not as simple as that. The other week I shot into the light (or rather, into the brightest part of a really, dull, grey sky). I had to do something to bring out the detail or it would have been a waste of time.
Having bought Photomatix a few months ago I tried it with three different raw exposures of the same image and was pleased with the results. At least it was starting to head in the right direction and I just followed with a bit of contrast grading. I'm pleased with the result (in colour), so that's what counts. I've done a few of these fake HDR images with Photomatix and I'm finding it can either cram in all the detail from a very high contrast original, or mix up the tones in three versions of a flat image and give me a bit more to work with.
Last night I downloaded a 30 day free trial of Topaz Adjust and so far I've been pleased with that too. I'm really not into plug-ins, but I think I'll end up buying this one. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't touch 95% of the offered presets as they are over the top, but a couple of the more subtle ones can be toned down even further to add just a little sparkle.
This is where Martin comes in and says it can all be done with contrast grading and sharpening and I agree. However, if you don't know where you are heading in the first place and don't have the time to try things out, this tool is a little gem. I particularly like the large thumbnails for the presets and the way you can flip between the new image and the original by pressing one button 
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2/Oct/09, 11:42 am
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