Exposure 2 Review
By Robert Lachman
This week I am going to review Alien Skin’s software, Exposure 2, the Photoshop and Photoshop Elements’ plug-in to give your photographs the look of film.
It’s a one-click way to give photographs that edgy, arty, cross-processed film look. It also can be used to add a soft focus glamour look, change your color photographs to black and white
Why would anyone pay money to make their photos more grainy, or maybe have a color shift like in the cross-processing or have the highlights blown out in the high contrast mode? It’s the million dollar question or should I say, it’s more like the $249 question because this software ain’t cheap.
Only one answer I can think of: ART.
Now these are things you could do on your own if you had the time to figure them out, but it would be difficult for most, especially with such a quick-click and choose method.
This is definitely make your new school work look old school
The Exposure 2 software will work on both Photoshop Elements version 4 or newer and Photo
shop CS2 or later. It definitely makes your new school photographs look old school.
First I tried the Exposure 2 software plug-in on a portrait of my daughter and of course, I used TRI-400 setting. Wow, I mean I’m using Tri-X 400 again. It seems like old times. My photos have grain instead of digital noise. That’s very cool. But now I’m getting confused. Back in the olden days, we tried our best to get rid of grain and worked to make it as fine as possible. There were special developers like Accufine which was designed to make the grain small. Now I have really digressed.
The interface is easy to use. Once you have the photo up on the screen, just pick the menu item filter, then Alien Skin Exposure 2 which will give you the choice of menu color or black and white.
It’s very easy to use and has a very nice split screen preview feature. The software plug-in gives you a choice of the split going horizontal, diagonal, or vertical. You can decide which side of the screen is the affected side.
Also, in the preview window there’s an option to enlarge and move the image for a close look at the detail. This is one of the best preview windows I have used.
There are so many settings: saturation increased warm, overcast, golden hour orange, faded sun, saturated-slide-film, high and low contrast and cross-process featuring every imaginable film that was once available.
The choices of film styles are endless: Tri-X, Kodachome, Polaroid, Fuji’s Velvia and Reala. That’s just a start, how about GAF or Agfa Scala.
Other effects include: softening, push processing, contrast and curves, toning, infrared, dynamic rage, color temperature, saturation, softness, grain and sharpness with slider controls.
The only downside to this Alien Skin software is the $249 price tag making it more of a professional photographer’s product who have a specific need for a quick one-click arty look to make their photos look different and to to speed up their work flow.
It’s just too expensive for the average consumer to add to their repertoire. They do offer a 30-day trial to check it out.
I would give it four out of five stars, with the price as the main detraction.
Check out the audio version of the review on The Mac ReviewCast podcast.
More Deke, More Kelby
Deke pitches his Photoshop book and his Lynda.com tutorials after the video. The lab color tutorial looks like it would be nice. I ne
ed more knowledge!Scott Kelby’s taking pre-orders on his new book, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers. This one could be tough to beat. I am still on the fence about Adobe’s Lightroom and Apple’s Aperature it’s tough to know which one to go with. I still don’t shoot RAW images very much. The book might just be the push toward Lightroom for me. It would fit perfect next to my dog-eared Photoshop CS2 Book by Kelby. But then, it all starts to add up, because I would need to upgrade to a Canon G9 point-and-shoot which will give me RAW images. It a viciuous circle of spending. It never ends. Great and cool technology is never cheap.
iPhone 3G Bonus Burp Included
By Robert Lachman
Since I write about Photography and the Mac, it seems like I should be at the Apple store when the first 3G iPhones go on sale at 8:00 am Friday morning. It's a camera and it's a Mac. I work tonight so it might be tough. Sleep in or check out the new 3G iPhone, that is the question.
You know you're important when Apple sends you
the phone early to review. It's a very short list. David Pogue from the New York Times is an Apple V.I.P. Check out Pogue's funny video about the 3G iPhone. He pokes fun at the new 3G iPhone's lack of new features and actually higher cost in the long run.
He didn't mention anything about iBeer, a new application from Hottrix available from the iTunes store which lets you drink a pixel beer. Talk about light beer.
The application description from Hottrix software:
Brew and drink beer on your iPhone and iPod touch. This hilarious sight-gag is fully interactive and behaves like a real grass of beer thanks to the iPho
nes sensors and our spare time.
FEATURES
Brew
Drink
Shake
Burp
Tilt to sip, shake for foam, even pour iBeer from iPhone to iPhone.
Now it can be yours!
Bonus Burp included
Get it today and stop those hangovers forever!
Not to mention video tutorials and 24/7 support.
I can't imagine how many of these will be sold?
Looking to get that iPhone updated to 2.0 one day, early check out the Mac Rumors site. They have the links to get it done. Many on my Twitter list have done it, but proceed at your own risk. You can be the first to have Super Monkey Ball or MsPAC-Man up and running. I'm getting caught up in this but I can wait until tomorrow. It will be much simpler then.
What's the big difference between my site and Scott Kelby's Photoshop insider website. Ok, besides about 8 million hits. Scott's giving away a $1000 Westcott TD-5 Spiderlite “Scott Kelby Studio Kit” to some lucky winner who answers a trivia question he poses on the Photoshop User TV. I give away a dusty old $5 Brownie. I guess you appreciate things when you start from the bottom and work your way up.
It's amazing what drives comments on a photo website, the Strobist had 61 comments so far about the Canon G9. I had to chime in. I still have a 4MP Canon G3, one of the forerunner in the series. Kelby had some of the longest comments I've ever read on a blog from a post by his Wednesday guest, nature photographer Stephen Johnson. It was just a bunch of esoteric BS over people spending too much time on Photoshop versus shooting.
3G iPhone Friday coming soon!
Matt Kloskowki’s new book “LAYERS”
When I was browsing through the photo books at Amazon.com, one book in particular, really jumped out at me, Matt Kloskowski’s new book, “Layers,” the complete guide to Photoshop’s most powerful features, so I clicked the buy button. That was easy. I am a sucker for any new photography book, you could say, I’m an easy sell.
Some people, I guess, want to sit by the fireplace with a good novel, but for me, it’s a computer or photography book. I really feel like I have hit the geek wall because I’m spending way too much time in front of the computer.
I guess I should be out exercising more. Tomorrow, I am going to ride my bike to the beach while listening to the new Steve Martin book from Audible.com on my iTouch. Exercise and computers, what a great combination.
OK, back to the book review. I did look forward to receiving the book and I wasn’t disappointed. “Layers” is designed for the the beginning to intermediate Photoshop or Elements user.
Matt definitely has the credentials for writing the book, he has hosted photoshop podcasts, written articles for Photoshop User and he works full-time for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
The book is on the smaller side for a computer book, just 255 pages. Did I say 255 pages? I saw another “Layers” instructional book at the Barnes and Noble bookstore which contained over 800 pages. Yikes, that’s a little too many “Layers” for me to digest.
I’m still trying to figure out curves and the histogram.
The book is an easy read with nine chapters. Including: Basics, Blending, Adjustment Layers, Masks, Type and Shape, Enhancing Photos, Retouching Layer Styles and Smart Layers.
You can also follow along building projects with the examples which you can download from the internet.
I would consider myself an intermediate photoshop users so this book is perfect for me. Matt uses nice graphics on each page to to drive home his points and goes over the important features you will use.
In Chapter Two, he talks about Blending Layers. This is an important part because it always confuses me. Matt simplifies it by breaking it up into “The Three Most Important Blend Modes You Need.” Multiply, Screen and Softlight. Three is good, I have just enough brain cells left to remember this data. The explanations are concise and to the point.
Let’s skip ahead to chapter six, “Dodging and Burning Done Right.” I’m fired up now! I usually just use a the simple burn-and-dodge tool. It’s not really the correct non-destructive way. It’s simple, not the cool way. I’m ready to do it the right way: add a layer, make it 50-percent gray, and then use black and white brushes to paint to dodge and burn. With this technique, my Photoshop I.Q. should be through the roof.
I always enjoy learning new techniques. Photoshop gives you many ways to do the same thing.
There is really a lot to learn in the book and Matt uses nice graphics to illustrate his points. At the end of each chapter, he has a Q&A to help reinforce his points.
Other topics which are included in chapters are: combining multiple exposures, painting with light, selective sharpening, creating soft focus, creating reusable photo effects and using type with layers.
If you’re looking for a photoshop book which is easy to read and not the imposing giant computer books, I highly recommended picking up a copy of “Layers."
The price of the book is $39.95. I bought it at www.amazon.com for $26.39 US.
I’ve finished eight of the nine chapters leaving me with Smart Layers. I didn’t know layers had any intelligence. I am ready for the next chapter, “Four Reasons Why Smart Objects Rock!”
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