Reviews

Reviews of Power Retouche upgrade

October 15, 2011 - Power Retouche Review for the 64 bit Mac using CS5

Tressie Davis
http://www.tressiedavisphotography.com

Mac Processor 2.66 GHZ Intel Core i7
Memory 4GB 1067 MHZ DDR3
OSX, CS5

I am a photographer that attempts to get it right “in camera”, however I rarely if ever release images with no editing whatsoever.  The digital darkroom is an integral and sometimes time consuming part of my workflow, and I appreciate any tool that will make that job easier, faster and/or more productive. 

Power Retouche fits that bill!  The complete Power Retouche filter suite includes 27 separate filters that fit not only into my standard editing flow (noise reduction, sharpen, levels, color balance, golden section, etc) but also filters for amazing creative effects (posterizer, edgeline, filmgrain, etc) as well as a Black and White Studio filter for complete control of gorgeous BW conversions. 

The software download was quick and easy, the installation flawless.  I simply allowed it to install as defaulted (hitting next when necessary), and when I opened CS5 the Power Retouch tools were available in my Filters menu.

Use of the filters is easy and intuitive, with the image preview on the filter screen on the left, and the slider controls on the right.  I love the fact that you can do a dual screen preview with your original image and filtered image side by side, especially for 100% preview detail work for noise removal and sharpening. For a better understanding of the function of each filter, and/or tips for use of each slider, there is documentation available on the Power Retouche website.

My favorites of the available filters:

Sharpness – Finally, a simple sharpening tool with total control!  Four methods of sharpening (Gentle USM, PR Sharpness, Enhanced USM, and Contrast Adaptive USM) as well as a blur option that mimics lens blur.  There are detail sliders for each method that allow you to sharpen edges separate from surfaces (yes!), fixing bright and dark halos that are created by the sharpening, and an edge detection slider that will determine what parts of the image will be sharpened as edges or surfaces.  There is a checkbox for Luminance only, and a tool to link surfaces and edges if you would like to move the sliders together.  You might think that a powerhouse filter like this would take a lot of processing time, but in all of my tests the processing time was never more than 2-3 seconds once I hit “apply”.  Playing with the sliders allows natural looking sharpening with fewer artifacts than straight USM.  I am a huge fan of this tool.

Vignette Corrector – a useful tool to remove the unwanted darkness at the corner of your images.  Sliders to vary the corner size, radial density and exposure to perfectly blend the corners with the rest of the image.   I found that the vignette removal process was not quite as intuitive as some of the other filters, however with trial and error I eventually managed to achieve my desired results.  (user limitation, I’m sure) J  This filter can also be used to add a vignette for artistic effect – something I will more likely use it for, rather than vignette removal.  Process time was nearly immediate.

Illumination Editor – genius.  This filter adds directional light where you need it – to illuminate faces, provide fill light, etc.  The sliders allow complete control over the illumination direction, exposure and brightness, with additional sliders to adjust lights, midtones and darks separately.  A great filter for adding dimension to an otherwise flat/boring image.

Black/White Studio – a digital darkroom for completely striking black and white images.  Use the sliders to control exposure, contrast, and balance.  Set your black point, adjust the highlights and shadows and add a cool or warm tone, all from within this filter.   Using the film tab, select different film effects (Kodak Tri-X, etc), add color filters (with a slider to adjust strength) and adjust spectral sensitivity by color.  Check the “color” box and add these film effects to your color image rather than converting to BW.  While I can get similar BW results using CS5 channels, this filter is by far the faster, easier choice, taking me only a few seconds to make the necessary adjustments for a stunning black and white image.  Processing time when applying the B/W Studio filter was slightly longer than other filters, but still only 4 seconds max.

Golden Section – a must have tool that I didn’t realize I needed until I used it, and now I am hooked.  Rather than imagining the Golden sections on your image for cropping, this tool will show them to you right on your image for a dynamic and interesting crop every time.  Simply create a new PS layer and run this filter to show the golden means of your choice – Golden sections, golden spiral, or golden triangles.  Flip it horizontal or vertical to place the sweet spot anywhere on your image, and resize if necessary.

Power Retouche In summary:  The Power Retouche filters are fast, flexible and intuitive. Not only has my normal editing routine become faster and easier, but artistic and/or restorative effects that previously seemed cumbersome, overwhelming or too time consuming to me have now become a part of my regular artistic arsenal.  I love these filters, and Power Retouche has become an indispensable part of my workflow.

I realize that this review may seem biased toward the positive.  The truth is, other than the limitations of my own skill in photo editing, I could find very little to complain about with this filter suite.  A nicely thought out product, well worth the investment.

Tressie

Reviews of Capricorn Link's books and DVDs

by Mel Brackstone

I eagerly awaited the delivery of my latest prize from Shutterbugs, compliments of Capricorn Link books here in Australia. They've been sponsoring shutterbugs.biz now for a couple of years and the prizes I've won have given me great joy.

The latest book win was a book titled "Photography Essentials - FULL FRAME" by David Noton.

Davis is a top landscape photographer, who travels the world looking for those special photographs. There are 10 chapters in ten different locations from around the world, and in each he tries to explain his motivation, inspiration and techniques for taking the amazing images you see in front of you. His book explains in detail a great deal of the trouble he goes to to find his subjects and locations and how difficult it can sometimes be to get that winning shot. His explanations on the processes he uses make it easier for the average photographer to hopefully produce something similar. I shall have my head buried in this beauty for many weeks to come.

Previously won:

"The Digital Female NUDE" by Peter Adams Peter's book gave me a great deal of joy, since I'm only new to fine art nude. His blurb that ends with "Lighten up, and have fun with your camera!" was the best thing I'd read in a long time, especially when it comes from such a well known and respected photographer! The chapters 1 - 8 give a great deal of information to those who might be looking at learning a little more about shooting nudes, with wonderful explanations on planning, equipment, lighting, composition amongst others. I found this book to be very inspiring, and useful for my own quest towards being a fine art nude photographer.

"Nature Photography" by Ralph Lee Hopkins (Digital Masters) A fabulous handbook on everything you could possibly want to know about taking nature photos. The information and helpful facts are spread through every chapter, no matter what your nature needs are. As a competitor in various photography competitons, I find good nature images are the most difficult to do well, however with the facts and techniques supplied by Ralph they're made that little bit easier. An outstanding addition to my library!

"People Photography" by Nancy Brown (Digital Masters) Another beaut book with so very much to commend it! Nancy loves people, and it shows when she talks about how she organises her work day to make the most of the models and scenes. Inspiring book, and very much in my mind when I attempt to capture my people images! Such fantastic information and detail!

"John Blakemore's Black and White Photography Workshop" What an amazing book! I can't even begin to understand how difficult it must be to get such fantastic results in the darkroom, however this book makes my heart sing when I see how much information it has to help me with my computer darkroom! Very inspiring book!

"The making of great photographs" by Eamonn Mc Cabe One of those books I keep going back to, over and over. The explanation given on how each signature image was achieved, as well as the background information on the photographer and their history is invaluable in the way I learn. An important book for me, and a wonderful resource!

"Jim Zuckerman Pro Secrets to dramatic digital photos" With 15 different chapters on how best to make the most of your photography, Jim has covered a lot of ground, and the secrets he imparts are just perfect in their clarity and explanations. Some may say the secrets are obvious, however so few people actually follow these suggestions, it's amazing how they may appear to be simple, when in fact they're brilliant! Experience will show that he's right in every respect, and all we had to do was read this book.....it gives us all those shortcuts we wanted, but mostly find out the hard way....The answers are IN THIS BOOK! An inspiring and wonderful book.

"50 Photo Projects" by Lee Frost If you're running out of inspiration, and are looking for something to kick start your phojo, this is the book for you. Pick a project, and get involved, before you know it you're inspired and ready for anything! There is something for everyone in this book, definitely one for when you have the doldrums!