Another kind of photo toy

[pierces]

Since I started using Lightroom I have been doing more and more of my basic adjustments with it and my use of the plug-ins and filters in Elements has dropped to near zero. Being able to do almost all the exposure, contrast and color adjustments needed without touching the original or needing to make a bazillion copies has been a boon to my workflow.

 

That said, I was playing with some of the filters in Elements the other day and rediscovered some of the creative toys embedded in that very capable piece of software. I had quite a bit of fun pretending I was a graphic artist and it led me to respond to a deal alert on one of the photo websites and check out Adjust by Topaz Labs. I was familiar with Topaz from all the research I did looking for a good noise reduction package and their DeNoise product was at the top of my list. As it turned out, Lightroom (which I had just started using seriously) already contains one of the best noise reduction plug-ins available so I let the trial period for DeNoise expire. Having a good experience with Topaz and some of the samples shown on their site prompted me to download and test drive Adjust.

 

Adjust is an exposure, presence and color adjustment package that not only contains a wide assortment of presets but some deceptivepowerful tools to create effects of your own. Part of the test drive was to see if I could re-create the effects using Lightroom or Element's built-in tools and while I was able to do it with a few of them, it was a lot of work. Invoking the plug-in from Elements or Photoshop launches the image into Topaz' workspace which is similar to the modern Elements look and feel. Lightroom users can download their free Fusion package that integrates their modules into the "Edit In..." menu allowing you to invoke their stand-alone editor without going through Photoshop or Elements. The interface is simple and pretty intuitive. Using the presets is my-cat-could-do-it simple!

 

Here are some examples performed on a mundane landscape with a single click. They are on the extreme end of manipulation and I should add that most of the presets are very useful and can subtly clean up a dull image without an adding an over-processed look. The last is a custom tweak that took me about a minute to create and if I had liked the effect, saving it to a custom one-click preset would have taken just a few moments more.

 

Original:

 

HDR pop:

 

Vintage Grunge:

 

Lomo II:

 

Sunset:

 

Surreal (manual use of tools):

 

 

All of the packages at Topaz are available as try-before-you-buy downloads and I ended up licencing this one (on sale through September) after an evening of mild to wild picture tweaking.

 

Happy Shooting...or maybe it should be "Merry Manipulation" this time!

 

Dave

[tommui987]

Since I started using Lightroom I have been doing more and more of my basic adjustments with it

Dave

 

Dave:

 

One of my photo club members had convinced me that a plug-in for Lightroom called "Perfectly Clear" was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

 

Do you use it or know anything about it?

 

Thanks,

Tom

[pierces]

Dave:

 

One of my photo club members had convinced me that a plug-in for Lightroom called "Perfectly Clear" was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

 

Do you use it or know anything about it?

 

Thanks,

Tom

 

I have Perfectly Clear for Android on my phone and it does a pretty good job of making photos from the onboard camera perk up. I've never used the PC version. I've been pretty happy with Lightroom's basic and not-so-basic built-in adjustment tools. Especially in v.5.

 

It is supposed to be a better auto-correction tool but I would definitely try the free 30 day trial to see if it is $199 better.

 

Dave

[shootr]

Pierces/Dave:

 

I use Elements 10 currently, and every time I come back from an outing it seems I take the ones I like best, tweak the contrast, lightening/darkening, and saturation - and save the files.

 

I only work with digital pictures now, no more film camera work. I'm using a Rebel XSi with Canon and Tamron lenses.

 

I've never used or know much about Lightroom. When you say "Since I started using Lightroom I have been doing more and more of my basic adjustments with it and my use of the plug-ins and filters in Elements has dropped to near zero. Being able to do almost all the exposure, contrast and color adjustments needed without touching the original or needing to make a bazillion copies, do you mean the adjustments I talk about doing are the same adjustments you talk about doing in Lightroom? Does Lightroom automate this process somehow?

 

The filter examples you posted towards the bottom - that isn't something Lightroom has? I guess the actual question is: What are the differences, or which program would you think would be best for me, as it is getting to be upgrade time again.

 

Thanks.

[pierces]

Pierces/Dave:

 

I use Elements 10 currently, and every time I come back from an outing it seems I take the ones I like best, tweak the contrast, lightening/darkening, and saturation - and save the files.

 

I only work with digital pictures now, no more film camera work. I'm using a Rebel XSi with Canon and Tamron lenses.

 

I've never used or know much about Lightroom. When you say "Since I started using Lightroom I have been doing more and more of my basic adjustments with it and my use of the plug-ins and filters in Elements has dropped to near zero. Being able to do almost all the exposure, contrast and color adjustments needed without touching the original or needing to make a bazillion copies, do you mean the adjustments I talk about doing are the same adjustments you talk about doing in Lightroom? Does Lightroom automate this process somehow?

 

The filter examples you posted towards the bottom - that isn't something Lightroom has? I guess the actual question is: What are the differences, or which program would you think would be best for me, as it is getting to be upgrade time again.

 

Thanks.

 

Lightroom can actually do most of what I posted but the presets in Topaz Adjust are easily applied and my time to make the presets versus $25 was a fair trade for me.

 

Lightroom has the same adjustment sliders for contrast, exposure, white balance, shadow/highlight, etc. that Elements or Photoshop has. It allows you to apply all of the changes you mentioned as well as gradient filtering, red-eye removal and

extensive cropping/distortion correction. All the corrections are done and mapped to a database. The mappings are applied to the original every time you view or export the image without ever altering the original (this works for both RAW and JPEG which is why I shoot mostly in JPEG now). You can also make as many virtual copies as you want that consists of nothing but a different set of adjustments applied to the original and displayed as a copy though an actual copy is not made. You can also copy adjustments made to a photo and apply to as many additional photos as you select if you want to make a general adjustment to a batch. You can also save a set of adjustments you make all the time like saturation +10, Clarity +15, shadows-5, etc. to a personal preset. After you save it, you can apply that preset to a photo with a single click. If you want to do extensive edits of content (remove a drunken uncle or something) in an external program like Elements, it asks you if you want to edit the original, Edit a copy of the original or edit a copy with any adjustments you have already made in Lightroom. This assures that if you want to leave your original untouched, you can.

 

It took me a couple of weeks to make the transition and learn the sliders and workflow but I'm glad I took the time. I was able to select, tag, edit and publish 1,400 images from our recent trip to Alaska in less than a week of evenings mostly using Lightroom and Elements only occasionally.

 

Give it a try. I think you'll like what you see. (And it works fine with Elements 10 as an external editor.)

 

Dave

[mitsugirly]

I have the Topaz adjust and they can give you some really neat pictures. I have had it for several years. I don't use it that much anymore because I just don't have time to play around with my pictures anymore. :(

 

(I have Topaz Adjust and also Topaz Detail)

[soblue]

Hi Dave, haven't been here for a while. I've being putting my photos on flickr. Sounds like you are getting on well with Lightroom 5, best one yet for me.

 

Well I've joined the mirrorless club, I did look at the Sony NEX range, but ended going for the FUJI X-E1 and lens.

 

Currently have the 35m 1.4, 18-55 standard zoom, 55-200 zoom, and the samyang 8m, awaiting the 14m 2.8 (ordered) and the new 23m 1.4 on order for my next cruise in Nov. Just love the weight against my Canon setup. Not selling my Canon 6D or 5DMKlll or lens yet. Still keep them, also my Nikon D600 as well. I'm just not investing any more in Canon L lens or the Nikon lens. I prefer the price of the FUJI lens ;)

 

As for plugins for lightroom I'm using NIK software which is now owned by google and I find them great. Did try the Topaz, but preferred the NIK plugins

 

Andrew