Just announced, and available HERE, (use code “claritynew” for a 40% discount!) Topaz Clarity is a new plugin that helps further define detail in your images. I’ve been playing around with the Beta version for a while and just got my hands on the full plugin last night. I can say that it is going to become part of my workflow, especially for landscape and interior work. Read on for examples and more details on this new, cool, affordable plugin…
don’t worry, there were no kids harmed during the photoshopping of this image.
Hello everyone! You may have noticed that I’m quietly adding content to the site. This is being done to try and make a more complete resource for those visiting the site to reference specific tutorial articles or find gear reviews, etc. The biggest changes are the new “Tutorial” “Review” and “MyGear” pages up at the top of the page. I will be trying to catalog the more popular tutorials and reviews for easy reference, and the new gear page has allowed me to link certain cameras, lenses and miscellaneous gear that I use to my affiliate links at B&H. Yup, you read that right. I’ve finally succumbed to the monetary necessity of trying to make a little coin to keep the site going. Read on for my reasoning and ever cheesy gratitude…
Hello All. You may remember my original review of Topaz B&W Effects back a little while ago. It was, in my opinion, a great black and white plugin for the money. With B&W Effects 2, they streamlined the interface, added more filters along with a few other bells and whistles. With the 2.1 upgrade, (which is a free upgrade for existing users of B&W Effects, or available for new users at a 30% discount using promo code “BW21” here at TopazLabs.com) They’ve added an 11 Zone review system along with a new smattering of awesome borders.
For the next week, Alien Skin is offering 30% off of all their wonderful plugins. I use and love Exposure 4, Snap Art and Bokeh 2 personally and feel that Alien Skin does a wonderful job at providing a really solid product for the money. You can download free trials of any of their plugins before buying if interested by going here Alienskin.com! While you’re there, download their free iPhone app Alt Photo, it’s radical.
You can read more about my personal take on some of their plugins below:
Alien Skin Exposure 4, it just keeps getting better!
Alien Skin Snap Art, release your inner artist!
They’ve also just released Eye Candy 7, which is a plugin that is gaining fanfare for graphic designers. Unfortunately, I’m not a good person to ask about it, but it does seem to be getting a lot of praise, so it may be worth a trial for those interested in that type of stuff.
Happy Valentines Day to all, and I hope all is well for everyone.
Cheers,
Tyson
Another huge discount for the Topaz Plugins! If you’ve been on the fence, it is a great opportunity to grab one of Topaz’s killer, already low priced Photoshop plugins, or save 40% off of the whole bundle (which is already a substantial discount). May I suggest DeNoise, or Adjust, both killer plugins that I use all the time. DeNoise5 is by far the best noise reduction plugin I’ve used, hands down. Topaz Clean (which is $30 to begin with) pulls double duty while acting as a good skin smoothing filter and can also be used much like Fractalius (see my tutorial HERE) or Topaz B&W Effects which is yet another low priced, yet wonderful black and white filter plugin. You can find these and many other Topaz Plugins on the Topaz website HERE. Input “topaz2012” to save 40% off any and all plugins through December 31st!
Happy holidays, and happy shooting.
T
From right now through November 26th, all Topaz plugins are 50% off!!! Kind of insane actually seeing that so many of them are already so realistically priced.
Click HERE to see the Plugins that Topaz offers (listed at full price) and enter the code “CyberSavings” at checkout to cut the price in half!
Here are some of the plugins that I’ve reviewed:
Topaz DeNoise5 (a killer noise reduction plugin)
Black and White Effects (very budget friendly B&W processing)
Clean (edge detail and skin softening plugin) which also doubles as a Fractalius like plugin for Mac!
I also love Adjust and would highly suggest any (or all) the Topaz plugins, especially at 50% off!!!
Cheers,
Tyson
I was asked to review FotoMagico4 recently. Knowing nothing about the software, I found it an interesting task when I read up on what FotoMagico was. Being a parent to two young kids, I’m always looking for fun ways to document our events or outings for family and the sake of familial posterity. Being a photographer, I’m always on the lookout for ways to present a streamlined visual product. Coming at it from either of my personal directions, FotoMagico seems to tick all the boxes. Learning a software program from the ground up can be daunting, so I put my head down and got to work learning this new version from Boinx Software. Luckily, it proved to be pretty intuitive once I got going. Read on for my experiences and opinions…
Smooth, yet refined with an impeccable attention to detail.
Noise has become less and less an issue for digital photographers over the last few years as sensor technology gets better, in camera processing is capable of shouldering more of that load than ever before and digital asset management software/RAW converters are up to the task for much of the noise reduction needs. Still, with analog to digital information translation, there is an inherent signal:noise issue that can always be further helped by a good noise reduction software. Add to that, pro-sumer 35mm format models breaching the Medium Format pixel counts, or compact sensors pushing the pixel pitch to near immeasurable dimensions, there is, and will be a need for a manual noise reduction control through post processing. While Lightroom and Aperture have good noise reduction algorithms, they are the swiss army knife of image processing, giving you many handy tools, but what happens when you need a power tool? That little Swiss army knife’s mini-saw ain’t gonna cut through that noise riddled log for you, you’ll need a chainsaw. Enter, Topaz DeNoise5, your powerful, noise reducing chainsaw. Right now, through October 12th, get 30% off of Topaz DeNoise5 by using the code “NoiseFree” at checkout, click HERE to go to Topazlabs.com. I’ve used Noise Ninja and Nik Define in the past, and I think both of those have just been pushed out of my workflow. Read on for examples and my take…
If you’ve been on the fence about any of the Alien Skin plugins, now might be a great time to pull the trigger. Of course, they offer all of their plugins as full featured, free trials to try before you buy. You have about a week, get at it!
I’m a big fan, if you’d like to read my reviews on some of their plugins that I use and suggest, hit the links below:
Exposure 4 (tons of wonderful color and b/w film filters, a personal fave)
Snap Art 3 (instantly turn images into paintings)
Bokeh 2 (replicate the bokeh from high end lenses, or just have fun obliterating the background)
You can purchase any of the plugins, or bundles directly from Alienskin.com
I know this seems a bit like a sale’s pitch, and something I try not to do with the blog, but I love these plugins, the company they come from and both Jeff and Jimmy are really cool guys, so support ‘em if you can.
Cheers,
Tyson
For any of you out there that may have been on the fence, both Alien Skin and Kubota Image Tools happen to be offering a substantial discount off of their software and actions respectively. I’ve personally reviewed a variety of the Alien Skin Software (Bokeh, Exposure 3 and 4, Snap Art) and had played around a bit with some of the actions available through Kubota Image Tools via the Lensbaby Action Pak and most recently reviewed Kevin’s Lighting Notebook.
Kubota Image Tools is having a sale with as much as 50% off their action paks through the end of April, see more HERE.
Alien Skin has a 30%-40% off sale through Tuesday, April 17th and for any existing users of Alien Skin products, they offer an extra 10% off by using the code “FAN1204″ 
Find the Alien Skin Sale HERE.
Wedding season is coming up and for those who use Photoshop or Lightroom (or even Aperture), you may know how valuable good software and quality photoshop actions can be to workflow, or for anyone that likes to add efficiency to their post processing, I’d certainly suggest checking these guys out.
I’ve reviewed these products because I love them and use them all the time in my own personal workflow, and would fully endorse them to anyone that was interested. Just thought I’d pass this along just in case you’re thinking of buying any of these!
Happy Spring and happy shooting,
Tyson
