What is the Adobe Creative Cloud?

You can find long explanations of Adobe CC on the web, but here is my simple version. Adobe is switching the payment model. For Photoshop CS6 and earlier, you buy it and then you own it forever. In Adobe CC, you will rent it by paying a monthly fee. If you stop paying then Adobe CC products will stop working.

This is more a pricing change than a technological change. The “cloud” part means that you get some file storage on Adobe servers and there are some collaboration features. Applications like Photoshop will run on your local computer, just like they do today. Photoshop CC will not be running on an Adobe server or in a web browser. You will be able to run Photoshop CC without an internet connection for periods of time, but occasionally you have to let it contact Adobe to confirm that your subscription is paid up.

Will Alien Skin products work with Adobe CC products?

Photoshop CC is not out yet, but we have been testing our current products with a pre-release version. We will release free updates for the current version of all our products to fix a minor installation issue. You will hear about the updates here, in e-mail, social media, and the “new message” newspaper icon in our products.

We have also been testing with the pre-release version of Lightroom 5 and everything is working great. By the way, Adobe plans to keep Lightroom as a non-subscription product.

Exposure 5 (out in June) will be our first product that can run as a stand-alone application. You will be able to use it by itself or within Photoshop, Lightroom, or Aperture. Over time we will move in that direction with all our products.

Will Alien Skin move to the subscription model?

We plan to stick with the traditional software model. For example, that means that you buy Snap Art 3 and you own it forever. If you lose your installer then you can download it again for free at any time. If you lose your license code then you can look it up or contact tech support so we can find it for you. You can activate your software on two computers at once and you can move those activations to new computers, including switching between Mac and Windows. While Snap Art 3 is the latest version, we will make free updates to keep it working with the latest host programs.

I’m not going to promise it will be this way for eternity, but this system feels like a good fit for our customers and us for the foreseeable future.

Texture Overlays in Exposure 4

In Exposure 4, on the Age Tab there is a group of controls labeled Texture. This system overlays analog features on your photo. Early versions of Exposure simulated scratches mathematically, but we found that it looked too artificial. Now these features come from scans of real photos.

What’s New in Exposure 5

In early versions of Exposure, we provided dust, scratches, and rough borders, so “texture” seemed like a good name. In Exposure 4 we included light leaks. Exposure 5 provides more versions of those effects, and expands into old print borders and sun flares. I usually refer to this wide range of features as “overlays” since texture is just part of it.

You’ll find the overlay effects in the new Borders & Textures area on the right side of the Exposure 5 user interface, as seen below. Click for a larger version.

In Exposure 5, you can now separately control overlays from the Border, Light Effects, and Dust & Scratches categories. For more variety and control, they can be randomized, flipped, zoomed, and inverted.

One of my photos is shown below after two treatments with overlay effects. I used a distressed old border, a paper print border, subtle scratches, and one of the new light effects from the Sun Flares category for morning sunlight in fog. I used the improved Protect feature to keep the bird clear. In Exposure 5 you can move the center of the protected region and control its strength. For a scene with a person, I would use it to keep scratches off their face.

When can I get it?

Exposure 5 will be out in June. When it is ready we will announce it here, in social media, and e-mail. You can get on our e-mail list by scrolling to the bottom of any page on our web site. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. If you don’t own Exposure yet then you don’t need to wait for Exposure 5 to come out. If you purchase Exposure 4 in March, 2013 or later then we will e-mail you Exposure 5 for free as soon as it is ready.

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Set specific goals before you begin creating your wildlife haven. Make the transition easier to manage by starting small. Even minor changes will increase the diversity of birds you attract.

Wildlife has four essential needs: cover, food, water, and places to raise young. For a bird, a typical manicured lawn is too barren. The worms found there probably taste like chemicals anyway!

Cover

Birds need a place to hide from predators. This will make them feel safe and comfortable. The best kind of cover is a combination of trees and shrubs at varying heights that mimic the natural landscape. Before heading off to your nearest nursery, investigate native plant species for your area.

I suggest that you arrange the plantings in a tapered angle. Fill the perimeter with tall trees, and then plant shorter trees that can take shade. Add shrubs next, then add ground cover in the center. This provides safety for the majority of bird species. Consider coniferous trees for plantings on the north & west sides of your home to block winter winds, deciduous trees work best on the south and east to provide shade in the summer.

Water

A bath need be no more than 2 or 3 inches in depth. If you already have a bath with deeper dimensions, put a layer of rocks inside to raise the floor level. Try to keep it clean and full at all times. Provide roughly 10 feet of clear space from the nearest cover; close enough for birds to escape a predator and far enough that they can see one approaching. Running water is best, the sound alone will bring birds.

Places to raise young

The right combination of trees and shrubs will provide plenty of nesting places.

If you want bird houses, learn about the kind of bird species you want to attract first. House size, placement, and hole size need to match the species you target. A good place to start learning is a nearby store that specializes in bird equipment and native plants. So is your local Audubon chapter.

Food

To draw in a variety of birds, provide a variety of food. Naturally occurring food is your best bet. Feeders will bring birds out where you can see them, but they’re not a complete food source. If you want the birds to move in permanently, give them a combination of varied height native fruit, seed, and, nut bearing plants.

It may take a couple of years to incorporate all of the ideas I’ve shared, but just a few minor changes can help improve the bird variety you see.

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Here are a couple of shots that Marc shared with us. Thanks Marc!

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Exposure is the best film emulation software out there. Trust me, I’ve used them all. The B&W capabilities in Exposure are on par with more dedicated B&W programs, and it has additional properties unique to itself.

#1: Silk Loom

Let’s start with an image from one of my favorite indoor “grunge” locales, the Lonaconing Silk Mill. It’s in the mountains of western Maryland. Color can work well for this shot, but black and white replicates the feeling of the old working mill more accurately.

The finished color image is pictured above. It’s best to convert to B&W after the color version is finalized. The order of operation is important to get the richest tones.

In Exposure, there are a bunch of film options in the presets panel on the left. I scrolled through the list to see what was available. I settled on Kodak TRI-X 400 with Dust & Scratches. I made one small adjustment to the preset–I added a touch of sharpness on the focus tab with one of the group presets. Below is the final.

Click on the image above to view a larger version of the final.

 #2: National Building Museum

The National Building Museum in Washington, DC is an extremely cool place to photograph. It’s huge. No one bothers you, and you are allowed to use a tripod. The shadows and moody light can be pretty spectacular; those were the conditions we had during this shoot.

I suggest that you find out what time it will be the least crowded during your visit. Then you’re good to go.

I’m going to build a custom look for this image. Here are the steps:

• Leave the preset set to Neutral (B&W).
• On the Tone tab, boost the contrast to taste.
• In the Split Toning section, I chose one of my favorite presets, Platinum (warm).
• On the Focus tab, apply the Sharpen – Low Radius – 25 group preset.

The sharpening presets are unique to Exposure. The results depend on the image, but, in my experience, they are almost always effective.

Click on the image above to view a larger version of the final.

One of the great features in Exposure is on the Age tab. I particularly like the lumping and distortion controls for the Vignette. These features are unique. In Exposure, the various levels of “Lump” create uneven vignettes. I feel that this uneven-ness enhances the mood, feeling, and asymmetry of this image.

#3: Tremont, Great Smoky Mountains, TN

Springtime in the Smokies is always inspiring. The mountains are full of flowing water and lime green moss; both attributes make for beautiful B&W shots.

I’m going to build another custom preset for this image. Here are the steps:

• Leave the preset set to Neutral (B&W).
• On the color tab, apply the Green Color Filter group preset.
• Color Sensitivity, choose the Only Red group preset.
• On the Tone tab, choose the Harsh Landscape Tone group preset.
• On the Focus tab, apply the Sharpen – Low Radius – 25 group preset.

I made some tweaks with the sliders on the Tone tab in order to brighten the water. I increased the contrast, opened up the shadows, darkened mid-tones and brightened the highlights. It was just a few tweaks to pull out the detail I wanted.

 Click on the image above to view a larger version of the final.

My advice, mix it up with Exposure. This will teach you how the very cool and unique black and white effects can add another layer of creativity to your work!

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Tony Sweet is a workshop instructor, lecturer, author, occasional columnist, online instructor for Betterphoto.com, and is a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens.

Visit http://tonysweet.com

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Modern Interface

We remade the Exposure interface to be more familiar to users of recent versions of Lightroom and Photoshop. The color scheme is dark gray to reduce distraction from your photo. Effect controls are in collapsible groups in a scrolling panel on the right, just like Lightroom. Most of our shortcut keys have the same behavior as Lightroom or Photoshop.

We purposely chose slightly larger fonts than the ones in Lightroom and Photoshop. Tiny text is stressful, especially for old eyes like mine.

The left and right panels can be collapsed to reduce distraction and make more room for the preview.  In the screenshot above, the preset panel on the left is collapsed. On the right are new flexible controls for texture overlay effects. We will get into those in another article.

Visual Browsing of Presets

One of Exposure’s strengths has always been the hundreds of well-researched presets, but exploring them was hard. As you can see in the screenshot above, presets are now explored visually. You can resize the preset browser pane and set it to show two or three columns.

The buttons at the top of the panel let you quickly focus on just a subset of the presets. You  can filter on Color, Black & White, Favorites, User, and Recent. Click a star in the corner of a preset to mark it as a favorite. “User” is for presets you created. “Recent” is of course the last presets you applied to photos.

As with Exposure 4, there is a text search bar that is a very fast way to narrow your search. By the time you type “kodach”, you are seeing only the Kodachrome presets.

When can I get it?

Exposure 5 will be out in June. When it is ready we will announce it here, in social media, and e-mail. You can get on our e-mail list by scrolling to the bottom of any page on our web site. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

If you don’t own Exposure yet then you don’t need to wait for Exposure 5 to come out. If you purchase Exposure 4 in March, 2013 or later then we will e-mail you Exposure 5 for free as soon as it is ready.

We will write at least one more blog article about Exposure 5 texture overlay controls before June.

Matt shared his editing workflow. He’s a Lightroom user. The rest of this article is from him. Read on to hear how he edits most of his work.

Thanks for sharing, Matt!

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I hunted around for a while after a tool that could help me replicate the smooth colours and grain of 35mm film. I tried a handful of presets and plug-ins, but few worked nicely with Lightroom, and fewer still gave me natural-looking grain. Lightroom’s grain feature (and any presets that use it) is decidedly basic. It looks more like noise under the right wrong conditions. I was impressed when I first used Exposure. It had a wide variety of film emulations, it fit in nicely with my existing workflow, and it produced great-looking grain.

Lightroom still does the bulk of my library management, so it was easy to add Exposure. I’ve been using Exposure for a while now, and I’m always happy with the results.

Here’s how I edit. I start off with a first pass in Lightroom to fix the important stuff like exposure, white balance, sharpening, and curves. I usually apply a medium contrast curve; I’ll bring the highlights down a bit, pop the light tones, and pull back the dark tones & shadows.

I then apply my preferred Exposure film emulation. I’m a big fan of the Fuji Reala or Fuji Pro 400H presets for my color work. For black & white, my favorites are Ilford HP5 and Tri-X.

I “finish” my images with a solid fill grey layer in Photoshop. I use 54% grey and set the layer to exclusion mode. For colour images, I set the layer to 10% opacity. I set the opacity slightly higher for black & white photos. This flattens the image out a bit, and it lightens the blacks. Keeping the opacity of this layer low keeps the image contrast up; more opacity makes the effect more extreme.

Save, close, and go back into Lightroom. This will automatically “stack” the new file onto the original, so you don’t have a messy library. You can experiment with some other Exposure emulations using the original file. Press “C” in Lightroom to compare different versions side-by-side.

Having the ability to replicate some of my favorite films means that my photos have a final look that’s consistent and identifiable, regardless of whether I’m shooting digitally or analog.

For me, editing is about putting your personal touch on an image. Don’t let the camera’s JPEG engine do it for you. Make the image look the way you intend it.

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Check out some of Matt’s work below. For more, take a look at his blog and his Flickr Photostream.

In a nutshell, blend modes control how colors mix. Most often they are used on a layer to modify the coloring behavior of the layer(s) beneath.

The modes are always separated into behavioral sections when displayed. There are only six sections. You don’t have to memorize the entire list. When you understand the basic behavior of each section, the modes become easy to use. Take a look at the list from the Layers Panel.

Other Uses

Blend modes are not just for layers. You can use them with the Painting and Editing tools such as Clone Stamp, the Healing Brushes, the Brush/Pencil tool, the Blur and Sharpen tools, and more. When you select your tool, a mode drop-down will appear on the Options bar at the top. Here’s a screenshot.

Useful Shortcuts

Working with blend modes is a process of experimentation, which can burn up a lot of time. There are many keyboard shortcuts to speed things up. While using the move tool (V), press Shift+ or Shift- to quickly scroll through the modes list. Below is a cheat sheet of keyboard shortcuts for most of the modes. Remember that if you’re using a tool, the tool mode will change in the Options bar.

Applications

Here is an example of using the Spot Healing Brush for skin retouching in Lighten vs Normal modes. Lighten mode makes the dark areas in the skin become significantly lighter, while the bright areas are only slightly lightened. This helps to keep the image from losing detail and looking muddy.

Below is an example of using the Clone Stamp for thickening up a scalp spot in Multiply vs Normal modes. Darkening this light spot with the Multiply mode retains the hair texture in the original photo. Normal mode covers up the spot with hairs in random order, making it tough to line things up just right without repetition.

The color mode is useful when you want to make color adjustments to a specific area of a photo without losing detail. In this example, I changed the eye color using a solid color and then again with a gradient.

His passion for photography began as an obsession for landscape photography. A few years ago, his focus abruptly changed after a modeling shoot that he did for a friend. The photo shoot went extremely well. It showed Robert that there is great power in emotion, which transformed his way of thinking.

Now, he’s on a mission to capture powerfully emotional photos.

He uses Exposure on almost every digital shot. It’s primarily used as the finishing touch. Robert really loves the look of film. Exposure, for him, is a godsend.

Below are some of his photos. Check out his website and his Flickr photostream for more.

I used blur to my advantage in a recent tutorial video. I combined a blur effect from Bokeh with a simulated film effect from Exposure to change a photo’s mood. Although the effects are subtle, the results are significant.

Robert Hamilton let us use his photo of Jillian Rabe for the video. Thanks Robert and Jillian!

Click here to view the embedded video.

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If you are making a living from your images, it’s important to stand out from the rest of the crowd, especially online. The same is true for landing a photography job. A few years ago there were a lot of photographers, now there are thousands. Editors and marketers don’t have time to investigate new talent in photography’s overcrowded market. They usually stay with whom they’re familiar, or purchase stock images.

Don’t worry about developing your own style. That will come by itself –it’s the way you do your thing, the way you tilt the camera, coach the model, etc. I think tinting is an aspect of style. Here’s why.

What is tinting?

In the “old” days, photographers used something called film. Each film had it’s own unique set of characteristics. A roll of Fuji Velvia, for example, behaved differently than a roll of Astia or a roll of Portra. You could say film choice was the first step in retouching because the film type played a huge part in the look of the images.

You can do this with curves in Lightroom or Photoshop, but if you want a little bit more flexibility and fine control, I prefer Exposure from Alien Skin Software. Exposure gives you dozens of film types and plenty of controls for making customizations. The sky is the limit.

Back to the story

I always tint my images with Exposure. It really gives them pop. Sometimes it’s very subtle; sometimes I go a bit more aggressive. 99% of my images have some form of tinting from Exposure on them.

Here are some examples. I’ll start out with a standard portrait of our model Nadine. This was lit with a small silver Elinchrom Beauty dish with a silver deflector.

There’s nothing wrong with it, but it needs a little more warmth. So I used one of my presets in Exposure 4.

Here’s another example. We used a standard white background for the shoot, removed the main light, and opened up the aperture for this great-looking blown out look. The background radiates so much light that it lit the model from the front.

Now there is one problem: Color and tinting are always interpreted as personal taste. I like the more extreme or vintage colorings myself. Anything is possible. Your unique taste defines your style and your approach.

I encourage you to start playing with tints. It’s a great way to help your images stand out as well as to further develop your style.

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Check out Frank’s website, his workshop website, his Youtube channel, or find him on Kelbytraining.com.

Alex is an Exposure fan. This is how he gets the analog look that he’s accustomed to. Customization is the key to his workflow. He’s developed his own set of custom settings that he uses for most of his shots. Check out Alex’s Flickr Photostream to see more of his work.

Here are a few of Alex’s personal custom presets. To download the files, right-click on the links and choose “Save As.” Save the preset to your desktop first. That should give you a file with the extension .f1s.

Custom-Fuji Velvia ~ Custom-Agfa RSX ~ Custom-Faded Creamy

You will need to have Exposure 4 installed for them to work. You can download and use it in trial mode if you don’t own it. Double-click the .f1s files to install. The next time you run Exposure, you should see them in the User Settings list.

An airbrush demonstration spurred his inspiration. He was amazed that such beautiful artwork could be created with such a simple tool. As a self-proclaimed terrible painter, he thought to build a machine that could automate the process. That’s just what he did.

Dave went to work designing and gathering parts to build an airbrushing device. It’s controlled by a 3-axis real-time motion controller. A laptop computer transmits the artwork movements into the robot. It behaves similarly to a CNC machine.

The airbrush robot can be operated in different modes. It can act as a plotter, creating line drawings from bitmap images and font outlines, or it can plot from the input parameters of a pintogram drawing. It can be used to fill up arbitrary shapes from stencil images and it can be used to make dot matrix gradients from gray value bitmaps.

When he came across the Pintograph app, he knew it would be a good project for his machine.  He figured out the formulas involved in the movement of the pen in Pintograph and programmed them into his airbrush system. His goal was to achieve the same result as Pintograph with the machine. The app allows him to play with input parameters and immediately see the result on the iPad. Once he finds a design he likes, he can plot the exact same pintogram on the wall at up to 6’10″ x 5’4″ (210 x 160 cm).It’s an out of control hobby for Dave right now. He’s in the process of building a portfolio to show what the apparatus is capable of. His efforts are starting to pay off–he’s received print orders of his work. Here are a couple of videos showing the machine in action. Below are photos of a few favorites.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I need a break from hiking through marshes in the winter to photograph birds. For now, I’m trying to make the birds come to my house.

Location

You can try sneaking up on birds in your yard, but you’ll have a tough time getting close. Even if you do, the bird is likely to have branches in the way or have a distracting background. I chose to get a feeder and a blind to control the shot.

I’m using a portable hunter’s blind. It’s essentially a small tent with enough space for a chair and a tripod. I add birdseed to the feeder and then hang out in the blind. Right now I have to wait a few hours for a shot, but that should improve as more birds discover this source of food. Luckily I’m within range of my home’s wifi. At least I can get some work down while I’m out there.

The blind is easy to setup and move, so I can experiment with viewpoints. The current location gives shady morning light coming from over my shoulder. Birds are most active in the morning and the light is less harsh.

The blind is about 3 meters from my feeder, but I’m going to try it closer if the birds will let me. In bird photography, I always wish I were closer and had a longer lens. It was hard enough with herons, but yard birds are tiny!

Background

I’m still working on a location that has a good background. Something uniform and natural is best. It should be as far away as possible so it will be heavily blurred. The quality of that blur is called bokeh.

Bokeh is also affected by your choice of lens. A telephoto with a long focal length and wide aperture is best for birds. I like the bird in the shot below, but the background is a little distracting. The problem is that I was using my macro lens for a different project when this bird appeared. For flowers two inches away it has great bokeh, but not at this distance. My Panasonic 45-200mm f/4.0-5.6 does a better job and I used it for the other shots in this article. If you know of a better Micro Four Thirds lens for bird shots then please let me know. I’m ready to shop!

Our Bokeh software let’s you manipulate the background in post processing, but that use of it requires a very careful selection in Photoshop. It’s best to get the background right in the camera and just use our Bokeh tool for creative effects, similar to a Lens Baby. I’ll get into post processing in another article.

Feeders

I use simple tray feeders with no covering because they attract a wide variety of birds. I started with them hanging from poles adjusted to put the birds at about eye level. I also have a bird bath hanging from one of the poles. The more resources you provide, the more the birds will hang out near you.

That works, but I got tired of the wires in the scene. I moved one of my tray feeders to a pile of logs and I think it’s an improvement.

Now I’m working on a more natural scene by getting rid of the artificial feeder altogether. I sprinkle seed directly on a pile of logs. I still need to tinker with this to get birds to stand in a photogenic spot.

Squirrels

Tray feeders end up feeding a lot of squirrels too. That drives some people crazy, but I think squirrels are almost as cute as birds. If a squirrel shows up while I’m waiting for birds, it’s easy to throw a pinecone to scare it off. I don’t care whether squirrels eat some seed while I’m gone. I add new seed as I start each session.

I’ll post an update after I refine my setup. I’m excited to see new birds as they migrate through.

If you like birds then I recommend the recent HBO documentary Birders: The Central Park Effect. It’s available on HBO GO and I think the next airing is March 21, 2013.