Photography News Issue 48

37 Accessories test

Photography News | Issue 48 | photographynews.co.uk

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And one for your mobile...

6 Macphun Luminar Neptune £64

HDRSoft Photomatix Pro £75

8 DxO FilmPack Elite £99 DxO produces several photo editing packages, and one of the most eye-catching is FilmPack, a program that lets youaddan incredible arrayof monochrome and colour film effects to your images. There are two versions of FilmPack to choose from: Essential (£59) and Elite (£99). The Essential version has a decent range of filters, but the Elite edition goes much further, for instanceofferingtwiceasmanyclassic black&white filmeffects, and amuch expanded selection of colour filters. Also in the Elite version are frames, textures and light leak effects, all of which are easy to tailor to your own particular images. The Elite version also supports split-toning and blurring effects, as well as allowing you to use Raw files, and apply batch processing, which makes it easier to add the same effect to a sequence of images. dxo.com

9 Capture One Pro 10 £255 Phase One’s Capture One software has some serious heritage in digital editing, being one of the first Raw converters ever to be launched. Also an image cataloguing and complete workflow package, the latest version features customtailored profiles for all supported camera models in order to achieve optimum colour and detail, as well as a huge catalogue of lens profiles. There’s a complete range of editing tools for global and targeted adjustments, and facilities for complete control of colour grading across large sets of images. Capture One also lets you shoot tethered for a simpler workflow in the studio. Other upgrades to the latest version include a new Styles & Presets tool, a three-stage sharpening filter, more watermarking options, and improved support for Fujifilm X-series Raw files. phaseone.com

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Soon to be available for Windows as well as Mac, Luminar Neptune, is an editing package bursting with features, both manual and automatic. The latest version included a new intelligent auto filter feature called Accent AI; this identifies what fixes the photo needs and you can then set the level of adjustment. There’sa full suiteofpro-level tools, but the interface adapts to your skill level, so there’s no danger of being overwhelmed. More advanced tools like layers, blend modes, luminosity masks, and brushes for selective editing, sit comfortably with simpler settings like removing distractions, reducing noise, improving colour and adding basic creative effects like split toning and vignetting filters. The program integrates seamlessly with other Macphun Creative Kit software like AuroraHDR. macphun.com

Specialist photography techniques often require specialist packages; and for high dynamic range (HDR) processing there’s Photomatix Pro. The package can be run on its own, or as a plug-in for Photoshop or Lightroom, and lets you combine multiple exposures to record scenes thatwouldnormallyhave lost detail in the highlights or shadows. Pre-blending, Photomatix can align images taken by hand and remove fringing to improve quality. Once the separate starting exposures are loaded in, you can pick from a huge range of presets, or control the whole process manually. If you use the presets, there’s an excellent range, from very natural looking effects, to those which use exaggerated processing for an ultra-detailed look. Image are easily saved, or sent back into Photoshop for further editing. hdrsoft.com

AdobeAviary Free Adobe has Lightroom and

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Photoshop mobile versions, but Aviary is the simplest and most immediate of the lot; perfect for quickly improving and sharing shots. Aviary has lots of standard tools that let you, for instance, clean up selfies with red-eye, remove blemishes and whiten teeth; crop, rotate, and straighten; add blurring and vignetting effects; modify exposure by crunching highlights or lifting shadows; and control saturation and colour. There are also more design-related effects, like stickers, frames and overlays; and adding text. And while the app itself is free you can also purchase hundreds of professionally designed effects as in-app purchases. aviary.com

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