March 3, 2011

Lightflow for Aperture is an ultra refined presets toolkit for photographers that’s based on many years of digital editing experience. I like to give away freebies and samples from every full collection I release and LightFlow this is no exception. Below you can download the sampler pack that includes 6 great effects from LightFlow, including one of the new Super Series auto correction presets.

I’ve put loads of refinement into LightFlow and I think you’ll love them. I hope you’ll also check out the full version because with over 55 presets, it takes Aperture workflow and creativity to new levels. And like other Seim Effects tools, LightFlow is guaranteed to please.

The freebie pack includes the following presets. You can find a full description of each in the presets list on the main product page.

  • Super Hero.
  • Super Simple.
  • Color Dance.
  • Faded Glory.
  • Simply Silver.
  • Dusted Warm, Tone.

Download via the link below. No strings. Also if you’d like to keep up with my future releases and freebies, you can sign up for my newsletter right over there >> in the sidebar. Enjoy… Gav

– Download LightFlow Aperture Presets Sampler ZIP –

Check out the complete collection and see more samples

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March 2, 2011

Aperture 3 has been for just over a year now. I’ve mentioned various times that I was working on a complete preset collection for Aperture and in the interim I’ve even released a few Aperture freebies. Well the day has come and after months of planning and experimenting with the best Aperture can do, I’m really proud to announce a set of presets that I hope will set a standard.

Lightflow presets are here and ready to rock. It has more that 50 presets. It’s been tested, planned and re-tested as I went under the hood with Aperture adjustments to make a set of presets that offer as much creativity as it does efficiency.

I won’t blabber on further, because you can get all the info on the LightFlow presets page. After that I hope you’ll help me spread the word and let your friends know that there’s new Aperture presets in town.

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February 21, 2010


Mouse over images to view the “before effect” version.

A little something for you Apple Aperture users today. Aperture 3 released and they FINALLY added support for presets. I was stoked. It’s not perfect and while I still prefer Lightroom myself (no need for you Lighroom users to worry. I won’t be forgetting you) it does have real presets functionality that works well..

Anyways I jumped right in and started playing with presets and seeing what I could do if I got under the hood in the Adjustments panel. It’s not the same as Lightroom, but there’s some powerful tools. I made this pack of 6 presets that cover a variety of looks including B&W, basic enhancement and color tones. There even a preset that boosts dynamic range for a mild HDR like effect.

I plan to keep looking in Aperture and if I see enough interest I may consider a complete workflow collection of presets like I offer for Lightroom, so if you’re interested let me know. Download an enjoy. I’ll paste some basic usage instructions below as well… Gav

UPDATE. 03/11. Gavin has also released a full Aperture presets collection called LightFlow. There’s a free sampler from that pack here.

– Download FREE Aperture Light Study1 Presets –

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September 8, 2008

Nik Siver Effects Pro = 4/5 stars

Silver Effects Pro

UPDATED: 04/10.

We’ve worked out a deal with Nik and you an save 15% on any of their products with promo code PPS.

I finally got a chance to play with Nik’s new Silver Efex Pro. It’s a Photoshop/Aperture plugin for making Black & White images from color one’s. Here’s the straight scoop! The interface follows Nik’s fairly clean and simple window style that graces the rest of their plugin’s. When it open’s you’ll be greeted by your image; a sidebar on the right that gives you control over the effects being added; a sidebar on the left with some easy preset effects,  and a few other tools around the screen that control the preview, etc.

Overall I liked the plugin. It suffers the the problem I find with most PS plugins, that causes me to stick with actions and presets for most images. When you open an image in the plugin you have to wait a few seconds and then use the tools in another window. Essentially PS goes away for that time, and when you commit those changes you are returned to your regular work environment. There’s nothing really wrong with this, it’s just not great for a workflow with large quantities of images, but more designed for those great images you want to spend extra time with.

I did find what’s inside to be simple and effective. There’s various preset options for making B&W images fast. You have color tones, film type, color filters etc to give you full control over making a nice piece of art. There’s also the ability to add some great looking grain effects is so desired, and the plugin; like many Nik products includes the U Point option that allows you to easily control effects on specific portions of the image (See Viveza)

BOTTOM LINE: I won’t be using Silver Effects for my everyday B&W images, because presets in Lightroom and actions in PS do most the the B&W effects I need, with more speed. I can also get most of the effects that the Silver provides by using the built in tools that PS provides (though with a bit more work)
All this said I think Silver is a good tool for getting great B&W effects on those images you want to spend some extra time with. It’s also great for trying out various effects with a lot of control and precision. I knocked off a half star because, Silver, at $199.00 costs twice what it probably should. Still if you have 199 to spare, and want a great tool for really fine tuning B&W images then pick it up (you can of course try Nik’s short 15 day demo).

Gavin Seim

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May 27, 2008

<<Click To Listen – Photography Roundtable #7 PPS#46

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Todays Panel…
Chris Livingston ~ Chris Livingston Photography
Brady Dillsworth ~ Dillsworth Photography

Gavin Seim ~ Seim PhotographyEffects & Presets
Scott Bourne ~ This Week In Photography
Dennis Zerwas ~ DZ Photography

Show notes
What do you think about all these megapixels? Anyone using LED lights? What about this whole Orphan Works Act? Comment here, or join the discussion on the
PPS Roundatble #7 Forum Discussion


The Orphan Works Act of 2008 does not look good for artist copyrights. Take action here, and read our more in depth article here.

Scott likes his mini LED light, and you can get bigger one too. Looks interesting but spendy.

Photogs are rallying for their photo rights in Los Angeles, & Radio Poppers remote triggers look interesting.

Gavin uses In Design for albums, and New School Photo has a video for it. He also recovered his corrupted images using Card Raider for mac. On teh PC side you can try PC Inspector. It was recommended by a user on this forum thread.

Picks of the week…
Gavin is Tamrac Express 7 Camera bag.
Dennis is NAAP.
Chris is Apple iMac.
Brady is Audio Technica ATH-ANC7 headphones.
Scott is Tiffen DFX digital filters.

Podcast subscription feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/prophotoshow

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