June 28, 2009

This has been in the works for a long time and I think you’ll find it’s been worth the wait. I’m proud to announce the immediate availability of Hollywood Effects version 2. Hollywood Effects has been a popular set for photographers who wanted to add something special to their best images after basic corrections. Version 2 it taking it to a whole new level.

V2 completely replaces Hollywood Effects 1, with many new effects and improvement to many classic effects for easier customization and better results. V2 is setting a new standard. This is killer set of actions with some AMAZING new effects.

Portraitist: HE2 has something for everyone and especially for portrait photographers. HE2 includes the full version of the brand new Portraitist Series actions. Change the way you work with skin by automatically smoothing skin and masking out critical areas like eyes, making a portrait that’s ready out of the gate. Similar to effects done with plugins that cost far more, now in a simple one click action.

For current owners of Hollywood Effects there’s a discount upgrade program.  For those that have purchased Hollywood Effects V1 in the past 60 days (after May 30th 2009) we’ll be sending you a FREE upgrade to V2. If you have not received your discount/upgrade email soon, please contact us and we’ll hook you up.

You can learn, see samples, watch the video and purchase Hollywood Effects2 right here.

Enjoy… Gavin Seim

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December 4, 2008

One of today’s big hurtles a good photographer must overcome is getting that amazing final edit. If you take your image straight out of the camera and leave it at that, you probably won’t get much notice. But if you over edit you may not either.

Standing out is about being excellent as well as being different. Being different however is more than it suggests. Just looking different isn’t good enough if it’s not attractive to your target audience. The post production details count and are a process of learning when and where to apply them. Today lets analyze a recent image and talk about it.

I call this shot The Gazebo. Though it’s a new favorite, it’s not an HDR or any other special acronym. It’s just a good foundation image, edited right. What I did to it was not so amazing, I just used the right effect at the right time.

The left side is straight out of camera. It’s good. I used my Canon 70-200 @ 150mm 1/125 at 2.8 ISO 320 with just a little fill flash. I  got nice compression and blur in the background. The evening light was coming from the right side and worked perfectly but was not really unusual.

I knew right away it had potential, so I started playing. Playing is the the keyword here. I use Lightroom presets and Photoshop actions not because it couldn’t be done manually, but because I want a great variety and I would not have that variety by doing it all manually every time. The effects I used were my own, that are sold here in Seim Effects, but this applies to whatever you happen to use. I started with a vintage preset from Power Workflow2. I tend to use the vintage looks sparingly, but it worked well with this simple scene.

Then it’s on to Photoshop. I used the Old Fashioned Love Song from Hollywood Effects. This helped me manipulate the light into something more interesting and glowing. Then thinking it needed a touch more I ran Simply Soft from Creative Essentials Actions. This is a skin softener. As I did this I used the masks to remove blur from areas of detail like the face.

Finally I finished up the way I normally do, by working with burn and dodge. This is a tool that most people overlook, and it’s one of those editing gems that’s right in front of us. I can draw the eye wherever I want it using burn and dodge. If you want to learn more about that see this post.

So there we have it. The finished product took only a few minutes and had that dreamy loving look to it. My point here is not that you need to use these specific effects to get your look. It’s that you need to do things other than just taking the picture if you want a portrait.

Set up your system so it’s easy to add effects, because otherwise you’ll avoid them. I have my favorite actions or Lightroom presets a click away, and when I’m working on a good shot I’m not afraid to try various looks because I can try ten different effects in the time I could do one of them manually. Also use direction. Just because you find an effect yon love don’t apply it to everything. balance is key and one of the most common mistake it to over do things. I often apply an effect and the fade it back so it’s very subtle, but makes my image more powerful.

What do you see in this image? How would you have done it differntly? Share your ideas in the comments… Gavin Seim

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November 16, 2008

Updated 10.10.09 to version 2.5 sampler (download below).

My free sampler of Power Workflow2 Lightroom Presets is  here. This has a small assortment of what comes with the complete set, but there’s some great presets here.

A key with presets is to build a good workflow. I spend a lot of time with that, and you’ll see some of it here. Start with a good auto preset for batches. This free set includes a preset from my new “Super” series auto settings. Apply it to a whole batch to get rockin, then move on and try some other effects.

There’s also a coupon inside that will save you a few bucks if you decide to get the whole set. If you already have PW2 you already have these, but stay tune because Christmas is near and I have some goodies in store 🙂

Download FREE PW2.5 Lightroom Presets Sampler:

Check Out My Video & The Complete Set:

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September 24, 2008

Today Adobe hosted a live online presentation of the up coming Creative Suite 4. It kinda failed on that side. For me (and others) it was so choppy and slow that it was unwatchable. Still the new features have been announced and though we’re not seeing a exact release date yet you can probably expect it soon.

There’s lots inside, though this update looks mainly evolutionary and not revolutionary. There’s some good videos over on the CS4 learning center that you can check out to get a visual.

A few of the things we’ll see are…

  • Interface update:
  • A new adjustment layers panel:
  • Mask Panel:
  • New 3d features:
  • Updates to Bridge:
  • Focus Blending (from multiple images):
  • And one of my favorites, Content Aware image scaling (this is like the Liquid Resize product we saw talked about last year:

So, what do you think? Super. Blah. Overpriced. Are you gonna get it? What are your favorite new features? Post up those comments folks.

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August 26, 2008

Update 02/2011. I’ve updated this sampler pack with fresh effects that reflects the refinements in version 1.6. Download and enjoy.

UPDATE 02/2008: I had the wrong files in the download so people were getting one of my LR preset samples instead of the PS actions. It’s been fixed now.

Hey everyone. As many of you know I recently launched the new Creative Essentials actions. I’ve been using CE like crazy because it’s filled with actions I can use on everyday images I want to look great. It’s everything from skin softening effects, and fast glows to a mix of B&W’s, and workflow enhancers all in one simple action set.

I thought I’d post up a few freebies for you all. Here’s three actions that come from the Creative Essentials set, including Boost IT, Simple Sharp, Simply Soft I and Milk Chocolate. The whole set has over twenty actions, so if you like em check out the complete set.

Here’s the direct download, no strings, FREE as in totally. Enjoy… Gavin

Download Creative Essentials sampler PS actions

Check out the Complete collection and watch video

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