March 4, 2009

Pro Photo Show is at the PMA Convention 2009. We’re here on the show floor checking out all the cool gadgets and we’ll post more thru the week. There’s plenty to see, but so far nothing downright revolutionary. You can follow @gavinseim on twitter for lots more updates… Sondra Seim

PMA09ConventionCenter

p1010418 p1010420 p1010421

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January 21, 2009

The big PPS Winter/Christmas contest ended on Jan 1st and the winners have just been chosen:
Special thanks to this years sponsors. Stop by and visit them:


I wanted this contest to be totally fair. First I gathered all the entrants email addresses into a single list, including doubles for those who earned double entries by linking to PPS. Then I randomized and numbered the list using Alpha B, and then used a Web number picker to choose winning numbers for more than $2000.00 in prizes. Thanks to all who entered and congratulations to all who won, you’ll be contacted soon.

Even if your not on the winners list, watch your inbox. All entrants will receive a special free effects pack from Seim Effects that has some brand new effects in it including the new Golden Sun presets. You can also fan Seim Effects on Facebook for more specials and freebies.

Stay tune for the next contest by watching the site. You can also become a PPS fan on Facebook. That way you’ll be notified when contests come up. Don’t forget click thru and check out the great products from our sponsors. You may want to buy them anyways since their all so cool.

An The Winners Are…. (insert drum roll here)

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December 27, 2008

The Product: OnOne Plug-in Suite 4 for Photoshop: Overall PPS Rating, 7/10
Includes Six plugins. We’ll review each separately below. Review by Gavin Seim

OnOne has given PPS a 15% off discount for readers. Use Promo Code PRPHTPC

The Hot:

  • Product interfaces have become mostly unified making them easy to work with.
  • When purchased as a suite, it’s a good value. You’ll have plenty to play with.
  • Effects and tools are effective and generally simple to use and customize.
  • Aperture & Lightroom* integration on certain apps

The Not:

  • No auto update makes in version updates a hassle and easy to overlook.
  • When purchased separately there’s STD/PRO options adding confusion and making the prices too high (not unlike many plugin companies. These so called Pro versions do not have enough extra features to warrant the cost. The full suite does include the pro versions where applicable however.

The Bottom Line:
This is a great collection of plugins. If you want to broaden your editing arsenal in one shot, Plugin Suite 4 is a great place to start. While the whole suite is the best value, all plugins can also be purchased separately.

*One thing to note is that Lightroom integration is little more than export plugins and not self contained integration in LR. This is probably due to limitation with Lightrooms support for plugins, but it’s still a  disappointment.

Promo’s and discounts:
OnOne gives PPS some specials as well. Promo code PRPHTSHW is good everyday for 10% off any OnOne product. Also thru Dec 31st, here’s a promo page that will save you $100 on the suite. Note that OnOne has no say in this review, and it contains only my honest opinions.

Individual Product Reviews:

Genuine Fractals 6: Review 9/10
Genuine Fractals is a standard among many photographers when it comes up scaling image resolution. I use it whenever I make large prints. It can quickly take those pixels and make a 300DPI file for whatever print size I need. It can even add sharpening in the same pass (though I usually sharpen separately) GF just gives something more than built in Photoshop up-conversion methods and I really like it.

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October 19, 2008

As promised I recently wrote an article over on SeimEffects about how I manage image libraries and Lightroom catalogs, as well as my general photo management ideas. My plan may not work for everyone, but I think you’ll find good ideas for keeping YOU in control of your images. Check it out. Gavin

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