November 15, 2022

Photography has seen many transitions. Glass plates to film, black and white to color. One of the biggest was the film to the digital which saw many photographers unable to transition.

Will we photographers be needed in a world of Ai?

I’ve shown you in recent videos how the Lightroom Ai with tools like Elegance Speed mask presets makes advanced retouching of portraits unreal. Watch that video here. But while we can’t do this in Capture One yet, it’s perhaps not as big a deal as it looks. I’ll show you why…

(or watch on YouTube)

There’s more than one way to develop a photo.

I’ve always started edits with presets like Filmist or Natural HDR. These work across LR and C1. Then I would go into Photoshop and use Alchemist or BlackRoom and others to refine. I still do all of this, but the new Ai tools make me do more in Lightroom.

We need to stay ahead of the curve but we don’t need to let every new tool change our look. Artificial intelligence is the buzzword. But tools like the Lightroom Ai masks are still not really that intelligent. They do however bring a sign of what’s to come.

For now, things like Lightroom Ai are about saving time. But do we really need the Ai, Is Lightroom really better than Capture One because of it? Is it the best way to edit or should we still use a little Photoshop or Affinity to refine our photos?

It’s pretty amazing what the Ai masks can do. This transformation was virtually instant using my Elegance Speed-Masks which define the parameters and stack the LR Ai masks in one click. But as we see in the video, other methods might take a tad longer but can yield nearly the same result.

In the end, it’s what we create in the camera that defines our photos. Let’s not get blind-sighted. But I also think software can be overhyped. A focus on creating with emotion and soul comes before the edit. The shadow hunt. I think those things are still king.

Don’t miss my next live Shadow hackers workshop so we can talk more about this. Also, leave a comment to share what you think about all these Ai tools such as Lightroom Ai.

Keep creating – Gavin Seim

Add on’s I used in today’s edits… Elegance Speed Masks, Filmist Presets, BellaDonna presets, Alchemist Actions.

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November 15, 2022

The two top dogs of RAW editing get better for 2023.

The end of the year brings new updates to some of our favorite editing tools and the competition between Lightroom and Capture One is always a good thing for photographers. In my Capture One VS Lightrooom 2022 review it was close. But a lot has changed in a year.

In the first part of 2023, I’ll do that somewhat famous Capture One vs Lightroom Compasrson review. But in today’s video, we’re going to take an initial look at which is better… Lightroom vs Capture One.

Still no Ai masks in Capture On 2023.

This was the big one people were waiting for in Capture One. As the 23 Lightroom update brought even more powerful masks with the new portrait Ai masking that I showed in this video. These are pretty amazing and I even update my Elegenace Speed Mask presets for it making a one-click portrait combo that is like nothing we’ve ever had.

Styles have only improved a little in Capture One. We can now save layers in style, but not really since the feature is so limited and does not work in most modes. So while I can still develop great tools like Filmist Styles for Capture One, I still can’t do the complex layer tools like I can with Speed-Masks in Lightroom.

I’ll demonstrate in the video above what we’re seeing now and I plan to do my final review coming soon. For now, I will say that the updates in Capture one are pretty minor, while Lightroom is changing the game for the Ai masks even though most other features remain the same.

Both Lightroom VS Capture One are both great editing apps

A lot comes down to preference. But at this state Capture, One and Lightroom both can give equal results despite what some older myths say. Yes even on Fuji Files with Lightroom as I showed in this test.

Let me know what you think and stay tuned… Gav

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November 7, 2022

Adobe has posted another big LR update as we enter 2023 and AI masks are even more amazing, especially for portraits. I’m going to show you what you can do in today’s video.

Ai masks are not new. Cheap phone apps on our phones were doing them long before Lightroom or Photoshop. But Lightroom implementation has become really good and just got better.

But what about Lightroom vs Capture One?

I won’t ignore Capture One and in this video, we’re also going to compare C1 layers vs LR Ai masks and see how it stacks in a side-by-side test on the same photo.

I also just sent a free update to my Elegance 4 Speed-Mask presets so make sure you grab them I as it makes what I’m going to show you even easier.

Here are the new improved Lightroom Ai masks + how they stack up editing the same photo in Capture One.

It’s no surprise that Lightroom Masks vs Capture One layers are really no contest at this point. The real question is what is Capture One doing to catch up with Lightroom in 2023?

Also, Capture One 23 is about to be announced this week. It looks like we will finally be able to save layers into styles (awesome). But so far no sign of Ai masking. I do plan to do a 2023 Capture one VS Lightroom Comparison like last year in a few months once everything drops.

Lightroom does the complex selection in seconds. C1 can auto-select by the results are far less detailed meaning I can’t be as deep with the edit since it affects well outside the intended selection range.

I want my Capture One friends to contact Phase One.

Regardless of what software you favor, we need competition, and Capture One needs to step it up. They are historically terrible and listening to customers and basic features sometimes take many years to get implemented. Not that Adobe is much better, but they are innovating more right now.

I finally found the contact form here for Capture One. It’s at the very bottom of this page. Send a message and tell them what you think and ask them to get Capture one up to speed in terms of AI masking.

What other apps will be driving your editing in 2023 so I can take a closer look? Are Lightroom and Capture One still the best options? Let me know in the comments what you think and we’ll see you next time.

Gavin Seim

You don’t have to use it a lot. A simple preset like Portra 400 from Filmist here and the separate mask mix from the latest version of Lightroom are applied with the Elegance 4 preset. I can then adjust as I like with the amount slider.
Too much? Yes. But in this extreme example, you can see how detailed these auto AI masks have come. Allowing even lip and eye retouching without even blinking.
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September 29, 2022

Should stop buying Canon cameras, or is this fine?

Canon just pissed a lot of customers off. I don’t think it will make them more money in the end. We have a lot of Canon uses here and I was a huge Canon guy for years. But we have a problem and I want you to tell me what you think.

Companies may be able to make products that “prevent” customers. Like by killing lenses such as the Viltrox 85mm. But ignoring your customer can be a fatal mistake.

That’s what Kodak learned before they went bankrupt in 2012!

A lot of you know me for Lightroom presets, Photoshop actions, and Capture One styles. But you may not know that long before that I had the photo podcast and even now I do a lot of non LR/PS videos on my YouTube channel.

Kodak is perhaps one of the greatest marketing lessons in modern history. They were KING of moments for a century. They invented the digital Camera. Then tried to snuff it. By being out of touch with their market, Kodak fell from nearly 150,000 employees in the 80s and 16 BILLION in sales in 1996, to Bankrupcyin 2012..So how does that relate to Canon?

I’m going to talk about that AND show you why the expensive lens is not always the one you need in today’s video.

Imagine how the course Photoshop would have been different if they has locked of us creators, plugin developers, and third-party partners in the name of the intellectual property. You would not even be coming here for my Lightroom presets.

Since I’ve commented on Canon for many years and seen this arc. The truth is Canon is no longer king and they are lashing out! So I thought I would make a video and share of a few of those stories and what has led us to this Canon fiasco. I hope you’ll share your thoughts in the comments here or on my channel.

Respecting customers is first.

I don’t have a Viltrox lens myself as of writing this. But if you use my products you know that despite being a one-man band, I work hard to make sure customers are happy. Because without customers your intellectual property, your marketing. your tech is pretty much useless.

There’s nothing wrong with Canon cameras. or third-party lenses What’s wrong is Canon! Now Canon is about to find out if their customers will allow themselves to be treated this way.

Gavin Seim

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July 9, 2022

I made a blog post the other day where I showed you the new Filmist 1.7. It has better Portra presets and my new Fuji Classic Chrome preset for Lightroom and as a Capture One Style and a video LUT.

Even if you don’t like the Classic Chrome look. You’ll find this video useful for your own editing as I’m going to share secrets about how to make more nuanced color edits that work across all kinds of photos and cameras.

Even if you don’t like the Classic Chrome look. You’ll find this video useful for your own editing as I’m going to share secrets about how to make more nuanced color edits that work across all kinds of photos and cameras.

NOTE: If you have my Filmist film presets pack, the latest Classic Chrome-like preset is included in. But in today’s video, I’ll show you the recipe so you can make your version if you prefer.

VIDEO: How to create a match of the look as a Classic Chrome preset.

Download the latest Gen.2 version of my Classic Chrome Like preset with Filmist presets. You can also get the the classic Negative film preset free in the Filmist sampler pack.

Why use the preset over the Classic Chrome camera profile…

Seim Fuji Classic  Chrome preset on a Canon 5D MK2 file.
Balanced greens are still vibrant but not over the top. Bring that slide film feel even applied to a Canon RAW file like this one.

Simulations in-camera can be beautiful. But to get all the options you have, you have to bake them into a JPEG. This means throwing away information for a color recipe. Custom simulations can be made too, but they only work on the baked-in JPEG also.

The other option is to shoot RAW. Most cameras will then allow you to apply that look as a camera-specific profile. Fuji is one example of this. In Lightroom and Capture One you can select Classic Chrome to look as a profile and it will look very similar to it’s baked-in JPEG counterpart.

I wanted a Classic Chrome Preset that works on everything. I apply the Classic Chrome from FIlmist, I can do it on any file regardless of what camera it came from giving me a consistent look. And I can see every slider that’s been affected, adjusting it as needed.

Classic Chrome Lightroom preset and Capture One Styles recipe on Sony file
Classic Chrome look in LIghtroom applied to a Sony RAW file. It produces those nice sift colors with rich tones inspired by Kodachrome

In Lightroom and in Capture One I can even adjust the intensity of the Classic Chrome preset. I can’t with a baked-in profile.

So In this video, I want to show you how the new Classic Chrome look stacks up with the Fuji version of this Kodoachrome-inspired look (hint it’s almost perfect). Then we’re going to rest in it non-Fuji file to get the Classic Chrom to look on Sony, Canon etc.

And in case you don’t have my Filmist pack and don’t want to buy it, I’m also going to spill the beans, showing you my settings and channels in case you want to make your own variation of Classic Chrome.

I hope this was helpful. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions. And subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos like this.

Gavin Seim

The Classic Chrom preset works on any Fuji file even  when the camera does not include it
While I can use camera-specific color profiles on Fuji files like this one from an XT3, I find it easier to just use the Classic Chrome preset or capture one and have the added control.
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