Mod presets are in all my packs and Mod-Kit is included in many like Silver, PowerFlow, and the new Natural HDR 5. Using a common mod pack saves time and this video shows you how.

Mods… Small stackable presets to add to your master recipe.

The concept is simple. You can use the mods included in my presets or make your own. I’ll show you in today’s video not only how to use Mod-Kit 2 but also how to make mods.

You’ll find packs like Filmist with ChemKit mods and other packs like Silver 5 that have basic mods and also include a mods kit. You can download sampler packs of them for free.

Start with a global preset recipe then add mods.

With this method with presets, you usually can have any image dialed in in a few seconds. Then when I’m in workflow mode I’ll just copy those settings to all similar images from that set and move on to the next.

Speed Mask mod presets masks usually go last…

These are still mod presets but they only affect masking and I do this the same way in Lightroom and now Capture One Spee mask styles.

In my mod packs, there are always basic Ai mask presets like for a portrait lets say. But I also have a complete pack of these called Elegance Speed Masks. Skies, people, things. All in automated mod masks.

As I mentioned in the video I’ll usually use Ai masking mod presets after I’ve done everything else and paste those settings to similar groups if images. This is because Ai masks can really slow things down.

Choosing and stacking mods…

Years ago I started doing mods because people always wanted to stack presets. But this is not Photoshop and when you add a global preset it overrides the settings of the previous one.

Mods solve this. You simply start with a global master preset to get your loo. Then stack as many mods as you want on top of that.

Don’t overthink this. You want a darker, more contrast, softer glow. There’s a mod for that in Mod-Kit 2 and you can mix those with the pack-specific mods or those you create yourself.

There are no real rules when you use Mod-Kit or any other mod presets. If it’s a mod preset it only affects a few settings and you can mix and match on top of your main recipe.

Go have some fun… Gavin Seim

I wish someone had taught me this in my first few years of photography because it would have saved me a lot of time.

3 secrets to better exposure in your photos.

You can go further with these concepts by coming to one of my next Shadow Hackers live workshop and you can also learn everything about Zones and exposure in my Exposed workshop.

Why this is way better than ETTR.

If you watch e my video on why Expose to the right is WRONG, this probably makes even more sense. It does the opposite. It lets you focus on the shadow where you should be and in doing so you’ll get more drama and stop over-exposing.

Does exposure even matter today?

It’s tempting to think this is not that important. Heck with packs like my natural HDR presets it’s honestly astounding how much exposure is in today’s RAW files.

But I promise. Doing exposure right changes your whole process. You will see more shadow and by extension light. You will learn to create drama and be the director of your photos and your in-camera and post-production work will improve really fast.

Why your meter make boring photos.

Is it wrong? Not exactly. l go into this more in my Shadow Hackers classes. But in short, a meter is just trying to give you a moderate exposure that is not clipped It works usually. But it’s not creating drama or nuance. It’s metering for a general-purpose photo and until you start overriding that with manual or just exposure compensation your photo will often be boring.

There are a lot of influencers talking about DXO PhotoLab 8. But most of those are sponsored videos or affiliates. This is 100% not. and today we do a no-nonsense review for pros.

Photo Lab 8 is subscription-free. But is it good? We’re gonna test it.

You can download a trial of Photo Lab Here. I’m also testing creating PowerFlow 8 for DXO. Good presets will help here. You can also use LUTS from packs like Filmist 2 in DXO.

Features and Price of DXO Photo Lab 8 vs Lightroom VS Capture One

There’s no doubt that at $10 USD per month, LR+PS which also includes cloud and a great mobile app is the most bang for the buck. But it also comes with being stuck in the Adobe ecosystem.

Capture One is another option that’s at this point pretty much subscription only. But it’s is good. While it lacks the advanced noise reduction of DXO Photo lab, Capture One is more like Lightroom in terms of overall developed features. But Lightroom is still ahead in terms of extra modules, export tools, and AI-powered selections.

But at $229 as of this writing, you could get Adobes PS and LR combo for nearly two years!

Are apps like DXO Photo Lab 8 getting better?

Paying more is not always bad. But we need to be given something special in return. The presets and actions I make here and not cheap. But they are true master-grade tools supported by my own time and energy and always listening to customers’ need.

Sadly this is not usually the case in larger software combines like DXO, Phase One, Adobe etc. They do what they think will make them more money and often they are out of touch.

Users keep telling DXO the basic features they need to improve like I did in my DXO Photo Lab 7 review, but the focus of development gets put on features that advertise better on new releases.

To be honest, Photo Lab 8 is much different than Photo Lab 7 and most of the complaints I had that are holding it back are still not fixed.

Time to play catch up tea.

Adobe is ahead in so many areas. Most RAW apps like DXO and Neo are behind in image processing features and then new features that will soon be requirements for pros like Content Credentials now integrated into the 1015 version of LR.

DXO, C1, and others don’t have to match Adobe features for the feature to be good. But they need to listen a lot closer to what the photographers using their product are saying and stop living in the echo chamber of what affiliates and fans are saying.

I rejected DXO sponsorship at this point not because I am against them. I am rooting for them. But I want to be able to say everything without bias

What’s next? You decide after watching my video above and tell me what you think.

Gavin Seim