January 18, 2025

The main goal of camera makers is to lock you in maker is to sell new products. That’s why every year they pretend they have revolutionized everything.

You can try some of the film presets I was using including Classic negative here in the free film sampler pack. Also watch my video on white balance and the Drop Color method.

It’s not that we should be lazy about color. But notice in the video how the differences are not always that huge,. The more you stop stressing about color and use the tools, presets, filters and setting to get the look YOU want, the easier color becomes.

The science of color is real. The color science we’re being sol is a marketing lie.

In the end you can apply any look you want and then adjust the Color-Science of it a bit with a very small adjustment. So Sure I might use Classic Negative or Portra. they are great. But I’ll do it as a preset or profile after on the RAW. Usually as a preset because I can us that on any camera.

I know pros always say this and while the things I show here can be done on JPEGS, shooting RAw will always get you better color control. JPEG bakes in a camera profile and not always the best one for your scene. So then you edit again and it’s like baking a cake twice.

In camera profiles are fun. But in the end they are simply a preset that you have a lot less control over and pay over and pay a lot more for than the packs I make here on Seim Effects.

Taking time to dial in perfect color and save it is great. But Don’t get stuck on one look.

That newest camera wont make your color better.

And there’s no one right color for sunsets, skin or landscapes.

Tale Canon who gets you ins their system then over charges for lens and prevents third part lenses from being sold. It’s a bait and switch. But you don’t need to be loyal to a camera brand. They all do the same thing.

Did you notice how much color changes in my video, with even small directional changes. That’s why you don’t want to be locked in. Any camera can be good on any of the situations. You just nee to know how to nudge your color like I showed you here.

If you want more videos on this topic let me know – Gavin Seim

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December 24, 2024

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.

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.

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.

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

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December 4, 2024

Film and darkroom processes do make you think more about your photographer. But are they the right tools for improving especially for beginners? Probably not! But there’s a viable alternative.

You can also get the free Filmist presets here to see real film tones in your edits. Also actions like Emulsion were created based on darkroom processes.

Film has made a big comeback in the past few years as people tire of fakery and Ai and want more organic real experiences. But it’s also very expensive.

Whether it’s the magic of Instax or POloroids or whether it’s the subtle shadow and color theories you understand better using film. It does pay off. I just don’t think it’s the secret sauce for newer photography for the reasons I mention in the video.

Someone recently told me they liked my LIghtroom presets because they were not gaudy and pointless. A lot of that is that I’ve been making pro-grade presets longer than anyone on the market. But what I immediately thought of is film.

My film and shadow hacking studies have shaped the way I create tools and it’s a big reason why they are different from the others on the market. The way film helps you understand subtlety and tone and color versus just pushing a slider increases the more you use it. If you spend any time on analog I think you’ll understand what I mean.

If I plied film is not worth it that’s not what I mean. What I mean is that film is a tough tool to start on. It’s more something to work with once you are at that intermediate or advanced level where it’s nuance will mean more to you.

So yes, everyone. Get some vintage lenses. Shoot some film on the cameras that often come with them. But don’t think you need film to improve your photography. Slow down and let the shadow lead you.

Gavin Seim

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November 15, 2024

Monochrome cameras let you shoot in ONLY black and white. But they are not what makes your photos jaw-dropping. I dug into this as I worked on the new Silver 5.5 preset update and the new L Monochrome preset I crafted for it.

If you own Silver 5 login here and get the free 5.5 update. If not get Silver or the FREE mini Silver Pack here and try some of these monochrome methods.

Last night I was shooting a roll of Delta 3200 and thinking about what makes a black-and-white photo work and why many color photos converted to black-and-white fail. The problem is not the camera. It’s the tone. Like we talk about in Shadow Hackers.

Customers using a Mohchrome camera often ask me if my black and white tools like Silver and BlackRoom will work on these files. The answer of course is yes, it still lets you edit tone you just don’t get the color channel info. The process is still the same.

If you take a color Leica VS a Moncrhome for example and simply switch the color to BW mode there is very little difference. Monochrome does not make you better just because you paid more.

Just don’t think a cool camera will make you a great photographer.

In today’s video, I’ll show you the best secrets to amazing black-and-white images and it’s not the monochrome camera. But if that’s what makes you shoot and lobe your work, use that.

If you love this camera use them by all means.s Monochrome camera due to being made only for black and white has a unique feel and is also amazing at high ISO being less vulnerable to noise. Here’s a good video on that.

While the low grain of a monochrome camera is great it does not mean “better” photos or more authentic. True black and white film has grain and it’s one of its artistic characteristics. Neither choice is wrong.

The gear is not what matters the tone is. Stay to the end of the video because I will close with some valuable tips to test and see if your tone is special or boring.

In studying how monochrome cameras render and making the new L Monochrome and S monochrome presets for Lightroom and Capture One I was struck by how flat and even monochrome fields were. They rely on you finding that contrast in the camera and challenge you.

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October 28, 2024

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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