I love my Hollywood Effects actions and use them all the time, but I’m working on a brand new set, not to replace Hollywood, but to accent it.
With all the amazing glows and fantasy effects in H.E. I’ve ben thinking it’s time for some cool effects that are basic and down to earth. The new Photographer Essentials actions won’t be a huge set, but it’s going to have some really cool effects that you can use everyday.
The development of the set is in progress. Stay tuned for updates, and if you have something you’ll like to see in this set throw me a comment… Gav
UPDATED 07/11: As a photographer I prefer the RAW file format. I find I can get more flexibility in post production, more dynamic range and ultimately a better image quality with less hassle.Having said that, there are plenty of great JPEG photographers.
What’s It All About:
This article is not so much about the which format is better. We’ll save that for another day. The situation in question is editing images in speedy workflow programs such as Lightroom. Lightroom has revolutionized photo workflow because it’s fast and batches are a snap using Develop Presets.
Presets allow you to add effects and settings to images with a single click, or even apply them to countless of images. This is priceless when it comes to a photographers creative workflow. Also this type of editing is non destructive to the photo, meaning that you can make edits, and reset them to original at any time.
If you read the main PPS site you may well have already picked these up, but since this is my official effects blog I wanted to post them up. These are some free samples from my Power Workflow Preset Collection. Cruise Control set can be a huge time saver when it comes to correcting large batches of images, I needed something that I could start out my workflow with automating image corrections I made these. Both include JPEG & RAW version just like the Power Workflow collection.
The fantasy sampler includes a few of my favorite special effects that are included with the Power Workflow preset collection that I’ve made for lightroom.
400, based on the very popular “300? series by Mikelao. Their not really the same, so if you don’t have 300 then you’ll want to get it.
Fantasy is a preset I started some time back and have found it to be very useful. Fantasy Basic is a great lightweight general use effect that gives a nice gentle look.
Vintage is also included and is one of 3 vintage presets from Power Workflow.
There are more variations of them in the full Power Workflow, but this should give you a cool start.
This set includes is the results of me wanting something to apply to large batches of images, and have them basically auto correct and look great out of the gate. I’ve spent a lot of time playing with this type of preset and I’m pretty excited about them.
Since images vary I ended up with four presets, and choose depending on the project. There’s only three here, but all four come with Power Workflow. With some of these I manually edited the xml of the preset to get what I wanted. I also found that Lightroom’s auto tone feature (used in Full Auto) can be good, but often is makes images too bright, or too dark because it miscalculates exposure. You should find that as long as your exposures are pretty close to correct you can apply “Semi Auto” to them at import and have most images look rocking from the start. Here whats inside the set.
Semi Auto WB. This is my latest, and I believe my favorite general use batch preset. It auto corrects some things, and adjusts others, to try and make an image that pops, and just generally looks good. A great batch tool.
Full Auto. This is just what it says. Applies auto settings to main elements like exposure, contrast etc. I find that while it can be great, it sometimes miscalculates. For those situations I turn to Semi Auto.
-WB. versions of each preset are the same except they auto correct white balance. Theres no golden rule for WB, and really it come down to what you think looks good.
I use using Lightroom Presets like crazy. I’ve decided to add to the mix of free Lightroom presets, with a few of my favorites that come from my Power Workflow2 Lightroom presets.
On to the free stuff. These have both RAW & JPEG versions just like you’ll find in my PW2 collection. You can also find more of my free presets right here.
These are a few of my favorite special effects from my Power Workflow. 400 is loosely based on the very popular “300”series by Mikelao. It’s a cool fantasy effect that adds some snappy drama to a scene.
Fantasy is a preset I use all the time, and have found it to be very useful since it gives a creative look. Fantasy Basic is a great lightweight general use effect that gives a nice gentle look. It works great on nearly any image. There’s more variations in the my complete set but this should get you rocking!
UPDATED 07/11:
