presets Archives

August 16, 2010

Seim Effects Featured in Shutterbug Magazine.

by Gavin Seim: I have to say I’m pretty excited. Seim Effects tools were just featured in a glowing review by Joe Farace, in his Digital Innovations column inside the September issue of Shutterbug Magazine. It was a nice bit of recognition, by a great photographer, in a magazine that’s nearly as familiar to the photo world as the camera itself. Gave me a really nice bit of exposure (no pun intended). Below is a capture of the page 41. Go pick up the latest issue and take a peek.

I confess. When I started making all this stuff I was determined to make it really good. But I can’t say I expected it to take off so well. It’s been a few years and a lot of work, but I feel the system is really solid now and getting better all the time. This part of my job is almost like being a scientist. I sit down in my little test lab and just start trying things, searching for little nuances that do something remarkable. After the dust settles and I get it refined, I get to share what I discover with photographers all over the world.

Now I’m a huge proponent of getting things right in the camera. But when we get in right in camera, then get it right in post. We can make something magical. Being able to make these tools has really been a blessing and I want to give a shout out of thanks to all of you for helping it happen. Not to mention one to Joe, and Shutterbug for taking the time to notice this little punk fish in a big sea… Gav

June 24, 2010

Gavin Seim, Review, Workflow

Lightroom2 VS Lightroom3 Process Examples Compared:

by Gavin Seim: I’ll be talking more about Lightroom soon, but I wanted to make a quick post about what I found most significant in LR3. It’s the processing. It may go unnoticed at a glance, but is so much better, that by itself makes LR3 worth the upgrade. This first example shows an ISO 50,000 image from a 1D MKIV, showing just how impressive the new noise reduction and processing in LR3 is (not to mention the camera). I did this in LR3 by simply switching it back and forth from new to old process version (in the camera calibration settings).

Next is a lower 640 ISO example. For this one I actually processed the first in LR2 itself and the other in LR3. While not so obvious (click for the large version) it shows the subtle quality of not just the noise reduction, the the quality of how the file is being processed. Notice in the large version how the LR3 version feels more organic, almost film like in quality. I love it and you can be sure I’m getting under the hood in LR3 to see what’s possible for workshops and my Seim Effects presets.

June 22, 2010

Free Effects & Goodies, free lightroom presets, lightroom, presets

Free Lightroom Preset. Gavin’s Old Polaroid:

Mouse over for Before/After sample.

I frequently crawl under the hood in Lightroom. Today I’m working some projects in LR3 and experimenting with the latest features and tools. Something I’ve started doing to make certain effects more adaptable, is what I’m calling Tone Independent Presets. They add an effects without using any of the primary tone settings like exposure, brightness, contrast, white balance etc. The result is an effect that can easily be applied to a plain image, or after general and batch corrections without effecting previous tone settings. This preset is an example of that.

I’ve spent quite some time today (probably too much) looking at the tones and feel of classic Polaroids and doing lots of tweaks in LR to get the look I wanted. The result is this effect I’m calling Gavin’s Old Polaroid. It’s a classic Polaroid themed tone that I think you’ll find appealing. This is a test of effects that will probably show up soon in an update to Color Fantasies presets collection. You get it today however and it’s free to boot. You can download the ZIP below. While it uses some LR3 features, This, like all my other presets will still work on older versions of LR. Enjoy… Gav

– Download Old Polaroid Preset ZIP –

How to install Lightroom Presets.

April 15, 2010

presets, tips

FolderMaze: The Disorganized Photographer

OK it’s Time for some fun. Since Seim Effects started we’ve been saving so much time editing that I say we need to kick back for a few minutes, relax, get some free Lightroom presets, perhaps win a prize, get some tips, laughs and best of all have a good time. You’ll find all this inside our Seim Effects Disorganized Photographer FolderMaze so lets do it.

Many of you are probably asking, what the heck is a FolderMaze. Well as photographer I think we’ve all experienced the hunt for files we placed somewhere on our computer like a needle in a haystack. FolderMaze is a reminder of why it’s good to stay organized and lots of fun as well. It’s an idea I came up with recently (though I’m sure I’m not the first) where you take a bunch of folder and search for the Golden Trophy in the folders. As a side note, I even registered the domain name foldermaze.com in case I find an idea that takes off.

But why are you still reading? Download the maze below, unzip and follow the instructions inside. Then go for the Gold. If you get there soon you can win a FREE Seim Effects editing pack of your choice. Good luck… Gav

– Download The FolderMaze ZIP –

Some Windows users experience file problems due to the large structure of folders. If you are having issues unzipping you can try one of these alternate packages.

FolderMaze TAR Package

FolderMaze 7Zip Package

You may need to download 7Zip (win) Or ZIPEG (Win/Mac) to unpack the alternate packages. These are free Zip utilities.

UPDATE (Windows Users): NOTE: This information if only regadirng this Game. All our effects packs are still wornking fine on Win and Mac – The maze seems to work great on Mac, but it seems Win does not allow folder paths longer than 255 character total length. I’ve tried to find a solution, but the Win OS cannot handle the depth of the folder structures in the maze and it causes problems. Using one of the alt packages, some Win users are able to get the maze to unpack and use it, but they may experience issues where windows does not allow them to delete the files when finished (again due to the path limitation in Win). To delete, users may need to go into the maze and delete blocks of folders from the inside to shrink the path length until the main folder can be deleted.

I know it sounds crazy that this would be a problem and I’m as frustrated as you, but it’s a limitation of the Win operating system. Win users are still welcome to try the maze, and while it should do no damage to your computer, you may have a few hassles getting it to unpack, delete ect. In the future I’ll see if it’s possible to build mazes that have shorter overall paths, but it may make them too basic to be a real challenge. Other than that we can only hope that Microsoft fixes that issue. Sorry to exclude some of you, but I had no idea Win would have a problem with this as the entire folder maze concept is very simple. I’ll see what I can do as I learn more.

April 6, 2010

lightroom, news, presets, ProPhotoShow, special effects, Updates

Color Fantasies v1.1 Free Update.

Color Fantasies LR presets have been out for nearly two months and I’m proud to say have been incredibly well received. While Power Workflow2 is still a mainstay for general editing and workflow, CF has gotten myself and many users thinking and using color more creatively without spending a lot of extra time in their editing.

Today marked the release of CF V1.1, which includes a few tweaks and enhancements to existing effects, as well as two brand new movie inspired effects. Old London was inspired by the color tones I noticed throughout the new Sherlock Holmes movie and Deep Magic came after I watched the second installment to Lord of the Rings and notices the subdued yet catching way in which color was used.

If you own Color Fantasies check your inbox for the 1.1 download. If you don yet have them, check them out here. If for some reason you did not receive the update feel free to contact me. Also if you’re not a member if the Facebook page don’t wait. FB fans gets extra special deals updated and tips Enjoy… Gav

“Got the Color Fantasies yesterday and you’ve outdone yourself, Gavin! They are really wonderful. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next” Connie Graham Terry

“The new “Color Fantasies” is gorgeous. It will define my look for 2010… simply great stuff!” Julian Fuhrmann

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