Levels vs curves vs luma curves: ways to adjust contrast in photos
Levels and curves can both be used to adjust the contrast in photos, but how are they different, which should you use and is one better than the other?
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Composition in photography: recognising and handling shapes
Composition in photography can become very dry and technical when it’s reduced to a science. Here’s a way to see and work with shapes that’s simpler and more visual.
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How to double-up on adjustments in Luminar and get twice the effect
Luminar filters can be used in any combination, but did you know you can use the same filter twice? This is especially useful with the Accent AI 2.0 filter.
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Composition in photography: how to ‘read’ pictures
Welcome to an occasional series on composition in photography. Life after Photoshop is usually about image editing tools and techniques, but many of the decisions we make about editing, cropping and local adjustments are based around effective composition, so it is a closely related discipline. Of course, this doesn’t replace the photographer’s ‘eye’ when taking…
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How to create a polarising filter digitally, and why it’s not the same as the real thing
Polarising filters are often used to darken blue skies. You can do this digitally instead – though polarisers do more besides that you cannot do digitally.
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Preset picks: Capture One ‘Seasonal’ SN-04
Preset Picks: The SN-04 Style from Capture One’s Seasonal Style pack (sold separately) has a very rich, warm look. Here’s how the Style is created.
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Preset picks: Alien Skin Border – Negative (Kodalith)
Preset Picks: This time, Alien Skin’s Border – Negative (Kodalith) preset goes under the microscope. Using just three tools it transforms regular images into super-strong graphic black and white.
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Tool tips: Luminar Orton Effect filter
Tool tips: The Luminar Orton Effect is a way to combine an ethereal soft focus ‘glow’ with sharp detail in a way that goes beyond ordinary soft focus techniques. This is how it works in Skylum Luminar.
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Preset picks: ON1 MacArthur preset
Preset picks: The ON1 MacArthur preset stacks two instances of the ON1 Textures filter and adds the Dynamic Contrast filter to give the look of a textured, sun-faded vintage colour print.
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Does the new Capture One 12.1 X-Trans processing make any difference?
It’s fine for Phase One to say the Capture One 12.1 X-Trans processing has been improved, but can you actually see the difference? (It was pretty good already.)
