The Detail Extractor Filter utilizes a new and unique technique to enhance details giving us the ability to create interesting, stylized photos. This filter balances light and tonality and extracts details that are not readily apparent. In this image we’ll extract a lot of detail in the water as well as in the surrounding rocks. Let’s begin by taking a…

It’s Filter Friday!  Lets take a look at a wedding image enhanced with Color Efex Pro 4.  Color Efex Pro 4′s ability to stack filters made it easy to quickly add different filters to enhance this image.   Here is the before: I wanted to soften the skin tones and the background just slightly more, as well as draw the…

  5 Cornerstones of a Fine Art Portrait “Fine Art: an activity requiring a fine skill” Tim Walden, M.Photog.Cr.,F-ASP Beverly Walden, M.Photog.Cr. Can a “mere” photographic portrait be considered fine art? Does a camera qualify as an instrument that can create a fine art piece? For over 15 years, we have “bet the farm” on this very concept and successfully…

By Chris Kotsiopoulos This is a 24 hour picture. I was wondering if it is possible to visualize a full day on a photo. I finally decided to give it a try! The shooting began the morning of December 30, 2010. I started taking photos with the camera on a tripod facing east. The ‘day part’ is composed of a…

The Darken Lighten Center filter within Color Efex Pro 4 helps focus the viewer’s attention by drawing the eye toward or away from the center of your image. It is reminiscent of the traditional process/practice of burning or dodging your images in the darkroom. A lighter center and darker edges draw the eye to the center of the image, while…

Since I will be attending the Florida’s Birding and Photo Fest next week, I thought this would be a great opportunity to show how I enhanced one of my bird images. Sometimes it takes more then just one filter to get the result that you’re looking for. In this case, I took advantage of the new filter stacking capabilities within…

Weddings are one of the most interesting types of photography due to the great variety of subjects, locations and emotions during that special day. Watch as Award winning photographer and instructor extraordinaire, Tony Corbell demonstrates the ease of use and added benefits of using several different Nik Software products together for the ultimate wedding album images. From beautiful black and…

One of my biggest pet peeves is when I hear a student/client firing off a series of five or more images in a row (Exposure Bracketing) and telling me at least I know one of them is the right exposure. This tells me that they are unsure of what the correct exposure should be and as a workshop instructor I…

The Dark Contrasts filter uses a unique algorithm, which rebalances light and detail throughout an image while emphasizing dark details. Depending on the amount of the filter effect that has been applied to the image, it can result in having more details with a darker, moodier effect. The Dark Contrasts filter control options Let’s take a look at the different…

Let’s not forget that Snapseed also allows us to apply some great effects from both our desktop and mobile devices. This is a fun tool to use when you want to be creative, plus it is so easy to use! Here is the original photo that I took of a beautiful Superb Starling while in Africa. While I was focusing…