Released Today: Topaz ReStyle for Post-Processing

Released Today: Topaz ReStyle for Post-Processing
Cover Photography for a Classical Music Album: How it Was Done
The Photo Man: Collecting and Selling Forgotten Photographs

Posted: 08 Aug 2013 04:49 PM PDT

Topaz’s new ReStyle tool lets you explore new artistic and creative possibilities for your images and helps you achieve looks you might not have thought of otherwise. Designed for professionals to transform images with just one click using over a thousand easily searchable styles and looks all within this photoshop plugin. Currently 50% off for the launch sale, simply remember to use the voucher code restyleit at checkout. Now available here: Topaz ReStyle

New: Topaz ReStyle for Post-Processing (Click to Learn More)

Features Introduced in Topaz ReStyle:

Breakthrough Mapping Technology. ReStyle introduces a cutting-edge process of mapping color and tone statistics from a selected style to a target image. This new technology creates high-quality transformations, even for dramatic styles and looks.
New Style/Preset Creation Method. ReStyle creates presets using a source image's color and tones, allowing you to save your own unique styles to use later.
Blending Modes. With ReStyle, we have incorporated blending modes for the adjust- ment modules, essentially showing 8 different looks for each style preset.
HSL Technology in 5-Color Style Sliders. Easily enhance your selected style's 5 domi- nant colors using the unique hue, saturation and luminance controls.
Advanced Masking Workflow. The masking module, attached to each adjustment tab, contains a comprehensive set of tools including an edge-aware brush, gradient mask, smart feather tool, color aware tool and more.
User Interface Design. With ReStyle, we have continued to develop a cleaner, more modern and efficient interface to improve usability, workflow and overall aesthetics.

The Interface:

Interface of Topaz ReStyle (Click to Learn More)

Presets/Styles Panel - Pre-defined presets, organized by photography genres.
Preview Window - Displays the preview of the original and ad- justed image.
Viewing Tools - Tools that control zoom and other viewing options.
Navigator Panel – Tabs to view the preview navigator, loupe, mask and histogram information.
Settings & Parameters - Options and sliders to adjust the various styles and masks.

Presets are pre-defined looks that you can apply to any image at any time. They are a great way to explore the creative possibilities, speed up and simplify your workflow. We've included over 1,000 different looks in ReStyle, and although they won't work for every single photograph, they serve as excellent starting points.

1000 Styles/Presets categorized by types of photography (Click for Larger View)

For added convenience, styles are categorized by types of photography.

How to Get a Discounted Copy During the Launch Sale:

The tool is very easy to install and then appears under your filters menu in Photoshop. The launch sale is going on now so it is currently 50% off until it ends. Simply remember to use the voucher code RESTYLEIT at checkout.

Now available here: Topaz ReStyle for Post-Processing

Go to full article: Released Today: Topaz ReStyle for Post-Processing

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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

Cover Photography for a Classical Music Album: How it Was Done

Posted: 08 Aug 2013 01:06 PM PDT

Shooting a music video in a day is already a challenge in itself even if you have a cinematographer like Joel Kesler on your team. To make matters even more complicated, Montreal-based photographer Benjamin Von Wong also had to shoot the cover artwork on the same day. See how Von, Joel and their talented team managed to pull it off (for those of you reading this by email, the video can be seen here):

The Lighting Setup

Both the photo and video were shot with a Nikon D800E, Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G and the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED Autofocus Lens.

He shares how he lit each photo,

The main fill came in from the extra-large octobox equipped with an Elinchrom RX Speed to help overpower the overcast day. On the opposite side, we had an Elinchrom Ranger Quadra in a 100cm deep octa to help bring just a bit of light back on Aline with a final bare strobe just to give a little bit of backlight suspended over the water.

musical duo in forest

We used a simple two light setup to light the foreground with a large reflective umbrella focusing on the two figures in the foreground, while the huge octobox was focused more on the two figures in the rear.

musical duo artwork

Go to full article: Cover Photography for a Classical Music Album: How it Was Done

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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

The Photo Man: Collecting and Selling Forgotten Photographs

Posted: 08 Aug 2013 10:52 AM PDT

For Mark Kologi, selling orphaned personal photos at Los Angeles' Melrose Trading Post is more than a business or a hobby—it's art. "It's this tide of humanity that's just flooded my life," Kologi says, and this wave sweeps into the souls of all who stop to sift through photos. In this short, poignant documentary by Ben Kitnick, we see the world through the eyes of “The Photo Man,” where even ill-exposed snapshots are treasures waiting to be discovered:

Having sold over three million photos and sorted through millions more, Kologi has had plenty of time to ponder the implications of selling others' memories.

"But what else can I do?" he asks. "I think it's better than having them thrown in the garbage. Particularly since when you can sometimes look into the eyes of someone who lived a hundred years ago and you can see yourself."

To 'The Photo Man,' that's what a photograph is — a fleeting moment that provides a window glimpse into someone else’s life, in the same way that Kologi watches passersby from inside his garage. They remind us that we're all connected, living each other's lives and intersecting every so often in a glance, a grazed touch, a simple hello.