New Software Release – ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5

New Software Release – ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5

I’ve been using previous versions of ON1 Photo 2019.5 for many years now and I’ve watched its progress from a Lightroom / Photoshop Effects plugin to a fully fledged RAW Processing package.

ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5, Bunker Bay, Margaret River, Western Australia
ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5

ON1 Photo RAW is being touted as an alternative to Lightroom & Photoshop for Photographers and now supports many advanced features aside from RAW Processing & Effects Filters. Features like Layers, Layer Masks, Luminosity Masks, HDR Merging & Panorama Stitching to name but a few.

ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5 – An All New Photo Editing Experience

I haven’t fully embraced the newest version yet, but I’m excited to take a closer look and see how I can make the most of this new release. I’ve always found that it has formed a solid part of my post processing workflow and I’m intrigued to see how much that will grow and whether it really can be a serious replacement to Lightroom.

ON1 also provide a Free Video Library as well as running a extensive training program called ON1 Plus:

“ON1 Plus provides in-depth monthly courses on using ON1 Photo RAW and courses from top photographers on the photography topics you care about most. All of it is easy to follow-along and fun. You can also join-in with other ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5 customers to ask questions and share photos. That is ON1 Plus.”

ON1 Plus Coaching Community 2019

For those out there not happy about the current Adobe Subscription model or not able to justify the cost then ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5 is available as a One Off Perpetual License at a very reasonable price. If you’re not sure if it’s for you then why not download the Free 30 Day Trial from the ON1 Website and give it a go.

ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5 Try It Now
ON1 Photo RAW 2019 Buy Now

ON1 Webinar

On1’s recent webinar offers some interesting insight into using ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5:

Watch this space for more information on how I integrate the new ON1 Photo RAW features into my workflow 👍

ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5 Try It Now
ON1 Photo RAW 2019 Buy Now
ON1 Plus Coaching Community 2019

Visit Our Gallery

Visit our Gallery at Shop 136 Wanneroo Markets, 33 Prindiville Drive in Wangara to see more of our Fine Art Images & Photo Products.

Also available at the Gallery are Greeting Cards, Magnets, Keyrings, Mugs, Scarves, Tote Bags, Wall Tapestries, Lens Cloths, unique 3D Printed Gadgets & Gizmo’s and much more …

Cheers,
Dave 🐾

Photo Processing – Waves on Wood Using Textures

Photo Processing – Waves on Wood Using Textures

Waves on Wood is an new image I have created recently to give the illusion of a photographic print on a wooden plank. The original image “Crashing Waves” on Redgate Beach in Margaret River can be seen & purchased here.

While it is possible to transfer images onto wood or even print directly on wood it is not a process that is available or practical for many of us so I have been playing around with a process in Photoshop for combining photos and textures to give the illusion of a print on wood.

Waves on Wood, Redgate Beach, Margaret River Region, Western Australia - Photographic Art

Waves on Wood, Redgate Beach, Margaret River Region, Western Australia – Photographic Art

How cool will this look as a 60″ canvas in your living room?

Waves on Wood, Redgate Beach, Margaret River Region, Western Australia - Living Room Canvas

Waves on Wood, Redgate Beach, Margaret River Region, Western Australia – Living Room Canvas

Compare the Textured Image with the original image “Crashing Waves on Redgate Beach”

Post Processing

If you’re interested in the technique used to create this effect then here are the basics (though the exact settings will vary depending on the photo & the textures being used):

  • Open your image in Photoshop
  • Open your texture image in Photoshop and resize it to the same dimensions as your photo
  • Copy and paste your wood texture over your photo as a new layer
  • Set the blending mode of the texture layer to
  • Set the blending mode of the texture layer to something like “Darken” or Multiply”
  • Duplicate your texture layer (CTRL/CMD + J)
  • Set the blending mode of the second texture layer to “Soft Light” or “Overlay”
  • You can now adjust the blending modes & opacity of the texture layers to get an effect you like
  • You can also replace one of the textures with an alternate texture for different effects or even add additional textures, the sky’s the limit

This image was created using a combination of Adobe Lightroom Classic CC, Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 & ON1 Photo RAW 2018.

Visit Our Gallery

Visit our Gallery at Shop 136 Wanneroo Markets, 33 Prindiville Drive in Wangara to see more of our Fine Art Images & Photo Products.

Also available at the Gallery are Greeting Cards, Magnets, Keyrings, unique 3D Printed Gadgets & Gizmo’s and much more …

Cheers,
Dave

How To Stop Photoshop Adding “copy” to Copied Layers & Groups

How To Stop Photoshop Adding “copy” to Copied Layers & Groups

How to Stop Photoshop Adding “copy” to Copied Layers & GroupsWay back in 2010 I wrote a blog post about a very annoying Photoshop feature where the text “copy” was appended to the name of any layer or layer group that you duplicated. To this day I still get comments thanking me for providing the simple (though not obvious) solution to prevent this behavior so I though it was time to do a new up-to-date post documenting the fix.

Enough waffle what’s the answer?

Since the introduction of Adobe Photoshop CS5 you have been able to turn this feature off (and back on) much to the relief of many Photoshoppers, and the same process still applies today in Photoshop CC 2018 😎

If you happen to find this feature useful, essential or just plain don’t care then feel free to have a browse through my Portfolio while you’re here 😀

Photoshop - Layers Panel Options

Photoshop – Layers Panel Options

Sometimes it’s amazing how the little things can be such a pain to deal with, either constantly renaming layers or putting up with nasty little “copy” tags all over the place became very annoying. With every new Photoshop release I was always searching the preference screens hoping that a fix would be implemented, finally with CS5 an option was added to turn this feature off!

But did Adobe make it easy to find, of course not, where would be the fun in that 🙄

Anyway, I eventually found it nestled in the Layers Panel drop down menu where you can still find it today. Who knows, maybe it will make it into one of the the “Preferences” screens one day, we can only hope!

The Solution (CS5 to CC 2018)

  1. Click on the dropdown menu Photoshop Layers Menu Icon on the top right of the Layers Panel
  2. Select Panel Options near the bottom and you’ll get the “Layers Panel Options” window up (see right)
  3. Look at the bottom of the “Layers Panel Options” window to see where Adobe have hidden this little treasure
  4. Titled “Add ‘copy’ to Copied Layers and Groups” the new checkbox will default to ticked, simply untick it to enable one of the most powerful changes in Photoshop known to mankind 😎

Cheers,
Dave

Southern Boobook Owl in Mum’s Backyard

Southern Boobook Owl in Mum’s Backyard

Southern Boobook Owl Triptych, Mindarie, Perth, Photographic Art

Southern Boobook Owl Triptych, Mindarie, Western Australia

Bird photography can be a time consuming process but rewards can pay of at the least expected times. a few days a go I got a call from my mum to say she had spotted a small owl in her back garden. As an avid owl lover mum has owl ornaments and images all around her house & garden so maybe this little guy just felt at home in her garden …

Southern Boobook Owl Triptych, Mindarie, Perth, Photographic Art

Southern Boobook Owl Triptych, Mindarie, Western Australia

Anyway, we headed off to mum’s to check out this visitor of hers hoping that he would still be there … and he was. We found him nestled in the foliage of a small tree in the garden. Luckily for us the tree’s foliage was dense enough to keep him protected but with enough gaps that we could get a good view of him, it’s not often you get so lucky 🙂 Ironically the only reason mum spotted him was because the local birds were going crazy about his presence, fluttering around the tree and and making a rawkus noise. But then it is spring and no doubt they were a little concerned about their nests becoming potential dinner plates!

Southern Boobook Owl, Mindarie, Perth, Photographic Art

Southern Boobook Owl, Mindarie, Western Australia

Maggie began looking into what type of owl he was while I started snapping away with my 70-200mm. The late afternoon sun was behind him making the light interesting and challenging. I knew the bright blue glimpses of sky would be blown out but the important thing was getting the owl exposed perfectly and retaining the brilliant green of the backlit foliage. The little guy was barely moving so shutter speed wasn’t so important but I still needed to keep it up high enough to prevent any camera shake. It was pretty dark inside that tree and after a bit of experimentation I compromised at manually setting my exposure to 1/160th, f7.1 & ISO 1000 and I was very happy with how that worked out. Noise levels were very low even with the shadows brightened up in Lightroom and the level of detail around his eyes was astounding as you can see from the exploded view below.

Lightroom Close Up of Southern Boobook Owl, Mindarie, Western Australia

Lightroom Close Up of Southern Boobook Owl, Mindarie, Western Australia

Although the owl was not moving all that much it was a windy day and the leaves  were blowing around all over the place making it tricky to frame the owl and causing the sunlight to randomly blow out parts of the owls body.

Blown Out Patches - Southern Boobook Owl, Mindarie, Western Australia

Blown Out Patches – Southern Boobook Owl, Mindarie, Western Australia

All up we were there for around 40 mins, I took 213 photos and got some crackers. Turns out he was a Southern Boobook Owl, quite common around here though not so much in backyards! One good tip for photographing animals is to always focus on the eyes. At 200mm in low light depth of field is often sacrificed for shutter speed and if the eyes are not pin sharp then the whole image can be ruined.

Focus on the Eyes - Southern Boobook Owl, Mindarie, Western Australia

Focus on the Eyes – Southern Boobook Owl, Mindarie, Western Australia

As usual my initial processing was done in Lightroom followed by adding effects in the new ON1 Photo Raw 2018 with some final tweaking in Photoshop, the Master File is then imported back into Lightroom from where I can export it in any format as required. All 3 tools have their benefits and work well together to produce a final image that is extremely high quality and suitable for any purpose.

Southern Boobook Owl Triptych, Mindarie, Perth - Tabletop Print Suggestion

Southern Boobook Owl, Mindarie, Western Australia – Tabletop Print Suggestion

I haven’t really looked at the new version of ON1 Photo RAW 2018 short of using the effects module to create & apply presets. Keep an eye out for my upcoming review of this very interesting photo processing software package that is becoming serious competition for Lightroom.

Image Details

Location: Mindarie Backyard, Western Australia Date: 26th December 2017 Time: 3pm – 3:40pm Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk11 Lens: EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Camera Mode: Manual Exposure: 1/160 sec, f7.1 at ISO 1000

Post Processing

Buy Prints & Photo Products

Buy a Print of a Southern Boobook Owl (WAO1.1-V1)

Buy a Print of a Southern Boobook Owl (WAO1.1-V1)

Buy a Print of a Southern Boobook Owl (WAO1.2-V1)

Buy a Print of a Southern Boobook Owl (WAO1.2-V1)

Buy a Print of a Southern Boobook Owl (WAO1.3-V1)

Buy a Print of a Southern Boobook Owl (WAO1.3-V1)

Our Boobook Owl is also available on a wide range of Photo Products, Home Decor & Clothing at our Redbubble store:

It’s a proven fact that being out in nature is great for your mental and physical health. While you won’t get the full health benefit from our range of prints and photo gifts they are always a great reminder of where you’d rather be. So be sure to check out the rest of our range of Fine Art Prints at madcat.com.au and our unique photo gifts (scarves, wall tapestries, beach towels, tote bags and much more) at madaboutwa.com.au.

Cheers, Dave

The Ever Changing Colours of the Perth City Skyline – 2

The Ever Changing Colours of the Perth City Skyline – 2

Golden Hues, South Perth, Perth, Western Australia

Golden Hues, Perth City Skyline, Western Australia

We spent a lot more time in South Perth recently when my brother visited from the UK so I got the opportunity to view & capture many different colours & sunsets of the Perth City Skyline during November.

This second image in my Perth City Skyline series was taken at 5:15pm as the sun was starting to set. Again we were blessed with a nice amount of cloud coverage picking up some of the colours from the sunset however the difference in how those colours played out compared to my previous shot (see below), taken at a similar time of day, was mind blowing.

Afternoon City Glow, Perth City Skyline, Western Australia

Afternoon City Glow, Perth City Skyline – Western Australian Landscape Photography

The light was less diffused and the colours much stronger making for a much more striking scene with rich golden hues reflecting off the buildings. You really never can tell how the natural colours of a West Australian sunset will evolve.

Original Stitched Image in Lightroom, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

Original Stitched Image in Lightroom, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

As before I had my camera mounted on a tripod oriented vertically with my 70-200mm lens set to 70mm. This time I reduced the number of images I was taking by reducing the amount of overlap between each image to about 1/3rd resulting in only 5 images being needed to create the same size 35MP panorama. I also didn’t bother with exposure bracketing as the light variations were much more even.

One thing I love about Lightroom is that when you stitch your images together the resulting image is still in RAW format allowing all of the processing to be done after you have successfully created your stitched image,

Initial Processing in Lightroom, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

Initial Processing in Lightroom, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

My current workflow involves initial processing in Lightroom followed by some adding some effects in ON1 Photo Raw with some final tweaking in Photoshop, the Master File is then imported back into Lightroom from where I can export it in any format as required. All 3 tools have their benefits and work well together to produce a final image that is extremely high quality and suitable for any purpose.

Effects Added in ON1 Photo Raw, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

Effects Added in ON1 Photo Raw, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

ON1 Photo RAW has been a great addition to my workflow over the past year. I have built up a decent set of Effect Presets which I will be making available through my new online store in the near future. Each new image I process generally starts off from one of my existing Presets and evolves into a new set of effects and eventually a new Preset.  It’s such a simple way of creating amazing looking images.

Final Processing in Photoshop, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

Final Processing in Photoshop, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

Photoshop is where everything in the image is held together and the final tweaking is done. My Master File consists of the Lightroom image, the modified ON1 Photo RAW image & any additional changes I make in Photoshop to finish off the image. I am a big fan of non-destructive editing and like to be able to re-visit any part of my post-processing steps at any time in the future which is exactly what this workflow provides.

Final Image in Lightroom, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

Final Image in Lightroom, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

Once my Master File is complete I flatten it, import it back into Lightroom & add appropriate keywords and meta-data. From within Lightroom where I can export it in whatever shape & format I require in the future. I have many export Presets saved in Lightroom so whether I’m creating a Fine Art Print, a Greeting Card or a Tote Bag I know I can go to Lightroom and create the exact file I need quickly & easliy.

2:1 Zoom into Elizabeth Quay, Perth City Skyline, Perth, Western Australia

2:1 Zoom into Elizabeth Quay, Perth, Western Australia

Finally a quick 2:1 zoom in Lightroom shows just how much detail is available in such a hi-res image, if you look closely you can even read the “Mini Golf” banner near the entrance to Elizabeth Quay

Image Details

Location: Perth City from South Perth
Date: 27th November 2017
Time: 5:14pm
No. of Images Stitched: 5
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk11
Lens: EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM
Camera Mode: Manual
Exposure: 1/13 sec at f14

Post Processing

Buy Prints & Photo Products

It’s a proven fact that being out in nature is great for your mental and physical health.

While you won’t get the full health benefit from our range of prints and photo gifts they are always a great reminder of where you’d rather be.

So be sure to check out our range of Fine Art Prints at madcat.com.au and our unique photo gifts (scarves, wall tapestries, beach towels, tote bags and much more) at madaboutwa.com.au.

Cheers,
Dave

The Ever Changing Colours of the Perth City Skyline – 1

The Ever Changing Colours of the Perth City Skyline – 1

Afternoon City Glow, Perth City Skyline, Western Australia

Afternoon City Glow, Perth City Skyline, Western Australia

We live in one of the cleanest & most beautiful cities in the world here in Perth and we think it’s time to showcase just how amazing the Perth City Skyline is.

We are currently in the enviable position of having access to a flat on Millpoint Road in South Perth with stunning views of the Perth City Skyline throughout the day. It never ceases to amaze me how much the colour & quality of light changes as the hours and days go by.

In this series of posts I’ll be showcasing unique images of the Perth City Skyline in all it’s glory and variety.

Afternoon City Glow, Perth City Skyline, Western Australia - Lightroom

Afternoon City Glow, Perth City Skyline, Western Australia – Lightroom

This first image was taken last week just before sunset. There were plenty of clouds in the sky with many gaps through which the sun streamed as it approached the horizon.

I had my camera mounted on a tripod oriented vertically with my 70-200mm lens set to 70mm. The plan was to take a series of images and stitch them together in Lightroom to make a very high resolution image, it turned out to be 35MP in this instance. I set my camera up to take 3 bracketed images for each shot as the dynamic range looked liked a potential problem. Ironically I ended up only using the first image from each set, the dynamic range of modern camera’s has come a long way but it never hurts to be safe 🙂

Blowup of Elizabeth Quay from the Final 35MP Image to Show the Detail

Blowup of Elizabeth Quay from the Final 35MP Image to Show the Detail

To the West of the city the golden sun was filtered through the clouds providing a surreal golden glow that slowly faded towards the East into the cooler blue tones. The difference from one side to the other was enormous and simply breathtaking.

Afternoon City Glow, Perth City Skyline, Western Australia - Original

Afternoon City Glow, Perth City Skyline, Western Australia – Original

Replicating such an effect can be very tricky in Post Processing, what starts out as a living atmospheric glow as light bounces of particles in the air all around you simply becomes a flat dull haze when the image is first loaded into Lightroom. You can see from the original image above there there was not a lot of “magic” to it at all.

As always Lightroom did a great job of the initial processing which I then transferred to ON1 Photo Raw to add some effects and then into Photoshop for some final touches and to create my “Master File” for this image.

Afternoon City Glow, Perth City Skyline, Western Australia - ON1 Photo RAW

Afternoon City Glow, Perth City Skyline, Western Australia – ON1 Photo RAW

Image Details

Location: Perth City from South Perth
Date: 4th July 2017
Time: 5:32pm
No. of Images Stitched: 7
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk11
Lens: EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM
Camera Mode: Manual
Exposure: 1/25 sec at f11

Post Processing

Buy Prints & Photo Products

It’s a proven fact that being out in nature is great for your mental and physical health.

While you won’t get the full health benefit from our range of prints and photo gifts they are always a great reminder of where you’d rather be.

So be sure to check out our range of Fine Art Prints at madcat.com.au and our unique photo gifts (scarves, wall tapestries, beach towels, tote bags and much more) at madaboutwa.com.au.

Cheers,
Dave

Review – “Through The Woods” Lightroom Presets by Sleeklens

Review – “Through The Woods” Lightroom Presets by Sleeklens

Recently I was approached by Jane at Sleeklens to review one of their Landscape themed Lightroom Presets Collections called “Through the Woods”.

Through The Woods Lightroom Workflow by Sleeklens

Through The Woods Lightroom Workflow by Sleeklens

While I’m not a big user of other peoples Lightroom Presets I do use Lightroom A LOT and create many of my own Presets to make my workflow smoother so I do appreciate the value of products such as this for people who want a little help getting the most out of their photos in Lightroom.

The Company

Sleeklens Logo

As I mentioned above I am not a big user of 3rd party Lightroom Presets and I had not heard of Sleeklens before so I did a bit of research on the web and it turns out they have a very interesting range of Lightroom Presets / Brushes and Photoshop Actions / Overlays and a strong community following.

We are always very fussy about who we work with or recommend, it is our experience that a great product needs great support which only happens if the ethos of the company is appropriate. Badly treated staff will inevitably treat customers the same way!

I was pleasantly surprised when I read the Sleeklens “About Us” page to see that it was about people and quality of service rather than just a corporate blurb. The CEO, Daniel Chabert, has even invited people to email him directly.

As far as support goes Sleeklens have a very extensive FAQ page on their website along with several “How To…” pages and a collection of YouTube video tutorials explaining how to install and use their various products which they link to throughout their web site.

Starter Pack Lightroom Workflow by Sleeklens

Starter Pack Lightroom Workflow by Sleeklens

They also offer a free Starter Pack of Lightroom Presets to try out.

The Product

The Lightroom Presets Collection I was sent is called “Through the Woods”, it is one of 17 available through the Sleeklens store and is intended for use on Landscape photos. I like how they have given their products interesting and relevant names, kind of makes you think they are actually thinking about what they are creating 🙂

The contents of the collection is quite extensive including an impressive 51 presets & 30 brushes, compatible right back to LR 4. Also included are comprehensive installation instructions for Lightroom Presets & Brushes along with a recipe list of sample images and how they were processed.

Through The Woods Lightroom Workflow by Sleeklens

Through The Woods Lightroom Workflow by Sleeklens

The package was delivered by email in a zip file, I believe if you order one from their website you can download the same file on completion of payment or from the link in the email they send you.

Inside the zip file were 4 pdf documents:

  • How to install Lightroom Brushes.pdf
  • Read this before installing the presets.pdf
  • Through the Woods recipe list.pdf
  • Terms of Service and Use Sleeklens.pdf

and 2 folders containing the Lightroom Presets & Brushes:

  • Through The Woods brushes
  • Through The Woods presets

Installation

Installing Lightroom Presests and Brushes is a relatively simple process.

If you open “Read this before installing the presets.pdf” there is a link to a YouTube video which will step you through the process of installing the presets. “How to install Lightroom Brushes.pdf” on the other hand offers written instructions for installing the Brushes. I’m not sure why the different formats for the included instructions but I here is the correct video from Sleeklens for installing Brushes.

How to Install Lightroom Presets & Brushes

How to Install Lightroom Presets & Brushes

If that sounds like too much effort or you have any problems then you can read my post “How To Install Lightroom Presets & Brushes” which offers both “Quick & Dirty” and “Detailed Walkthrough” instructions for installing Lightroom Presets & Brushes.

How to Use the Lightroom Presets & Brushes

Once installed the Presets will appear in the Preset folder you created during installation inside the Develop Module. Expand the folder and you will see a long list of 50 new Presets, with each Preset following a simple naming convention to help you use them effectively.

Sleeklens - Through the Woods Lightroom Presets

Sleeklens – Through the Woods Lightroom Presets

The Preset names can be broken down as follows:

  • “TtW” | <Group>-<Type of Preset> – <Preset Name>
  • for example “TtW | 2-Exposure – Darken Shadows”

where:

  • “TtW” identifies the Preset being part of the “Through the Woods” collection
  • <Group> is a number from 0 to 6 which indicates the order the Presets were intended to be used in
  • <Type of Preset> indicates the general type of changes that the Preset will make to the image and is fairly self explanatory (i.e. Base, Exposure, Color …)
  • <Preset Name> is a simple description of the what the Preset will do (i.e. Auto Tone, Deep Blue Skies, Add Clarity …)

All In One Presets

Sleeklens All In One Presets

Sleeklens All In One Presets

The first group of Presets (group 0) have a Preset Type of “All-In One” indicating that they are intended as a one-click solution or a heavily themed starting point overriding all of the Lightroom Develop settings you may have already made.

This is how a lot of Presets work to make sure you get the full intended effect of the Preset author but it is worth bearing in mind.

Stackable Presets

Sleeklens Stackable Presets

Sleeklens Stackable Presets

The remainder of the “Through the Woods” Presets are what we call “Stackable” which is an interesting idea as Lightroom does not have the concept of layers like Photoshop does.

What makes “stackable” Presets different from the “All In One” Presets is that they will only change the settings that are relevant to that preset so it won’t overwrite all the other settings you have already used unless it needs to.

However, it is important to bear in mind that the only way to remove any of these “stacked” Preset changes is to use the CTRL-Z (or CMD-Z) undo feature or the history list and then continue editing again. You can’t simply remove a Preset’s changes if you have made other changes since.

For example if you apply the “Brighten” Preset it will only change the Exposure setting and all your other settings will remain unchanged. If you then apply the “Color Pop” Preset and decide you don’t want the changes made by the “Brighten” Preset then you must undo both and start again.

How to Use the Brushes

Brushes work a little differently to Presets, to find the Brushes you must go to one of the Local Adjustment Tools located above the Basic Panel in the Develop Module. Simply select Graduated Filter (M), Radial Filter (SHIFT-M) or Adjustment Brush (K) and click on the “Effect” dropdown to see your Brushes.

Lightroom Local Adjustment Tools

Lightroom Local Adjustment Tools

The naming convention Sleeklens have used for the Brushes is slightly different as there is no logical order in which to use Brushes as there is with Presets.

The Brush names can be broken down as follows:

  • “Through the Woods” – <Type of Brush> – <Brush Name>
  • for example “Through the Woods – Basics – Contrast and Clarity”

where:

  • “Through the Woods” identifies the Brush as being part of the “Through the Woods” collection and groups them all together in the dropdown list
  • <Type of Brush> indicates the general type of changes that the Brush will make to the image and is fairly self explanatory (i.e. Base, Color, Haze …)
  • <Brush Name> is a simple description of the what the Brush will do (i.e. Destaurate, Warmer, Darken Shadows …)

To use a Brush:

  • Select one of the Local Adjustment Tools:
    • Graduated Filter (M)
    • Radial Filter (SHIFT-M)
    • Adjustment Brush (K)
  • Select a brush from the Effects dropdown
  • Use the Local Adjustment Tool you selected as you would normally

Sleeklens - Through the Woods Lightroom Brushes

Sleeklens – Through the Woods Lightroom Brushes

Once applied you can tweak any of the settings to achieve the effect you desire. Unlike Presets, Brushes have the added benefit that they can be altered or removed at any time without having to go back through the History list.

The Review

In order to review the “Through the Woods” Preset Collection I selected a few images that I had processed in Lightroom using my normal workflow.

I reset the lightroom settings for each image and then attempted to see if I could achieve a similar look in a similar time frame with the Sleeklens Presets.

Image 1 – “Stumpy the Bob-Tailed Lizard”

Lightroom Image 1, Stumpy the Bob-Tailed Lizard - Original Image

Lightroom Image 1, Stumpy the Bob-Tailed Lizard – Original Image

The first image I chose was of a Bob-Tailed Lizard (they’re actually called “Shingleback’s”) we came across during a recent bush walk in Whiteman Park. It was a bright sunny day with no clouds in the sky and Maggie almost stood on the well camouflaged little guy while we were getting some wildflower pics of to the side of the track.

As you can see above, the photo came out a little underexposed and very dull & flat looking. What I wanted to achieve with this image was to showcase the stunning colours of the golden brown lizard, the green foliage and the red flowers in contrast with the reflected light from the almost white sandy soil.

First I tried the “All In One” Presets but I have to say none of them worked for me. I do have my own style and I found that I could not even get close to something to work with using these Presets.

Moving on to the “Stackable” Presets I had more luck. Below you can see what I managed to achieve with the “Sleeklens “Through the Woods” Presets compared with the original:

Original RAW Image | Sleeklens Preset Adjustments

and compared with my own Lightroom adjustments:

My Lightroom Adjustments | Sleeklens Preset Adjustments

As you can see these Sleeklens Presets did a great job of turning the dull lifeless original into something vibrant and engaging, it was also pretty easy to get very close to my original Lightroom adjustments.

Here is the Recipe I used for “Stumpy the Bob-Tailed Lizard”

  • TtW – 1-Base – Auto Tone {Color}
  • TtW – 1-Base – High Dynamic Range
  • TtW – 3-Color Correct – Reduce Blue
  • TtW – 4-Tone-Tint – Color Pop
  • TtW – 5-Polish – Add Clarity
  • Set Vibrance to +60
  • Set Saturation to +60
  • Set Exposure to +10
  • Set Whites to -60
  • Set Blacks to +80
  • Set Blue Saturation to -60
  • Set Blue Luminance to -75
  • Brush – “Color – Red Warmer” at 25% flow on the lizard

Image 2 – “Dead River Tree”

Lightroom Image 2, Murchison River, Kalbarri - Original Image

Lightroom Image 2, Murchison River, Kalbarri – Original Image

For the second image I wanted to try something different so I selected a sunset shot that I took a few years ago of the Murchison River in Kalbarri. We were there in March and there was virtually no water in the river so I had to get a bit more inventive to get some interesting shots without highlighting a dry parched riverbed!

Again, I found the “All In One” Presets didn’t get me very far. The “Calm Sunset” was the closest but not at all inspiring. To be honest I didn’t really have great expectations for the “All In One” Presets as different images often require completely different processing so what works for one image can look terrible on another.

Unlike “Stumpy the Bob-Tailed Lizard”, this photo was exposed perfectly considering I was capturing a sunset with a single exposure. Ironically I was still left with the same overall levels of darkness across the image to prevent the sun from being totally blown out! It never ceases to amaze me just how much detail can be pulled out of the shadows with modern day digital SLR’s 🙂

Below you can see what I achieved with the “Through the Woods” Presets compared with the original:

Original RAW Image | Sleeklens Preset Adjustments

and compared with my own Lightroom adjustments:

My Lightroom Adjustments | Sleeklens Preset Adjustments

I must admit that I was skeptical that the Sleeklens Presets would even get close to replicating the settings I used for this image but again I was pleasantly surprised, not just at how close I was able to get to my adjustments but how quickly I could use the Sleeklens Presets to get a great result.

Now I’m wondering if a nice and subtle sunburst would finish of this image nicely. Argh, look what’s happening, I try out a set of Presets and start thinking how other products from companies like Sleeklens might help me. This could get addictive …

Here is the Recipe I used for “Dead River Tree”

  • TtW – 1-Base – Auto Tone {Color}
  • TtW – 1-Base – High Dynamic Range
  • TtW – 3-Color – Deep Blue Skies
  • Set White Balance to Daylight
  • TtW – 4-Tone-Tint – Color Pop
  • TtW – 5-Polish – Less Clarity(Overall Haze)
  • TtW – 5-Polish – Add Contrast
  • Set Camera Profile to Camera Landscape
  • Set Saturation to +24
  • Set Highlights to -23
  • Set Exposure to +10
  • Brush – “Light – Add Golden Sun” at 25% flow on the sun’s glow
  • Brush – “Color – Red Tint” at 100% flow on the bushes & rocks
  • TtW – 6-Vignette – Subtle Black

Conclusion

I found the Sleeklens “Through the Woods” Presets to be very intuitive and easy to use. With a little experimentation and some tweaking of the results I was able to get pretty close to the original Lightroom adjustments I made for both images.

Amazingly, although the final results were visually similar the Lightroom settings I used originally were completely different to the settings used by the Sleeklens Presets which really shows just how versatile Lightroom is as a post processing tool for Photographers.

The additional use of the “Through the Woods” brushes was also very helpful in making subtle but beneficial changes to the images.

Time wise the Sleeklens adjustments were very quick to use and very versatile. Not all of the Presets will be useful to everyone, I doubt I would ever use the “All In One” Presets but everyone has their own style and the wide variety of options available in this collection makes it easy to achieve the look you are going for.

Pros

Cons

  • Easy to install and get started
  • Stackable Presets are very intuitive to use
  • Wide variety of Presets leads to endless creative possibilities
  • Brushes are a great bonus
  • Good value for money
  • Good Support & Video Tutorials
  • I didn’t find the “All In One” Presets worked well with my images & style
  • You might get addicted to third party Lightroom & Photoshop plugins …

Should you buy the Sleeklens “Through the Woods” Collection?

For a Lightroom novice the “Through the Woods” Preset Collection will speed up your image processing significantly while also teaching how certain effects can be created with the multitude of Lightroom settings available.

For experienced or professional photographers I could still see a place in your Lightroom workflow if you’re looking for a set of tools to get the job done quickly & efficiently or if you’re looking for some creative inspiration.

Obviously the Sleeklens “Through the Woods” Preset Collection will not be for everyone and I highly recommend trying out their Free Lightroom Presets Starter Pack first and watching some of their tutorial videos if you’re not sure.

Ultimately it’s up to every individual how they spend their hard earned cash but I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed if they decide to purchase the Sleeklens “Through the Woods” Preset Collection.

We welcome you feedback regarding this review, please leave any comments you may have below 😎

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Disclaimer:
All of our reviews are completely unbiased and will generally be about products or services we use here at MADCAT Photography or that we are willing to personally recommend.
Whilst we do not get paid to review products we may receive free products in return to enable us to perform the reviews.
Additionally, many links you will see on this site are affiliate links which allow us to earn a commission while not costing you any more, in fact we will often be able to offer discount codes or limited time special deals.
If you wish to help support this site then please consider using our links 🙂

Cheers,
Dave


MAD About WA

MAD About WA is our another Project Maggie & I are working on. We will be blogging about things to do in and around Perth and Western Australia as we travel and experience what is on offer in this amazing state we live in.

Many of my new images will be posted there and made available on a wide variety of clothing, household & lifestyle products and other many items.

If you like to be surrounded by beauty and nature even when you can’t get outdoors then check out what we have to offer in our online store 🙂

Who wouldn’t want their own baby Dolphin to take to the beach after all!

Beach Towel - Samu the Dolpin from Monkey Mia, Shark Bay

Beach Towel – Samu the Dolpin from Monkey Mia, Shark Bay

Round Beach Towel - Samu the Dolpin from Monkey Mia, Shark Bay

Round Beach Towel – Samu the Dolpin from Monkey Mia, Shark Bay

 

How To Install Lightroom Presets & Brushes

How To Install Lightroom Presets & Brushes

Autumn Vines, Mindarie, Perth, Western Australia

Lightroom Presets & Brushes are great tools to help you speed up your workflow and improve your creativity. You can create them yourself or purchase / download them from various websites.

This guide will teach you how to install Presets & Brushes that you have downloaded.

For those of you that are more familiar with how Windows / Mac OSX works then the Quick and Dirty guides should be more than enough. For others the Detailed Walkthroughs will tell you everything you need to know.

Installing Lightroom Presets – The Simple Method

Golden Lake, Yanchep National Park, Yanchep, Western Australia

Installing Lightroom presets from within Lightroom is a very quick and simple process:

Quick and Dirty:

  1. Go to the Lightroom Develop module
  2. Right click in the Presets tab to create a new folder if required
  3. Right click on the Preset folder you wish to import your new Presets to and select “Import”
  4. Locate the Presets to import and click the “Import” button
  5. Done!

Detailed Walkthrough:

  1. Locate the folder containing the Presets that you want to install.
    If you have purchased online or downloaded free samples they will most likely be in a “zip” file

    Locate the Downloaded Presets

    Locate the Downloaded Presets

  2. Unzip the file you downloaded (if required):
    • Windows – Right click on the file, select “Extract All…”
    • Mac – Doubleclick on the file
    • Navigate to the unzipped folder containing the new Presets (they may be in a sub-folder). The Preset files will have a file extension of “.lrtemplate”

    Locate the Extracted Preset Folder

    Locate the Extracted Preset Folder

  3. Copy the location of the Preset folder to the clipboard
    • Windows – Right click on the Windows Explorer address bar and select “Copy address as text”
    • Mac – Right click on the Finder folder then hold down the Option key and select “Copy <folder name> as Pathname”
  4. Run Lightroom and enter the “Develop” module
  5. At this point you can either:
    • Select an existing Preset folder to install your presets into
    • or …
    • Right click anywhere in the Presets tab on the left and select “New Folder”

    Create a New Preset Folder in Lightroom

    Create a New Preset Folder in Lightroom

    Name your folder something meaningful. I generally start with the name of the supplier and then the name of the collection if there will be more than 1 i.e. “Sleeklens – Through The Woods” so that all presets from the same supplier will be grouped together with each set in it’s own folder. But that’s just me, go with whatever floats your boat 🙂

  6. Right click on the chosen folder and select “Import” …

    Import New Presets in Lightroom

    Import New Presets in Lightroom

  7. Locate the Presets you wish to install. If you copied the folder path in step 3 then paste it into the import window:
    • Windows – Right click on the address bar and select “Edit address”, right click again and select “Paste” then press “Enter”
    • Mac – Press “CMD+SHIFT+G” then “CMD+V” and click on “Go”
  8. Select the Presets to import and click “Import”
  9. Your Presets are now ready to use
  10. Done!

Installing Lightroom Presets – Behind the Scenes

Ebb and Flow, Noble Falls, Perth, Western Australia

If you want to understand what happens Behind the Scenes when you install presets or want to know how to do it manually it’s not really that much harder:

Quick and Dirty:

  1. Run Lightroom
  2. Open the “Preferences” dialog
    • Windows – Select “Preferences” in the “Edit” menu
    • Mac – Select “Preferences” in the “Lightroom” menu
  3. Go to the “Presets” tab and click on “Show Lightroom Presets Folder …”.
    A file explorer or finder window will open in the Adobe configuration area
  4. From here navigate into the “Lightroom\Develop Presets” folder
    • Note, if you have selected “Store presests with this catalog in the Presets tab of the Preferences dialog box then you will have to navigate into the folder containing your catalog and then into “Lightroom Settings/Develop Presets” instead
  5. Create a new folder and copy your new Presets into it
  6. Restart Lightroom and your new Presets will be available in the “Develop” module
  7. Done!

Detailed Walkthrough:

If you need a detailed walkthrough then you probably shouldn’t be doing anything behind the scenes!

Installing Lightroom Brushes

Rustic Cafe, Swan Valley, Perth, Western Australia

For reasons known only to Adobe there is no interface in Lightroom to import new Brushes. You can create them yourself from the Local Adjustments area but if you want to add new ones you have purchased or downloaded then you’ll have to do it manually.

Ironically, the method for installing new Brushes is almost identical to the “Behind the Scenes” method for installing Presets that I described above!

Quick and Dirty:

  1. Run Lightroom
  2. Open the “Preferences” dialog box
    • Windows – Select “Preferences” in the “Edit” menu (or press CTRL+,)
    • Mac – Select “Preferences” in the “Lightroom” menu (or press CMD+,)
  3. Go to the “Presets” tab and click on “Show Lightroom Presets Folder …”.
    A file explorer or finder window will open in the Adobe configuration area
  4. From here navigate into the “Lightroom\Local Adjustment Presets” folder
  5. Create a new folder and copy your new Brushes into it
  6. Restart Lightroom and your new Brushes will be available in the “Develop” module
  7. Done!

Detailed Walkthrough:

I know what you’re thinking, a few paragraphs ago I was telling you that you shouldn’t be going Behind the Scenes to install Presets if you needed a detailed walkthrough!

Now I’m telling you that this is the ONLY way to install new Brushes and here is a detailed walkthough … Don’t Panic it’s not that hard and if you follow the instructions below you’ll be fine, honest!

  1. Locate the folder containing the Brushes that you want to install.
    If you have purchased online or downloaded free samples they will most likely be in a “zip” file

    Locate the Downloaded Presets

    Locate the Downloaded Presets

  2. Unzip the file you downloaded (if required):
    • Windows – Right click on the file and select “Extract All…”
    • Mac – Doubleclick on the file
    • Navigate to the unzipped folder containing the new Brushes (they may be in a sub-folder). The Brush files will have a file extension of “.lrtemplate”

    Locate the Extracted Brushes Folder

    Locate the Extracted Brushes Folder

  3. Run Lightroom
  4. Open the “Preferences” dialog box
    • Windows – Select “Preferences” in the “Edit” menu (or press CTRL+,)
    • Mac – Select “Preferences” in the “Lightroom” menu (or press CMD+,)

    Lightroom Preferences - Preset Tab

    Lightroom Preferences – Preset Tab

  5. Go to the “Presets” tab and click on “Show Lightroom Presets Folder …”.
    A file explorer or finder window will open in the Adobe configuration area
  6. From here navigate into the “Lightroom\Local Adjustment Presets” folder

    Locate the Lightroom Local Adjustment Folder

    Locate the Lightroom Local Adjustment Folder

    • Note, if you have selected “Store presests with this catalog in the Presets tab of the Preferences dialog box then you will have to navigate into the folder containing your catalog and then into the “Lightroom Settings/Local Adjustment Presets” folder instead
  7. Create a new folder
    • Windows – Right click on the “Local Adjustment Presets” folder and select New->Folder
    • Mac – Right click inside the “Local Adjustment Presets” folder and select “New Folder”
    • Name your folder something meaningful. This is not as useful as it is with Presets as Lightroom will not display the folder name but it helps with managing your Brushes.
      As with the Presets I generally start with the name of the supplier and then the name of the collection if there will be more than 1 i.e. “Sleeklens – Through The Woods” but that’s just me, go with whatever tickles your fancy 🙂
  8. Go to the file explorer or finder containing your new Brushes (see step 2)
    • Select the Brushes (CTRL+A / CMD+A)
    • Copy the Brushes to the clipboard (CTRL+C / CMD+C)
    • Paste the Brushes into the folder you have just created (CTRL+V / CMD+V)
  9. Restart Lightroom and your new Brushes will be available in the Local Adjustments area in the “Develop” module
  10. Done!

Now that you know how to install new Lightroom Presets and Brushes the World is your Oyster!

There are numerous free Lightroom Presets and Brushes out there to play around with, here are a few suggestions that we recommend:

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