Hi, it’s been a while since I did a video tutorial so here’s another one: it’s about converting a ‘difficult’ image with a very bright sky into a dramatic Black & White with lots of sky detail. Done with my Black & White conversion plugin of choice: Silver Efex Pro. The video also shares some tips on file preparation before you enter the plugin. At the end of the video, there’s a cool discount code as well

The folks over at Nik Software have just released Color Efex Pro 4, so I thought it might be a good idea to do a video on some of the new features. I can already tell you that if you’re a Color Efex Pro 3 user, there’s one new feature that’s by itself worth the upgrade price: the ability to stack effects on top of each other! And if you’re new to Color Efex Pro, the video will give you an idea as to what it can do.

Color Efex Pro is one of Nik’s flagship products and is widely used by landscape and portrait photographers worldwide, to enhance their images. There’s an array of 55 filters, ranging from practical and time-saving (such as Dynamic Skin Softener) to creative (such as the new film simulation presets). The video below only shows a couple of effects. For a full list, check out the Nik Website. The video also features some of the advantages of using Color Efex Pro as a Smart Filter in Photoshop.* Tip: make sure to watch the video fullscreen by clicking the fullscreen button in the video player interface (I also had to break the video up in two parts).

If you’re interested in more, I’ll be doing a free English Color Efex Pro webinar for Nik on October 19th. For registrations, go to the UK site of Nik Software (choose the UK flag from the top right of the main www.niksoftware.com site), select Webinars & Training from the Training tab and you’ll find my training under the ‘Webinar Specials’ section. I’ll also be giving the same webinar in Dutch that day. Registration for that webinar can be done through this link.

One more thing: if you’re from outside of Europe, and you’re interested in buying Color Efex Pro 4, or any other of the Nik plugins, using discount code MORETHANWORDS15 in the online Nik Software US Store, will get you 15% off!

* Color Efex Pro can be bought as a separate plugin, in which case it works in Aperture, Lightroom and Photoshop. You can also buy it as part of a bundle, of which there exist three:
The Complete Collection for Lightroom, the Complete Collection for Aperture and the Complete Collection for Lightroom, Aperture and Photoshop. The first two will only work in their respective host program, while the latter works in any of the three programs. While the actual effects are the same and you can therefore create entirely the same image with Color Efex in Lightroom as you can in Aperture or in Photoshop, using Color Efex Pro (or any other Nik filter, for that matter) in Photoshop allows for some extra cool features, such as using it as a Smart Filter. Smart Filters in Photoshop have a lot of advantages, so I thought it would be cool to include some of those in the video as well.

English readers: this blogpost announces my Dutch workshop on Digital Black & White conversion, ‘From Megapixel to Mono Print’.

Op maandag 3 oktober van 9u30 tot 17u30 organiseer ik voor de zevende keer de Masterclass rond digitale zwartwit-conversie ‘From Megapixel to Mono Print’.

De workshop werd nog een pak praktischer gemaakt en bevat nu twee delen: in de voormiddag theorie rond zwartwit-conversie, in de namiddag passen we de technieken toe op eigen beelden van de deelnemers. We eindigen met het afdrukken van de beste foto’s op digitaal bariet en fine art papier, ter beschikking gesteld door Hahnemühle FineArt.

Het aantal deelnemers is beperkt tot 8. Meer info en inschrijvingen via deze link.

I’m very happy to be the next presenter on RetouchPro’s next webinar: Dramatic Black & White.
RetouchPro webinars are two hours, live webinars that are hosted by Doug Nelson. You have the ability to ask questions throughout the show as well as afterwards.

My webinar will be on the techniques I use to create dramatic Black & White images. I strongly believe that if you want to have strong black and whites, automatic is not the way to go: on the animation to the left, you see a number of color originals with their auto black & white conversion and then the advanced, ‘dramatic’ black & white.

During the webinar, I’ll be using Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop and plugins. I’ll be showing ACR/Lightroom-only techniques as well as more a more complex workflows. I’ll give a lot of attention to the noble art of dodging and burning, or localised adjustments, as they are the best way to bring any picture and especially a black and white one to life. I’ll also demo a custom Dodging & Burning Photoshop Panel I’ve created and… there might even be a special discount code for that

RetouchPro webinars are known for their high value and I only hope I can live up to that reputation. If you’re interested, check me out on Saturday, June 11th at 12.00 hrs CDT, that’s 19.00 hrs Brussels time. Cost of attendance is only $10. You can register here.

English readers: this blogpost announces a new Dutch workshop on hands-on image-editing in Lightroom.
All my Dutch workshops can be held in English, upon request.

Graag stel ik jullie een nieuwe halfdaagse workshop voor:

In case you missed the previous blog post, yours truly was in Florida attending Photoshop World. With over 100 classes to choose from and some 2500 attendants coming from all over the world (some are even rumored to come from Belgium!) it’s really a one of a kind conference. And it’s not limited to Photoshop: the courses are divided into tracks: there’s a lighting track, a photography track, a technique track, a wedding track, a Lightroom track and so on.

During my own workshops, I always try to give the best handouts possible, because I know it’s hard to follow a workshop and take notes at the same time.

But, nothing comes close to the PSW handouts: they’re bundled in a book that has about the size (and the weight) of an average phonebook. This year, all attendants could also download the book for free through an iPad App. In the coming days, I’ll post a couple of tips I picked up (or remembered) during PSW.

‘How to Automate Photoshop’ by Adobe’s Russell Brown was the first workshop I attended. I knew Russell from his videos and he is always an experience. He acts – and sometimes dresses – as some mad professor. In a jam-packed room (over 500 attendants), he gave an overview of more than ten ways to automate Photoshop using Scripts, Custom Panels and Actions. The fact that you can actually make custom panels in Photoshop using Adobe Configurator 2 (a free download from Adobe Labs) is already a tip on it’s own, but for those who find that too complicated Russell has come up with a couple of very cool ready-made ones.

One of those is Emailer, that lets you email a low-res version of a file straight from Photoshop, for example to send to a client for approval or remarks. You can watch a video by Russell here and you can download it here. Another one is a batch watermarking feature. Check out the video and download ithere. Check them out, they’re really cool and can save you lots of time, especially when you’re notworking with Lightroom !

P.S. Sorry, but no pictures in this blogpost… I was stupid enough to lose my SD card with my PSW pics…

P.P.S. When installing these panels, especially on Windows machines, you have to be logged in as an Administrator and run Adobe Extension Manager as an Administrator.

I’s been quiet on the blog lately, but that was due to some deadlines that had to be met: there are two new Lightroom books on their way. Well, actually a republishing of my dutch Lightroom 3 book and a brand new english ebook on digital black and white. But more about that in another blogpost!

I’m actually writing this one on a plane from Brussels, belgium to Orlando, Florida.

I’m typing on the virtual keyboard of my brand new iPad. I’ve only had it for 2 days and i’m already hooked big time: and that’s a statement coming from someone who just one year ago said he could not see the use of such a device in addition to an iPhone, a laptop and a desktop. As you can see from the shot, I already kinda blew the budget on the iPad itself, so there was no more budget for one of those sophisticated covers and I am now carrying it around in a MailLite padded envelope

There’s actualy quite a lot of cool stuff that can be done with Lightroom and an iPad, but i have to o some checking it out before blogging about it. So, back to where we were: crossing the Atlantic on my way to Florida. Before you think I’m on my way for a well deserved holiday break under the Florida sun or that I’m off to disneyland…think again. This is a professional visit: I’m here to attend Photoshop World, the world’s largest Photoshop event with a very strong emphasis on Lightroom as well.

It’s incredibly well organised by the NAPP, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and it’s a four day conference with over one hundred classes taught by digital imaging gurus such as Deke McClelland, Katrin Eismann, Julieanne Kost, Matt Kloskowski and of course the one and only Scott Kelby.

There’s also a strong focus on photography and lighting with people such as Joe ’Is That a Speedlight in your Pocket or are You just Happy to see me?’ McNally and, closer to home, Dutch Lighting instructors such as Frank Doorhof. The legendary Jay Maisel will also teach a couple of classes.

As you all know, back in Belgium & The Netherlands I give Lightroom & Photoshop training myself. My workshops last anywhere from a couple of hours to two days and they’re limited to eight to ten people. At Photoshop World, there’s over one hundred one hour workshops to choose from and the rooms have a capacity of up to five hundred people! In one go! That’s about the total number of people I see in two years… Supersize Me, indeed! They have a special Midnight Session, aptly called Midnight Madness, where Mexican waves are rumored to be performed. Try that in a room with 8 people without feeling self-conscious

Where’s a sombrero if you need one. But seriously: I’m really looking forward to the event: I spent about a whole day planning, arranging and re-arranging the courses I’m going to follow. There’s only time to take 20 of them – much more would make my head spin faster than a Radial Blur in photoshop anyway – and to connect with some of the industry experts. There’s even an iPad App that lets you put together a list of classes you want to attend. Did I mention these guys are well-organised?

Of course I’ll report here in the following days and try to give you some cool tips that I discovered or re-discovered.

One of the cool things about events like that is that there’s also a chance to meet with the Adobe product managers and suggest feature requests for upcoming Photoshop or Lighroom versions. I’ve already got one for a specific future Belgian version of Photoshop: you take the pictures of any two politicians and it automatically merges those into a fully functioning government! I’ve already got a name for it: Merge to Government Pro.*

* For those of you unaware of the Belgian situation right now: we’re close to one year of being without a government so maybe it’s time for some Photoshop help.