The 5DayDeal irrevocably ends in…
My personal top five
There's so much stuff in the new edition of the 5DayDeal, that annual new bundle for all photographic training and other photographic tools such as presets, overlays, actions and more, that it's easy to be overwhelmed. In a prior blog post, I already covered the full offer. In this blog post I want to dig a bit deeper into my personal top five!
Aurora HDR 2019
Aurora HDR 2019 is by the same makers as Luminar and is one of the best – if not the best – HDR software application on the market today. If you think that HDR is only useful to make those exaggerated, cartoonish grungy edits, you're mistaken. Of course you can do that too, but HDR software is also used by landscape and architectural photographers. Something few people know, is that you can also use it to make some very moody black-and-whites, either in combination with Lightroom or Photoshop or not. Aurora HDR 2019 is normally $99. Now, you can get it together with all the other tools in the 5DayDeal for less than that. Aurora HDR 2019 is part of the basic Photography Bundle of $89.
2. Serge Ramelli’s Fine Art Photography Masterclass
Serge Ramelli is somewhat of a phenomenon. This Frenchie-with-the-charming-English-accent has managed to build a proper Lightroom training imperium over the last couple of years. 500,000 YouTube followers? I can only dream of it! In general, I often think his edits are a little over-the-top – which coming from me means something as I don't shy away from a bold Lightroom slider move or two – but as the French say ‘Qui peut le plus, peut le moins’. The Lightroom tutorials in his Fine Art Photography Master class are pretty advanced and they showcase some surprising, out-of-the-box applications of specific Lightroom tools. Amongst others, there is a really nice day-to-night tutorial in which he transforms a picture that he took during the day into a night scene. Serge’s entire Masterclass normally retails for $147. Now you can get it for $89 together with all the rest of the tutorials in the 5DayDeal.
3. Getting Started with Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw
Blake Rudis of f/64 Academy is a big name in the Photoshop training industry. He's also made a couple of Photoshop panels that are very popular with landscape photographers. In this course, he takes a really deep dive into Adobe Camera Raw. After all, not everybody works with Lightroom :-) How deep? Well… I've learned more than one thing and I'm only halfway the course. That should tell you something…
4. The Artist by Joel Grimes
Joel’s signature light setup: twoi strip lights and a beauty dish in a butterfly light position.
I think I've got about every tutorial that Joel Grimes has ever published. The fact that I started to pay more attention in my photography to working with rim light and striplights, I have Joel to thank for. This year's 5DayDeal bundle features his ‘The Artist’ course. This isn't a real hands-on tutorial but rather a motivating, almost philosophical course about how to improve in your photography, also if you're doing this for a living. Throughout the course, you'll see plenty of examples of Joel's work. Amidst all the more practical courses in the 5DayDeal, this course is a welcome and motivating change. In this course, Joel also talks about overcoming your limitations as a photographer and he knows what he's talking about, as he is colourblind! This course normally retails for $179. Now it's in the bundle, with 70 hours of other tutorials for only $89.
5. Complete Posing workshop by SLR Lounge
You know the feeling? During a workshop or on the tradeshow, generally you'll be photographing professional models that can strike a different pose with every click of your camera. But then back home, when you try to apply your recently acquired skills on your neighbour's son or daughter or even worse, on your own kids, things don't work quite as well. Posing is one of the most underestimated skills in photography. Really good models take years to get to that point. But… As a photographer you can lend your models a helping hand. In the Complete Posing Workshop by SLR Lounge there is no shortage of ideas and techniques to give even the most clumsy sitter a camera-friendly pose. This course was an eye-opener, also for me! It talks about posing men, women and – the most difficult skill of all – posing couples! The nice thing about it is that it is in part filmed live and that the public, consisting of amateur photographers, takes turns at taking the pictures while the teacher gives directions. This way, you can also learn from the mistakes that are being made.
My favourites from the Charity Bundle and the Pro-Bundle
The 5DayDeal base bundle is $89, but upon checkout, you can optionally purchase two smaller add-on bundles: the Charity Bundle and the Pro-Bundle, which will respectively set you back 24 and $39 extra. It obviously depends on your budget, but there are a couple of hidden gems amongst those two extra bundles as well. I've picked one from each bundle:
“I purchased the 5DayDeal 2 years ago. Zero regret. This one sounds even better. These packages hold extreme value and they also contribute to a very worthy cause. Such high profile contributors ensure that the quality of product and software is top notch. I can highly recommend these pacakages to anyone looking to lift their game.”
The Beginner’s guide to Photoshop (part of the Charity Bundle)
In addition to my own Photoshop for Lightroom Users course, there is another Photoshop course in the 5DayDeal. However it's not in the $89 base bundle but in the Charity Bundle. If one of your goals is to learn Photoshop, I really advise you to add the Charity Bundle to your order. This is a course by Phlearn, an authority in the field of Photoshop courses. After having watched both this course and my own, Photoshop won't have many secrets left for you!
Beverage Photography and Retouching with Rob Grimm (part of the Pro Bundle)
In this beautifully shot tutorial, you get a number of examples of the preparation, lighting setup, shooting and postprocessing of beverages, one of the trickiest forms of product and studio photography. This tutorial normally retails for $99, now it is part of the optional Pro-Bundle of $39 that you can add to the basic Photography bundle of $89.
Watched two videos from my ‘Photoshop for Lightroom users’ course for free, this weekend!
Because I'm humble, shy or both :-) – I haven't listed my own Photoshop for Lightroom users course in the top five. But in the meantime, you should know that this brand-new, seven hour course is also part of the 5DayDeal bundle. My course comprises 25 case studies (‘chapters’) with exercise files about when and how as a Lightroom user, you should go to Photoshop and back. As promised, until the end of the 5DayDeal, each day I’ll stream an entire chapter of my course for free! And because tomorrow is Sunday and I don't want to send out any emails, I'm already putting Sunday's video online today! Twice the viewing pleasure :-)
The first video is about how you can use Photoshop to clone… in perspective! You can do so with the remarkable yet highly unknown Vanishing Point Filter. The second video is about Content Aware Fill, another one of those things that I regularly go from Lightroom to Photoshop for.
Did you pick up something? Then imagine what you could learn from the full seven hour course and from all the other courses in the 2019 edition of the 5DayDeal!
Extra bonus! Buy the 5DayDeal through my link and you will receive one of the bonuses below completely free:
As a thank you for buying the 5DayDeal (and therefore my new course) through my affiliate link, I've got an extra gift for you: you can pick one item from the following list! How about one of my two texture packs, one of my two Creative Profiles packs for Lightroom Classic, a preset pack for Lightroom or a complete introductory course to Lightroom Classic? Once you've purchased the 5DayDeal bundle through this link, this other link will give you all the information you need to claim the bonus of your choice. Important: don't go looking for that bonus during the checkout procedure on the actual 5DayDeal site: this bonus is an extra offered by me personally and therefore delivery of it is handled by me, via this form!
*: + VAT for European citizens. If you have a VAT number, you can enter that during checkout and you can order VAT-free.
Affiliate disclaimer: the links in this blog post are affiliate links. When you use these links, MoreThanWords receives a commission. This commission is paid for entirely by the organizer of the bundle, 5DayDeal. Therefore this commission doesn't cost you anything extra. On the contrary, when you use my affiliate link you will receive an extra bonus that you wouldn't have had when purchasing directly.