*Topaz End of Year Sale, anything and everything 35% off w/ @topazlabs

Topaz Super Sale!

Hot on the heels of the Complete Collection Cyber Sale, Topaz Labs is offering anything and everything for 35% off.  If you’ve been waiting to try, grab or buy a Topaz plugin or two, now is an awesome time to do so.  You can find the sale on the Topaz Labs website HERE, and use code “TOPAZ2015” to get 35% off of anything that Topaz offers through the end of the year.

If you’d like to see more about my personal favorites, click the following links to my reviews.  I use many of the Topaz plugins, very often for personal stuff, along with most all my paid projects.

Topaz Adjust (reg $49.99, now $32.49) – the flagship Topaz plugin, and a great companion to high dynamic range photography.

Topaz Clarity (reg $49.99, now $32.49) – My go to for beautiful image definition through contrast without haloing.  Simply awesome. 

Topaz DeNoise (reg $79.99, now $51.99) – In my experience, this has been the best noise reduction plugin, hands down.

Topaz Glow (reg $69.99, now $45.49) – If ever you’ve searched for Fractalius, this is like that, only way better.  Fractalized and beautifully surreal effects.

Topaz Impression  (reg $99.99, now $64.99) – Adding a touch of hand painted flair, or going full blown Picasso, Impression is an awesome multi media simulation software.

Topaz ReMask (reg $69.99, now $45.49) – I might use ReMask more than any other plugin (topaz or otherwise).  If you use a layer based editor like Photoshop, and you’ve ever needed to select something (like oh, I don’t know, HAIR!), save yourself an amazing amount of time and try this out.  

You can try any and all of the Topaz plugins for free.  I really suggest that you do.  Don’t take my word for it.  Download the free trials via Topaz HERE, and give them a go.  If you do want to buy them, and you do so before December 31st, 2015, you can get 35% off using code “TOPAZ2015”!

Share your results with us via our Flickr Group HERE, or find me on the socials;  Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Instagram.  If you’d like to receive my reviews, tutorials and sale posts as I release them, feel free to add your email to the top right of the page here and you’ll get them emailed as soon as they’re posted.  I’m currently working on a couple fun lens reviews along with a full frame vs micro 4/3 sensor comparison which should be showing up soon after the new year.

If you’ve got any questions, fire them off.  Thanks for the read and I hope that all is well, wherever you are.

Happy holidays, and happy shooting,

Tyson

*The Topaz plugin half off sale is here with @topazlabs

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Starting today through the end of the month, Topaz is offering everything for 50% off.  The entire collection (normally $500) is available for $250 HERE, and as an extra added bonus, for those of us who already own some or many Topaz plugins, we can still take advantage of the sale by logging into our account via the Topaz Labs website (here) and gaining the 50% off on additional plugins by using the code “BLACKFRIDAY2015” at checkout.  The Complete Collection is already at a 50% discount from the full price for all plugins individually ($1,010), so really, if starting from scratch, this is really a 75% discount from purchasing the plugins one by one, which is kind of nuts.  

I’ve never shied away from praise for the various Topaz plugins I use regularly, and feel that there are a handful of irreplaceable plugins in my workflow.  The complete collection includes 17 plugins from DeNoise, ReMask, Adjust and Clarity to the brand new Texture Effects.

Come on in for more details and to see the full list of plugins… 

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*Quick look! Check out the dynamic range recovery on the GX8, which also happens to be on sale!

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I am mere hours of work away from posting my GX7 vs GX8 final comparison, but going through images from my work trip last week, I came across a snapshot I took while rushing to catch the tram.  The sun rise was begging to be recorded, and I quickly pulled my GX8 (on sale for $200 off right now DOH! see it at B&H HERE and Adorama HERE) with the PL15mm out of the bag and literally stopped walking for a second to take this shot.  The sky dominated the exposure, as it should have in this case, and just now I tried bringing up the shadows to see what I could get as I’d not really pushed any of the GX8 frames quite this far, in this way.  Well, color me frigging impressed… have a look:

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*First Look. Brand New Topaz Texture Effects on sale w/ @topazlabs

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Topaz continues to provide fun, intuitive and effective plugins with their most recent release, Topaz Texture Effects.  On sale via Topaz Labs website HERE for 30% off (normally $69.99, on sale through November 20th for $49.99 when you use code “TEXTUREFX” at checkout), as is often Topaz’ MO for new releases.  Come on in to read my thoughts, and to see more…

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*Pana-Leica 15mm f/1.7 ASPH Lens on Sale!

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This little gem is on sale for $70 off right now.  I’m not normally a sale pumper unless it is for stuff I use, I like and I would recommend.  If you’ve been on the fence, or waiting for this lens to drop a little, here’s a great opportunity to save a good amount of money on a great little lens.

Find the Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 Aspherical lens on sale at Adorama HERE and B&H HERE.

If you’d like to see my review on the Leica 15mm, you can read that HERE.

Or, if you’d also like to read the head to head (to head) between the Leica 15, and the two Lumix Pancakes (14mm and 20mm) I did a comparison article HERE.

It is a great mate to any of the micro 4/3 cameras, especially the GM bodies, and is compact and lightweight enough to go largely unnoticed in the bag.  I’ve been shooting the 15mm on the new GX8 with its 20mp sensor providing great results for me.

 

*From the hip. A retouch tutorial, using @alienskin Exposure, October 2015 with Billyburg.

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Hi all!  Welcome to a new, recurring feature on the blog here.  I’m partnering with Alien Skin software to work through the processing of images using their Exposure software.  Alien Skin Exposure is one of the most complete software processing solutions that I use, and I just love it.  With each new release, the functionality and depth become greater and more streamlined.  Exposure X is in its final beta, and should be ready to go very soon.  You can download a free trial of Exposure HERE if you’d like, and follow along with one of your own images as we explore what Exposure has to offer, together.  (if you’re looking for a discount code, you can get 10% off any Alien Skin software using the code “tysonrobichaud” so have at it).

Using images submitted by readers, I will retouch, process and in general, just have fun playing around with them as I might one of my own images, sharing my process step by step along the way.  I’ll be using Exposure X today (which may look a little different compared to the screenshots below, when finalized) to process a submitted image from my friend, Billyburg (see more from him on flickr here).  

Without further ado…

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*Topaz ReMask 5 is here! Free upgrade, or on sale for 30% off with @topazlabs

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I’ve reviewed ReMask a couple times before, and have spoken at length about how useful I find it.  If you use any layer based software, like Photoshop, or Affinity, this is a remarkable piece of software capable of saving hours upon hours.  ReMask5 is available as a free upgrade to anyone who owns an earlier version, or on sale for new folk at 30% off, $49.99 (normally $69.99) via Topaz Labs website HERE  

While ReMask has always functioned as a plugin for Photoshop, version 5 now operates as a standalone too!  This is great news for those of us who may be starting to work Adobe software out of our workflow as you can now select and mask a subject in an image within the program itself, and open that up in any layer based program.  Good news for the photography community at large as options are always good.  I still use PS CS6, but have started to work with Affinity Photo in anticipation of CS6 becoming unsupported at some point down the line.  Knowing that I’ll be able to continue to use ReMask if and when that happens has made me very happy.

C’mon in for a look at how easy it is to use ReMask5!

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*Alien Skin Software is 40% off right now! Summer sale w/ @alienskin

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As a long standing fan of Alien Skin products, I find that it is my duty to alert you guys to their substantial price cuts on all software.  Full disclosure, I make no commissions on any sales of Alien Skin software during their sale, which while I’m a bit bummed about that, it is a great deal on some great apps.  Any and everything is 40% off through this Wednesday, the 26th, so  check it out at AlienSkin.com HERE 

You can download free trials of anything they have going.  I really like Exposure, myself.  Hit me up if you have any questions in the comments or on  Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Instagram. If you’d like to receive email notifications on sales, reviews and tutorials, please feel free to add your email address at the top right of the page here. You’ll get email alerts as new articles are released.

Happy shooting!

Tyson

*Topaz Adjust, ‘a bit of everything Topaz’ plugin on sale! w/ @topazlabs

For many of us, Topaz Adjust was the first Topaz plugin that we bought.  It was a one click solution to enhance a variety of images in a multitude of ways.  Many of the newer Topaz plugins have even been born as an expansion from some of the filters in Adjust, so I guess you could call it the OG Topaz plugin.  It has grown over the years to include many more filters and is onto version 5.

It is currently on sale for $29.99, 40% off through July (normally $49.99) on Topaz Labs website HERE (use code julyadjust at checkout).

If you’d like to see and read more about my thoughts on Adjust, come on in!

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*Yes! Topaz DeNoise on sale!!! 25% off through June @topazlabs

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I’m often asked about various plugins that I use, and would recommend.  One that I always suggest, and state as one of my go to’s is DeNoise, and it is $20 off through the end of the month (use code “junedenoise” at checkout) HERE!  DeNoise usually goes on sale about once every year for a couple weeks, so if you’ve been waiting for this plugin to go on sale, here ya go!  If you’ve not yet tried DeNoise, I suggest downloading the free trial via the link above, at least and seeing what it can do.  C’mon in for some examples and my take on why I find it to be so useful.

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