Tag Archives: software

*Happy Halloween! Using ReMask, Clarity and AS Exposure for some holiday fun.

by in Photography tutorials, Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

happy halloween

 

Halloween is upon us.  We’re only a week away from discounted bags of little candies and the beginnings of Christmas decorations adorning every retail outlet.  With Topaz currently offering their cool photo enhancement plugin Topaz Clarity at 25% off until this Friday Oct 31st (Click HERE and use code “octclarity”), I thought it would be fun to use it as part of a little tutorial.  Last year, when Topaz ReMask went on sale, I used my jack o’lantern as my muse and replaced my head with it.  After fielding inquiries about my penchant for replacing my head with pumpkins, cameras and various other objects over the last couple years, I thought I’d take the opportunity to show you how easy it is, while creating a fun family portrait in the meantime.  I’ve set up links to download free trials of all the plugins used if you’d like to try it yourself.  Come on in…

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*Been waiting for this one. Topaz Clarity on sale!

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

P1070930Ever since Topaz Clarity came out last year, I’ve fielded inquiry upon inquiry about my thoughts on it, and if I knew when it would possibly go on sale…  Well, come on in for a few of my thoughts, and yes, it’s on sale now through the end of October for 25% off HERE via Topaz Labs (use code “octclarity ” at checkout to get 25% off making the normal $49.99 a paltry $37.50).  If you want to see what Clarity offers, why not try downloading the full, free trial via the link above.  It’s a good one… Continue reading →

*I thought my way was easy… Hair Masking made ridiculously simple, and remarkably effective.

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

topaz remark does it again!

I get a lot of email trying to promote, or sell me stuff daily.  Deals on this, or sales on that.  Discounts on memory cards, or steep cuts on camera kit prices.  Normally, I quickly scan them and toss them as my time and energy is pretty minimal these days.

As any readers will know, my enjoyment of the Topaz plugins run deep, and although I only started to use ReMask last year, it has been a revelation for me, especially when it comes to meticulous selection tasks, like hair.

Imagine my surprise when up pops an even simpler hair masking tutorial from our friends at Topaz Labs showing that you can turn a task that without ReMask has taken me up to an hour or more into an even more remarkably time saving step of about 3-5 minutes at the most.

Seriously.  If you use photoshop, and you ever have had to select something like hair, you’ll know how tedious it can be even with the best techniques in Photoshop.

Oh yeah, and on top of this killer tutorial, they’re offering ReMask for 20% off (click HERE to download the free trial, or buy ReMask on Sale using code: “hairmask20”)!!!  It’s a little, unofficial sale that I didn’t see coming.

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*Congratulations to Billyburg! Our first semi-annual Flickr Photo Blog Challenge Winner.

by in Photo Blog Challenge and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Evening Glow by billyburg

 

“Evening Glow” by billyburg (visit and see more from billyburg HERE)

Our first giveaway winner has been decided by you guys.  With a combined effort between my site and Heather and Mat’s site Mirrorlessons (visit them HERE), billyburg has compiled the most votes, and is your first semi annual Flickr Photo Blog Challenge Winner.

Congratulations billyburg, and thank you to everyone who voted, and submitted over the last six months.

Billyburg has won a custom built T&T Garda wrist strap (see more HERE) as well as a Topaz Plugin of his  choice!  We hope to continue to build our community through these fun, free monthly challenges, and if you’ve not yet submitted, you have a chance monthly.  The winner of each month’s challenge gets to choose the theme for the next month while getting exposure both here and on Heather and Mat’s site.

Find us on Flickr:

TRP Flickr Group

Mirrorlessons Flickr Group

Thanks again to Heather and Mat for a fun and successful hosting of 6 months worth of challenges.  Here’s to our next 6 months and beyond.

All the best, and happy shooting!

Tyson

*Brand New Topaz Impression, for artistic exploration.

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

ImpressionFullblog

Through the photo industry insanity that seems to come along every time Photokina shows up, it’s easy to let other announcements fall through the cracks.  Topaz has quietly announced yet another brand new program, and it is awesome.  Topaz takes aim at the digital painting software realm with Topaz Impression.  On sale through September for 25% off as an introductory offer (use code SEPIMPRESSION at checkout) CLICK HERE, it may be the creative kick you’ve been looking for.  Come on in to see more…

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*More Free Filters for Topaz Adjust!

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

o-retrostyleV

 – Retro Style V –

If you missed it, Topaz is offering their popular plugin Adjust for half off through the month of August.  I’ve already shilled for it, but this morning I got the Topaz newsletter which included 20 new, free presets for Adjust users.  I’ve downloaded and played around with them and they’re a great bundling of retro/vintage filters.  I ran this portrait through each of them and I’m impressed with more than a few.  If you’ve not yet checked out Adjust, you can download the full trial for free HERE (click on ‘buy adjust’ and find the trial link at the bottom of the page).  If you want to purchase it, you can do so HERE and enter “augadjust” to get it for 50% off (now $25 through the end of the month).  If you do choose to buy it, or already have it and didn’t get the newsletter, might I suggest going to the Topaz Newsletter HERE to download the 20 new, free filters (button at the top right) and follow the easy instructions to add them to your library of filters for Adjust (at the bottom of the article).  Come on in to see more versions, showing a few more of these cool filters.

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*Topaz ReMask4 – Free upgrade now available!

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2014-07-21 at 10.44.49 AM

If you hadn’t heard, Topaz has ReMask on sale for half off this month, and they’ve also just updated it to version 4!

download a full free trial, update for free or purchase via Topazlabs website HERE

– enter “julyremask” to get 50% off

If you own ReMask3, simply download and instal the newer version from the link above and you’re golden!

The interface has been streamlined and simplified while it still provides the same amazing tool for the extraction of subjects by simple, quick and efficient selection and masking for a variety of host programs.

IMG_4306

I’ve reviewed ReMask twice and continue to find uses for it which saves me an amazing amount of time in Photoshop.  I’ve rambled on about it but it really is an amazing tool and time saver which I’d suggest trying out for yourself. With the new version, it has streamlined it into a quicker, more user-friendly interface which falls in line with the more recent design changes for other Topaz plugins.  Click these links to see my reviews and simple tutorials if interested:

Topaz ReMask Tutorial and Review

Topaz ReMask3 – Why have I not been using this until now?

Try it out.  We have until the end of this month to take advantage of the 50% off sale.

Enjoy and feel free to fire off any questions, I’d love to try and help answer them.

Happy shooting,

Tyson

*Topaz ReMask On Sale! If you use photoshop, you should try it, trust me.

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

IMG_0456 - 2008-08-17 at 16-20-00 - Version 2

Another month, another killer Topaz sale.  This time around, it’s ReMask.  On sale for half off through the end of the month, they’re also going to be offering a free, “substantial” update for existing customers, so if you’re a ReMask user, get on it!  I’d reviewed Re-Mask a while ago, and I have been using it religiously since.  You can find Re-Mask HERE via the Topaz website for 50% off!!! ($35, normally $70)  Use code “julyremask” to get the discount.  If you’d like to hear more about my thoughts and see a quick example/tutorial on how to get started with it, come on in…

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*Alien Skin Exposure 6, now available!

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P1050201 Alien Skin is a company focused on producing very high end and useful software plugins.  Two of my favorites from Alien Skin have always been Exposure for the remarkable film emulation filters, and Bokeh for the focus control.  Now, Alien Skin has chosen to merge both of these into one super plugin in Exposure 6. Continue reading →

*Topaz Detail 3, my first run

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

TimberlinePano (1)

Hi all and welcome to a quick review on your Topaz special plugin of the month!  This month Topaz is running a special on Detail 3 for 50% off!  Normally $39.99, if you use the code “aprdetail” HERE on Topazlabs website, the price drops down to $19.99!!!

That’s all well and good, but what does Detail do?  I had not tried it until I was made aware of the sale, so here is my experience and thoughts on what I think it is best at doing.

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