#Lightzone vignette trial

It's my editing suite of choice that I feel offers me almost everything I want in an image editor. In addition to the expected functions, Lightroom includes advanced features such as brushes, gradient tools and specific lens corrections. It's a comprehensive editing suite that sets the standard in its field. Lightroom is probably the most obvious option for people looking for an Aperture replacement.

Or maybe they won't, if Apple is looking for a simpler, more consumer-friendly package. It's possible that Aperture's features will be integrated into whatever comes next. Still, it's probably worth bearing in mind that the open-source options don't have such pretty interfaces as the paid-for programmes.Īnd finally, we really don't know what Apple's plans are for its photo management and editing programmes. I remember opening Lightroom for the first time and wondering if it controlled the International Space Station, too. While it is entirely possible that some of these programmes do have seriously unfriendly workflows and interfaces, it might also a case of them being different to what you know. They're all Raw compatible, but do double-check their non-destructive capability.Ī standard gripe for the majority of these programmes is that they're tricky to get to learn, or that the interfaces aren't intuitive. I've pulled together ten Aperture alternatives and sought out their positive and negative features. Now that everyone has got over their shock that Apple will be consolidating its image editing and organisation features later this year, with the result that its top-end programme Aperture will be closing up completely, people are probably beginning to think about alternatives. From time to time, you’ll want a low-contrast image, but, generally speaking, your photos can be improved by increasing the contrast a touch. Images shot on bright sunny days tend to have a lot of contrast, with dark shadows and bright highlights, but those taken in fog won’t have a great deal of tonal variation and will be low contrast. I don't recommend bumping up the saturation too much it can result in a cartoon effect rather than a photo! ContrastĬontrast is the difference between the dark and light tones in your photos. Now if you want to intensify or tone down your colours, you can do so using the saturation slider.

#Lightzone vignette trial

It's a case of trial and error to make the right adjustment, but the more that you practise it, the better you'll understand the shortcomings of your camera and how it reacts to different types of light. If the whites are too reddish in tone, or the photo looks a bit warm, slide it to the right. If you think the whites are looking a bit too blue (or if an image looks a little 'cold' over all), nudge the slider to the right.

It's a relatively easy correction to make using the 'Warmth' or 'White Balance' function in an editing programme. It might be a case of reinforcing the rule of thirds, removing a bit of unwanted background that crept into the frame, or getting a bit closer to your subject. However well composed you think your image is, it will almost certainly benefit from having a few pixels shaved off it. They're not complicated and they'll make a world of difference. Here at Photocritic we call them The Three Cs. This isn't about air-brushing away half of someone's thigh, but about making minor adjustments to three specific areas: the crop, the colour, and the contrast.

A snip here and a swipe there can elevate an ordinary image into something a bit more special. If it's good enough for Cecil Beaton and Horst, it's good enough for us, too. While Team Photocritic advocates getting as much right in-camera as possible-you'll certainly not be able to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse-we're not beyond a little post-processing, either. And it's something I think deserves remedying. Take a look at the infographic and guess which it was.ĭespite the prevalence of Instagram, the host of editing features that are built into apps such as EyeEm, Facebook, and Twitter, and the plethora of free-to-download editing programmes, only 28% of photos are cropped or styled in some way? Wow! I am surprised. Earlier this week an infographic design agency, NeoMam Studios, sent us an infographic about 'smoasting' which they'd produced on behalf of print company Photobox. Once I'd got over the shock of awful elision of 'social media' and 'boast' to form the ghastly portmanteau word 'smoast', there was one particular statistic that caught my eye.