Month: May 2021

Fujifilm Profiles

Fujifilm Profiles

Recently while watching a webinar on Capture One Pro one of the attendees wished that he could adjust the order that the Fujifilm Simulations were listed when selecting the profile to use on an image.

The reasoning was that he wasn’t sure which simulation was the one he wanted to use on an image. I didn’t see a real need as I only use a couple of them and it easy just mouse over each simulation to see what it does to the image.

Given that the Auto simulation is the simulation that you have set in you Fujifilm camera, I rarely find that I need to look at more than two other simulations. In camera I tend to use STD which is PROVIA (STANDARD). The more I thought about it the more I realized that my default simulation works a lot of the time. What I did realize is that I change most when there is a lot of sky or no sky. When the sky make a big part of the image i tend to use CLASSIC CHROME while if there is little or no sky, I tend to stay with PROVIA or if the image calls for it I will crank it up with Velvia see previous post about that. Now on big sky images it is mostly personal preference but I tend to use CLASSIC CHROME for its more muted blues (with a hint of green) but if the sky isn’t necessarly the subject I’ll probably use PROVIA.


What I have found is that I’ve come to know the simulations by how they treat the blue parts of the image:

  • Classic Chrome is a more muted blue with a slightly green tint.
  • Standard has a nice rich blue without going overboard.
  • Velvia has a saturated blue with a slightly purple tint.

So as I look at the image I can decide on which simulation based on what I want the blue to do in the image. Then go right to simulation I want.

Classic Chrome
Provia (STD)
Velvia (VIVID)

It takes some time to get used to what each simulation does to colors and contrast but once you do you can quickly dial in what you want. The same thing works for the black and white simulations (although those are all right together). If you want a dark sky go with the Red filter.

A Little Clarity

A Little Clarity

The recent upgrade to Capture One Pro (version 21.1.1 also 14.1.1) has added what they call Style Brushes. You can make your own style brushes plus there are a number of quite nice standard style brushes. Style brushes differ from Styles in that Styles takes over the whole layer. If you are on the background layer when you apply a style it may/will change setting of different effects. Style Brushes on the other hand are more specific. When you choose a style brush you get a new layer with no applied mask. You then brush in the style exactly where you want it to be.

You can create your own style brushes too. Posting on creating your own will have to wait. Today’s image was created using several standard style brushes plus one of my own (called Clarity Plus) that allows you to slowly brush clarity on to my image. I used it mostly along the line of blue on the right past the engine to the end of the wings on the left.

Style Brushes really do make you think differently about how you process your images. I’ve change my workflow because these are so easy to incorporate. More to come…

The Friends You Make

The Friends You Make

I really enjoyed going to PhotoshopWorld for quite a number of years. I think the grand total was 14 although it might have been 13. Does not matter. What matters as a photographer is that you connect with other photographers so that you can learn with them, learn from them, and become better at what you love to do.

Each time they had the event I would make sure that I helped any new attendees feel at home and to remind them to make sure they introduced themselves to the people that would be sitting next to them at any of the sessions. After all we were all attending the session because we had the same interests in learning and especially in learning specific processes to enhance our photography or graphic design or videography skills.

I made a lot of good friends over the years at each PSW conference. Always someone new to meet as well as to catch up with friends from previous PSW’s. I actually met John when I invited him to join me for a buffet breakfast at Mandalay Bay a number of years ago. The only thing we had in common at that point was we were both wearing our attendee badges. There after we would see each other before the opening ceremony. John was from Boston and soon I had met the intrepid photography group from Boston.

Thru John I met Deb, and John B, and Darren Clark (who wasn’t from Boston but somehow was adopted by the other three.) Each year and sometimes twice a year we would see each other. The last PhotoshopWorld was fall of 2019. I have not seen John since. Now I won’t anymore as he suddenly passes away a few days ago, way to early. So I am extremely sad to see that he is gone but glad that he and I made the effort to see our mutual interests and become friends.

Find people that are like you, they are out there. Make friends. You will be better off for it.

Darren, Deb, John and John

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