Top Tip if you are a photographer who uses Photoshop ( and for many good reasons there are few serious or professional photographers who don’t ):
Go to, download and install The NIK Collection.. It is NOW FREE
What is the NIK Collection..
A collection of plugins and filters that are extremely useful, simple to use and help you process striking images faster… As of March 2016 Google ( who own these plugins ) have made them FREE ( no catches ).
I have been using the NIK collection Photoshop plugins for a couple of years now. StrikingFaces paid over £120 for them originally and now several of the filters have become essential tools in my workflow.
Pre-Sets
Simply put, The NIK collection is a set of useful pre-sets that help you enhance an image. Unlike Instagram they are not locked down so you can adjust the variables on any given image but they make a great start to figuring out what works well, and what doesn’t, with any image.
Many of the plugins also make it easy to make adjustments to areas of an image without affecting the whole and without having to create complicated masks.
Why use them..
Using these plugins can speed up your workflow and help you be more creative in your post processing.
A Learning Curve..
You can overdo effects and anyone who has ever used Instagram knows this. But any Instagram user also knows filters can be used to great effect to make that image POP. It’s a delicate balance.
In my experience, explore the effects and control you can achieve and don’t worry about the ‘but it no longer looks real’. Over time you will naturally learn to strike the right balance.
Everything the filters ( or pre sets ) do, can be achieved in Photoshop manually but they are a great start and really help to speed up creativity and control to help you make those images POP and stand out from the ever increasing crowd.
StrikingFaces are specialist commercial photographers based in the UK, with clients such as the BBC, Kwik-fit, RSPCA, Thompson Holidays. There are many many professional photographers in this world but only a few stand out from the crowd.
More
https://plus.google.com/+NikCollection
