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LightZone ~ anyone using it ?

Riley

By Riley
in Digital Forum

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Guest stnami

Guest stnami

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Steve

Imants, had been wondering what developers you use to create ....

I ask myself a heap of questions such as What is the image about? Why did I take it? What do I want to say? Is it a emotive thing or a concept? etc

Then its a selection is this for Lightroom only, CS2, Lightroom+CS2+Alien Skin.+Lightroom,

or

for example a colour image all about harmony of colour it is Raw Developer + LightZone.

or

It all depends as to me the whole thing is intuitive, sorta bang this needs that or this, lots of stuff is straight from the camera raw no sharpening no nothing.

After the initial save on a HD and disc( most which never see the light of day again) images are converted to dng on a seperate HD and that's where they sit in a ramshackle filing system, ie years taken and a title is about all the order they are in.

Then they just get made up either for printing (once printed the image is discarded and back to the original dng) ,on the net they stay on my site discarded and deleted. This retains a fluid nature to my work, things are not precious or objects, just things that happened or were.

 

So no real answer... except... its easy to pull a rabbit out of a hat no matter what camera or post processing application one uses

 

If you want reality be there and watch or participate in it live, otherwise one is free to make up stuff

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Guest malland

Guest malland

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I agree: there is no formula as to what is the best way to go. One just feels what one wants to accomlish, and pulls out one tool or another, according to what one feels. There are many ways to get to the same goal, and which tool one uses is not that important. Nor, is there a "best" one.

 

—Mitch

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/

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eronald

eronald

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Edmund,

 

do you plan to make calibrations for Lightroom/ACR?

 

Uwe

 

Uwe,

 

I'll put it on my things to do list. If people are ready to contribute, rather than freeload, I'd make one.

There's a difference between doing a hack to see whether it works and making something good enough to release, as I'm sure you know.

A releasable product requires much more effort.

 

Also, PS is a special case as it does not use standard ICC input profiles, Thomas doesn't like them. I am not quite sure about Lightroom.

 

By the way, 600 people have visited my download page, 6 or 7 have donated. I seem to be better at technical stuff than at business.

 

Edmund

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ustein

ustein

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>By the way, 600 people have visited my download page, 6 or 7 have donated. I seem to be better at technical stuff than at business.

 

I think that is a normal ratio. People like free and download does not mean using the stuff for real later.

 

Uwe

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Jamie Roberts

Jamie Roberts

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Imants, Uwe,

 

I couldn't agree more about using the right tools for the job; no-one converter or preview system does it for my images either.

 

I also really, really like LightZone for BW work; just like zone work with film :) It works really well with the M8 but also with my Canons, too.

 

Colour keeps eluding me, though; I find it really takes a fine touch with colour not to shift midtone values too much (and I do mean too much) for a lot of work--I sort of wish there was a way to work in luminance only at times (sort of LightZone in LAB space).

BTW--if there is a way to do this, I'd love to know about it.

 

Just being able to white balance two (or more) different types of light in a single shot really does rock, and makes it worth the price for me.

 

I also can't quite wrap my head around the lack of a curves control. Sometimes, I really want a curves control! ;)

 

So I do most of the colour work with C1 and PS/ Alien Skin; BW with LightZone and PS / Alien Skin (though sometimes the JFI profiles for C1 are a perfect place to start).

 

I'll dig into LightRoom now that I get a free copy from RSP...

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ustein

ustein

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>I find it really takes a fine touch with colour not to shift midtone values too much (and I do mean too much) for a lot of work--I sort of wish there was a way to work in luminance only

 

Not sure what you mean. ZoneMappers work in Luminance or RGB (your choice).

 

>I couldn't agree more about using the right tools for the job; no-one converter or preview system does it for my images either.

 

Right, just yesterday could do highlight recovery in Aperure on a M8 file that is close to impossible in Lightroom or other tools.

 

But then again I do all color work also in LightZone.

 

Uwe

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eronald

eronald

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The most amazing highlight recovery I have seen to date is dcraw -

since I have got it working with a profile it has blown my socks off.

 

Coincidentally, I wonder whether Aperture is not just a pretty UI wrapped around dcraw.

 

Edmund

 

>

 

Right, just yesterday could do highlight recovery in Aperure on a M8 file that is close to impossible in Lightroom or other tools.

 

But then again I do all color work also in LightZone.

 

Uwe

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Guest stevenrk

Guest stevenrk

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Steve

 

...Then they just get made up either for printing (once printed the image is discarded and back to the original dng) ,on the net they stay on my site discarded and deleted. This retains a fluid nature to my work, things are not precious or objects, just things that happened or were.

 

 

Imants, thank you for your insight on how you come to an image. What you say above is stunning. Not quite as much as some of your images, but pretty much as against the whole grain of how most of us see digital imaging. Has left me pondering some basic assumptions I had not thought of questioning.

 

I just went back to your site -- as you know have it bookmarked on my list of photographers that I go to for inspiration -- and realize that even on some of the collections that I saw last time, some images are gone, new ones there, reworking of others. Not sure of that, because your images are so immediate and emotional that it may simply be that I see them as different because I am coming to them in a different mood, but is that right? If so, a mix of admiration and some regret because of some images that I would have wanted to see again -- but I get what you're saying and take my hat off to you for the courage to act your convinctions.

 

Closer -- I would say -- to the heart of Leica and the image makers who used it when 35mm film was the new format. Although even some of them made more than one print before sending the negative back to its sleeve!

 

The new image on your main page is striking. The digital image seems to be moving more towards just the canvas. As is your series on Place -- I think new since the last time I visited, or evolved.

 

Best, Steven

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Jamie Roberts

Jamie Roberts

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>I find it really takes a fine touch with colour not to shift midtone values too much (and I do mean too much) for a lot of work--I sort of wish there was a way to work in luminance only

 

Not sure what you mean. ZoneMappers work in Luminance or RGB (your choice).

 

{snipped}

 

I will have another look, Uwe; I just seem to be able to mess up color more quickly with LightZone than any other tool in colour, and that's probably just me :)

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Guest stnami

Guest stnami

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I botch colour quickly with lightZone as well things go a bit flat for me

 

 

Steve I am somewhat quite attuned to being a kinesthetic case, hey ward 017 has been good to me. It is a fairly tough way to work but I really have to retain a dynamic flow with what I do do otherwise boredom sets in. LIke all this Dreamweaver junk I am shovelling into my dead so I can set up my own site on my own terms.

Lightroom/ LightZone is a great combination, though I miss lab space

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Guest stevenrk

Guest stevenrk

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I botch colour quickly with lightZone as well things go a bit flat for me

 

 

Steve I am somewhat quite attuned to being a kinesthetic case, hey ward 017 has been good to me. It is a fairly tough way to work but I really have to retain a dynamic flow with what I do do otherwise boredom sets in. LIke all this Dreamweaver junk I am shovelling into my dead so I can set up my own site on my own terms.

Lightroom/ LightZone is a great combination, though I miss lab space

 

Imant, but why not make the RAW conversion process simple and work in LAB in PS? LZ is a nice tool, but there is still no comparing LZ to the sophistication of Curves in PS -- and find Curvemeister a very good way of working with them in the LAB space.

 

Best, Steven

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Guest stnami

Guest stnami

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Yea LAB space is not such a problem with the B&W images. I do like LAB curves in Raw Developer (abit cumbersome)for colour work, I think it is one of the few raw convertors that have it, it seems a bit second hand in PS. All these pluses and minuses, though it does add to variety

I am on a mac as well

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Guest stevenrk

Guest stevenrk

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All these pluses and minuses, though it does add to variety

I am on a mac as well

 

Imants, life is full of them. Looks like you've figured out some good ones for your images. Best, Steven

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