New

Yes, it is true, I have been lax in posting fotos. I have excuses as always, but behind the curtain, things are changing. I’ve been upgrading my software and equipment as time and budget allow – working towards a goal I have had for a long time. One of the things I have wanted for quite a while is a better photo editing system. I have used Photoshop for as long as I can remember and although I am fairly competent using it – it is time consuming and not intuitive for someone trained in traditional photography.

Recently I came across LightZone and decided to take it for the 30 day trial that is offered. Right now, my digital camera isn’t what I would like, but it does a reasonable job. I recently upgraded my external storage to handle my needs and looking forward to when I upgrade my camera. Now was a good time to try several of the applications and see what works for me.

I tried Aperture, Lightroom, and LightZone. Photoshop goes without saying since it is my current “photographic darkroom.” Without getting into too much detail I found that while Aperture and Lightroom are good, they are centered on being “digital asset managers” more than on being a creative tool. I already have a way to save my photos that works for me. What I want is an application for photo editing. Aperture is making some interesting changes by allowing outside developers to develop tools for the platform, but it is still a new effort and I don’t want to have to deal with several different tools, methods, and vendors more than I have to.

LightZone provides a set of tools that operate in ways that are fairly easy to understand because they are derived from standard photo techniques. It also has styles that provide an easy way to understand what is “under the hood” and to apply your own standard changes to a group of photos. It is best suited to someone who has an idea what they are trying to accomplish – especially if it is something beyond a simple interpretation of the scene.

I took some photos I captured in Mexico a few years ago and put them back through LightZone to “reinterpret” them using the tools. The results were good, although you have to keep in mind they are compressed for the web and not from a digital SLR.

Original 1

Edited Version 1

Original 2

Edited 2

Original 3

Edited 3

I have to say at this point that reinterpretation is exactly what this is and what I was looking for. This is a strong tool for interpretive photographers, not necessarily for literalists. You may see a different interpretation you would like better and with LightZone, that would be easy to do. What doing this gave me was a better idea of what is possible. The original is preserved in each case. The modifications to the original are preserved in the edit. You can go back and redit from where you left off rather than trying to recreate the edit (however, if you re-edit in Photoshop for some reason, which I did with the second photo in this series to see what a general exposure edit would do, you must save it as a separate version. Photoshop does not preserve the LightZone edit history). You can turn off and turn on various tools to see their effects on the final. And in fact, this could have been done in Photoshop. But, for me it would not have been so easy to make the changes and vary the effects. It isn’t a tool for those that want to put a person’s head on another’s body or develop images for web development. It is however, a serious tool for a working photographer who wants to be able to produce professional results in production or experiment and produce interesting results and variations.

So, I’m happy with LightZone and have added it to my toolbox. Now, all I need to do is find more excuses to take fotos!

April 7th, 2008 by Mike
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