Today Only: Datacolor SpyderX Elite Color Control Kit – $189.99 (reg. $399.99)

Datacolor Spyderx

Only for today (7/29/2022) B&H Photo has a 52% discount on the Datacolor SpyderX Elite Color Control Kit.

At a glance:

  • Lens-Based Color Engine Technology
  • Ambient Light Monitoring
  • Color Profile and Settings Switching
  • Single-Click Wizard Calibration
  • Manual Console Calibration Mode
  • Supports Multiple Monitors
  • Video and Cine Calibration Targets
  • Projector Calibration
  • Soft Proofing and StudioMatch
  • For Mac and Windows Operating Systems

Get the Datacolor SpyderX Elite Color Control Kit on sale at $189.99. Compare at $399.99.

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HDR Merge For Luminar NEO Released (AI-powered HDR Photography)

Hdr Merge

Skylum, the maker of Luminar NEO, has released an additional module for their acclaimed AI-powered photo editing software, HDR Merge.

Aurora HDR owners will get the opportunity to buy Luminar Neo with a loyalty discount and receive the HDR Merge extension for free. Additionally, Skylum customers with Luminar Neo subscriptions will get the Aurora HDR Merge extension for free. Skylum offers a 30-day money-back guarantee from the time of shipping. HDR Merge works only as an extension within Luminar Neo.

Click here to learn more about or to get/buy HDR Merge.

Skylum announces release of first-ever Luminar Neo extension

Welcome HDR Merge, a fresh Luminar Neo extension for stunning HDR photography.

Powerful HDR Merge technology is coming to the award-winning Luminar Neo software as a paid extension. Designed for all fans of HDR photography, HDR Merge compiles multiple exposure-bracketed images into a single HDR image. It can merge up to 10 photos and deliver a spectacular level of color enhancement, making the final result look as close as possible to what the eye sees. HDR Merge is scheduled to be released on July 28, and the preorder has already started.

Skylum’s advanced technologies

HDR Merge will be available as an extension to Luminar Neo, an award-winning app by Skylum with an extensive portfolio of tools that maximizes the artist’s editing powers. Post-processing photos becomes easy in Luminar Neo, which empowers artists to create jaw-dropping landscapes, retouch photos for social media, make creative art with composite images, and deliver stunning portraits with a dreamy bokeh effect — among other things.
Luminar Neo’s powerful new engine gives the platform an unlimited number of creative possibilities, allowing it to incorporate more editing tools for artists and making it easy to add such technologies as the HDR Merge extension without a loss of performance. With HDR Merge, Luminar Neo is transforming into a one-stop solution for landscape and architecture photographers.

The power of HDR Merge

Especially for photographers who specialize in landscape or architecture photos, the right HDR settings can help to create detailed and dynamic photos. The higher the dynamic range, the more details in the highlights and shadows can be shown in a single photo.
If a camera doesn’t have a high dynamic range, one technique to compensate for this is to take multiple exposure bracketed images. That’s where HDR Merge can help, merging up to 10 images into one single HDR photo.
Luminar Neo’s HDR Merge doesn’t produce halos or artifacts. Plus, with the help of intelligent technologies, Luminar artists can create HDR images even from a single photo, with no brackets needed. Artificial intelligence allows for the highest quality of bracket merging and a spectacular level of color enhancement.
What’s unique about Luminar Neo’s HDR Merge is that it can be combined with Luminar Neo’s other tools to create spectacular photos. After merging brackets, artists have a full arsenal of AI-based tools at their disposal. They can enhance with one slider, fix colors and toning, add glow, play with super contrast, add realistic sun rays or vivid foliage — there is a whole world to explore. Luminar Neo gives photo artists the power to achieve the best HDR photos and go beyond in their editing, all in one app.

Create impressive photos

HDR photography is especially important for architecture, landscape, and real estate photography, but it can be applied to any type of photography for a creative effect.

  • Landscape
    Landscape photos usually have a few layers with different colors and contrast, and it’s tricky to achieve a smooth photograph that brings out the best in each layer. With HDR Merge, photographers can create a deep and rich photo of a mountain range, for example, where the mountains in the background, the forest in the center, and the stream in the foreground all look vivid, bright, and well-exposed.
  • Architecture
    It might seem easy to take photos of architecture, as the subjects are static. However, the photographer must take into account a building’s design, location, shadows, light, and weather, as they all play an important role in creating the perfect photo. Taking multiple bracketed images with a range of exposures helps with capturing a full range of light that is closer to what the human eye sees. Then it is the job of HDR Merge to combine these bracketed images into one high-contrast dynamic photo that showcases the best details of the building.
  • Real estate
    A real estate photo should compel buyers to fall in love with a place. Whether a photo is of the exterior or interior, the building should appear well-lit, attractive, and highly detailed. However, the photographer doesn’t always have control over the conditions, as work is usually expected to be done quickly without taking into consideration the weather and time of day. HDR Merge helps real estate photographers achieve high-contrast photos quickly and easily, keeping clients satisfied.

Apart from that, applying HDR merge can help bring out details in underexposed nighttime photos or otherwise fine-tune images with exposure issues.

Preorder for a better price

The HDR Merge extension preorder starts on July 15. The release is scheduled for July 28, 2022, but Luminar owners can preorder HDR Merge now for a better price.
Aurora HDR owners will get the opportunity to buy Luminar Neo with a loyalty discount and receive the HDR Merge extension for free. Additionally, Skylum customers with Luminar Neo subscriptions will get the Aurora HDR Merge extension for free.

Nik Collection 5 Released, Many New Features Added

Nik Collection 5

One of my favorite photo editing software got a significant update: Nik Collection 5 has been released.

To learn more about Nik Collection 5 (or buy it) click here, or watch the videos below.

What’s new:

  • Brand new Design and User Experience for Nik Color Efex and Nik Analog Efex
  • Film Grain for Nik Color Efex. Access 29 high-fidelity, color, analog, film-grain types thanks to DxO’s exclusive calibration process with the ability to alter intensity and size.
  • ClearView for Nik Color Efex. Take rendering a step further by intelligently increasing local contrast while effectively suppressing distant atmospheric haze without producing pronounced halo effects.
  • Create presets with (or without) Control Points. In Nik Color Efex and Nik Analog Efex users can save even more accurate and creative effects to apply in a single click on an image.
  • Color Selectivity for Control Points in Nik Color Efex and Nik Analog Efex. Adjust the selectivity to apply the effects to similar hues and luminosities.
  • Control Points Design and new User Experience in Nik Color Efex and Nik Analog Efex. Control Point adjustments in Nik Color Efex and Nik Analog Efex are available in the right panel under the Selective
  • Adjustment category.
  • The Control Point image viewer design remains unchanged but, to prevent the preview from becoming cluttered, all control point parameters are now available in the right panel of the interface for Nik Color Efex and Nik Analog Efex.
  • Control Point and Control Point Group naming now lets you rename Control Points to self-
  • explanatory titles on the list, e.g. Sky, Eye, Skin, etc…
  • Control Points copy and paste. Control Points can be copied from one filter to another in Nik Analog
  • Efex to ensure consistant localized adjustements.
  • Nik Selective Tool now displays Nik Analog Efex and Nik Viveza favourite presets enabling users to select them from the Adobe Photoshop interface and streamline the over-all user experience.
  • New Optical Modules available for Nik Perspective Efex
  • New supported cameras (Canon EOS R3 and others)

Deal: Capture One Pro 22 Photo Editing Software – $179 (reg. $299)

Capture One Pro 22

You can get Capture One Pro 22 with a solid discount.

At a glance:

  • Image Processing and Raw File Conversion
  • New: Panorama Stitching / HDR Merging
  • New: Wireless Tethering / Auto Rotate
  • Basic Color Editor, Scrolling Tools
  • Layered Workflow and Annotations
  • Luminosity, Gradient, and Radial Masks
  • Catalogs and Sessions, DNG File Support
  • Third-Party Plug-In Support
  • Over 500 Cameras & Raw Files Supported
  • Mac and Windows Compatible

Get Capture One Pro 22 (download version) on sale at $179 at B&H Photo. Compare at $299.

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Excire Foto Is My New Photo Management App, And You Can Save 24% On It

Excire Foto 2022 Excire Analytics

I was a happy Lightroom user until Adobe decided to introduce the subscription model. I did not like it and since then I never found a software I liked enough to use it as my main photo management app. Until now. Automatic photo tagging and keywording, how does that sound?

Excire Foto is a photo management app powered by artificial intelligence (AI). See what it can do for you:

  • Using advanced image and face-recognition technology, Excire Foto automatically analyses and tags your photos. Looking for photos from a beach holiday or a family celebration? The Excire AI will find them for you in seconds and will uncover all your hidden photo treasures.
  • Intelligent content-based navigation is combined with super fast image display to provide efficiency and fun. Simple, intuitive, powerful: with Excire Foto you will experience a completely new way of interacting with your photos.
  • You search, Excire Foto finds! With just a few clicks you can find the photos you are looking for faster than ever before!
  • Transfer the Excire Foto keywords to photo or XMP files and benefit from the power of the Excire AI across various applications. Excire keywords become available in the spotlight search of your file browser and other applications such as Lightroom.

You can download a fully functional trial version of Excire, or you can purchase it with a 24% discount by using code CHRISTMAS-24.

I am actively using Excire since a few weeks and am looking forward to post a review about my experience with it. I have to say that so far I am very happy with it. In the meantime you can have a look at the video below, or check the Excire’s tutorials on YouTube. Or you can learn more about Excire Foto here.