|
|
|
|
a great plug-in gets even better
in it’s newest version… Alien Skin’s Exposure 2.0: If you thought the first version delivered a perfect “film look” for photographers who’ve gone digital, wait until you see version 2! by
When I first reviewed
Alien Skin’s Exposure plug-in after
it was originally released, I was thrilled by the plug-in’s uncanny ability to
deliver the color pallets and look of film. It was, as I noted then, “a new
plug-in that brings you the very best of both worlds.” I went on to say that
“I have not been able to find anywhere a program that does what Exposure does anywhere nearly as professionally or as well as Exposure
does it. It simply doesn’t get better than this!”
Well, with Exposure 2.0, it
does! Let’s
start with what Exposure 2.0 does. To
imitate film digitally, Alien Skin measured the differences between digital and
film images and created plug-in settings that look like the real film stocks.
The result in Exposure 2.0, is nothing
short of remarkable and that’s probably an understatement. Better still,
easy-to-use Exposure 2.0 offers film
settings for current and for
discontinued emulsions, allowing you to additionally warm, cool and otherwise
filter color, change saturation for color films, adjust RGB sensitivity for
black and white films, apply a tone control curve, and select grain replication
options. In
my screen capture of the chalet hotel in Glacier NP, you’re looking at a
vertically divided image with the original neutral digital capture on the left.
As the highlighted film type selected in the left menu bar indicates, the right
side of the divided image shows what the image would look like if it were taken
using Kodak 100VS slide film. You should easily spot the difference in
saturation and warmth (you can adjust that, too, just like adding an 81A warming
filter over the lens on your film body). Look at the building, the sky and the
grass here in illustration #1.
#1:
applying the Exposure 2.0 Kodak 100VS
slide film “look” I
mentioned that you can also duplicate the look of film emulsions now “lost”
to photographers. Alien Skin made this possible by examining the look of
discontinued films including GAF and Kodak EES, measuring archival photos taken
with them and adjusting program presets until they closely approximated the
images. In all, Exposure 2.0 now
has more than 300 presets including push/pull cross processing, an improved
infrared simulator, and an excellent color to black-and-white converter to help
you quickly click, preview and speed through changes in your image’s “film
look.” Exposure 2.0 streamlines this
process by bringing together in one plug-in the ability to modify and control
color, DMAX, contrast, softness, and grain. You can even create, define and save
your own “signature” look as a one-click effect. As with the original Exposure,
the Grain control tab is unique. Alien Skin studied the real thing under a
microscope and discovered that real film grain “has subtle color
characteristics, often appearing with different strengths in the highlights,
midtones and shadows.” You’ll see that effect applied in your images when
you use this plug-in. While you have a wide array
of control options in Exposure 2.0, you
don’t have to accept the complete default film look you select in the initial
plug-in screen. You can also use Exposure
2.0 “for specific image enhancement tasks rather than full-blown film
simulation,” according to the Alien Skin team, by looking for “the settings
that begin with the word Modify.”
These generally allow you to change parameter subsets. Special effect settings for creative changes rather than simulation of film are also available. These controls have names that start with Special and include effects like cross processing, sepia toning, soft focus “glamour” images, and more. To better explain how Exposure
2.0 works, the Color tab under the Color Film filter lets you control
saturation and cast. Filter Color and Filter Density controls allow you to
simulate use of different strength colored filters on the camera’s lens. To
just warm or cool a scene, simply use the Cooling/Warming slider shown here in
illustration #2.
As
with color, black-and-white options also let you select a film type and get
excellent results. The following two
illustrations (#3 and #4) show a Glacier National Park Service Ranger in the
shade of a forest. The first shows
the image as a split screen (one Exposure
2.0 display choice) with an unaltered or “neutral” B&W conversion
applied. The second shows Exposure 2.0
applying its Ilford Delta 100 B&W film “look.” If you have a
well-calibrated display, you should quickly spot a difference between them (the
Ilford film has improved contrast in the B&W grass and shrubs, for
instance).
Tabs
and easy-to-use controls are slightly different for color film and for B&W
film conversions. As with color film choices, Exposure
2 B&W film tabs start with a menu of film emulsions. There is also a
B&W film tone control tab that let’s you anchor shadows, midtones or
highlights anywhere on the curve for a custom look, as shown in illustration #5.
Exposure
2.0’s B&W film “color” tab
slider lets you quickly duplicate over-the-lens B&W filters (red, green,
blue, etc).
You
can even modify the appearance of the film’s grain under the Grain tab to
create a custom look (illustration #7).
The
bottom line When it was first released by Alien Skin, Exposure instantly made my “Best of Breed” Photoshop plug-in list; Exposure 2.0 entrenches it still further. While I could go on for pages describing Exposure 2.0 in even greater detail, the truth is that you’ll learn more about it faster by visiting Alien Skin’s website at www.alienskin.com, downloading their free 30-day demo and trying it for yourself. Be warned, however, that the people I know who’ve already tried it fell so completely in love with this great plug-in that they absolutely had to buy it when their trial period ended!
Pricing & Availability Exposure
2
is available from Alien Skin Software at www.alienskin.com.
A plug-in for Photoshop CS2 or later, Photoshop Elements 4 or later, and Corel
Paint Shop Pro Photo XI or later on Windows and Macintosh PCs, Exposure
2 is not a stand-alone program. Suggested manufacturer’s resale price
is $249, but registered users of Exposure
1 can buy Exposure 2 at the
discounted price of $149. Windows System Requirements Microsoft Windows XP or Minimum of a 2GHz Pentium 4
GPU; a minimum of 2GB of RAM is recommended for Photoshop and any plug-ins A display with 1024x768 resolution or greater Macintosh Systems Requirements Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or later Minimum of a 1GHz PowerPC G4 or Intel GPU and 256MB of RAM A display with 1024x768 resolution or greater |
