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As digital photography has usurped a position of power from traditional analog film, so have computers taken the place of the darkroom. Most photographers, professional or amateur, have anywhere from the basic skills to a mastery of the Adobe photo editing software, Photoshop. Now running its fifth updated version, Photoshop gives photographers the ability to edit their photos in more ways than ever before, combining traditional darkroom techniques with modern technology.

Silver Efex Pro is a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop (and Apple’s Aperture) that is strictly used for editing black and white photos. While Photoshop already offers various conversion filters to change a color image to black and white, Silver Efex Pro is a much more sophisticated tool for converting photos to grayscale.

Upon opening the program, it runs a general black and white conversion of your photo. If you wanted the initial conversion to be more focused, you can always edit the colored version first. It doesn’t need to be perfect, just in the ball park of what you want. That way the black and white version will start off a little more fine tuned.

The best thing is that Silver Efex Pro offers a variety of pre-set “styles,” much like the Photoshop filters. If you aren’t looking to do too much work, sometimes these styles are all you really need. These styles can create a high- or low-contrast look; they add the effects of different color filters so the images looks like you had been shooting with them all along and more.

What really makes Silver Efex Pro stand out (and worth the price if you are serious about black and white photography) is its ability to make localized edits. The software’s intelligent Control Points allow you to make tonal adjustments to very specific areas of the image. It uses the original color under where you put your initial Control Point and adjusts only for that color. For instance, if you were shooting a landscape image and the grass and the sky came out very similar looking in grayscale, a Control Point in the sky would know that it was only supposed to adjust the sky, regardless of how close a match the grass was.

Tags: Digital Photography by Embassy Pro Books
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The do-it-yourself photo book was a radical concept when first introduced. Suddenly, amateur photographers, even those who could barely manage a point-and-shoot camera, could turn their pictures into something much more professional looking for a much lower cost. Photo books gave the everyman the chance to enhance their family photo album, bringing it to a level usually reserved for only the most avid photo-bugs.

While there is nothing wrong with everyone being able to turn their honeymoon photos into a coffee table book, professional photographers understand that the printing of images is almost as important as the image itself.

Many commercial photo book printing services keep their costs down by using less expensive paper, inks and printing methods. While this may not matter for the average user, a professional photographer should have their images printed by a company that understands the expectations of a serious photographer. The weight, finish and type of paper can greatly affect the colors and shadows of a photograph. This means that while the printed image may be close, it is not quite what the photographer was expecting to get. The same can be said for the quality of ink and printing machines used.

Average printing procedures produce average prints, and clients do not come to a professional for average. They come to you because you have the skills to do something they can’t. They want the shots that only someone with your talent and knowledge can produce. A professional photo book demonstrates to your clients that you take every aspect of photography into account. You wouldn’t show up to a wedding with a disposable camera, so why print your images in a less-than-perfect photo book.

Companies that produce professionally printed photo books often use stitched binding, as opposed to glued. Stitched binding is much more durable and holds up to heavy use, so pages are less likely to fall out over time. These companies don’t sacrifice quality for cost, so while they are more expensive than a commercial printing service, you can be guaranteed of the outcome. Professional printing companies produce photo books that are deserving displays for your work.

Tags: Photo Book Creation by Embassy Pro Books
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