by Gavin Seim: Taking the time to watch the histogram is invaluable. Left is dark, right is light on a histogram. But beyond that you can better understand and work the highlight and shadow detail your way, before exporting to Photoshop, printing etc. And it’s not hard.

I recorded this video and hope to do more soon. In it we analyze what the histogram tells us about an image and how we can learn to better understand our images using it.

Starting with presets is a great way to get an image going, but don’t be afraid of those curves sliders to move things around. You can control tone and dynamic range beautifully on the RAW file without losing contrast. Just watch for artifacts or noise if you push things far (see the Six Keys).

Get comfortable with your histogram. It can tell you a lot, both in camera (trust your histogram more than what you see on the camera screen) and in post (just about everything you need to know). Powerful stuff indeed. Lets take a look…

by Gavin Seim: I’m proud of the reputation for quality that’s been built here at Seim Effects. I’m all about quality tools and service and helping make photographers better. With that I love to showcase the latest tools is with lots of free tools.

My complete collections are very complete. But I frequently post freebies and I’ve built up a lot of them. More than I can keep track of. You’ll find all the freebies in order on the freebies category of the blog, but this list represents my most current and popular freebies all in one place. You can get a lot of good editing tools for free, starting right here. Every link below leads to a freebie.

Adobe Lightroom Freebies:

• Power Workflow 3 Presets Sampler Pack
• Color Fantasies Presets Sampler Pack
• Silver Shadows 2 Presets Sampler Pack
• Seim LR Video Presets Study Pack
• Gavin’s Free Print Module Album Layouts V2
• Gavin’s Free Bursh Presets (LR3 only, for now)
  

Apple Aperture Freebies:

• Lightflow Presets Sampler Pack
• Gavin’s Light Study Presets Free Pack.

Adobe Photoshop Freebies:

• Hollywood Effects Action Sampler Pack
• Creative Essentials Action Sampler Pack
• Naked Elements Texture Pack Sampler
• The Visual Razor Sharpening Action.

That’s all for now, but I’ll continue to update this list, so stay tuned. You can also check the freebies category of the blog for the latest free goodies. Enjoy… Gav

So now that my official preset collections have been updated for Lightroom 4, I’ve had a little more time to experiment with video and what’s possible in LR4.

I’ve also been recording a lot of footage for my new EXposed workshop series and have been utilizing the simple video tools in LR to save me time. So far I’ve been pretty happy with the results.

While we don’t have full develop module control over video, there’s a lot we can do beyond Quick Develop, if settings are placed within presets.

So with that, I’m releasing a sampler pack of presets, each of which will work on video and give a variety of simple but useful effects from quick tonal boosts to bleached color.

This is really a test pack to experiment with what’s possible. If there’s enough interest, I may release a full editing collection for video in the future. Of course these presets can also be applied to still images, but they were designed for video work.

Also note that these are preset for LR4 only as you cannot edit video in earlier versions. OK, here’s the download. If you like what you see, check out my other editing packs and workshop on the homepage. Enjoy… Gav

DOWNLOAD the FREE Seim Video Preset Pack (ZIP)

The Sale ends April 3oth 2012..

by Gavin Seim: Lightroom 4 released during our three month winter tour (more on that here), as the family and I road tripped for the best views America has to offer and recorded segments for the new EXposed video series.

Weeks updating presets on the road. From the camper, beside lakes, in parking lots and at picnic tables. But all three Seim Effects preset collections have been updated. Each refined  and each better than it was before. Each fully Lightroom 4 compatible and still equally compatible with earlier versions of Lightroom.

To celebrate the updated Seim Effects Lightroom collections and the coming of Spring, I’m starting a SALE that only lasts through the end of April. With it you can get in instant $10 off any Lightroom Develop collection I offer. And I’m also extending that special for Lightflow, my Aperture collection (don’t want to leave Aperture users in the dust). Every collection is ready for the toughest critics and guaranteed quality.

The details are below. Hope you enjoy. Now we can once again hit the open road… Gavin

All $10 off the regular price – Just enter Promo Code: CELEBRATE

• Power Workflow 3  – Our flagship editing collection for LR users with a bit of everything.
• Color Fantasies – The collection of unique color bending effects for people who love creative color.
• Silver Shadows 2 – The game changing black and white conversion system for LR users.
• LightFlow for Aperture – My bit of everything collection for Apple Aperture users. A complete workflow.

You can use the discount on more than one of the products by ordering each separately.

Download the Press Kit (ZIP) for more images and examples.

Seim Effects Announces Complete Photo Tools Updates for Adobe^® Lightroom^® 4 Compatibility

All Seim Effects Lightroom presets now compatible with Lightroom versions 1-4

Soap Lake, WA (March 27, 2012) – Seim Effects Photo Tools announces today complete updates for its collection of Adobe^® Photoshop^® Lightroom^® toolkits designed for use by photographers. Now fully compatible with Lightroom 4 are Seim Effects’ Power Workflow 3, Silver Shadows 2 and Color Fantasies.

Power Workflow 3 is a complete Lightroom editing workshop from batch correction to creative effects. Silver Shadows 2 is the groundbreaking new dedicated black-and-white conversion kit for Lightroom. And Color Fantasies is an advanced toolkit dedicated to creative color processing in Lightroom.

All three products have been updated and revised for Lightroom 4 and now feature full compatibility with Lightroom versions 1-4, including a dedicated set of every effect for Lightroom 4 that takes advantage of the new 2012 process version. In addition, Seim Effects is offering the updates free to all existing users of the current product line. To celebrate the launch, Seim Effects is also offering a Lightroom 4 release special offering users $10 off any Lightroom editing collection until April 31, 2012.

“I’m excited about the improvements to my editing collections. They’re a labor of love and as some of the first presets available for Lightroom 4, they won’t disappoint,” said Gavin Seim, photographer and owner of Seim Effects. “Full of refinements for every version of Lightroom, all three collections offer photographers faster more creative editing options with second-to-none quality that’s sure to please.”

Free preset sampler packs from each collection can be downloaded here: http://seimeffects.com/category/free-lightroom-presets

Press materials and image samples can be downloaded from the Seim Effects website: http://seimeffects.com/press . For review copies please contact: effects@seimstudios.com

About Seim Effects Photo Tools

Gavin Seim, owner of Seim Effects Photo Tools, is an internationally recognized photographer, renowned for his experience with creative workflow and the digital darkroom. He has a passion for creating easy-to-use software tools and educating photographers of all skill levels to be more efficient, creative and profitable.

Gavin Seim’s software presets for Lightroom include the new Silver Shadows 2, Power3 Workflow, and Color Fantasies. His Photoshop tools include Hollywood Effects 2, Creative Essentials, and Naked Elements. Also available is the LightFlow Aperture Presets collection.

For more information on Seim Effects Photo Tools visit: http://seimeffects.com

# # #

Contact:

Gavin Seim Steve Rosenbaum or Leigh Nofi

Seim Studios S.I.R. Marketing Communications, Inc.

PH: 509-754-5255 PH: 631-757-5665

effects@seimstudios.com sir@sironline.com / leighnofi@sironline.com

View Release on PRWeb

Color Fantasies presets are all about creative color in Lightroom and they just got updated with loads of new refinements and full Lightroom 1-4 compatibility.

Here’s a pack of FREE presets that gives a little sampling of what’s in the full version. The 1.7 update marks all Seim Effects presets as being LR4 compatible and this download includes updated presets for LR 1-3, as well as the new LR4 versions.

Below you can download the six free presets from Color Fantasies. If you like what you see get the full collection with more than 60 presets, guaranteed to please. Have fun… Gav

DOWNLOAD the FREE Color Fantasies 1.7 Presets Sampler (ZIP)

Check Out The Video & The Complete Set Here

A little Color Fantasies User Feedback. More on the product page…

“The new “Color Fantasies” is gorgeous.” Julian Fuhrmann

“Got the Color Fantasies yesterday and you’ve outdone yourself” Connie Graham Terry.

I’m still out here recording footage for the new EXposed video series. I plan to keep on teasing until the series releases this summer, because it’s going to be that good. But I won’t waste time. Check out, “New Mexico Camp” below and then head over and save 50% on your pre-order of EXposed.