Leaving Lightroom Behind with Dan Harlacher

If you are looking for an alternative to Adobe Lightroom, you might want to take a look at the new ON1 Photo Raw 2019. Photo Raw 2019 as a Lightroom Migration feature that looks promising for those that want to leave Lightroom and have software that is not subscription based. I have not use the migration feature as I have run into a couple of bugs when using Photo Raw 2019 by it self, so I personally don't think it is ready to migrate my entire Lightroom catalog over.



But I do love Photo Raw 2019. I am using it as a plugin in Photoshop and a couple of times on its own.  Hopefully ON1 will fix the bugs soon. So here is a video on how to use the Lightroom Migration.



#on1 #on1photoraw #lightroommigration

Photo Art: Evolving Sphere

Sometimes you just need to step out of the photo editing and try something different. One of the things I been trying out this year is "photo art." Photo art is converting a photo into a painting or something other than a simple photo. Late last year, I purchased Corel Painter 2017 and even though I can not paint, Corel Painter has something that photographers might find useful...Auto Painting.

Auto Painting let you bring a photo into Painter, choose a media (watercolor, charcoal, etc) and a brush, then with a click, Painter will slowly convert your photo into a painting or some form of art. I find myself using it sometimes as a way to create a bases for my creations. In this sample, I merged a painting made from Corel Painter and the original photo together inside Adobe Photoshop, add a texture or two to create an original piece of art.

#photoart #photoediting

After created in Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop.

The original photo I started with.

Before and After: Lanterns

Another shot from this year's Schnormeier Gardens. This was a shot from within one of the small asian-like structures located in the gardens (I believe that was what it was). The photo was not too good and I really did not know what to do with it. I almost deleted the photo from my Lightroom library, but I thought I give it a try in editing and see what I could come up with.

So, starting in Adobe Lightroom, I try my best to clean it up and reduce some of the noise in the shadows before opening it up into Adobe Photoshop as a smart object. Then I proceeded to open it up into ON1 Photo Raw 2019 plugin. I started with the Black & White Ambrose preset that comes with Photo Raw to give a starting point. Then I applied a Photo filter using the 85 preset followed by a Sunshine filter to brighten it up some. Then comes a Dynamic Contrast with the Natural preset. I used a strong Noise Reduction filter to help reduce some of the noise. The a Brocade Black texture was added and finished off with a Sloppy Border 3. I thought it came out better than I expected.

#beforeandafter #photoediting

After edited in Adobe Lightroom and ON1 Photo Raw 2019.

Before edited in Adobe Lightroom and ON1 Photo Raw 2019.

Before and After: Blue Lake

Photographed this past summer at Schnormeier Gardens just outside Gambier, Ohio, is this shot of the lake in front of the house. With this photo, I wanted to try something different so I went with this idea of a black and white but with a blue tone.

I started in Adobe Lightroom CC by merging three exposures by using Lightroom's Merged to HDR. Then I open the HDR photo into Adobe Photoshop CC as a smart object and then proceeded to open the photo into ON1 Photo Raw 2019 plugin. In Photo Raw, I started with one of the LUTs that come with Photo Raw, one called Dark Night. Next comes a Tone Enhancer filter and used the Clarity setting as well as brighten up the whites with the Whites slider. A Photo Filter was then applied with the Skylight setting and then I added a Raw Hide Texture which I then masked out the center so the texture only applied to the outer edges. Next comes a Lens Blur and used a mask to apply the blur where I wanted it. And finally, I finished it off with a Viewfinder 002 border.

#beforeandafter #photoediting

The final edited photo using Adobe Lightroom CC and ON1 Photo Raw 2019.

The original photo I started with before editing.

Before and After: Buddha

One of the great features of Schnormeier Gardens outside of Gambier, Ohio is the Asian gardens. The private gardens are opened to the public once every year during the first weekend of June. One of the great features is this Buddha statue. It is a great subject to photograph.

Moving onto the editing. After cropping the photo in close to the face using Adobe Lightroom CC and then opening the photo into Adobe Photoshop CC as a smart object (always try to edit nondestructively), I opened ON1 Photo Raw 2019 as a plugin to add the effect I want. First filter I used was Textures and I used a Twilight texture that I downloaded from ON1 website. You can find textures from the ON1 website in which some are free to ON1 users. Next, I applied a Vintage filter using the Red-Yellow setting and chose the Oatmeal color. Then I applied a Tone Enhancer to boost contrast and a Black & White filter using the Coffee color. Next, I used a Photo Filter with a Tobacco color and a Classic LUTs filter. Then another Textures filter was added using this time Metal Grunge Vignette. And since one can never have too many textures, I added another Textures filter applying a Rice Paper Dark texture. Next, a tilt-shift Lens Blur filter was applied and masked the blur from the face. Then a Film Type 552 Border was added and the border was masked from the top and bottom of the face. A Dynamic Contrast filter was then added to boost the contrast some more. Too help give it the color I was going for, I applied a Split Tone filter and selected the Oats color to finish it off. Whew!

#beforeandafter #photoediting

Before editing using Lightroom and ON1 Photo Raw 2019.

After editing using Lightroom and ON1 Photo Raw 2019.

Before and After: Someone Does Not Look Happy

Another shot from the local Christmas parade shows that someone was not happy being out in the cold. But still adorable these two are.

So getting right into the editing. The editing was plain and simple.  After cropping the photo, I headed over to ON1 Photo Raw 2019. I started with a red-yellow Vintage style and then a Color Enhancer to increase the warmth and the saturation. Then I added a sig softy Vignette and a round Lens Blur. Then finished it out with a Sloppy Border.

#beforeandafter #photoediting

Before editing in ON1 Photo Raw 2019.

After editing in ON1 Photo Raw 2019.

Before and After: Santa is coming!

Better be good because Santa is coming! He already arrived here with Ms. Claus by his side. So before you get busy with the holiday rush, here is a before and after.

Using ON1 Photo Raw 2019, I first started with a Tone Enhancer filter using the Clarity preset. Next I added a Color Enhancer filter and increased the temperature to give the photo a warm look. Then I added a Photo Filter and used the Tobacco style to continue adding some warmth to the photo. using the Textures filter, I applied a Clean Paper texture. Then comes a Vignette but I masked out the top so the vignette only shows at the bottom. And finally finished it off with an antique border.

#beforeandafter #photoediting

Before editing in ON1 Photo Raw 2019.

After editing in ON1 Photo Raw 2019.