Howard Millard

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Aurora HDR Pro Software Review
Howard Millard  |  Apr 15, 2016

HDR, as most photographers know, stands for High Dynamic Range, allowing you to capture a wider range of highlight and shadow detail than you could in a single frame. You create an HDR image by shooting several identically framed shots of the same scene at different exposures, often with three brackets such as -2, 0, and +2 EV. The newest kid on the HDR block is Aurora HDR Pro from Macphun, currently for Mac only, but with a Windows version in the works.

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Lens NewsLens ReviewsNews
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Sports Lens Review
Howard Millard  |  Aug 24, 2015

If you spend a lot of time photographing wildlife, sports, aircraft in flight (or even UFO’s) I'm sure you've longed for a lens with extreme telephoto reach. Sigma now offers a tough, quality 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports lens that can fulfill the wishes of many nature and action shooters. In addition to the ultra long reach, the fact that the lens is a zoom makes it easy to frame the precise composition you want at a wide variety of distances from the subject—and for subjects in a variety of sizes.

 

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Software How To
Fine Art Effects: Using Software To Transform Your Images
Howard Millard  |  Jul 24, 2015

In this article I’ll encourage you to put on your artist’s smock and dig in to your vault of photos to create new versions of them with options that look like hand made watercolor, oil, pen and ink, woodcut, serigraph (silkscreen) and pencil sketch. No drawing is required.

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Digital Darkroom
From Digital To Film: Get Your Favorite Film Looks
Howard Millard  |  Jun 24, 2015
It is ironic—and a bit sad for those of us who grew up with film—that the day I began this review, Kodak announced that it would permanently stop production of slide film. So what is a digital photographer to do who still yearns for the look of film emulsions? Fortunately, DxO’s FilmPack 3 (www.dxo.com/us/photo) digitally emulates the quality, style, color, contrast and grain of 60 different film stocks, black and white and color, positive and negative, and adds 25 creative effects.
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Nature Photography How To
Take a Photo Walk Into the (Nearby) Wilderness: Wetlands Offer chance To Capture great Shots Of Nature Without A Major Trek
Howard Millard  |  Feb 10, 2015
For over five winters, I have taken my camera and explored an Everglades-like ecosystem in South Florida teeming with great blue herons, great egrets, alligators, turtles, snakes, fish, ibis, tricolored herons, green herons, black-necked stilts, grebes, cormorants, anhingas, hawks, iguanas, and who knows what else.
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Software How ToSoftware Tips
How to Create Cool Miniature Planets with Adobe Elements or Photoshop
Howard Millard  |  Nov 24, 2014

Yes, you know that the tools and filters in Adobe Photoshop and Elements can do many amazing things, but did you know that they can empower you to make your own planets? If you have yearned to create and rule your own worlds (and who hasn’t?), then pull up some of your images and fire up Elements or Photoshop. We are going to create a galaxy of new worlds.

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Photo How ToPro TechniquesSoftware How To
Alternative Processes, Digital Style: Classic Expressions For Your Images
Howard Millard  |  Sep 30, 2014

Are you someone who appreciates the richtones, colors and textures of 19th and 20th century alternative photo processes? With onOne Software’s Perfect B&W (www.ononesoftware.com), you can imbue your own images with these classic looks, and you won’t have to spend days in the darkroom to do it. Options include Platinum and Palladium, the warm beige tones and mottled surface of Calotype, the blue hues of Cyanotype, the buff tones of an Albumen print, the velvety reds of a warm Carbon print, even the look of a Tintype and many more.

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Software How ToSoftware Reviews
Software Review: Tonality Pro from Macphun Converts Images Into Classic Black-and-Whites
Howard Millard  |  Sep 24, 2014

If you are an aficionado of the rich tones and subtle gradations of fine black and white and toned images, Tonality Pro 1.0 from Macphun is a tool you will want to try. For Mac only,  the Tonality black-and-white photo converter is available as a stand-alone and as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Elements, as well as Apple Aperture.

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Software How ToSoftware NewsSoftware Reviews
Photo Software Review: onOne Perfect Photo Suite 8's Powerful Tools For Image Enhancement And Correction
Howard Millard  |  Aug 19, 2014

Whether you need to add special effects and edges, perfect a portrait, enlarge a small file for a big print, erase an unsightly sign, pump up detail, add lens blur, or simply make basic color and tonal corrections quickly, Perfect Photo Suite 8 (PPS8) from onOne Software has an incredible number of tricks up its sleeve. What’s more, it works as a stand-alone with layers and masks if you seek these more advanced options. With eight modules and hundreds of one-click presets, the tools in PPS8 for automated and manual enhancements help you to correct, stylize, and retouch images in a layered workflow.

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Newsletter
A Special Effects Toolkit: OnOne Software’s Perfect Effects 3
Howard Millard  |  Aug 19, 2013
OnOne Software’s Perfect Effects 3 (www.ononesoftware.com) offers more than 300 effects in 14 categories: Vintage, Darkroom, Borders, Portrait, Color and Tone, Film, Glow, Detail, Black and White, Landscape, Movie Looks, Photo Filters, Textures and Vignettes. For maximum flexibility in your workflow, Perfect Effects 3 works as a standalone program, or as a plug-in. Perfect Effects 3 integrates as an external editor for Lightroom and Aperture or as a plug-in for Elements or Photoshop. If you are using PE3 as a Photoshop plug-in, the effects appear under the File>Automate menu.

All the photographic effects you select are now previewed full screen before you decide to apply them—they draw in seconds. Further, the program offers the ability to stack multiple effects together to create your own unique look, with the option of selective masking on each layer. Advanced tools allow you to change the Blending mode options of the layers, as well as to control which tonal regions and/or colors of the image the effect is applied to. With new manual controls, you can adjust every element of an effect—not just the strength but also the color, tone and texture—to fine tune and customize your personal look. Here’s a look at some of the magic you can perform with this program.

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