Photography

[AuthorTony]

I know I'm the only portrait photographer here but...

There's some new software called Evoto. It does a kick ass job of retouching with just a few clicks. The catch is you can't buy the software. There isn't even a monthly subscription option. Instead you have to buy "credits" where one credit allows you to edit one photo. The minimum is 1200 credits for around $90. It seems like a ridiculous pricing option, but the software is so damned good at what it does that I bought 1200 credits anyway.

[tifosi77]

I guess that's still SaaS, but that's an odd way to package it for consumers.

[AuthorTony]

I guess that's still SaaS, but that's an odd way to package it for consumers.

Yeah, I never saw anything like it. It's fine for me as 1200 credits should get me through a year, so it's going to be under $10 a month. I'd happily pay $15ish a month for it is subscription was an option. But, I suppose, they make their coin on high volume photographers, the ones who need to process 1000+ photos a month.

[dodint]

It also solves the 'sharing' problem. Now if you want to share it with NTP66 it doesn't really matter.

[NTP66]

That's pretty neat. How does it compare to LR/PS CC?

[AuthorTony]

I haven't played with it at all outside of retouching, but it has all sorts of bells and whistles. You can download the software and play with it for free. I'll be sticking with LR/PS because I'm old and set in my ways, but this new tech sure is something.

[NTP66]

I'll be sticking with LR/PS because I'm old and set in my ways, but this new tech sure is something.

Lol, I had the same thought myself. I’ll download it and take it for a spin just to see what it’s like. Maybe process one of my old photos and compare it to LR.

[NTP66]

I know I'm the only portrait photographer here but...

There's some new software called Evoto. It does a kick ass job of retouching with just a few clicks. The catch is you can't buy the software. There isn't even a monthly subscription option. Instead you have to buy "credits" where one credit allows you to edit one photo. The minimum is 1200 credits for around $90. It seems like a ridiculous pricing option, but the software is so damned good at what it does that I bought 1200 credits anyway.

Man, I can see why a portrait photographer would love this software. It works incredibly well in that area, and quickly. I found a few photos where I had to Photoshop some blemishes (pimple, etc.), and this cleared it up with a single slider. The fact that it can target man/woman/child is equally impressive.

Definitely not for me, though, as I'm not really a portrait photographer. A lot of my photos are from vacation, and while the software can handle the actual people in the photo, it's less than ideal for everything else. Being able to selectively target specific areas to correct (i.e., over/underexposure) is non-existent, unless I'm completely missing something. Background replacement does well if there's a sharp delineation between sky and whatever else is in the photo, but it struggles if there are plants and trees in the sky. If the software allowed you to select specific areas that it missed, that'd solve that problem.

Still, incredibly powerful for portraits. Almost cheating, lol.

[AuthorTony]

It is almost cheating, ha!

Have you tried the new sky replacement tool from Adobe? Lightroom has a couple options, but I haven't played around with it much.

[NTP66]

It is almost cheating, ha!

Have you tried the new sky replacement tool from Adobe? Lightroom has a couple options, but I haven't played around with it much.

I haven’t, but I also don’t think the build I have installed includes that feature. It’s a few years old.

[AuthorTony]

For the last few years I've been photographing a local soccer team. I have to extract the players and drop them into a template for the individual shots and group/indiv. combo prints. No big deal... Except that the template I bought to use this year is something like 1.5GB. My laptop is struggling! I've also used up something like 200 GB of storage on just this gig. And my poor little Dell only has a 500GB hard drive. Sheesh.

[NTP66]

Are you at least doing this on a powerful XPS laptop? Might want to consider upgrading to a 2TB+ SSD (assuming your device supports an SSD). You can get a 4TB Samsung 870 EVO for under $230.

[AuthorTony]

Yeah, I'm on an XPS, albeit one that's 2 years old. I was on the Dell site and saw some of the newer models have 4 and 8 gb SSDs. Tempting. I'll check into that Samsung drive first though. Would certainly be a cheaper option.

I'm mostly annoyed at the bloated size of the template. Just ridiculous for an 8x10 file to be over 1 gig.

[nocera]

Can't you compress that file quite a bit before losing any resolution?

[NTP66]

The drive is only part of it. If you've got room to buy a new laptop, I'd consider it. Anything with a new Ryzen and M.2 SSD is going to be absolutely killer for your workflow.

[AuthorTony]

nocera - Yeah, probably. It has 50 layers or something ridiculous like that. Great looking template, but what a resource hog.

NTP66 - I'm strongly considering it. I only have this gig once a year which is why I'm waffling. None of my regular jobs require anything this resource-hungry.

[nocera]

Can't you compress that file quite a bit before losing any resolution?

Another thought but I've never actually looked into it because I don't have a need: is it possible to work with proxies in Photoshop? I use them constantly in Premiere. It's a life saver.

[tifosi77]

Would an external drive be a viable solution? I think a lot of video creators work off of portable HDDs almost exclusively.

[NTP66]

If it was a USB-C external SSD, should be fine.

[nocera]

Would an external drive be a viable solution? I think a lot of video creators work off of portable HDDs almost exclusively.

Yep. I prefer an SSD but same idea. Just make sure you got even the smallest amount of project management happening so links don’t get busted and you’re good.

[AuthorTony]

Thanks for the leads, guys! I'll definitely get some other arrangement set up, and this makes it simpler. I appreciate it.

[AuthorTony]

I've used my D800 on my last couple of shoots instead of my Z6. I have to say, I still highly prefer this camera. I don't know if it's the size, the extra MP, the better viewfinder, or what, but it feels superior in every way. I think I'm going to buy another used D800 or D810 and sell the Z6.

[NTP66]

NIKON FULL FRAME BROS UNITE

[AuthorTony]

NIKON FULL FRAME BROS UNITE

[AuthorTony]

Sold my Z6. Now I need to snag a D800 or D810 somewhere.