Delicious Presets Blog - Our News and Photography Articles

12 June 2014

Top ‘Must-Have’ Freebies Photographers Will Love

By Paula Bartela|2016-03-01T15:36:01+00:0012 June 2014|Articles|2 Comments

Photography is just awesome. I bet there are literally thousands of you out there who share their interest in this wonderful hobby. And a big bunch of you guys are professionals. No matter what stage or level of photography you represent, you must have used Internet to browse through photography resources available. The range of articles, tips, information available is just bewildering! That must be confusing! Having this in mind we have compiled a decent list of resources that one can find on the Internet. And guess what! It’s all free!

Well, shopping is fun, of course, but if you want to compile a nice bunch of books, pay for courses or other extras, then you’d just have to drain your pockets! We’ll show you super-useful freebies that actually are worth paying for, but that is not the case today. Just consider these as your free photography cafeteria.

We divided the material into separate categories to simplify the process of digging out the freebies of your interest. Enjoy!
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30 April 2014

Delicious Recipes ( Lightroom + Color Efex Pro Workflow ) – 1.1 Update

By Krzysztof Ziętarski|2015-04-23T19:18:07+00:0030 April 2014|Color Efex Pro Recipes, Delicious Recipes, Discounts, Presets Show Off, Product Updates|0 Comments

Since the release of the Delicious Recipes ( our time-saving workflow for Lightroom and Color Efex Pro ) in September 2013, many of you used them with success. So far it contained the Color Efex Pro recipes which I personally use. Many of you liked the warm colors very much, but the workflow gains much more possibilities when you have a choice of other color variations within CEP recipes

To better cover your personal taste I created 14 new color recipes and 5 B&W recipes. The basic Lightroom preset for RAW developing and the original “Standard” recipe ( the one from the 1.0 version ) also gained some improvements, so don’t forget to update them!

Just look how beautiful colors we have now:

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23 April 2014

Film Lightroom Presets for Wedding Photography – J.Godoi

By Krzysztof Ziętarski|2015-04-23T19:18:29+00:0023 April 2014|Analog Story, Black&White Pepper, Lightroom 4-5 Presets, Presets Show Off, Wedding Photography|0 Comments

Juliano Godoi uses the Complete Collection of our Lightroom 4-5 Presets. He loves to use Analog Story Collection, as these are great as film lightroom presets for wedding photography. They are subtle enough to capture timeless memories which will still look great years after the wedding day. They have also their own vintage character which let’s you easily create catchy colors.
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12 April 2014

Do You Have a Successful Wedding Photography Business Image?

By Paula Bartela|2015-04-23T19:18:41+00:0012 April 2014|Articles|1 Comment

A satisfied and happy couple = awesome marketing and promotion tool. That goes without saying. The question is how do I create a professional image of my company and myself as an artist to attract couples? Yeah, we do often rely on word of mouth. It works so well. But then again, you’ll need some professional reference that your prospective clients may get some insight to. These include: offer, website and portfolio and customer service. Let me focus on these.

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5 April 2014

Lightroom Presets Testimonial ( Complete Collection ) – R.Kulwiec

By Krzysztof Ziętarski|2015-04-23T19:18:55+00:005 April 2014|Lightroom 4-5 Presets, Presets Show Off, Testimonials|0 Comments

Lightroom Presets Testimonial

Rafal bought our Lightroom Presets Complete Collection exactly a year ago. Since then he received one major update to the presets.
Recently Rafal sent me his thought and impressions after a year with Delicious Presets. Here is his testimonial:

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24 March 2014

Circus Festival shot by M.Mentel – Color Efex Pro Recipes processing

By Krzysztof Ziętarski|2014-10-23T09:50:44+00:0024 March 2014|Color Efex Pro Recipes, Delicious Recipes, Presets Show Off|0 Comments

Marcin Mentel recently shot the 14th International Circus Festival by Zalewski Circus. He had a glimpse at all the preparations and backstage before, during and after the actual performance. For sure Marcin has an exceptionally perceptive eye! He took so many great shots and beautifully captured the atmosphere of circus show.

Our Lightroom 4/5 + Color Efex Pro 4 workflow

Lightroom Presets + Color Efex Pro Recipes

Marcin could process the whole set quickly with so pleasing colors as he used our Delicious Recipes. It is a Lightroom + Color Efex Pro workflow solution which lets you process whole sets the easy and very fast way. It focuses on a cohesive processing, so if you like to switch styles between each photo, it definitely won’t match your needs. Cohesive processing lets a viewer get deeper into the action and concentrate on the story you have to tell.

Delicious Recipes Testimonial

(…) The aspects about Delicious Recipes post- processing I loved most:

Picture touch-up – New system divides the workflow into two stages (LR+CEP), which gives a fresh insight into the photo twice. This way, I have the chance to correct any possible previous mistakes that result from the fact that your eye gets used to the colors. Then, I can work on the best effect of the photograph.

Speed – The key thing – especially when you have to edit several thousand pictures a year, just like I do

The simplicity of developing – proper raw image developing according to the tips in the manual together with subsequent work with the set of Color Efex Pro effects allows me to bring out the details and improve tonal range of the picture. This way, I can get rich colors without spoiling their natural beauty at the same time. (…) [ Read a full testimonial on product page ]

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2 March 2014

6 Smart Tips for a Successful Engagement Shoot

By Paula Bartela|2014-11-06T08:29:59+00:002 March 2014|Articles|1 Comment

What exactly is an engagement session?

Some may ask: „What exactly is an engagement session?” Well, that is namely an occasion for the couple to be photographed before the wedding and for the photographer to establish and build up a relation with the couple.

Photographer’s benefits from engagement shoot

Why should we bother? Well, there are number of reasons why. First of all, for the photographers it is a unique chance to get to know the couple better, their personalities and expectations. It is always nicer to greet the couple on their wedding day with a friendly smile and well-known “Hi!” instead of cold handshakes. The photographer often captures intimate, personal moments. It is a lot easier to do so with someone you already know and worked with rather than almost complete strangers.

Couple’s benefits from engagement shoot

And for the couple? The benefits are countless! Establishing a relationship with the photographer easily translates to actual wedding photos. The outcome is really different, as the couple feels more comfortable with the photographer. That’s because they know his or her style of working and created a level of trust before.

What’s more, some couples don’t like being photographed, as they do not feel very comfortable in front of a camera. Engagement session is a kind of “rescue wheel” as it helps people understand that professional shoot can be fun and that obviously takes a great deal of stress out of the actual wedding day, which again, has an unquestionably positive effect on the pictures from THAT Day.

And something often forgotten about, but immensely important, especially for the bride-to-be. Has anyone ever told you that an engagement session could be a fantastic test of the bride’s make-up? They often arrange a “trial make-up” before the wedding- why not use it on our engagement session day? Thus, the bride tests not only how she looks but also how that make-up presents in the photographs.
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14 January 2014

Portrait Photography Masters – a Very Subjective List

By Paula Bartela|2014-11-06T08:33:27+00:0014 January 2014|Articles|0 Comments

Photos in the image by Yousuf Karsh, Arnold Newman and Annie Leibovitz

As a follow up to a Quick Guide to Emotional Portraits, still in the topic of portraits, let me share with you my list of portrait photography masters. These are the icons of photography that at some point drew my attention and changed the way I think about portraits. Their photographs are not soulless images that make you click from one page to another in less than 2 seconds. These are truly powerful images that make you stop for a while.

Don’t let the numbers mislead you – this is not any kind of ranking. The numbers are random and the names listed here just follow my stream of thoughts about the photographers.

1. Richard Avedon ( 1923-2004 )

Also well known for fashion photography, but undoubtedly his portraiture is well worth your attention. These large scale black and white, images concentrate on capturing the humanity and frank intensity of the subject.

What I really like about Avedon is the fact that when photographing celebrities, he tried to get an image of the subject by stripping them of the Hollywood or media branding and strove to show basic human emotion. We may know little or nothing about the people on the photographs. Still, we get some idea about them, or at least we get a clear picture of what Avedon was trying to tell us.

The recipe seems to be: simple background and detailed close-ups. Hence you get very expressive faces. In his work with the model, he loved interaction and often through stories he evoked emotions and reactions just to get an intended expression.

See more of this photographer’s work:

www.richardavedon.com

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1 October 2013

A Quick Guide to Emotional Portraits

By Paula Bartela|2014-11-06T08:34:06+00:001 October 2013|Articles|1 Comment

As you may probably agree with me, portrait photography IS a challenge. It is not about arranging a meeting with someone and taking picture of them. It’s all about emotions, and the relation between you and the subject.

This guide will not provide you with any sophisticated techniques that could make your pictures creative or original. It will tell you how to look for the truth. There are many good portraits, such as fashion or glamour portraits. Nevertheless, they are artificial in terms of emotions – everything is directed from the beginning. This is not the kind of photographs I wish to focus on now.

There are three important aspects about portraits worth concentrating on: Model, Authenticity, Light. Read this portraits guide to take more emotional photos.

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10 September 2013

23 Wedding Photography Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

By Paula Bartela|2014-11-06T08:38:30+00:0010 September 2013|Articles|0 Comments

Planning to shoot a wedding? Well, tough assignment to take on. The stakes? Really high! It simply does not matter if you work as a pro or as a newbie. There are some things out there you should know about in order to avoid serious mistakes that could ruin your pictures and in fact, ruin your career.

1. “I’m a PRO”

Lot’s of people turn into photography as a hobby. As the hobby is not a cheap thing, a lot of them want to make a profit out of it. But, please. Be realistic about your skills. Having a decent DSLR and some experience set of gear is surely not enough.

This is the photographer that takes pictures, not the camera. The investment is expensive and it goes to a very competitive market where only those skillful, talented and creative will survive. If you start in the business, be frank about that. Present a realistic picture of your current experience and where you are at your photographic journey, especially when you get paid for the assignment.

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