So, in my down time this week, I loaded up a trial copy of Capture One 5. I've heard a few good things about it, but I'm used to lightroom, so I was a little hesitant.
Besides everything being in different places, and not as easy to navigate as Lightroom, I stumbled though it, clicking and trying all the buttons as I went (I've never been one to read directions unless absolutely necessary!).
I did manage to get it under control after about 15 minutes, and I must say, I was happy with my results. I achieved a more natural result in much less time. The first image here was a little extreme to say the least. It was shot directly into the bright Texas sun, and really gave me trouble in lightroom. The best I could do with it still left it with a green cast that I wasn't happy with. After putting it through Capture One, I was left with a much warmer, more natural looking image (still a bit on the red side, but better than green!). The light also looked more natural shining through the model's hair.
Here's the first image. Capture One is on the left, Lightroom is on the right.
For my second attempt, I tried an image shot in the shade. I do have a bad habit of over-editing in Lightroom from time to time. After a few hundred images, I notice I'm pushing contrast and clarity way too far. My first impression of Capture One was that it was difficult to push the image too far. You can't force it as much as Lightroom.
Again, Capture On on the left, Lightroom on the Right.
Now, am I going to dump Lightroom for Capture One? No way. There are too many features I love about lightroom. File management, the ease of adjusting and globally updating the metadata, the web galleries, printing packages, slideshows, ease of trasition back and forth between itself and photoshop, the batch renaming and file saving options are awesome and the noise reduction feature is outstanding.
I would consider bringing Capture One into the arsenol of programs though. It produced a much more natural looking image, especially on those images with challanging lighting. Now I don't really like jumping between programs, but my final image was achieved using Capture One to do the initial color and exposure adjustments, then to lightroom to reduce grain and do detailed adjustments, then off to Portrature for the final touch!
I guess you can never have too many tools.
Model: Diana Graves
Location: Dallas, West End
http://www.billkrattphotography.com
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