Guest Photographers

Capture One Brand Ambassador Q&A – Part I

Get to know our Brand Ambassadors. We’ve asked our Capture One Brand Ambassadors to answer questions giving an insight into their Capture One experiences. Our Brand Ambassadors cover all disciplines, so no matter what your preferences are there’s sure to be something for you!

If you don’t already have Capture One, you can download a free 30-day trial.

Renee Robyn

What was the reason for you switching to Capture One?

I was looking for a great tethering program, and I had been disappointed in the past with everything I had tried. When Capture One v 8.0 was released, I was a convert. I loved how stable it was, and the features it offered to tethered shooting. It has only become better as each version has been released.

What was your experience in getting started with Capture One?

It’s like any new program, it takes time to get used to the environment. However, I’ve been absolutely thrilled with the color manipulation tools and how quickly I can get what I need. Tethering was also surprisingly easy to do, and batch processing has made my pre-work much more efficient.

What is your best advice for new users?

Start small, watch some tutorials, and work on what you think will be the most common things you will need on a daily basis. Once you get used to those, move on to more complex tasks. New programs can be so intimidating, but once you learn the language, it’s a lot more comfortable and efficient.

Best tip?

The overlay feature is just the best for compositors. I can shoot my subject in the studio and match the perspective, distortion, and positioning almost exactly how I need it to my background image. This has made my shoots so much faster and more efficient. 

What means you will never look back? 

The overlay feature, 100%. So handy! 

Want to learn more about Renee and see more of her work? Visit Renee Robyn’s profile here

Zach Sutton

What was the reason for you switching to Capture One?

For me, my biggest reason for switching to Capture One Pro was the color consistency of RAW conversions. As someone who is pretty obsessed with color spaces and consistency, I wasn’t getting want I wanted out of skin tones with Adobe’s RAW conversion systems, pushing more greens into the skin tones, and less reds. I’m a person who obsessively calibrated my monitor on a weekly basis, so as someone who is a bit crazy about color, it didn’t make sense to use anything other than a RAW conversion system that was just as crazy and obsessive.

What was your experience in getting started with Capture One?

The experience and switching over to Capture One was a pretty easy one. As someone who was coming from the Adobe platform, it was intimidating to see another piece of software designed with a different idea in mind. But Capture One has some incredibly valuable resources on Youtube and elsewhere that makes switching over and starting with Capture One a breeze.  I’ve been using Capture One since version 8.0, and see no reason or desire to switch my workflow to anything else.

What is your best advice for new users?

The best advice is to be patient with it. Capture One is designed with a proper workflow in mind, and we all know that most of us photographers have a bit of a chaotic way to our personal workflows. For those who are just starting out in Capture One, the system and interface can be a bit unfamiliar and intimidating, but after spending some time with it, you’ll discover it makes a whole lot of sense.

Best tip?

My favorite tip is to learn how to use the Three-Way Color Balance tool. I’ve never seen a tool that is more effective at quickly color grading images, and setting a foundation for retouching further. One of the best pieces of advice I got came from a retoucher friend of mine, he said “Zach, stop thinking of things in images as skin, or hair, or fabric, and start looking at it with two principles only; contrast and color”. From there, retouching became exceptionally easier, and the Three-Way Color Balance tool shares many of the same foundations at that advice.

What means you will never look back?

I won’t look back because Capture One keeps innovating with working photographers in mind. They’re constantly working to make Capture One faster, more streamlined and more innovative. 

Want to learn more about Zach and see more of his work? Visit Zach Sutton’s profile here

Clay Cook

What was the reason for you switching to Capture One?

Over the years, my workflow process had sped up and the software I was using had slowed down. I needed to adapt to a better software with more efficiency and speed to uphold to the caliber of my clientele. The RAW conversion and color control is far superior to anything else on the market. My photography is better because of Capture One.

What was your experience in getting started with Capture One?

With any software, there is a learning curve, but the resources online and the openness of my colleagues made the transition easy and seamless. I jumped in headfirst and never looked back.

What is your best advice for new users?

Find your own workflow. The beauty of Capture One is that there are many ways to produce and pull the same result. It’s important to transition at your own pace and learn the software to its fullest capabilities, which does take time. It’s beautiful software and a lot of that beauty is found within some of its smallest features.

Best tip?

Use color tags to organize your catalog or session. I use a series of color tags to “flag” different types of images, including client selections, final edits, behind the scenes and pullbacks. For example, behind the scenes are tagged with purple, while final edits are flagged with red.

What means you will never look back?

Since I first pulled up Capture One and used the color adjustments, I have never looked back. The control, speed and efficiency of Capture One is unmatched.

Want to learn more about Clay and see more of his work? Visit Clay Cook’s profile here

Pratik Naik

What was the reason for you switching to Capture One?

Working as a commercial and editorial retoucher, it was the program that most of my clients used, so it was imperative that I became familiar with it. I was impressed with the vast array of tools that allowed me to bring out my creativity. It even saved me time during the retouching process by utilizing tools like the Skin Tone editor, which ensured I had even skin tones before retouching. 

Being a huge fan of customization, the program felt very modular, in that I could customize the layout to my liking and create my own keyboard shortcuts. When you combined that with the rich color profiles the program has for every camera, there was no reason I would ever go back to anything else. 

What was your experience in getting started with Capture One?

I treated Capture One like its own unique program. With the amount of education out there with learning the program, I was able to quickly dive in and familiarize myself with the fundamental tools like importing, processing, and exporting. 

Like anything else, mastering it takes time, but with a basic understanding of where everything is through educational outlets like the Capture One YouTube page or my course, it was easier than expected. 

What is your best advice for new users?

Before using the program, don’t try to compare it to any other program. Approach it with a clean slate and an open mind. You’ll find that the placement of everything is modular and customizable. So, in case you don’t like how certain tools are placed, they can be easily stacked and moved around. 

I would start with understanding how to import images, use some of the basic tools, and understanding how to export out of Capture One. Next, I’d move on beyond catalogs and understanding the power of using sessions. Accordingly, consider learning what each tool does so you can familiarize yourself with what you really need. 

Best tip?

The best tip or tool I’d recommend is using and understanding the Advanced Color Editor! It truly has allowed me to speed up my retouching workflow by doing the heavy work for me when I need to fix any color variations across a subject! Since it utilizes the raw data in the color spectrum, the tool is so powerful. 

What means you will never look back?

If I was told I could never use Capture One again, I would immediately lose a vital step in my retouching workflow. The color quality and control I get from the program would be lost. For me, the biggest feature I would miss most is the Advanced Color Editor! Not being able to have full flexibility over colors would be a huge loss.

Want to learn more about Pratik and see more of his work? Visit Pratik Naik’s profile here

Derek Heisler

What was the reason for you switching to Capture One?

I originally was using Lightroom and had heard some of the photographers I most followed were using Capture One just as a standard. I read more about it the software and saw many comments about superior RAW image quality and on-set workflow optimization. It was the tethering standard.

What was your experience in getting started with Capture One?

At first, it felt overwhelming, but once you understand where all the tools are and how Capture One can be customized to your heart’s content, you can make some pretty powerful workflows. A few tutorials in and I was flying through the program.

What is your best advice for new users?

If you’re coming from a program like Lightroom like I was, it can feel daunting. It’s really not. And you’ll be happy you did make the change, because of the image quality and color improvement.

Best tip?

Using the Skin Tone tab in the Color Editor to even out skin tones. It’s the best!

What means you will never look back?

It’s funny I recently looked back at what options were still out there when a friend asked and I played around with what was available and was instantly disappointed. If you take photography seriously, Capture One Pro is the RAW processing software for you. Do you tether? Get Capture One Pro now.

Want to learn more about Derek and see more of his work? Visit Derek Heisler’s profile here

Jonas Nordqvist

What was the reason for you switching to Capture One?

The main reason for my switch was because I fell in love with the tools for colors that Capture One is providing. Another thing that caught my interest was working with sessions instead of catalogues, which is so much easier when you are traveling! 

What was your experience in getting started with Capture One?

That the program is very flexible. I could move around panels, hide tools I rarely use, do everything so the workspace fits my workflow perfectly.

What is your best advice for new users?

Don’t get frightened when switching to a new program. Change is good 😉

Best tip?

If you shoot people, take some time and learn the Uniformity sliders in the Skin Tone tab of the Color Editor tool. Usually I do the changes selectively with a mask in the Local Adjustments tool.

What means you will never look back?

I can’t see any other way!

Want to learn more about Jonas and see more of his work? Visit Jonas Nordqvist’s profile here

 

Do you have any questions to the Brand Ambassadors? Feel free to post it in the comment field below.

Check out the Q&A Part II where we feature the other half of the Capture One Brand Ambassadors. And check out each of their galleries and profiles here: www.phaseone.com/brand-ambassadors

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to get more inspiration and keep an eye out for them in future blog posts!

David Grover
David Grover

David Grover is part of the Capture One team, bringing you help, advice and education on a variety of subjects and platforms. David can be found on most weeks delivering live Capture One Webinars or anytime on our YouTube Channel.

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