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Jesper Palermo gets creative with color

NOTE: This article discusses an older version of Capture One Pro. To learn more about our latest version, click here.

“Color is everything”

Color is everything. Coloring is what sets a mood and helps tell a story – it keeps the viewer intrigued, and good color processing via photo editing software is a huge part of being a good photographer. For me, it’s about making an image come to life.

I often try to create a cinematic feel with my photography series – dark tones, moody vibes with contrast and popping colors, but with lightened and toned shadows. Photos where the white isn’t necessarily white and the tones can do the magic.

Of course, for bigger commercial jobs my “moody” color grading doesn’t always perfectly suit – but it’s important that I include a degree of my own look in the post processing. I try to blend my personal color grading with my more commercial, “correct” color grading and try to create my own vibe.

Must-have tools for color grading

To achieve my exact vision and vibe, a good RAW file is always necessary – and of course, good photo editing software! My toolkit of choice is Capture One Pro – since day one I have been very interested in coloring and expanding my color grading skillset, which is why I chose the software with the best possible color tools.

For example, I can’t live without the Advanced Color Editor, the Color Picker tool and the lovely sliders. I never finish an image without turning a knob or two in those tools. I love it!

The Linear Gradient Mask is another go-to. I almost always play around with it when working on the depth of an image. I often have the Linear Gradient Mask in mind when working on specific photos, and I use it to help me shape my vision of how it should look. I use it to darken or lighten the gradient, and it’s amazing every time – and the Linear Gradient Mask has really great possibilities.

When it comes to preset adjustments in Styles – my advice would be to follow your own vision and start playing around with the color tools yourself! Get creative and try things out. I love playing around with the Capture One Styles, but I always end up changing them up a little, making changes to opacity and color so you end up with a completely different look than the one you began with. It gets me inspired for the final look of my images.

My color grading process in
Capture One Pro

It’s a bit tricky to explain my work process as it is never quite the same every time – I’m still learning and having fun with the RAW editing software! But there are a few things I almost always do:

When I first import the image into Capture One Pro, I make basic adjustments to “correct” the image and then play around with sliders, tabs and color grading tools. I like to experiment with the different choices available in Capture One Pro to mix up the coloring in my images. I try to create a look in my head, and then execute it on-screen with the color grading tools.

Sometimes I play around with Styles, but I never end up choosing just one – I always tweak them to fit the image or suit my style.

More reasons to edit in Capture One Pro

Besides the advanced color grading tools, there are tons of other reasons I prefer to edit my photos in Capture One Pro. Here’s just a few:

I can redesign the entire interface and personalize my workspace. It’s genius! I love being able to scale back to the tools I can’t live without and ditch the few that I barely use.
Floating tools for the win! It just makes it so easy and enjoyable to slide around in the editing. Plus being able to drag the tools out and pop them bigger for more precise editing is just perfect!

I can export multiple files at once for different outputs, like print or Instagram. It’s a clever touch!

There are really a ton of reasons to choose Capture One Pro as your go-to photo editing toolbox, but I would say the main reason is: you simply get a cleaner and better file from your export – you will improve yourself as a photographer because your final photos simply look better.

In Capture One Pro, highlights and shadows are cleaner, while color gradients – they are simply beautiful. I was once a pro user of Lightroom, but after shooting tethered directly into my computer using Capture One Pro and switching to it as my go-to software, I have been so much happier with the final result.

The Advanced Color Editor is just beautiful and works like magic – once you get around to using it properly. Play around a bit and see for yourself – it won’t take long!

Stay true to yourself

Whether working on my own series or commercial projects, I always try to be curious about new ways of editing images and be willing to experiment and explore – but of course, my mission is always to have my own personal touch, a subtle hint of Palermo. The most important thing as a photographer is to never stop – never settle. Open your eyes, be curious, be nerdy!

If you don’t already have Capture One, you can download a day trial and try it out.

Eager to learn? Access webinars, tutorials and expert help in the Learning Hub – completely free.

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Capturing the pulse of New York with black-and-white photography

NOTE: This article discusses an older version of Capture One Pro. To learn more about our latest version, click here.

Black and white street portraiture is a personal project I’ve been working on for over 10 years, but my journey there has not been a linear one.

My background in photography is largely news-based, as my father was a news photographer. Born in the UK, I moved to New York in 2000 after a brief spell in Los Angeles working for a celebrity news agency. The company relocated me to New York with a colleague to set up the New York bureau – at the time, this meant a tiny apartment on 9^th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen.

Each week, we flew around the world on assignments that included tracking down convicted killers in the heart of Brazil, to shooting the latest celebrity on Caribbean beach. This was a golden age of celebrity photography, where magazines would pay anything for a shot. But after 5 years, I decided to go freelance. I wanted more control over my life and what I wanted to shoot, and I found myself uninspired by celebrity photography – which felt more like working as a private detective than a photographer.

How the streets of New York became my playground

I bought a Leica M7 from a friend and quickly became hooked. The camera set up was a nice break from the Canon 600mm lenses I was used to shooting with. It allowed me to mentally separate my work from my personal vision and the things that inspired me to become a photographer in the first place.

With that camera in hand, the streets of New York became my playground. Now that I was no longer hunting celebrities at Starbucks, I found myself looking for people that interested me and a return to my old habit of shooting predominately black and white.

The motivation to shoot became so intense that I would get up at 4am and run out the door. If I knew a snowstorm was on the way, I would prepare my gear the night before. If I woke up at 2am and it was snowing, I would grab a coffee and walk around the streets of the city. They’re is something so magical about walking around in blizzard conditions in the city that never sleeps.

Most of the time the people I approach are shocked that I want to do a portrait of them. Some say no. This is something I have to get used to – the fear of rejection. However, in my experience people turn out to be mostly flattered or intrigued as to why you would want their portrait. And the most interesting conversations I’ve had with people have been while out documenting the streets.

All photographers need to edit their images

From my experience, I’ve found a lot of misconceptions exist out there that professional photographers just go out and shoot award winning images every day. This is not the case – professionals also crop and edit their images. I would love to say that I nail composition, lighting, subject matter, full frame every time, but I often need help from photo editing software.

I’ve gone through many kinds of image editing software – Photoshop, Aperture, and then Lightroom. I found that I was not getting good black and white images through Lightroom, so I would export the images to black and white plugin Silver Efex.

The process was very long-winded. I would have to export to Silver Efex, then back into Lightroom to do the dodging, burning and any spot removal. Asset management was messy – my library was doubling up. I had the TIFF file from Silver EFX and then I would export the final as a TIFF as well.

When teaching a Leica Akademie class in New York recently, an attendee showed me Capture One and I decided to download the trial version. I’m still in the early stages but I am amazed by just how much more creative control I have over my photos.

I compared the two software by taking one of my old images created in Lightroom and Silver EFX and reproducing it in Capture One Pro – I was amazed to see that I could not only recreate the same look, but even go further.

“Capture One is Lightroom on Steroids”

Before shooting a street scene, I find it useful to visualize how I want the end result to look on a print. This becomes my vision for the final edit and end result. The next step is to maintain the integrity of the scene, especially when it’s a street photograph. When photo editing, I try to maintain the same techniques I used when I was in the darkroom. Dodging and burning, darkening the corners and playing with contrast. It’s great that Capture One allows me to copy and paste the adjustments to the next image. Again, this saves me a lot of time and enables me to create variants of the same image.

Capture One Pro can seem daunting when you first open the program, but I was able to quickly pick up the basics using the free Learning Hub online, and even create my own custom workspace with my preferred tools within a few hours. Every day I start up the software, I find out something new.

For example, If I want to create different looks and moods for the same image to be able to compare, I can easily do this in Capture One Pro without making more TIFF files.

I was also delighted to learn that I could keep my original workflow from Lightroom. In that program, I used to do all my editing and selecting in the Quick Access module using the B key to make selects. This served as a kind of mood board and images would often stay there for weeks at a time while I was editing them.

In Capture One, I could maintain this Quick Access folder and Keyboard Shortcuts, and therefore keep the same workflow I had before in Lightroom. I’m also able to maintain the same color-coding system and star ratings that I had used before.

Lightroom was good for using as a catalogue system but it just lacks a lot of tools. Capture One is Lightroom on steroids! You have so many more tools to utilize and with Process Recipes, I can export my final images to multiple locations in one go. For example, I could export one shoot consisting of high-resolution TIFF files and also a low-resolution folder for social media posts.

I’ve also created multiple workspaces in Capture One – one purely for editing black–and–white, and then another for client edits where more image manipulation is required to meet client needs.

The old process of exporting to Silver EFX and then back into Lightroom has now been cut down in time and my hard drives are thankful for it thanks to Capture One. And I know that this is just the beginning of my learning curve as I can see the possibilities are endless.

If you don’t already have Capture One, you can download a day trial and try it out.

March 19th 2015: Pictures taken of Steam clouds on 6th Avenue in New York City, USA. Pictures by Phil Penman WWW.PHILPENMAN.COM Cellphone: 917 496 1644 penmanphoto@gmail.com

February 20th 2018: Pictures taken ion the Top of the Rock showing the Emire State Building , and Central Park in New York City, USA. WWW.PHILPENMAN.COM Cellphone: 917 496 1644

March 20th 2019: Picture taken of a New Yorker Billy Kane “The Drummer” in New York , USA. Picture by Phil Penman WWW.PHILPENMAN.COM Email: studio@philpenman.com Cellphone: 917 496 1644

May 16th 2019: Picture taken in midtown , New York City, USA. Picture by Phil Penman WWW.PHILPENMAN.COM Email: studio@philpenman.com Cellphone: 917 496 1644

January 17th 2012: People seen walking on a rainy day through the steam clouds in New York City, USA. Photography by Phil Penman www.philpenman.com Cellphone: 917 496 1644 Email: ppenman@me.com i

How to use the Resource Hub

NOTE: This article discusses an older version of Capture One Pro. To learn more about our latest version, click here.

What’s New

The first tab is “What’s New.” Use it to stay up-to-date with the latest photo editing software updates, Styles, webinars and other Capture One news.

Tutorials

Click on the “Tutorials” tab to access the Learning Hub, packed with blogs, tutorials and webinars covering different topics and learning levels. Explore the possibilities and discover new tricks and tips or use the search filter to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Key tip – you can filter your search to find tutorials catered to your specific photography style, whether that’s weddings, portraits or landscapes.

Find a huge selection of Learning Hub tutorials under the “Tutorials” tab

The Learning Hub. Filter by criteria in the column on the right-hand side.

We are constantly adding new resources to the Learning Hub to keep up-to-date with our latest releases and in response to your requests.

Webinars

Join our Capture One expert David Grover as he breaks down different aspects of the RAW editing process and offers tip and tricks for creating amazing photos with Capture One. Under the “Webinars” tab, you can access recorded webinars or sign up for a live webinar. Each live webinar has two time slots and is uploaded later if you miss the live event.

The Webinar tab

Support

Need help? Click on the “Support” tab to get in touch with our Support Team or access helpful resources such as the User Guide, Learning Hub, FAQ and Forum.

Shop Now

Browse the “Shop Now” tab to get exciting offers on Capture One software upgrades, Styles and more.

I can’t see the Resource Hub

Go to Preferences > General > Resource Hub and selected “Show on start-up.”

What would you like to see on the Capture One Resource Hub?

Don’t have Capture One? Download a 30-day trial.

Capture One raw photo editor blogpost Martha superman underwater portraits slider image woman under water wearing floaty gown

How to create the perfect underwater portrait

NOTE: This article discusses an outdated version of Capture One. To learn more about our latest version, click here.

Nailing the perfect underwater portrait is a huge challenge, because water affects skin tone and your SOOC  (Straight Out Of Camera) pictures will be a bit blue and sometimes green. Capture One Pro’s photo editing software helps me achieve the ideal skin tone and the high-performance RAW processing engine helps me work more efficiently, even with the most difficult files.

In this blog post, I will share my workflow for editing underwater images. When I shoot an underwater session, I usually work with continuous lights and use a camera with high fps (frame per second). I use the camera in Burst mode, so I have more likelihood of getting the best pictures – but on the flipside, this means I have to deal with so many pictures in post-processing and the image editing process.

Luckily, Capture One Pro’s asset management system is an ideal solution for faster processing. I love working with Sessions, which makes it easy to arrange my files, categorize them into the best images, then second-grade pictures and selected photo stocks for composite processing in Photoshop. In the past, I was very bad at organizing my RAW files and edited files in Photoshop, but now that I work with Sessions in Capture One Pro, I have all my files in the same folder which makes my workflow much more efficient.

Color Correction:

The first thing I do with underwater pictures is color correction and contrast correction. I always look for neutral colors, beautiful skin tones and beautiful contrast. It’s important to note that these pictures use water as a medium, and water contains not only particles but also from the pool and water itself. Shooting with a strobe light could help me to gain better contrast, but another problem is that when I am working with talent with no diving experience, they can only hold their breath for a couple of seconds.

In this picture, my talent is a pregnant mom. As a pregnant person can hold their breath for a shorter time, I took this picture with natural light.

I then make color corrections with the Kelvin and Tint Adjustment in Capture One Pro. I usually set it at around 8000-9000 Kelvin and 30 Tint. Each picture will be different because the color of the pool gives different results.

Color Editor:

I love to check all colors one by one, especially the most dominant color. In this picture, the red is the main color. It contains some magenta and I love the colors to be “thicker”, so I have to adjust it in Capture One Pro’s Color Editor using the Color Picker Tool. I simply click on the magenta area and slide down the lightness and make a slight Hue adjustment. I then adjust the saturation of the blue, making it desaturated and a lower lightness.

Exposure:

It’s common to have less contrast on underwater pictures, so I always add some contrast in Capture One Pro to make it look nicer. I also adjust the shadow and highlight areas to get balance exposure.

Copy & Paste:

When I’m working with a large number of images, the shortcuts in Capture One Pro make it easy to apply the same set of adjustments across multiple photos – speeding up my workflow in a big way and saving me tons of time. Everything on the menu is adjustable, meaning you can create the best possible set-up and to amplify your image editing process.

Working with PSD files

As a Capture One user, I can also work in Photoshop – all I need to do is right-click and choose “Edit With”, then I can choose the editing software and file format. The new PSD file will appear below the RAW files and will automatically update after editing in Photoshop. Usually, I add more fabrics to make it look more glamourous. When I’m finished, I just save it and the PSD files in Capture One Pro will automatically update.

Color Balance:

After I’m finished the composite process in Adobe Photoshop, I just need to do color grading on the Color Balance menu. I usually work with mid tones and then highlight, and the last one is shadow.  Color Grading in Capture One Pro is awesome because it has far more natural and authentic colors compared to other RAW editing software I have worked with.

Speed up your workflow by saving adjustments as Styles

After you are finished color grading, you can save the settings as a User Style and give it a title. You can then apply your saved Style to future pictures, and adjust them down the line. Or, use Capture One Styles – which are developed by leading photographers and come in different packs with a range of looks– as inspiration or a starting point for your photo editing. There’s freedom to experiment and play – you can easily tinker with your saved Styles or the Capture One Styles.