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Recreating Lightroom color grading in Capture One Pro

NOTE: This article discusses an outdated version of Capture One.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

Introduction

I’ve always loved creating conceptual portraits and I am partial to shooting them in actual locations. Although the process is quite demanding resource-wise and largely dependent on weather, it is a uniquely satisfying experience when everything just works out. 

 Of course, the creative process doesn’t just stop when you press the shutter. You need an effective software when moving on to the next phase of file management and post-processing. In my case. I have found a reliable partner – Capture One Pro. 

 I understand that learning a new software can get frustrating and time consuming but critical when trying to enhance your output.  I have found it beneficial to migrate to Capture One Pro because it is fast, customizable to my needs, and boosts my overall productivity.  

 For this edition of my exploration with Capture One Pro, I will share my workflow for creating what I call “ethereal portraits”. In my experimentations with conceptualizing, shooting, and post-processing various types of portraits, my preference for simulating ethereal, other-wordly or “heavenly” images has intensified. You will notice this in my recent creations.  

 Below, I have shared my process for recreating a previous photo I made in Lightroom into an “ethereal grade” image in Capture One.  My gear and the settings for shooting the image I use as reference were as follows: 

  • Fujifilm GFX50s with a GF32-64mmF4 lens at 35mm
  • SS 1/60th
  • F/4.0
  • ISO 200
  • One Paul C. Buff Einstein 640 with a 47″ Octa powered by a Vagabond VLX battery.

RAW Image

Above is the RAW image that we will be working on. Below is the image that I edited using Lightroom.  

Lightroom Graded Image

First off, we need to know the settings that I made in Lightroom.

Adobe Lightroom Settings

Lightroom Basic Exposure

A bump in the Exposure around a stop +1.10, Hightlights of -73 and opened the Shadows to +57.

Lightroom HSL

Next, I shifted the Hue on the Yellow to -100 and Green to -100. Took the Saturation back. Red -5, Orange -11, Yellow -51 and Green -45. Luminance remained untouched.

For the Split toning, I shifted Highlights to a Cyanish tone of 183 Hue and a little Saturation of 18. Shadows to an Brownish tone of 48 and Saturation of 25.

That’s about it for the Lightroom adjustments. Now, let’s move on to recreating this to Capture One Pro.

Capture One Pro Settings

Let’s start in the Color Tab. I assume you already exported your image to Capture One.

Capture One Pro – Color Tab

In the Base Characteristics Tool, I chose Fujifilm PRO Neg. Std in the Curve dropdown to apply my favorite Fujifilm Film Simulation.

Base Characteristics Tool

Capture One Pro – Color Editor Tool

I proceeded in the Color Editor Tool and color picked the leaves part of the image using the Color Picker Tool. Adjusted the HSL values to Hue -20, Saturation -17.9. Again, my adjustments here are based on just eyeballing the color. To get it as close as possible to the Lightroom version, I exported a .TIF of the Lightroom graded file and just kind of switching back and forth to see if I am close enough with my adjustments. I noticed that I was not selecting enough yellow and greens so I switched to the Advanced Tab to add more yellow and green to the selection and adjust the HUE to match.

Capture One Pro – Exposure Tab

Next is the Exposure Tab. This is where we adjust tonal and luminance values.

Still eyeballing, I recovered Highlight first in the High Dynamic Range Tool then proceeded to adjust the Levels lifting a bit of Shadow to 5, Mids to -0.13 and Highlights to 203. Then lastly adjusted the Exposure to -0.77. Everything is looking pretty close but I feel the white on the dress is duller  than our reference so I used the Luma Range Mask, a new tool in Capture One Pro 12.  

Capture One Pro – Layers Tool / Luma Range

I created an adjustment layer (Layer 1) and used Luma Range to select the dress part. When you do this, you may find that some aspects of the images that have same luminance also get selected. I can fine tune the mask by selecting the (E) Erase mask tool and remove the unwanted mask area around the dress, ultimately leaving only the dress selected.

Back on the Layers Tool, I selected Layer 1, the adjustment layer we just created and applied the Luma Mask to and ever slightly bumped Brightness to 12.

Capture One Pro – Layers Tool

And there you go. Final image color graded through Capture One Pro 12.

Final Image Processed through Capture One Pro 12

I will end this blog by emphasizing my essential reason for choosing to switch to Capture One Pro. 

As a Fujifilm X shooter, I value the “film simulation” capability of my mirrorless cameras. With Capture One Pro, I am able to optimize this feature because it is compatible with my own color preference and ambitions for post processing, in this case – creating ethereal images. 

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5 features Quentin Décaillet can’t live without

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

Capture One is without a doubt the most powerful raw converter software I’ve used in my career. I tried many different apps before making the switch, but I was never pleased with the results I got from the other solutions. When I shifted all of my editing over to Capture One, I learned slowly, one step at a time, and discovered the power of all the advanced features it has to offer. In this article, I’ll show you a few of the Pro features and tools that I couldn’t live without anymore and what you may be missing out on by relying on the Express version. 

 The Express version for Fujifilm and Sony is a fantastic way to get started with Capture One without having to invest too much time or money. It has all the core features you need to edit your pictures quickly and get more out of your images than when shooting JPEG. When I left Lightroom and Aperture for Capture One, I almost exclusively used the basic features, as I didn’t know how to use the rest properly. Back then, there wasn’t as much Capture One learning content out there as there is today. For about a full year, I didn’t use half as many of the features that I use now. At the time, I would have been more than satisfied with the Express version. However, as you read on about the features below, you’ll see that today is a whole different story!
Ready to upgrade to Capture One Pro? Sign up for a 30-day trial.

 

Color Balance Tool

 

Let’s start with the Color Balance tool. If I were left with the choice of only retouching skin or editing color on a picture, I’d pick color in a heartbeat. Colors are crucial to set the mood, help the viewer read the image, and balance the composition. The color balance tool is nothing new to those who edit video as well, but surprisingly, no other current photo editing app offers a similar tool, aside from Capture One Pro.

The Color balance tool lets you place colors in the shadows, midtones, or highlights independently, without having to create a luminosity mask for each. It’s very visual to use, relying upon chroma wheels to adjust any setting, and thus you don’t need much color theory knowledge to get great results.

I use this tool a lot when editing weddings to correct color cast issues – it’s especially useful for those reception shots when the lighting condition is less than ideal.

However, it’s not limited to color correction, and it can be used to grade a shot and set the mood. I love using it on layers for beauty and commercial work, it gives me so much control!

Layers 

 

Speaking of layers, let’s go more in depth and talk about them. It’s probably the one single feature I couldn’t live without in Capture One Pro! It works similarly to the adjustments layers found in Photoshop except that one layer can combine multiple adjustments.

I generally use multiple layers to edit my beauty and portrait work. I like to keep luminosity work, color correction, and color grading separated, so I get as much control as possible. I can easily adjust the opacity of each layer individually and thus alter the look of an image quickly.

Moreover, since Capture One Pro 12, I can even create luminosity masks to go further into my editing and diminish my Photoshop work even more! If you don’t do much texture work or don’t need very advanced masking tools, with the layer features found in Capture One, you can skip the Photoshop step altogether. 

Advanced color editor 

 

However, that’s not to say Capture One doesn’t have advanced masking tools. The color editor can be used to create precise color based masks easily or refined color adjustments as well if the Color Balance isn’t enough for the task at hands.

If you use Capture One Express, you probably know all about the basic color editor tab – at least, I hope you do and use it religiously. With the advanced tab, a new world opens up! You can now create custom color channels, and if the adjustment of a single channel is not enough, you can duplicate it to make the change even pronounced! Changing the hue of an element has never been easier! 

However, if you don’t want to apply the setting to the whole picture, you can also create a mask based on your color selection. The advanced and skin tone tabs let you create a mask based on your selection and then erase any parts you don’t want to touch.

Also, last but not least, the color editor offers a skin tone tab. If you are a portrait, beauty, fashion, or wedding photographer, you’ll love this feature and wonder why you didn’t know about it before. Every day, I see users on facebook or instagram complaining about skin tones and how difficult they are to uniformize. With the skin tone tool, it’s easy! Pick the skin tones, adjust the hue, saturation, and brightness sliders for uniformity and you’re done! If the adjustment is not precise enough, rely on a mask to apply it locally.

Tethered Capture

Tethering is actually what lead me to find Capture One in the first place. I started shooting in studio and thought it’d be nice to see my image on the computer during the shoot. I started shooting tethered with Lightroom, but it would just keep crashing on me. Then, I noticed quite a few commercial photographers relying on Capture One for their tethered workflow. So I tried it, and quickly realized how powerful and reliable it was! It was and remains in a completely different league to Lightroom. 

 In a typical studio session, I’ll set my lights, take a test image, edit it, and then shoot the images the client needs. What’s excellent with Capture One, is that 80% of my editing is done once the shoot is over because the settings of the edited shot will carry onto the next ones. I can also pick the images I want to retouch as I shoot them, so I don’t need to spend time culling afterward, but instead, start retouching right away or simply export and send the files to a retoucher. 

 Furthermore, if you master the session workflow, shooting tethered becomes even more powerful. Sessions are designed to make the studio photographer workflow as fast and efficiently as possible. I like to create different capture folders, so I can have images from one look going into one folder, a second look into another one and keep all my prelight test shots separated. 

 Capture One’s ability to keep my images neat, organized and edited as I go feels like having an automated digitech on my side. If you are serious about shooting in studio or want to save time, sessions and tethered capture will make a significant difference to your workflow – and I’d even venture to say that it will make a huge difference to your image quality too, because it will free your mind and let you focus on what’s in front of you. 

 Workspaces 

One last feature I’d like to talk about before I let you get back to your editing in Capture One is the workspaces. One of the reasons I could never get used to Lightroom was the fact that the interface wasn’t customizable. In Capture One Pro you can move around the tools, create different tabs or keep everything in a single tab, alter the keyboard shortcuts, and save all of this for future jobs. 

I personally edit weddings, beauty, and still life work. Because my workflow is different for each genre, I change my workspace accordingly. For weddings, my editing is all about speed. I want to get through the images as quickly as possible without having to move my cursor around too much. It’s also crucial for me that the speed doesn’t come at the expense of image quality.

When editing beauty or still life work, the process is much more about refining the image and getting the most out of it before retouching it in Photoshop. 

 As each photographer and each genre is different, it’s essential that the interface can easily and quickly be modified. Workspaces are fantastic for that reason. A well-designed workspace will make the software work for you and not the other way around. 

 In this blog post, I’ve listed some of the features that, for me, make Capture One Pro the superior choice when it comes to photo editing. It has clear advantages over Capture One Express for professional photographers or enthusiasts looking to take their editing and images to the next level. 

 If you are still unsure whether it’s worth it for you, take advantage of the free trial and experiment with every feature I’ve mentioned above. During the 30-day trial period, you’ll have plenty of time to play and see how Capture One Pro can help improve your workflow. 

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Photographers on using Capture One for the first time

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

Thinking of making the switch to Capture One Pro?

Lukas Piatek, photographer and founder of photography community LOOKSLIKEFILM, says that once you get the hang of Capture One’s photo editing software, there’s no going back.

“I am making the switch to Capture One right now after spending years in Lightroom,” says Piatek. “It is undoubtedly overwhelming once you start Capture One for the first time, but once you get the hang of​ it, the power of Capture One is undeniable.”

While Piatek is primarily a wedding photographer, his community of close to 50k followers was founded to share inspiring, fantastic work across all fields and foster the photography journey. He asked a few members to play around with Capture One and share their first impressions of how the photo editing software works for their images and helps them achieve their unique looks and visions.

First impressions

 

“There is a learning curve for sure, but the interface was pretty easy. I have a pretty well established personal preset I use in Lightroom, so I had to work for these edits to get them pretty close to my typical style. Presets are huge in my workflow, so having that capability will be so much easier once established in Capture One” – Vicki Moyer

 

Capture One:

We know that consistency is key to the work of many photographers, and presets makes this much easier! In Capture One, presets are known as Styles. They function in a similar way with Preview and Apply features, and you can even apply Styles as layers to tweak opacity. Build your own, or purchase Styles from us or other Style creators. There are packs for every look and vision.

“I really loved using Capture One. The handling of color and grain seems much better than in Lightroom. Levels and especially auto levels are fantastic. Highlights and shadows seem to be controlled in a much more intuitive way as well. I am tempted to switch so my biggest question is Capture One confident enough that I could process just as fast as in Lightroom once I learn the platform.” – John Barwood

 

Capture One:

There’s always a learning curve with software – with Capture One we’re confident that you’ll be up to speed in no time. Capture One was originally designed for large-volume studio photographers and has since evolved into a highly customizable software built to accommodate any photographer’s workflow. You can create your own, intuitive interface with only the tools you need and set up keyboard shortcuts to make your workflow faster. You’ll be surprised at how much you can customize for a super-efficient, accelerated workflow.

“I use multifunction​ peripherals, so I essentially have 30 buttons at my fingertips over both my hands and have these all bound to a specific control in Lightroom which allows me to process very quickly. Can I do this in Capture One? ” – John Barwood

 

Capture One:

Yes! In Capture One you can set your own shortcuts or edit existing ones. Palette Gear and Tangent Panels are also supported, providing endless options for additional controls of Capture One.

“Is there a way to copy only certain adjustments and paste them onto a whole batch? Say, for instance, I want to synchronize the photos just on White Balance, even though I have already changed the exposure for them individually? This would be a major thing for me, as I am doing mostly batch editing. Looking forward to playing around with Capture One more! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to broaden my horizons when it comes to digital photo editing! ” – Martjin Roos

 

Capture One:

Sure thing. Besides the adjustments clipboard where you can select which adjustments you want to copy and apply, there is a little double-sided arrow in the top right of each tool. That is the tool-based copy function. If you click it, it opens a dialog where you can select which parts of the tool you want to copy. However, the easiest way to synchronize a single tool adjustment across multiple images is to do the following:

1. Select all images you want to synchronize, including the one you are synchronizing from

2. Make sure the image you want to synchronize from is highlighted in the selection of images (it should have a thicker border, otherwise just click on it)

3. Hold down shift and click the little double-sided arrow

All adjustments from that tool alone are now applied to all the images

For this to work you need to make sure that ‘Image > Edit All Selected Variants’ is enabled. It is by default, but sometimes users turn this off by mistake.

“I’ve been thinking about switching from Lightroom to C1 for quite some time, and a few times I tried to fall in love with C1 as I heard so many positive things about it. Somehow, it never worked out. With C1 Pro 12 I tried again, and finally, I’m seeing why so many photographers love to edit in C1 – it feels to me like I can edit colors in a way more detailed way. I still find it hard to get my look from Lightroom carried over, but I’ll do my best and try. What I love a lot about C1 already is how fast I can export all the several versions of an image that I need for my clients, my website, social media. All in one step, that’s such a game changer when it comes to time.
Something I still have to deal with is getting my colors exactly the way I want them to, but as in LR, I think this just takes time. I wonder if there’s an easy way of migrating looks over from Lightroom to C1?” – Björn Lexius

 

Capture One:

Because of the different algorithms behind the tools, there is no direct way of precisely migrating Presets from Lightroom to Capture One. If you’re using the HSL tool in Lightroom a lot, you may find our Color Editor similar – just with different color ranges. We have a Preset available for the Color Editor, which adds the same eight ranges you are familiar with from the HSL tool in Lightroom.

Once you have imported the Preset, it’s available from the hamburger menu (three lines) in the top right of the Color Editor. When applied, the eight ranges are available from within the Advanced part of the Color Editor. Then you can simply tweak Hue, Saturation and Lightness for each range, just like you’re used to in Lightroom.

“One concern I’m still having is how do I cull images in C1 the fastest? In LR I used to work with the spray paint can tool and could quickly do my first selection. I haven’t found anything comparable in C1 and I’m quite sure I’m just not seeing the best option to cull yet. I’d love to have any ideas about this.” – Björn Lexius

 

Capture One:

What may confuse new users of Capture One about culling is that there are so many different ways you can do it. The fastest way is definitely by using keyboard shortcuts, either for color tags or star ratings, then simply using the arrow keys to navigate. If you need to view a lot of images in a grid view, you can hide the viewer (View > Viewer) which will show a large browser instead. Besides regular filtering, Capture One also has Smart Albums, which work like Smart Collections in Lightroom. You can set up different criteria to filter on images depending on rating, color tag or something completely different. There are many tutorials available on the Capture One Learning Hub about how to manage large amounts of images in Catalogs – check learn.captureone.com.

“At first glance, I was a bit confused on how to navigate in Capture One, but I quickly found out how to change the workspace layout to ‘Migration’ which is a more similar layout to Lightroom, which I usually use. This is actually the first thing I really like about Capture One: Being able to customize my workspace. I can set up my workspace however I want, add and remove the tools that I use in my editing and decide where I want my tools to be on the screen, my filmstrip, etc. Also, Capture One seems super fast.
I started off getting my ‘Curves’ right, which is pretty straight forward. Once that was done I had to figure out how to use the rest of the tools to match my usual editing style. Here I found the ‘Color Editor’ and ‘Color Balance’ tool extremely interesting. It’s more complicated than Lightroom’s “HSL” sliders and “Split Toning” – but only because you can do so much more than in Lightroom. Forget about just having ‘Hue,’ ‘Saturation’ and ‘Luminance’ for eight color controls, in Capture One it seems like the possibilities for color control are endless. By using the ‘Advanced’ color editor, you’re able to single out the exact color that you want to adjust – you can decide how big the color range is, that you want to edit. I found this extremely clever. It’s a little tricky to master at first, and I am sure I have much to improve, but I loved the possibilities the Color Editor ‘Advanced’ tab provides. The fact that Capture One works with layers + masks is also surprising when it comes to adjusting the colors. By brushing over certain areas and creating a mask, I could control the colors of a specific area without it affecting the rest of the image.
Will there be more presets coming out for Capture One like the Mastin Presets or maybe some converter for Lightroom presets? ” – Carolina Segre

 

Capture One:

Though we can’t share any details just yet, we hope to see many more high-end creators contributing Styles for Capture One, just like Mastin Labs. A preset converter for Light Room isn’t ideal because presets often have very precise color grading and even small changes can throw off an entire look  – it seems there is too big a difference between how the tools work. The algorithms are simply not that easily converted between the two.

“I always use Split Toning in my photos when I work in Lightroom. In Lightroom, you can change the highlights and shadows, but in Capture One, you can adjust the midtones as well. I love this. Like with the Color Editor tool, this gives me much more control over my images.
I know there is so much more to explore with Capture One, but for my first go at it, I am really impressed. I’ve wanted to try Capture One for a long time, and I have to say it didn’t let me down. It’s not easy switching from one software to another. However​, Capture One feels like a merge between Photoshop and Lightroom and I think if I spend the time to learn this software really well, it could be a real asset to my workflow. I am definitely intrigued! ” – Carolina Segre

 

Capture One:

We are really happy to hear you you are impressed with Capture One. We know that it takes time to pick up a new software but, switching over is made much easier with the resources available in our learning hub. Check out learn.captureone.com for hundreds of webinars, tutorials, blogposts and more.

f you dont already have Capture One, you can download a free 30 day trial and try it out.

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10 Wedding trends to watch in 2019 

Welp. Here we are, well into 2019, and we think it’s the perfect time to explore some of the trends we’re seeing out there across the wedding industry, both in how couples are celebrating and the ways we creatives are documenting it all. It’s a lot to keep up with, so let’s dive in.   

First, a lot of what we’re seeing could fit squarely into the ‘less is more’ category. After all, like Leonardo Da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” We see couples feeling that vibe for sure.  

1. Smaller and more intimate weddings  

More and more couples are opting for smaller, more intimate weddings. There are fewer expectations around throwing a huge wedding or the idea that a wedding has to be some grand affair for all to attend. Granted, MeeMa’s probably expecting all of the grandkids and cousins to be invited and Uncle Cliff might be ready to party all night, but is it their wedding? No. Is family about the most important thing in life? Definitely. And that’s why couples are striking a balance – immediate family and closest friends at a magnificent venue are just the thing, especially when what newlyweds want is the simple, unalloyed joy of celebrating their union with their loved ones by their side. It’s not like they’ve chosen the nuclear option instead – to elope. 

2. Elopement

Elopement is becoming a very popular way to tie the knot.   

And really, what’s not to love? Just you, your boo, an officiant, maybe your kids or your besties or your mom and dad gathered at some super gorgeous location to celebrate all the awesomeness. Really, the appeal of this is hard to ignore. How many times have we heard couples, knee-deep in the long slog that is wedding planning, fantasizing out loud about eloping? Sure, MeeMa might be miffed for a bit, but, again, whose wedding is it? Exactly.   

Plus, bank balances really like this option. Enough said.

3. Adventure sessions

Adventure sessions are the crazy, freewheelin’ cousin of elopement. She says, “Let’s throw tradition to the wind, climb a mountain, sail to a virtually uninhabited island, or, better yet, helicopter to some sun-drenched, snow-capped summit, and make these nuptials as epic as love will allow.”   

Argue with that. Go ahead.  

The point is: sometimes a wedding isn’t a wedding at all. It’s an experience never to be forgotten. A vision quest. A rite of passage. A story to be told by only those who could tell it.

Increasingly, this is how couples are choosing to get hitched, and, honestly, we’re okay with this.   

All of these dialed-down wedding alternatives often free up a couple’s budget from the onerous constraints of booking a venue, feeding 100-plus guests, and the rest. That means they often have more scratch to dedicate to photography. And that’s what we call a win-win.

4. Documenting authentic moments 

Everyone who earns their living by documenting weddings has their own approach and aesthetic.  

But what they all have in common is the good fortune of spending days with couples on what is one of the best days of their lives. Days punctuated by moments of joy and tenderheartedness. Being there, capturing that – that’s what couples are putting a high premium on these days. We’re hearing from a lot of couples that they’re less interested in getting that epic shot that’ll break the internet and are looking instead for creatives with a documentarian’s eye, someone who knows how to anticipate and capture well those genuine moments of celebration and love.   

That said, photographers are always looking for ways to stay creative and so we’re definitely going to see more of the following three techniques:

5. Double exposures

Double Exposures are seriously challenging. They take a lot of trial and error and problem solving to get ‘em just right, particularly in-camera. But when done well, they’re some of the most eye-popping art out there. Seriously. And now that more camera makers are adding in-camera inlays to their menus, we’re certain you’ll be seeing tons more of these. Take a look!  

6. Drones  

Much like the internet, we’re pretty sure drones are here to stay. So expect to hear more of that tell-tale buzzing from above. Because drone shots are ridiculously cool and a relatively easy way to add some eye candy to any couple’s wedding gallery or video, they’re going to be an ever-increasing addition to any creative’s toolbox. Feast thine eyes on these exemplary images!  

7. Pano-Shots  

Panos, aka Brenizers, stitching together multiple images, especially taken with telephoto lenses, are a great way to render a wide-angle image with an insanely shallow depth of field. And the results are just magnificent. So, yeah, have a look. See what we mean? More, please!  

8. Breaking with tradition  

You know what fewer couples are into these days? A lot of the traditional reception shenanigans we’ve all seen a gazillion times. Bouquet and garter tosses? Meh. Cake cutting? How about . . . no. Toasts? Oh, yeah, no, we’re keeping the toasts. Because, hysterical. But we can all but guarantee that we’ll be seeing fewer garters and bouquets sent skyward.   

9. A change of color  

Now this trend is somewhat new, but we’re definitely seeing more of it: white bridesmaids dresses. It’s true, and to this we say, “Well, why the hell not!?” It makes sense, given the fairly well-established trend from the past few years of non-traditional bridesmaid dresses in eclectic designs or colors. Photo editing software can make these non-traditional color palettes really come alive in the wedding album – Capture One calibrates the most authentic and precise selection of colors, so we creators can capture every nuance.    

10. Furry friends 

 And last, but definitely not least: dogs! 

Okay. Confession time. We can’t say with any real certainty that dogs attending weddings is a legit trend, per se, but we sure hope it is. Dogs inhabit and enrich so much of our lives as humans, so it’s only fitting that they should most definitely be included in weddings. So, it is our fervent wish that our furry friends are seen sitting alongside guests and newlyweds with increasing frequency in the months and years to come. May it be so.   

So, yeah, if even just half of these trends flourish in the coming months and years, it’s going to make for tons more gorgeousness and tenderness and joyousness in the wedding industry and beyond.   

And we’re going to do our damn hardest to play our part in it all. How about you? 

If you don’t already have Capture One, you can download a 30-day trial and try it out.

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