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Creating atmosphere with Color Grading

It was a cold and windy morning in Chicago, and the sun was just beginning to peak over the lake. I was more than 500 ft in the air, standing on the roof of the Hard Rock Hotel. I cleaned the sleep from my eyes while trying to decide the best angle to shoot from. I’m no stranger to heights, much of my work showcases the city of Chicago from high angles – but being on the ledge of a building 40 stories high is an unforgettable experience. I don’t often shoot the city at dawn, but have always enjoyed it when I do. It’s such a great time to take photos, as everything seems less chaotic and serene. The light on the buildings is noticeably different, and it’s a nice change from the norm.

Choice of equipment and settings

My equipment for this shoot was an XF IQ1 80MP. The lens was the Schneider Kreuznach LS 28mm f/4.5. I chose this lens because I wanted to capture the canyon of the street perfectly, and knew I needed something wide to do so. The wide angle also increases the feeling of vertigo, which worked perfectly in this scene. I wanted as little noise as possible, so I set my ISO to 35, which left me with a shutter speed of 1/40s.

Recreate your style

When it comes to grading, I tend to favor a more dramatic and emotional tone to my photos. With consistency, it gives my work a recognizable style, something that sets me apart from other photographers. In this blog post, I’ll show you three different variations of the same photo, and the steps to recreate it on your own.

Version 1: Deep and dramatic

In the first example, we’ll make the photo appear a little more dramatic with deep creamy shadows and neutral mid tones. This will be done by using Curve adjustments and the Color Balance Tool. Small adjustments to both can have a profound result to your photos. The photo straight out of the camera is a little green, and the first thing I want to do is to correct the white balance. I tend to edit my work on the cooler side, but it’s more of a personal preference than being technically accurate.

As you can see from my adjustments, I’ve made very minor changes using the Color Balance Tool, yet it has a nice effect on the colors of the photo. Perhaps the most important adjustment here is the shadows, which give a nice cool hue, combined with the Curve adjustments. I’ve also desaturated the blues in order to give the buildings a silver/grey look.

Creating a variation of a photo is an easy way to compare different edits of the same photo without losing your settings. To do this, simply right click the photo and select “New Variant” for a completely fresh variant without adjustments. Also, you can “Clone Variant” to make a variant copying the adjustments from the photo.

Version 2: Bright and clear

My next edit is similar, but with no adjustments to the exposure curve. By comparing this with the first picture, you can see how big a difference curves can have. I’ve also recovered the shadows and highlights to even out the exposure. After also cooling the White Balance down, I desaturated the blues a bit to give the buildings a grey/silver look.

Comparing this edit with the original and first edited version, everything seems brighter. The mood of the photo is less dramatic, and has more of a natural feel to the image. The buildings no longer emerge from the shadows of the streets, but are more pronounced and clearer. This image represents more closely to what the scene looked like that morning.

Version 3: Black & White

Lastly, let’s look into the Black and White tool built into Capture One. I kept the cooler White balance settings from the previous two photos, and then dropped the blues a little in the color sensitivity settings. This gives the photo a little more contrast. Moreover, I gave the shadows a slight blue hue under split tones to give the photo a little bit of a silver look to it. I’ve also copied the exposure curve adjustments from the first photo to again give the shadows a milky look to them.

Color versus B&W atmosphere

Choosing to edit in B&W is a choice that some photographers often struggle with. The most common question is: “When is it appropriate to do so?” Depending on who you talk to, the answer will vary to great lengths, but I always say that it depends on how the photographer views the scene. Personally, I think it provokes a different feel and mood altogether. The image, to me, is less distracting and more serene. It feels less busy. It’s hard to pull off B&W in architectural photography, but I think it works for this image.

The importance of Color Grading

Coloring your images can sometimes be an intimidating process. In a world where expensive filters and presets are becoming the norm, people seem to spend less time learning the tools at their disposal. Understanding how all of these tools fit together and change your images is almost an art in itself. Sometimes, you become a photographer and a painter at the same time, taking something straight from the camera and creating a whole new perspective on an image just through color grading it.

I hope you learned at least where to begin coloring your images, and explore other possibilities by putting your own spin on it. If you want to explore more of my work, you can visit my website.

Feel free to let me know which of the three versions fits your style the best, or maybe you have another suggestion?

Capture One Pro in the fashion industry

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

My name is Nicklas Ingemann, and I’m a Danish fashion photographer located in Copenhagen.

One of the most important factors in my setup and workflow is flexibility. In my opinion, you need to be aware of what’s happening around you, and to be able to deal with fast changes. This is especially the case when you shoot fashion. You never know when tendencies switch or when the client wants to develop a new look. Moreover, you, as a photographer, evolve and move in new directions from time to time.

For this reason, I don’t own a studio. Instead, I rent studio, lighting gear and camera equipment from each production, to effectively match the client’s exact needs.

A focused but simplified shooting process

One of my most important tools is Capture One Pro. I always shoot tethered and it helps me to focus and concentrate on what’s important. As my lighting setups often get a bit advanced when the process advances, it’s very important for me to do a step-by-step buildup. When doing so, I can see the character of each light in each image.

When shooting with the Phase One XF Camera System, the built-in Profoto Air Tool makes it easy to adjust the power of every light or to control the model light. You or your assistant don’t need to struggle going from generator to generator when everything is available on the camera itself.

Shooting with a dual-screen setup

When I’m shooting, I always use a dual-screen setup. Sometimes, I include an iPad running Capture Pilot for extra reviewing possibilities during the shoot. I have two main reasons for using a dual-screen setup:

My assistant can keep an eye on the sharpness and exposure on the laptop and make sure everything is as it should be.
The client and the rest of the team can follow the images and details on a bigger monitor.

Usually, the iPad is only for me. I attach it to a small roller stand next to me, and use it as an extra, wireless reviewing option.

In the creative business, an important aspect about shooting tethered into Capture One is that you can grade the images during the shoot. The same look is instantly applied to every image, which effectively shows the client something close to the final result.

As a professional photographer, it provides endless joy when the client is excited about the images while still in the creative process. This Capture One factor is absolutely priceless, and it helps me bring my images to the highest level.

Few limitations, medium format, high quality

Speed and reliability are also important factors when shooting tethered. No one on set wants to wait a second or two for every image to appear on the screen, or even worse – suddenly lose the tethered connection.

Besides the Phase One equipment, I shoot with both Canon and Nikon. However, nothing beats the image transfer speed of the new Phase One XF IQ3 100MP Camera System. I was in love from the first time using it. Even though the files are 2-3 times bigger than those from Canon and Nikon, and the native depth is 16-bit, the transfer speed is still much faster and close to being instant.

When I talk to other photographers about shooting medium format, they often complain about the camera system being too slow and bulky. My experience with the XF 100MP Camera System is quite different. I find it fast enough to not limit me technically during my shoot. Also, the files exceed everything I could hope for when reviewing them in Capture One. If a client demands the highest quality available, that is my go-to setup.

That’s it for now. Underneath, you can find some of the final results from this shoot.

Feel free to let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Customize your workflow in Capture One Pro

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

We’ve all heard it said, and we know it to be true; No two workflows are alike.

Photography is a craft and, like every craftsman (or craftswoman), it’s essential for continued success and continued growth to find an efficient way of working that suites your specific needs. Luckily, Capture One Pro offers seemingly endless possibilities to mold its tools to fit your needs.

Now, it should go without saying that I’m absolutely 100% biased. I work with Capture One every day and Phase One puts food on my table. But, if you knew me, I think it would be fair to say that I’m a rather straight to the point kind of guy. So, with that said, you can take my personal approach to Capture One with a grain of salt. I’m no way saying that I use it the best way, but over the years I’ve certainly found a workflow that fits best for me and my needs. I would hope only that in sharing that workflow you can find a tip or two that will help you to make Capture One uniquely your own and, to use an obscure parlance, fit better in your hand.

Fit to purpose workflow

With my position at Phase One, I find myself traveling quite a bit. Therefore, I need a workflow and workspace that accommodates remote operation. It needs to be efficient and rather complete as when I get back from traveling, there’s little (if any) time for me to properly sit down and continue editing my images. Capture One offers the complete package and allows the flexibility I need. To the uninitiated, I’ve heard it said that Capture One can seem rather intimidating at first glance. This intimidation needs to be neutralized so you can go on with being a creative photographer.

Simplifying

My workflow requirements are simple. Capture One needs to efficiently fit on a laptop, primarily use left hand shortcuts, and have a workspace that flows logically from left to right. My workspace and workflow are just that.

I start by removing plenty, leaving only the tools I need. Then, I’m retrofitting existing, or building new, Tool Tabs to reflect the tools I use most. I do away with all the tethered workflow Tools and Tabs as well as some of the supporting peripherals for professional on-set photo techs (See screenshot below). This is all I need, since it’s just me out there in the brave bold world.

I use Catalogs, which a keen-eyed observer notices. This is certainly not the norm with Capture One’s quick and simplified Session workflow. However, they’re a perfect solution for my needs of organization and constant backup/sync requirements when I return from traveling. I simply do a backup of the RAW files along with the catalog after every trip, and I’m all set. This also helps me to edit on the road, whether I do it from a cramped coach seat on my return flight or a crowded airport waiting area. There’s no need to have a mess of external cables and hard drives, or a few hundred GB’s of RAW files choking up my limited laptop space. Just one small catalog affords me the ability to edit nearly all aspects of the image, no matter where I am. Whenever I arrive home, I can easily backup those edits.

So, the setup is quite simple but not too simple. I have a large Viewer on white with none of the labeling or crowded tool bars. Immediately, I do away with everything I don’t need. A large proof margin surrounds my image, which ensures me that a tool or menus proximity doesn’t inhibit my cropping and composition. Moreover, I use a white background to ensure I don’t fall victim to images that are too dark and contrast-y. This is rather common when working only on a laptop.

Fast and simple Importing and Browsing

You may also notice a few things missing which you assume as necessary.

The Browser and Import Icon, just to explain a few, are not part of my primary workflow. Sure, I use the Browser, but that’s only to initially find and rate the images I wish to edit. That takes me 10 minutes and then I quickly hide it, which gives me sufficient space to edit the images (CMD+B).

When I import images too, I don’t need an icon to help me do that. In fact, I don’t use any Import command. Instead, I transfer my images from the CF card to the desired folder with Finder or Windows Explorer (yes I use both Mac and PC). Then I use the Right Click option to Sync a folder within the Catalog. It’s faster, it’s simpler and it requires far less clicking about with the Mouse I often don’t have with me.

Left to Right Workflow

So, the initial steps of my workflow post capture are simple; Transfer images from CF card to local HD folder via Finder, Add and Synchronize the folder in Capture One. Next, I browse the images and star rate those I wish to edit, hide the browser and get to work.

I never leave Capture One’s main Viewer window and I never have to slow down my workflow with the tedious clicking of small dropdown menus and “OK” buttons. Just to reiterate, my workflow requirements centralize around a single laptop with the use of a mouse rather infrequently. So, the more I can keep the actions based on Left Hand keyboard shortcuts (Copy, Paste, Right Click, etc.) the more efficient I’ll be.

With my images synchronized to the catalog and a few selects ready to go, I start by working Left to Right across my tool tab. First, I Filter by Star Rating to limit access only the images I wish to edit. With my Browser hidden however, to get from one image to the next, or previous, I’ve edited my Keyboard shortcuts to fit my Left hand. Now, Select Next and Select Previous helps you to respectively archive with CMD+1 and CMD+2. Why my left hand? Well, with that hand stationary on the Keyboard, and my right hand on the trackpad, I want to ensure every action I need to make can be achieved without moving or swapping those hand positions.

This philosophy is also reflected in how I copy and paste adjustments from one image to the next. Why do I use something different from Capture One? Well, the typical CMD+C and CMD+V is not possible in Capture One. However, another simple shortcut is: If you add SHIFT into the mix you easily have the ability to SHIFT+CMD+C to copy adjustments from one image and SHIFT+CMD+V to paste onto the next. Once again I don’t move or use my trackpad, I just click a few times on the keyboard.

Once I find an image I want to begin with, my very first step is to ensure Base Characteristics is properly set for the content. What is Base Characteristics? It’s crucial. It’s the primary settings in which all other tools will reference.

Set the base

When I shoot, I always expose to the right to ensure I get the most out of my Dynamic Range. With the IQ3’s Highlight Clip Warning tool I get consistent, accurate, and exquisite results. The resulting file is quite rich in highlights and you often see it as “High Key”, depending on the subject. That’s why proper control of the Base Characteristics is so important. First, using the correct ICC profile for the subject, in my case it’s almost always Outdoor Daylight, and then selecting the responsible curve of that ICC profile for the subject. As I’m often shooting with substantial Highlight information, selecting something like the Linear Response Curve is the difference between uniform/boring highlights across the board and dynamic subtle highlights where they belong.

It’s worth noting that if you select this, it requires more fine-tuning on your end. But, let’s face it, you didn’t start using Capture One so it could do all the work like an Instagram filter. You want to be in creative control and rest assured you certainly are. It’s also important to note that if you don’t expose ALL the way to the right when you capture the image, something like Linear Response isn’t likely to do you any favors. It flattens the image and can result in under exposed images if you’re not prepared for it.

White Balance and Exposure Tab

Now it’s onto White Balance. A perfect White Balance isn’t something you’re going to get first try – at least I don’t. But before you move forward with proper reference for the rest of the edits, it’s important to get a starting point. Again, using just my left hand on the Keyboard, a quick press of the W key and I have my white balance eye dropper. Click a neutral point in the image and you’re good to go.

From there, it’s onto Exposure Tab. I’ve skipped over one my custom tabs but we’ll get back to that in a moment. This tool tab is where the magic happens. With the result of my previous Base Characteristic adjustments, we can now bring a dull image to life with just a few simple tools.

You might notice that my standard Exposure Tool is collapsed and I have two Curves present. This is due to three reasons:

I avoid the Exposure Tool at all costs and only need it if I exposed incorrectly on capture.
Having a curve dedicated to RBG and another to Luma provides a quick and easy mix of the two. No need for tedious clicking, collapsing, switching, etc.
Having two curves just looks sexy.

I first adjust my High Dynamic Range sliders to ensure all the detail is well within the histogram. (Pro tip, if the highlight and shadow are approximately the same value, things tend to look more natural). I adjust my Levels tool to make my input values (on the bottom) the most efficient, and then I get to work with a contrast curve on my RGB Curve tool and a bit of “exposure” control on my Luma Curve tool.

Making Color Balance sexy

So far, we’ve made five adjustments and the bulk of the image is more/less done.

It’s at this point that I go back to that customized tool tab we skipped earlier. Yes, this goes against my ‘working Left to Right preaching’s’. However, as it’s a more detail oriented color control, I often toggle between the previous White Balance adjustment, this customized Color Balance tool and then some fine tuning of the curves once again. The back and forth isn’t efficient, sure, but the delicate control of the results is worth the tradeoff.

This custom tool tab is for the Color Balance. I’ve added the tool three times, with each of the independent options for Highlight, Shadow and Midtone dedicated to their own tool. Again, this eliminates the tedious back and forth clicking with my trackpad. Instead, I have a big target to select and can fine tune with ease between the three. The color gets a boost if I need to separate them ever so slightly, and I can even add contrast into the image in these tools as well. Once again, it’s pretty sexy.

A small sum-up

Just to summarize up until now…

First of all, I have limited my shortcuts to show/hide the browser or select an image. Second of all, i have made my tool use minimal but controlled. Third of all, I have set the contrast, luminance and color to use the most dynamic tools, in favor of the simplified sliders that would achieve a similar, yet less controllable, end result.

The only other tools I’ve used, but not explicitly mentioned, is the cursor options. For example, the Hand Cursor that allows me to quickly double-click to 100% on the image and check how I’m effecting the details. Again, a simple keyboard shortcut with H and you’ve got it.

From here, my workflow basically just repeats itself with the use of Local Adjustments. You’ll notice that the Local Adjustment tool has been simplified to mirror the setup of the other tool tabs. I’ve collapsed the tools I might use but rarely do, and featured two curves to easily access and control the contrast and luminosity of the local adjustment. In this case, I’ve adjusted the floor through a gradient mask using only curves. This gave me more contrast and cleared up some of the dull finish of the floor. This is certainly something that the Clarity tool could accomplish, but again, with less precision that I’m able to attain from curves.

Working with details

After my bulk adjustments and fine tuning with Local Adjustments, I get into the detail work, which is found in my modified Lens Tool Tab and Detail Tool Tab. In my Workspace I’ve combined the Crop Tool and Lens tool as I find them to be completely related.

Making adjustments to the rotation, crop, keystone, sharpening, etc., are really my final touches. If there was a glaring need for those adjustments in the beginning, I may start with them. But, if I’ve done my due diligence in the field, they’re more of a polish adjustment than a primary one. As an example, now that I’m fortunate enough to shoot with the XF IQ3 100MP system, I often find myself fine tuning and turning down the default sharpening. The amount of details that are being captured sometimes needs a bit less emphasis.

And that’s the whole Image Editing process in those tools. The remaining Tools and Tool Tabs are those which process, identify or sort the images. I have limited my Metadata Tool Tab to only metadata. This provides me access to enter the metadata I save in various user presets. My Output Tool Tab is essentially the same with some rather specific and customized Recipes. Also, I’ve finally built a custom tool tab to house my Keywords and Keyword Library tools. This is something I typically do after the thrill of editing an image is over with and I’m stuck with the pedantic task of organization.

Simple, Efficient, Effective

Backing up just a bit… When I mention the customized Recipes, it’s important for you to note just how customizable these are. As an example, each and every Recipe can have its own Sub Name and Sub Folder. This holds to the recipe itself and not the Catalog or Session. That being the case, each recipe in my workflow has its own specific destination for the processed file. Yet, I can direct the Catalog Output Location to a rather generic space, like the desktop. In this way, no matter what Catalog and recipe I’m using, the processed file will follow my customized and complex Sub Folder location, and always end up exactly where I expect it. Once this is done, it requires no tedious renaming, changing or setup for every processed file – it’s beautiful!

Notice, in the naming convention of the Sub Folder I can put actual folder names and separators in the location. If the folder exists, Capture One follows the path to save the processed file. If the folder doesn’t exist, it will be created. Simple. Efficient. Effective.

In summary, I concede whole heartedly that my workflow is not for everyone. There is an endless supply of tools and workflows in Capture One, many of which I rarely take advantage of. However, that’s the key to a successful workflow. Once you find the tools that you need to edit efficiently and effectively, the quality and consistency of your images increases drastically. Once you find a workflow that fits your needs and get comfortable with it, you can add or remove steps to improve your final image results.

Yes, I’m biased and it’s fair to say I’m a fanboy of Phase One. But, I’m also a photographer in what little free time the higher-ups at Phase One allow me to have, and I take tremendous pleasure in my love of photography. Any tool or workflow that allows you to spend more time on what you love and makes you proud of the results is priceless in today’s fast paced world. With a bit of time spent exploring the possibilities, I’m sure Capture One can fit comfortably into your workflow, providing you the opportunity to grow and improve in the craft you love.

Download my Mac Workspace

You can download the Mac workspace I’ve used to demonstrate my workflow here

It only works on Mac, as workspace files are platform dependent. To install it, follow these simple steps:

Close Capture One Pro (if open)
Open Finder
Open the ‘Go to Folder…’ dialog (CMD + Shift + G)
Insert path: ~/Library/Application Support/Capture One/
Click ‘Go’
- If you previously have created a custom workspace, go to ‘Workspaces’ folder.
- If not, create a new folder and name it ‘Workspaces’.
Copy workspace file (.plist) to this folder
Start Capture One Pro
Select the new workspace from Window -> Workspace…

That’s it for now. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Best regards,

Drew Altdoerffer

Switching to Capture One Pro From Aperture – Photography Workflow

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

After years working in Apple’s Aperture 3, which is no longer being developed, I’m transitioning to Capture One Pro. Through many tutorials, reading forums, and working in the application, the transition I once abhorred is now one I relish. There are so many resources out there, especially Capture One’s YouTube page, but my take focuses on filling the gaps.

David Grover is the man and invests a ton of time into creating live and recorded webinars. I highly recommend watching as many of those as possible.

Capture One is developed by the amazing camera company, Phase One, so they know how us photographers think. They have a vested interest in developing software for the industry they know so well. It’s what they do, so who better to look after the needs of (professional) photographers?

The following is a list of how my workflow is established. This includes the concepts that have been the most helpful to me in switching to Capture One full time. If you want to start learning without taking any risk, create a test library and follow along!

Transitioning Libraries from Aperture to Capture One

For starters, Capture One can read Aperture libraries or import them into a Capture One catalog. They are definitely different applications but extremely similar in core thinking which is great. Most image adjustments transfer from Aperture to Capture One with the notable exceptions being cloning adjustments and Smart Albums. Before making the jump, consider creating new Albums in Aperture and drag images from Smart Albums into those if you want your organization to remain the same. Aperture organized my photographs in Managed Libraries, one for each calendar year, and I can use Catalogs in Capture one to do the same.

One feature that drove me crazy and I could not figure out from Capture One’s plethora of helpful tutorials is that Projects do not directly contain photographs in Capture One as they would in Aperture. Images are stored in Collections. Under User Collections, there you will find the most control and create your own organizational structure. Projects or folders must contain an Album for photographs to live. In some instances, this makes a lot more sense because images can be stored/linked in multiple groupings. By using memory cards, I import into Albums within the Project for rating, then move them out after they’re rated. Images can be rated with stars (1-5) or color labels, but there’s not a flag feature. Keywords can be used in Capture One 9.2.

Capture One 9 Library Photo Organization

Backing Up in Camera

Whether it’s my D4, D3, or D7100, each of my cameras are set up to copy photographs to both memory cards (of the same storage capacity), simultaneously for an in-camera backup. When I back up, I separate one of each pair of cards using a Think Tank Pocket Rocket tethered to my belt loop for safe keeping. Then the Think Tank has everything I need when I get to my MacBook.

Importing & Image Organization in Capture One

I store photographs in annual Capture One Catalogs stored on a RAID 5 Thunderbolt Enclosure. Hob types I organize virtually in folders like Commercial, Magazine, Product, Event, Personal, etc. within the Capture One library structure. Each job is named by date as a Project, with the relevant photographs being linked to an Album within that project. Smart Albums filter for criteria for final photographs, social media edits, etc. Capture One does not avoid importing previous adjustments.

Backing up with Capture One

While Capture One offers the ability to back up adjustments, it does not back up image files! A separate solution, Carbon Copy Cloner, will fill that void. Coming from Aperture, this was initially a deal breaker until I started doing more research. Aperture allows you to create multiple “Vaults” which backup your library, which you must manually initiate to backup.

Aperture Vaults are not workable libraries but read only backups that need to be rebuilt into a working library using Aperture. This can be potentially problematic down the road. Whenever Aperture is no longer functional on MacOS, restoring from a Vault is going to be a problem. I plan to create new 1:1 backups of libraries using Carbon Copy Cloner to replace Aperture Vaults.

In Carbon Copy Cloner you create tasks that automatically run backups of designated volumes or files to other volumes at automated intervals of your choosing. Capture One Catalogs are identically copied and are instantly writable/usable on the backup drive, something Aperture could not do. That’s well worth $39.99.

I created tasks to automatically back up my Capture One libraries onto an external drive that is always connected. Moreover, I created a second task to backup to another external drive through connection that is brought in for off site backup after each job.

A RAID 5 enclosure with multiple hard drives formatted as a single volume is still just one enclosure, stored in one location. While RAID 5 offers redundancy and performance across multiple hard drives, it is not a true backup.

Capture One 9 with Carbon Copy Cloner backups

Tethering with Capture One

Tethering is one of the strongest features in Capture One. Hereby, you connect a camera to a computer, usually by a long (15’) USB cable for consistency. You can control Exposure adjustments from the camera, so the camera can be entirely still for product or architectural photography. There is a live view feature which is massively helpful for composing, especially if a creative director or client are on hand. Images appear on the computer display automatically after capture, and there is an option to apply previous image adjustments to each sequential photograph which is a huge time saver. This is great for applying vertical or horizontal perspective adjustments on images made from a stationary camera, a significant feature Aperture lacked.

I will probably use Carbon Copy Cloner when photographing tethered since Capture One only saves image files locally on the computer. A USB drive for flash drive setup to backup a Session or Catalog with Carbon Copy Cloner would remedy that.

Tethering with Capture One 9 and Nikon

Capture Pilot

A part of tethering, this feature is insane. If connected on Wifi, you can share a server link that allows the viewer to follow along remotely as you photograph in their web browser. This is included in Capture One under the Capture Tab. There is an iOS App that can access the library, too, and a paid version to enable tether controls. This feature is so incredible. I can’t believe that it’s a) possible, b) included and c) so simple to use.

Capture One 9 Pilot View Online

Helpful hints: Capture One tips that make your life easier

Closing a Capture One catalog is not quitting the application.
You have the possibility to open a new Catalog or Session in a new window, in order to have multiple libraries open at the same time. This was not possible in Aperture. You can do this under the settings ‘Preferences’ – General’.
You can edit many keyboard shortcuts in Capture One to match up with those from Aperture, if desired. This makes the greatest difference in feeling at home in Capture One.
The layout of Capture One is extremely modular and customizable. You can save Multiple workspaces to show the tools and organizational components you desire, whereever you want them. Editing workspaces is as simple as re-saving the workspace after making desired changes.
Command B toggles the browser. Using multiple monitors, it is great having a custom work space on one display and the browser open to a full image on another.
Export presets are the same as Recipes. Multiple Recipes can be ran simultaneously for different purposes.
Capture One is optimized so you can work on multiple displays.
Option to enable Focus Masks – show what’s in focus, similar to a highlight alert.
It is possible to download Capture One film packs, with free samples, to apply analog film filters to photographs.

Capture One 9 Workspace Views

Capture One 9 Workspace Views – result

Wish List for Capture One

“Do not import duplicates” on ingestion. This would be hugely helpful for shooting with a constant mix of tethered & untethered capture.
Ability to display un-editable preview instead of full raw file for faster editing.
Shortcut to toggle between two workspaces quickly. However, one can add a drop down to the toolbar. On multiple monitors this isn’t a big deal. On a 13” MacBook Pro it is.
Before/After shortcut key or button to show the original image and the adjusted variant, as well as an option to preview a before/after per adjustment.
Previously applied cloning adjustments carrying over from Aperture. The tool itself in Aperture was also much, much easier to use. Retouching skin, sensor dirt, to me now feels too complicated/time consuming.
Create an album at Import Images screen.
When moving photographs from one album to another in the viewer, dragging into the Tools menu automatically switches to the Library temporarily.
Arrows on each end of an adjustment slider to incrementally change an adjustment by clicking.
Designate Output Naming Counter start number to any number.

It is important to understand that Capture One and Aperture work differently but these features would be very beneficial to have.

Capture One Difficulties

Maybe it’s me but if anyone has suggestions on how to address these challenges or to make any of those items on the wish list a reality, please let me know. I spend countless hours in post production mode and every improvement would save a great deal of time. As a disclaimer, I’m running MacOS 10.12 Beta/Golden Master, which is a risk I don’t recommend. Some of these challenges may be the result of the OS.

1) From my main catalog, I exported a project as a new library to edit (choose) and manually sorted images in a specific order on my MacBook Pro away from my desk.

When I reimported my catalog into my main catalog, my images were sorted by Name. Choosing manual did not revert to the order I created. So, I had to resort the images in Capture One all over again.

2) Crashes. After each crash, you lose the last few adjustments made.

3) I want to be able to give images a job name with a counter when exporting. However, I can’t find a way to set (not reset, but designate) the starting number for the counter. Normally, I export in chunks to upload in the background and not having the ability to set that counter to a designated number slows that workflow down tremendously.

Why I didn’t do this sooner, but totally should have

The hard part was in breaking old habits, as there’s a level of confidence in sticking with what we know. It’s a risk making a change, especially if that’s your bread and butter, and it took time to get there. Over the last five years, I’ve turned around weddings consistently in a week and I was hesitant to take one step back for what’s been leaps forward. My security blanket came from previously working at Apple, being pro certified in Aperture and as an Apple Certified Mac Technician. I had to step away from what I knew in order to grow, and should have been using Capture One years ago.

Final Thoughts

Capture One 9.2 is an extremely deep application. It can do many things found in Aperture, as well as many features you’ll wish you had years ago. While it’s different at its core, from a host of professional features to a RAW interpreter that is second to none, making the switch to Capture One is very worth the effort. I’ve heard Capture One is like getting a free camera upgrade in terms of quality and that’s absolutely been my experience. It is exciting to utilize software that is alive & well, improving with time, and offering feedback that will be heard.

Please feel free to share your favorite features and tips in the comments below and visit my website

All the best,

Jordan Bush