Gone Clean

[David Thomas]

My Adobe dependency dates back to the mid-1980s when I was a beta tester for the first Windows version of Photoshop. I have been clean and sober for weeks.

 

Affinity Photo and a few other best-of-class products are my methadone. Together, they do everything I need as a professional photographer, and do it considerably better than Adobe products (albeit more expensively.)

 

My workflow:

 

Photo Mechanic (US$150) for ingesting raw images from the camera, culling, and converting the keepers to DNG (for compatibility with subsequent steps in the workflow)

 

Photo Ninja (US$129) plus for adjusting DNG files and exporting them as .tif files (I do not save .afphoto files because .afphoto files do not have embedded thumbnails recognized by Photo Mechanic, Photo Ninjua or IMatch). Affinity Photo raw development still has a way to go before it can match Photo Ninja, particularly in non-destructive processing. Before Affinity Photo can compete with dedicated raw editors, it needs to retain the original raw file and adjustments so that users can roll back their post processing without having to start over with the original camera file. This, in my mind, is the biggest gap remaining in Affinity Photo's repertoire of tools and techniques.

 

Affinity Photo (US$50) for fine finishing, especially with the remarkable Haze Removal filter. I rarely resort to Nik Collection because Affinity Photo's non-destructive filters are usually better.

 

Finally, IMatch (US$110) for unparalleled keywording and cataloging of DNG and TIF image files.

 

Basic arithmetic shows that my motive is not frugality: Except for the bargain price of Affinity Photo, the other workflow software components are expensive alternatives to Adobe's monthly tax for Lightroom/Photoshop. My critereon  for the production and management of commercial assets. 

 

I have no investor interest in nor receive any privilege or benefit from any of the software makers mentioned. My only relationship with Serif, for example, is that I paid my licence fee like everyone else. I am grateful to the Affinity developers for providing the previously missing element in an Adobe-free workflow.

 

For the record, I currently shoot mostly with a Sony A7r camera and vintage Canon manual lenses which to my mind are superior in colour rendition and, yes, even sharpness, to the harsh lenses purportedly designed for digital sensors. The attached was done with a 28mm Canon FD scooped online for 30 bucks.

 

 

 

 

 

[Patrick Connor]

David Thomas,

 

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums :)

 

What a useful insight, thank you.

Any chance of the before version of that photo, even as a thumbnail.

[harrym]

Good to hear someone else mentioning the Haze Removal filter it really is excellent almost worth the price of admission just for that!

 

I also agree with your summation of the Develop persona but from previous discussions I get the impression they have plans to address those issue just that stabilisation and performance of existing functionality is taking priority, heck they have to hold something back for v2 :) 

 

PS I still have all my FD glass :)

[Patrick Connor]

This is not a beta specific thread, so I will move it to the Feedback section.

[Keith Reeder]

More like a cross between an autobiography and an advert - maybe move it to "introduce yourself"?

[Fixx]

More like --

Nah, it is good to see workflow descriptions.

[David Thomas]

In response to Patrick Connor's request for before-and-after shots, here is the original .tif file exported from Photo Ninja after raw adjustments, followed by the result of twice applying Affinity Photo's haze removal filter with the shown settings.

 

For this  fresh demonstration, I did nothing else but apply the haze removal filter, whence the dust bunnies in the sky.

 

The effect is similar to using a polarized filter on the lens. I can't imagine how this is done, but it works.

[MEB]

Thanks for sharing the before/after. Fantastic work/image.

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)