Version 5 is a fairly major update to its predecessor and is the first Alien Skin plug-in that also functions as a standalone program. But if and when you want to get edgy, Exposure 5 offers those options as well. Unless you’re doing a funky senior portrait, you’ll probably prefer the more subtle or gentle styles. Creative options are almost limitless, with long lists of styles in black-and-white and color, with various other categories such as Cinema, Lo-Fi and Cross Processing. Other enhancements include individual controls for adding borders, dust, scratches and light leaks. Equally important is the addition of new textures, which is a great bonus for those who love a vintage look. In addition to a wide variety of film emulations and presets, Exposure 5 offers numerous tweaking options ranging from filters and toning to sharpening and focus (in case you want a little more bokeh). Check out these ten plug-ins to see which one best suits your portraiture style and post-processing needs.Īlien Skin Exposure 5 is all about style, especially for the portrait photographer who wants to create a unique look with the plug-in’s many color and black-and-white options. Either way, adding plug-ins to your main image-editing program will generally save you time and help make your images stand out from the crowd. Others offer creative options that can be tweaked to represent your own unique style. Some plug-ins are practical, offering tools that every portrait photographer needs to ensure that a subject’s skin looks perfect (or close to perfect) but realistic. Image-editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom get you just so far sometimes using a plug-in to elevate your images to the next level is the most efficient solution. Carefully planned lighting, posing and styling, along with your expertise behind the camera, will get you most of the way there, but post-processing is also an integral part of the job. As a portrait photographer, your job is to make your clients look their best.

Imagenomic portraiture alternative