Number 4 St. mark’s Place was built by Alexander Hamilton Jr., was home to James Fenimore Cooper, and for the past few decades has been the location of Trash and Vaudeville, a pair of linked but separate stores that sell rock and roll inspired clothing. I’m somewhat amazed that the store has lasted so long. It was born in 1975 and the original punk rock scene that inspired is well into middle age, yet the store is apparently still thriving.
Meanwhile, this is the first image I processed using the new version of OnOne’s Perfect Photo Suite 6. II was once an OnOne affiliate, but due to New York’s state’s stupid, greedy and counterproductive tax laws, we had to sever that relationship. The company was, however, kind enough to offer me a review copy in exchange for writing up my experiences with it. I’ll keep working with it and will put up a review next week. My initial impression is that this is a major reorganization of the product. The entire suite is integrated, and functions as a standalone editing product, not just as a plugin to Photoshop, Aperture or Lightroom. Among other things, this means that the Aperture integration is much better than older versions. In the past, if I accessed Photo Tools from Aperture, it would actually open the image into Photoshop in order for the OnOne product to run. Frankly it was close to unusable that way, and if I wanted to use Photo Tools I would first manually export the image from Aperture to Photoshop and then access the OnOne suite from inside Photoshop. Now when I want to edit an image in the OnOne Perfect Suite, it seamlessly takes it from Aperture to the Perfect Suite standalone where I can access any of the individual modules: Layers, Perfect Effects (formerly Photo Tools), Perfect Portrait, Resize, Focal Point, or Photo Frame. When I’m done they save the image as a psd file and again seamlessly integrate it back into Aperture’s library.
I haven’t explored enough to offer a meaningful comment on the substance of the revised filters and manipulations, but there are a lot of intriguing new filters. Some old favorites seem to have disappeared, but they might have just been reorganized, so I’ll hold off on commenting on that yet. Change in any software product always involves some confusion until you get used to the new structure, and after using this on only one image, I’m clearly in that spot. But the improved integration into Aperture is a major, major plus for me, and that simplified round trip alone will ensure that I use this version of the suite more than I did its predecessor, which was already among my favorite tools.
As I said, I’m no longer an affiliate, but clicking this banner will take you to the website and get you more information.
Dave DiCello
17 Nov 2011Man Mark you are rockin’ this series! Incredible shot here, one of my favorites of yours, love the neon
Dave DiCello recently posted..Return to the city
Adam Olson
17 Nov 2011Great shot! I love the colors of the lights throughout the shot. Keeps your eye moving around.
Adam Olson recently posted..Sand Beach
Mike Criswell
17 Nov 2011What a great scene Mark, I love all those bright colors popping out in the scene
Mike Criswell recently posted..Rubbing Elbows
Jimi Jones
17 Nov 2011Really digging this image, Mark. Sharp as a tack and crystal clear. Really nice processing, man.
Thanks for the quick review, I’ve been thinking about upgrading, just haven’t gotten to it as yet.
Brandt Steinhauser
17 Nov 2011Nice write-up Mark. I see the two manequins in the window and want to yell “Don’t Jump!”
James Howe
17 Nov 2011Very nice, I really like the look of the neon signs.
Mark Summerfield
17 Nov 2011Great processing to keep the neon glow in check whilst bringing out the grittiness of the rest of the scene. I’m not sure if this was your intention, but I find it somewhat ironic that there is a pile of garbage under the stair with the neon “trash” sign right behind.
Mark Summerfield recently posted..Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, Alexandria, Virginia
Mark Neal
17 Nov 2011Like this shot and think it’s one of your better efforts. Also find your info about the software interesting since I’m just transitioning from straight photoshop to alternatives.
Toad Hollow Photography
18 Nov 2011When I think of downtown NYC streets at night, this is pretty much the exact scene that comes to my mind. What fabulous textures and details here, Mark, a truly wonderful image, masterfully captured and processed, my friend!
Toad Hollow Photography recently posted..Cowichan Station Rural Traditional School
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