3 best alternative to your favorite application

As a photographer, I was evolved in and around Photoshop and eventually, Lightroom helped me to get the job done. As the market saw a drastic shift from analogue to digital so it did experience the upcoming software ranging from Capture one pro, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro to Cinema 4D and more. All the above-mentioned share one thing in common, a heavy subscription annual or monthly fee, a standard procedure to ensure a check over soft tool piracy.

One of the realities of any artistic profession is it doesn't provide a stable source of income. As a photographer or a graphic designer/illustrator buying the much-needed equipment (computer, graphic tablet and more) is itself quite heavy on the pocket and leaves much less to spend on the added expense of software. That is the sad reality of the capitalistic world we live in.

I wish no disappointment to the aspiring artist and here I am glad to share a few and the best substitutes of the many software you will need to move along in your journey.

To note: The below-mentioned software is by no means are completely free of cost. Their one-time fees and occasional donations will not only help you to move ahead in your life and it does support the system/organization which lets you do what you wish to do. Above all, they are far cheaper than the monthly | yearly subscription. Every software, by all means, are competitive in their own nature and you are free to choose as per your requirement.

SPONSoR FREE ARTICLE

Photoshop | Lightroom | ILLUSTRATOR| IN-DESIGN

Adobe shifted their fee structure from one-time license to yearly subscription based on the nature of the user (to fight the piracy issue they kept facing from time to time). It is still an expensive tool to have. They may offer a friendly subscription plan for the students as long as one is a student formally.

1.

Affinity Photo is one of the best alternatives I personally own and must say it does the job done as good as Photoshop itself and as like any other it will evolve. It's a one-time fee model for lifetime usage, which are as low as *4499 INR and *1799 INR for your personal computer and iPad respectively (50% discount is available as and at the moment I publish this article) makes it very profitable in a long run.

Pros:

The needed key shortcuts are almost similar to Adobe, if you are familiar with Photoshop you will not feel much to add to your existing vocabulary.

*The frequency separation is much faster than the traditional format in Adobe yet it does need a little manual handling for better results.

It gives Industry-standard results one professional will desire.

Cons:

I was personally not impressed with its bunch editing tool and I hope it evolves with time, though It has a Develop persona which does a good job when editing a Raw image at a time.

Lack of GPU or a Graphic card can make the experience poor.

Creating 3D models is not a part of the software making it solely for photo editing, digital painting and creative manipulation.

Affinity also offers the best alternative to Adobe Illustrator and In Design

LINK https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/

2.

LUMINAR: An upcoming AI-based photo editing tool.

It is a good place to start if you are interested in photography and is not looking to take it as a profession though wish to enhance your travel images to post them as per your need.

Cons: It is a hybrid software for Snapseed users. There is a lack of much needed manual control as compared to Affinity or Photoshop.

I will personally not suggest it to professional commercial advertising photographers.

One can easily get lured by its features and can get misguided in terms of understanding and educating itself about quality aesthetics.

LINK https://skylum.com

3.

CAPTURE ONE PRO: A perfect alternative to Lightroom or Adobe Bridge for those who work with RAW images. A professional tool for professionals.

LINK: https://www.captureone.com

AFTER EFFECTS | ADOBE PREMIERE | FINAL CUT PRO

They are among many of the leading video editing software. Very recently Final Cut Pro from Apple announced their shift to yearly subscription from their previous one-time model which let me add it to the list.

If you are a motion graphic student or an aspirant like myself and looking for something which does the job done as good as the above, DaVinci is the best replacement and happy to share it is indeed faster than above.

DAVINCI RESOLVE: An absolutely free version provided by Blackmagic available at their official site.

It does a perfect job for video editors, aspirational colourist and sound engineer.

1.

DAVINCI RESOLVE STUDIO: A paid version giving you access to many of its features which is an amalgamation of all the above mentioned (photo editing, colouring, sound editing, motion graphics, 3D model integration.

LINK https://www.blackmagicdesign.com

The best alternative for those professional filmmakers and mixed media artist.

2.

WONDERSHARE FILMORA: A good alternative for YouTubers and enthusiastic film editors and makers.

LINK https://filmora.wondershare.net

CINEMA 4D | MAYA | Z Brush

A 3D modelling software can be expensive and it does demand more in regards to GPU, Hard Disk space, RAM and more. I recently started using Blender and it has been a blessing and safe to say it works perfectly well with my I MAC 2016 model.

BLENDER: is a free & open-source application and has only one version to choose from, yet this application attracts the hobbyists, professionals or studios that have all the features into one program.

Whether you are a fashion, food or product photographer, 3D modelling is a 21st-century reality and one should update and get know-how is much needed if you wish to sustain in the industry for long. 3D software gives you a different dimension and possibilities are endless, execution is homemade and results are of international standard.

Blender as like any other software mentioned above is absolutely free along with its updates and tutorials (must follow Blender Guru)

LINK https://www.blender.org/

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These were my top 3 alternatives for photographers, Film Makers and Motion Graphic artist.

To add to the above it is always a smart idea to invest in a good processor, expanded RAM, install SSD hard drive and a dedicated GPU, graphic card to enhance the experience. Investing in hardware like Mac or Windows doesn't come cheap and is often advised to upgrade in instalments is better than donating it to the landfills.

Personally, I am been using I Mac past 5 Years now and my experience has not reached the mark where I will like to buy a new one rather I chose to update the needed parts externally. Macs are expensive but they are built to last a long way and I suggest not to get tempted with their many upgrades getting advertised quite often than before.

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Hello,

I am Shovona Karmakar, an #advertising #commercial #photographer | #productstylist | #cinemagraph artist, presently based in #Mumbai, India. It has been a long long road to be where I am now and I sincerely feel it is very important to share whatever I have to offer. I have been fortunate to make a living out of my skill to be creative and have had worked with various national and international brands, corporate and agencies. Cadbury, TATA, Morningstar USA, Parachute, Future Generali to name a few.

Ping me for any work-related queries and will be happy to jump into the pool to make the much-needed party happen.

Thank you for reading!

www.shovonakar.com

shovonakar@gmail.com

Mumbai, India.

3 best alternative careers to commercial photography

It's 2021 and humanity has attained achievements that our parents might not have ever dreamed of. Said that we are living in an era that is a blessing and a disguise.

Myself being in the industry of traditional photography as an advertising professional and coming from an era of analogue photography which gradually shifted to digital and beyond in the past 15 years now (keeping in mind I started my journey in 2006), have gained the needed knowledge to share it with you all.

Every month, I do receive emails and DMs over my social accounts where people are looking for internships (5 major reasons why your emails are not effective). This reminds me how famous and lucrative traditional photography does still sounds to many. The truth is, traditional photography as a mode of earning a living is a dying business adding to it there are way too many people competing for the same thing. Commercials involved are being slashed and the bitter truth is that less and fewer authorities are concerned with quality, it is more about meeting the target to help raise their sales, welcome to The World of Imagery Business!

Now the question that arises is what are the best substitutes to Photography or how to add value to your present skill keeping the former as a base and how to make a living out of your Passion!

TO NOTE: These are mere alternatives, not shortcuts, they all involve years of dedication and similar efforts to reach out to the right people, market themself in the right manner and make a living out of it and the mentioned below do applies in small and big scale commercial movies but due to my personal lack of exposure in that industry the article is restricted to Print campaigns and Television Commercials.

1.

PRODUCTION

Executive | Assistant

(ONLY Still shoots and TVC)

Role: To organize and execute commercial assignments ranging from pre-production to post-production (stills and Television Commercials).

Expected Salary: Ranging from 5000.00 INR to 1,00,000.00 INR an assignment | Day | Month (It varies depending on the quality and quantity of assignments, whether you are a freelancer or In-house and the kind of experience you carry with yourself)

Mode of learning: Internship or apply as a fresher. There are no schools as such in India that helps you get acquainted with the basics though joining a production house and digital or mainline marketing agency is what I will suggest you get started.

Responsibility: An experienced producer can make and break a deal for any visual artist be it a photographer, director or the client itself. He/She is responsible to get the needed team under one roof (it involves Talents like a model, an actor, a makeup artist, a stylist, hospitality services, procurement of digital equipment and lights, studio or outdoor space availability, assistants or spot boys, sanitization services, travelling, lodging if needed, post-production artist and more depending on the need of the creative), at times a photographer, director, cinematographer and negotiate respective fees keeping the budget in mind.

Unlike film producers, you are not asked to invest in any and number of days to complete the project may range between a week to a month.

Additional Perk: You get to travel and meet a lot of people, Networking! haha...

2.

PRODUCT, FOOD STYLIST |

ART, prop DIRECTOR

(ONLY Still shoots and TVC)

If your parents think those extracurricular activities you did in your schools like drawing, painting, origami, planet making projects, science experiment, cooking and more was a waste, I guess one has to rethink. Every high budget and demanding project queries I have received and came across demands an art director.

Role: A person with experience in and around setting up a product or food in an aesthetic manner for the photographer and the director.

Expected Salary: It can range between 10,000 INR or a little less to 1,00,000 INR a day | assignment. The quality and quantity of assignment will determine the above and it also depends on how experienced you are.

Mode of Learning:

Food styling: If you are planning to get into food styling as a stylist or a technician, a course in and around hospitality, hotel management or home science will come in very useful.

Product styling: As of now there are no courses available in India which can help you with the same. I will suggest involving yourself in small workshops and courses available in your city by the very underrated aunties, didi, bhaiya or even a carpenter and more.

Attending workshops in and around various craft related skill helps you get your base strong. It can range from paper art, interior styling, water-colour painting, tabletop styling, wall painting and whatever which move in and around space.

Giving yourself a project to run, a blog | vlog over various platforms helps you to learn and reach out to people at the same time. SKILLSHARE and YOUTUBE comes incredibly useful.

It is always a good way to assist someone or a production house (not an agency in this case) to gain access to the must need knowledge of how to deal with people and other business-related aspects.

It is always a great idea to keep visiting store and places which showcases and sells | rent it out props and more.

INSPIRATION: PINTEREST | INSTAGRAM | DECOR MAGAZINE | AMUSEMENT PARKS AND EVENTS.

Responsibility:

As I mentioned above in general an ambitious project always demands an art guy who helps me to bring the concepts into reality.

If you have come across those mouth-watering food commercials and surreal spaces like Alice in wonderland, an art director or a stylist are the people involved in BTS

He/She will even be asked to set up composition as small as a plate on the table, to design a blank space into an ever-living guest bedroom. It can involve skills from procurement of props like cutlery, background, furniture, appliances and more.

You are also responsible to transport the needed and bring it back to the vendor.

3.

CREATIVE and DIGITAL MANIPULATION artist

(ONLY Still shoots and TVC)

There is a huge difference between photojournalism and commercial arts. They both fulfil the need to create an urge in the mind to do something both in the form of buying a service or product or influence one to make the world a better place to live.

Commercial business is the art of turning your dreams into reality, sadly the reality is far away from our imagination hence we all need to seek help from applications to stitch it all up for us. That is how and why professional retouchers and manipulation artist comes into the scene. If you have wondered about models flying in the air with many things around, fear not it is not any magic moment but a pure form of digital manipulation or if we come across a beauty campaign with skin so smooth and flawless that it is indeed not anywhere close to reality.

Role: He/She/It needs to be well versed with editing | manipulation applications like Photoshop, Illustrator, After effects, Final Cut Pro, Cinema 4D and many more photo, video editing software along with other CGI wonders. (3 best alternatives to your favourite and expensive graphic software)

Expected Salary: It is one of the most lucrative business to be in and the best way to enhance your photography skill. A person can expect to earn 1500 INR to 30,000 INR and more per image or concept.

On average, a person can deal with 10 images from a campaign to 100 images for a stock service.

Mode of Learning: To add there are no good institutes in India at present and the ones there are not valid from an educational point of view. Which will leave you to be a self-learner and in case your pocket permits you can opt for something abroad (a wise decision).

There are many quality online platforms available to gain access to the information needed at the comfort of your space. Please check the links below (they do provide both free and subscription-based membership)

PHLEARN, DOMESTIKA, LYNDA, BLENDER GURU and the best YOUTUBE (It is free and I personally feel there are so many talented people sharing the best of education)

It is better to invest in the best graphic system configuration like RAM, Graphic Card, SSD and a good graphic tablet if you can afford it (I personally own Wacom and iMac).

As like above, you are not needed to assist someone, though productive feedback is critical and takes you a long way. Social media platforms are the best place to share and promote your services.

To note: Always use images with complete rights to work with and sharing the before and after with your viewer helps you gain the much-needed brand trust.

Responsibility: It is one of the most stressful jobs to have besides it can be quite lucrative too. Timelines are very short and changes can be endless unless you don't charge for something more than agreed on. You can be involved in aspects as minor like correcting colour balance and removing minor details to beauty retouching, cleaning up and manipulation and creating a 3D environment to set the protagonist into it. The automobile is the most demanding sectors to be a part of.

Video editing is a vast industry that is just more than stitching the clips. It does range from sound editing, colour correction, rendering, graphic overlays and CGI | Greenscreens and more.

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As we come to the end of the article, a few heads up!

In all the above situations, there will always be a time constraint and having things confirmed in a pre-production meeting over a contract or mail leads to a minimum of confusion and changes if need on the day of the shoot. One is indeed responsible to be in touch with the head of the creative (agency, client, photographer, director) and the producer to be on the same page.

For all the Indian residents: Mumbai has been the epitome of the entertainment industry even before the independence and it is one of the best places to get your journey started, though never underestimate the other upcoming sectors like Tollywood, Trollywood and more. To add opportunities exist all over the world and if you have access to work overseas don't be scared to take a chance.

To sum up it all, they all require years of practice along with good presentation skills both online and offline, which will lead you to get connected to the right people. The above goes hand in hand if you are a photographer or planning to be one.

TO NOTE: If you are wondering in case I can share few details about production houses and agencies, sadly I cannot take any guarantee hence mentioning anything can be misleading. I will request you to kindly look over Google and connect them to know more about vacancies and opportunities. Good Luck!

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Hello,

I am Shovona Karmakar, an #advertising #commercial #photographer | #productstylist | #cinemagraph artist, presently based in #Mumbai, India. It has been a long long road to be where I am now and I sincerely feel it is very important to share whatever I have to offer. I have been fortunate to make a living out of my skill to be creative and have had worked with various national and international brands, corporates and agencies. Cadbury, TATA, Morningstar USA, Parachute, Future Generali to name a few.

Ping me for any work-related queries and will be happy to jump into the pool to make the much-needed party happen.

Thank you for reading!

Tutorial: Cloud 9

• Difficulty: Medium (Basic photoshop 2019 skill required)

• The application used: Photoshop 2019 and Pixaloop

• Time spent: 45 minutes

Visual art has no definite rule to follow and go by as it is very subjective. It entirely depends on person to person how it wishes to see the image and how to go about. After a lot of trial and error, I have come to mine and often I follow the path the reverse way. This very image Cloud 9 (just thought to steal the name) is composed of a landscape image I captured on my way to Goa, India and later added the moving elements in Pixaloop.

If you ask me what is Pixaloop? It is a fun application which let you give a moving or living element in your still photograph. This application comes with fun sky replacement themes, moving elements like clouds, animals to many more and few other gickmicks. The best part with the pro-version is it keeps updating itself with many more elements from time to time.

• Available for both Apple and Andriod users, pro-version against standard fees giving you lifetime access.

• The application doesn't give you rights to use it for professional/commercial purposes.

I have to admit being a commercial photographer I need to go through a lot and lots of work to seek inspiration and Pinterest, Instagram and google have been my best mentor so far. With thousands of talented people to follow and seek understanding from there is nothing much space left for a block to happen in mind yet it does from time to time. My way of going about has been traditional so far and I love re-enacting what others have done yet I keep a few elements true to myself. My advertising venture is not always straight forward and often I am asked to show what I can do and visualize more than the ordinary. Manipulation and surrealism do go by side and I love doing both.

So let's get started!

STEP 1: For the given tutorial I have used a panoramic landscape with a vast grassland and an open sky (merged in photoshop). I have edited the image in terms of colour correction, contrast and eventually thought to remove a few elements like clouds and a tree positioned at the right of the image. Just wanted to remove few distractions. I used a combination of spot healing, a clone stamp tool and content-aware in photoshop.

STEP 2: I found the sky little uneven in terms of the horizon, hence decided to even it out. Using the clone stamp tool with low opacity (10% is my personal preference) gives a smooth gradation. It helps to avoid any kind of patches.

It is indeed a simple concept, a plain canvas for the elements to stand out and give a dimension to the image. Again my composition is pretty straight forward and I love keeping things simple for the viewer to enjoy in most of my cases. I do love layering things and keeping certain conscious and subconscious elements which let people stare a little more and they eventually discover things one by one making it more engaging.

A fun aspect is always a good way to go about when doing surrealism. People love playing games and solving the mystery, it makes them look smart and people love being called smart.

• I edit an image at 16bit at 300dpi. The dimension of the given image is 7645 by 5285 pixels. This part is completely subjective to your end-users and where you are going to publish it. I primarily kept it for my personal website and Instagram. Pixaloop doesn't restrain you with dimension. I love this part of the application!

STEP 3: To fill the empty space of my extended composition, I selected a part of the sky and stretched it to the top. You can feel free to use a clone stamp tool to do the same.

COMPOSITION TIP: I wanted the moving element in the middle of the sky, for the cloud to have enough breathing space around. It is always a good idea to think about the final image you have in mind.

STEP 4: Coming to the fun part and where I start my surreal journey, using a wrapping tool in photoshop I decided to give a convex feel to the grassland, you can very well do the opposite. Just keep it wacky and fun.

STEP 5: Everyone loves filters and the vintage feel. Pixaloop though has a new feature to do the same but I am not exactly convinced as it makes the images pretty pixilated hence I love the manual control photoshop gives. Colour correction, Vibrance and the selective colour is a great tool to add a feel to the image.

I have shared my calculations and feel free to copy it or tweak it as per your need. There is no rule to follow the above in the given direction, it's quite a lot of permutation and combination and it entirely depends what you think looks good, add value and mood to the image.

COMPOSITION TIP: A warm tone like yellow, orange and red is always about happiness and cool tones like blue and grey give a gloomy feeling.

I give a bit of sharpening and export my image suited for web and keep it within a range of 2500 pixels wide or 3mb in file size max, for the mobile processor to work over it without hanging on. Avoid uploading a heavy file to prevent the application from crashing.

STEP 6: As the application is mobile-based you need to transfer the image to your mobile, I own a Pixel2 and I upload my images in Photos (cloud storage). Post that I opened the image in Pixaloop. To start with I go to the sky menu of the app and for the given image I decided to use Dancing Aurora with Horizon: 77 and Opacity: 100. Feel free to tweak as per the image. A smooth transition is all that you should look for.

STEP 7: I just love fooling around with the application. Jokes apart, I knew it has a new element of clouds and it fitted perfectly to my landscape. I always have this love for animals especially the not so usual for many and thought to use a frog for it to be lost in the grassland under the sky with majestic aurora and stars. Placed the frog as per a suitable perspective yet easy to notice. I added the cloud at the centre and made it large enough to dominate the image. To add a little of drama I added some lightning. The steps are pretty much after a lot of combinations from the available list. You should feel free to create your own version. The elements have options like dimension and opacity. Play until you like to your liking.

STEP 8: Gadgets have their own colour profile and it depends on the brand of your phone hence you may find the colour a little off, what you saw on your computer screen. I was happy with the composition, yet found the image a little off in terms of colour gradation. Corrected the needed in the application. See image for calculations.

STEP 9: The application gives enough flexibility regarding the export option and I prefer keeping it at the highest resolution possible for any future needs and record. You can choose to tweak it as per your need. I personally love keeping the dimension intact, Duration around 18 seconds and quality 2k.

Woah! You have it done it so far fantastically and I hope you enjoyed the process. I loved creating this image and sharing the journey with you. There is nothing more that gives me contentment than creating something fresh and learning something new.

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Hii, I am Shovona Karmakar, a freelance commercial photographer, presently based out of Mumbai, India. As an artist, freelancer, and businesswoman, money, and creativity always intrigue me and I am passionate enough to share my knowledge with others too.

To note: My tutorials are mine from my own experience.

I am open for any portrait, corporate, food, product | people photography related queries/services, or just drop a hi! at

shovonakar@gmail.com

#coronaindia #mumbaiphotographer #femalephotographer #portraitphotographer #commercialphotographer #freelancecommercialphotographer #tutorial #pixaloop #cinemagraph #movingimages