Review: Alien Skin's EXPOSURE 2 (pg 2)
by Dallas Dahms
Working with colour
Once you have torn yourself away from all the really cool B&W and IR film conversions, have a look at the colour film simulations that come with Exposure 2. There's quite a few of them, but again I am puzzled by the absence of some big names. For instance, under print films you will only find a few films by Fuji and Kodak. There's nothing by Agfa or Konica. Very puzzling. There are more slide films than print films and once you look into those simulations you'll probably forget the few missing print films anyway.
There are three versions of Velvia to choose from, 50, 100 & 100F, plus there are Astia, Provia, Ektachrome and (you guessed it) KODACHROME! Paul Simon will be thrilled, I am sure, to know that there are four variants of Kodachrome present in Exposure 2. There is 25, 25 (sharp), 64 and 200 ISO. No Fuji Sensia though.
Since getting Exposure 2 I have found my preferred "look" to be Kodachrome 64 (faded by about 30% afterwards). It intensifies contrast and colour in a way that I can't really do on my own in Photoshop. Well, I suppose I could, but letting somebody else do the hard work while I take the credit appeals to me! Within Exposure 2 it is also possible to adjust your tones using a built-in curve tool, as well as customised sharpening (nothing that you don't already have in PS but I suppose it is handy to make use of the huge preview pane in Exposure 2 in conjunction with your film emulation).
As with the B&W side of things you have the option of working with or without grain, so if you prefer your colour photos without the grain, simply choose a filter without it.
Not just about film
Apart from providing simulations of some legendary film stock, there are also many exotic things that can be done by selecting a specific Exposure 2 filter. Fancy a Polaroiod look? Cross processed film? Lomo-esque? Golden hour orange? Noon day sun? Sepia? Daguerreotype? Polapan? Infra Red? Glamour look? Not a problem. Just click the button and Exposure 2 will take the sweat out of Photoshop for you.
Some examples:
Daguerreotype
 
Left: Infra Red - Bright Glow | Right: Ultra Contrast 75% bright
 
Left: Fujichrome Velvia 50 | Right: Kodak Portra 160NC
 
Left: Polaroid Creamy Blown Highlights | Right: Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO
As you can see from only a handful of samples above, this is a serious plug in that can bring about some serious effects with pretty ordinary images (BTW, this is a grabshot of my father using a D2H and 300mm f/4 lens). The options are seemingly endless and you can tweak your own customised looks, saving them within the plugin for later use.
Tech Bits
As I mentioned earlier on in this review, Exposure 2 can be used as a plug in for Photoshop as well as the Windows version of Paint Shop Pro. You need to have at least CS2 or CS3 for it to function in Photoshop. It can also be used with Fireworks CS3 or Photoshop Elements 4 and later.
The recommended system requirements are fairly straight foward, PowerPC or Intel Macs running OS X 10.4.0+ and Pentium 4 PC's running Win XP. Oh yes, your monitor must be set to at least 1024x768 resolution otherwise you won't see the whole dialog box. It's big!
To access the help within the filter you need to use the Photoshop help menu (Mac) or press F1 on your PC keyboard. If you go to the website (www.alienskin.com) they have a fairly active support forum too. I found the plug in really straight forward to use, the only help I needed was deciding which filter to apply!
Price
Here comes the nasty bit. This is not a cheap plug in. You're going to take a $249 dent to your pocket if you decide you can't live without the product once you've tried the fully functional 30 day trial. Ouch!
But is it worth it?
If you want my honest opinion I think it is definitely worth it. You could spend massive chunks of time trying to emulate what Exposure 2 does in a couple of clicks. If your time is valuable to you then having Exposure 2's myriad of effects on tap will definitely save you money in the long run. Highly recommended by this photographer.
Parting shot
Any company who has "We will never wear suits" typed on their website will always have my full support!
Reviewed by Dallas Dahms during Dec 2007 / Jan 2008
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If you have tried Alien Skin's Exposure 2 share your thoughts here:
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 Re: Review: Alien Skin's EXPOSURE 2
I downloaded the demo and almost wore it out! I plan on getting it soon. Why try to get the Tri-X look on your own messing around with tone curves when you can just press a button! After all a film photographer just presses the shutter release and get's a Tri-X look, right. And the fact that you can personalize any setting is icing on the cake.
There's no reason why we can't have all the benefits of film in the digital world!
Re: Review: Alien Skin's EXPOSURE 2
2: January 09, 2008, 01:07:33 AM by alan_nIn the colour section the polarcolour choices have me hooked and the B&W selections are just amazing. Makes you want to go back through ALL your shots to see what they would look like  Alan
Re: Review: Alien Skin's EXPOSURE 2
3: January 09, 2008, 06:07:25 AM by DallasAlan, I just knew you were going to love this plug-in!
I have been in touch with the marketing guys at Alien Skin, as well as the MD, and they are going to add the films I mentioned that are missing. If there are any other films that you guys feel should be in the plug-in just mention it here and I'm sure the folks at AS will look into them too.
Re: Review: Alien Skin's EXPOSURE 2
4: January 09, 2008, 08:02:32 AM by afxFor those that only want BW and toning, a cheaper alternative is Bibble with Andy and Tony.
I just love the film emulation.
cheers
afx
Re: Review: Alien Skin's EXPOSURE 2
6: April 11, 2008, 03:27:25 AM by yunfatWith regard to other emulations, exposure 2 offers a great deal of customization, its possible you can create the emulation you desire with the built in tools. Things like spectral response, grain size, local contrast and hue/tint can all be tailored to suit the needs of those willing to try reproducing the color/grain of the film they love.
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