Polarr, A Powerful Photo Editing App I've Been Waiting For

While I was initially going to post another Tips and Ticks for Photos, this tops that by far. If you were looking for a tool to bring Photos to nearly the level of Aperture's editing, this is it. Polarr is an app I was only recently introduced to. I found its simple interface enticing so I gave it a try. The first impression encouraged me to dive deep into the features.

There are a whole lot of editing tools out there for OS X, iOS, Windows, etc. Many of them are only available on one platform or the other… maybe two if you’re lucky. Polarr, to my knowledge, is the only editing app that is available for iOS, OS X, Windows, Android, and for the Web. When discussing these cross platform features, they aren't “watered down” feature sets between desktop and mobile, mobile and web version; nearly full functionality is available across the platforms.

The adjustment toolset is the first and most impressive attribute. Here is a list to start:

Adjustments

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• Temperature 
• Tint
• Vibrance
• Saturation
• Exposure
• Brightness
• Contrast
• Highlights
• Shadows
• Whites
• Blacks
• Diffuse

• Dehaze
• Clarity
• Sharpen
• Denoise
• Vignette
• Grain
• Distortion 
• Fringing
• HSL
• Curves
• Tones

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This list is extensive and evolved beyond the basics. The HSL (Hue/Saturation/Luminance) adjustments allow changes to specific color ranges. One can select a specific spectrum to adjust, green, for example. This is one of the main features I sadly missed from Aperture.

Polarr includes a distortion control; a very powerful feature in the age of digital photography. Most applications that work with RAW files include lens specific distortion correction, however, having a manual control is very welcome to the professional.

Curves, a standard for most any pro-end photo editing application, is included and permits adjustments to channels (RGB and master). Additionally, Tones, a not-so-common tool, allow one to adjust highlights, shadows, hue, and saturation independently.

Polarr with filters (left) and adjustments (right)

One feature that piqued my interested was the denoise tool. Many applications have a noise reduction feature but few independently allow control of luminance and chrominance noise. They two are in the same family but have two different natures and, as such, having these two separate deniers is a win.

With its forty core adjustment functions, it begins to look very appealing to an editor. To take this a step further, in the age of Instagram, so many tools can overwhelm. Included in Polarr are over 100 filters to suit one’s many needs. A few of my favorites I’ve had the pleasure to playing with: Clear, Fujicolor, Vista, TM2, and IF5 (an Infrared filter!). Even with all these filters, creative types want their own, custom features. Polarr give one the opportunity to create and save custom filters and use them at one’s leisure.

These filters and adjustments work together but sometimes it is needed for an area of a photo to be adjusted while other areas are left alone. Simple gradient tools can give the virtue of a mask to one’s adjustments and fine-tune portions of the photo rather than the general global changes.

As one works on a photo, the beauty of a digital workflow, experimentation leads to great discoveries and can lead to not so great discoveries. Polarr, with its many features, not only gives unlimited undos but an history palette; a timeline of all the adjustments one has made; jump back one step or one hundred steps and all the way to the original if needed.

But the reason I put another post on hold in favor of this review, the feature that sold me beyond the afore mentioned, Polarr, as of today, released an update to their OS X version with full support for Photo Extensions. And this isn’t a half-hearted attempt by many other applications. When a photo is processed into Polarr using the extension, the entire Polarr editing suite is available; every adjustment, every filter, unlimited undo history, all of it. There is no need to organize in one application and edit in another. No need to export a RAW or JPEG from Photos, save to desktop, open another application and import it for editing only to do the same process in reverse to return the newly edited photo to Photos and using additional storage space: organize in Photos, edit in Photos, edit in Polarr.

With a simple, clean interface Polarr caught my attention. Having nearly all the same tools available to me on my iPhone and iPad impressed me more. Being able to use even other platforms as Windows and Android, online through a web browser, gave the impression the developers were serious. Having a rich toolset and access to them via extensions in Photos, really sold the whole package.

Polarr for OS X runs $19.99 and can be complimented with an iOS version for free (though, all the features is an in app purchase of $9.99). I highly recommend it. Having use many photo applications from Photoshop to Aperture, Affinity Photo (another favorite) to Pixelmator, iPhoto to Tonality, this is a simple yet sophisticated imagine editing application that I’ll be utilizing a lot.

Final Cut Pro X 10.2.3

Final Cut Pro X has received a lot of criticism since its released over in 2011. I’m bold enough to call people out on all of it as Final Cut Pro X is coming upon five years old and, as a professional in the industry, I can safely say it is one of the best editing systems I’ve used. I’m not only certified in Final Cut Pro X, I’ve written curriculum for training in Final Cut Pro X, I’m one of the highest endorsed Final Cut Pro Editors in North America, I’ve spent hundreds of hours using it, and edited literally a hundred (perhaps more) projects using it.

Final Cut Pro X is a radical change in non-linear editing systems; trackless editing, outstanding multi-cam support, no rendering, multicore processes, 64-bit support, keyword organization, and so much more. Most other systems were designed in the early to mid 90’s still look and work pretty much the same way as they have for the past two decades. They feel like nonlinear editing systems designed by linear editors. Final Cut Pro 'classic' felt the same; FCP X took a bold stance against such antiquated standards and made something new.

But, that isn’t to say there haven’t been improvements, bugs, and other things popping up in such a complex application. The long awaited Final Cut Pro X 10.2.3 was released today with a great number of improvements and stability updates. Check out the list of updates below.

New in Final Cut Pro X 10.2.3:

• Customizable Default Effect lets you choose both a video and audio effect that is assigned to a keyboard shortcut
• 4K export preset to create video files for Apple devices
• Improves speed when opening libraries on a SAN
• Resolves an issue that could affect the timecode display in the Dashboard on OS X El Capitan
• Import Canon XF-AVC including video files from the Canon C300 Mark II
• Ability to share video to multiple YouTube accounts
• Resolves an issue in which a disabled video effect could appear as Missing Effect when opening the project or when sharing to Compressor
• Addresses an issue in which black frames could appear in imported iPhone video clips that were trimmed on iPhone
• Fixes an issue that could cause the playhead to jump ahead when editing short titles
• Fixes an issue that could cause the timeline to stop playback when switching views in the Browser
• Fixes an issue in which points on a Bezier shape could incorrectly switch from Linear to Smooth
• Fixes an issue in which some objects within Motion templates render with soft edges
• Adds iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPad Pro, and Apple TV (4th generation) to the Apple Devices compatibility list in the Share window

You can purchase or update Final Cut Pro X from here. Enjoy!

Day One v2

Day One 2 for OS X

Day One was released in 2011. An outstanding journaling app, it quickly won the hearts of many including receiving App of the Year in 2012 from Apple. It has been one of my favorite apps both on iOS and Mac. It is both a powerful and beautiful application on both platforms.

While this isn’t really a post about photography or filmmaking, per se, I find the journaling app to be a valuable asset to me as a photographer. My photos tell my story or I tell a story with my photography. Wherever I travel, whatever I am doing, I find ways to fit photography into my life. One of my most favorite activities when I travel is simply to roam around photographing the places I go. Day One is a companion for a photographer to journal particularly special photos and places one has been; a map view will show you locations where one was when the entry was created of the geotag of the photo. 

I find it relaxing to write down a few thoughts, add a photo, or even just geotag my entry for later review. Journaling was never part of my life until I had the access to a digital one; no matter where I was or what device I had with me, I could add an entry. As Day One has a sync service, I can quickly add an entry from my Apple Watch, just a sentence or two or a location. I can write from my iPhone or my iPad. Or, if I need to write even more, I can do it from my Mac and all my entries will be found on all my devices. Sometimes it is just a photo, sometimes just text, and sometimes a combination of the two.

An entry in Day One 2 for iOS

I write this post on the day a new version of Day One is released. Day One 2 rebuilds an already great app. I have only had moments to work with it but it has already proven to be a worthy upgrade. Probably my favorite new feature is the ability to add multiple photos to an entry. Before, it was only one but so many times I found that I my journal entry was incomplete, not telling the whole story with only one image. Now these entries are more dynamic with a digital scrapbook feel. Perhaps a landscape photo where I travel can remind me of the beautiful site while another photo reminds me of the time with friends or family. Day One 2 becomes not only a journal but also a living news feed of life.

As one goes through daily life, it is easy to think we’ll remember everything when, in fact, we won’t. Day One helps piece together our lives with photos, written entries, geo-locations, weather, and even what kind of locomotion at the moment of the entry (train, car, walking, sitting, etc.). A year, ten years, or decades from now, one can open their digital journal and time travel to remember photos, places, faces, and more from long ago.

I highly recommend Day One 2 for Mac and iOS to anyone but for us photographers, this journaling app is a close connection to our passion. Both can be purchased now; the Mac version here and the iOS version here. A timeline of life is something that one can appreciate forever. It is always a pleasure to rewind and reflect on something that might have been forgotten.

P.S. They are 50% for the next week. Ge them at the discounted price while you can!