There's a new PS plugin called PercepTool which promises a lot. Here's the marketing blurb:
I'm highly skeptical of this as the examples don't look anything beyond basic curves adjustment. And even more importantly, it is technically impossible to decompose the RGB value of a pixel to its reflection and illumination value, as is implied in the quote above, so the whole premise is highly suspect. Not to mention the plugin has taken longer to make than the Pyramids.
But I'm open to being proven wrong. It is currently available for Mac only - has anyone tried the trial or the full version, and could give insight or examples?
1) George DeWolfe I think represents the current incarnation of the mystical/metaphysical approach to landscape photography, linked in the past to folks like Minor White (not coincidentally his mentor) and Wynn Bullock. You don't have to buy into the mysticism to enjoy their work, if it appeals to you. I really love David Vestal's thumbnail assessment of Minor White: good man, great photographer, shame about the nutty philosophy but the photos are still great. Some of George DeWolfe's work is very nice; I don't personally buy his nebulous mysticism, but there's something to his notion of 'presence' in a print. There are definitely times when a relatively minor adjustment of tonal distribution or shadow density suddenly permits a print to come to life.
After reading DeWolfe's book I can see there are a few decent ideas there, but overall nothing earth shattering. I much prefer Charlie Cramer's pragmatic and concrete approach to Photoshop and artistic image editing. Cramer teaches a fantastic Photoshop image editing/printing course that comes with a really excellent and concise spiral-bound guide; I really hope he comes out with a book.
2) As a physician I have a nodding familiarity with models of visual perception, and they are just that: models. To this day no one really knows precisely how visual information is collated and processed. Mr. DeWolfe's model is a gross oversimplifcation that leaves out multiple levels of processing, including a very sophisticated processing step that occurs within the retina and its associated nerve fiber layer. There is also profound modification of visual processing by pre-existing visual memory and expectations. Galen Rowel actually spent years studying issues of perception, and wrote extensively about it with a level of nuance and sophistication considerably beyond DeWolfe's.
3) I'm inclined to cut Mr. DeWolfe some slack for the flowery and over-the-top claims he makes for his software; after all, he's selling a product, so you have to expect him to talk it up a bit. And there are lots of plug-ins and programs that are one-trick-ponies yet cost even more. $250 for Helicon focus comes to mind. But he does seem more than a little "out there", particularly considering how slow and kludgy the product has turned out to be. A little modesty might be refreshing; you never know.
