5 Reasons Why I Prefer Capture One Pro
GIVEAWAY: Capture One Pro 23 and my Global Styles Pack
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One of the most frequent questions I get is why I still use Capture One Pro to manage my photography and if you ask me this question in person, I get pretty f*cking animated! Then I look down at my watch and I’ve just spent 45 minutes hawking this software like it’s the Slapchop.
Look, long before I had any credibility or audience, this app changed the direction of my work for the better. This week, I’m gonna share with you the five reasons how. And hopefully save me and some poor soul a 45-minute monologue in the future 😅
Oh! And one of you reading this is gonna WIN a copy of Capture One Pro 23 along with my new Styles Pack. Details to come at the end of this post.
Sessions and Catalogs
The biggest reason I love Capture One Pro is because it lets me manage my files based on what I’m working on.
If I’m working on something long-term or personal, I can use a Catalog where all kinds of images can sit in one unified space, which can then be triaged into favourites and albums.
But what if I’m working on a project or campaign that I want to keep separated? That’s where Sessions come in, a simple folder that houses all my images and edits. This folder will have four sub-folders that organize my raw files and the beauty is that I can just move files around as needed. I can take the whole Session folder and move it from place to place, and all the changes/edits move along with it.
If you wanna learn more about this, check out this video here.
Colour!
If you ask me, Capture One has the best colour management system for photographers. You can use the basic tools or jump into the Advanced Colour Editor to pick and shift colours as needed. What’s also valuable is that if you’re working with skin, there’s a separate tool just for that to make sure your subjects come out pristine and not like BBQ chicken.
To learn more about the colour process, you can watch this video here.
Layers & Styles
Built into Capture One is the ability to have Layers of edits on your raw files. As you’d expect, these are all non-destructive edits so you can stack and adjust as needed. What’s even more beautiful is that in the new version of Capture One Pro lets you save these layered edits as Styles for future work.
This allowed me to revamp my entire catalog of Styles I built over the years into these presets where I can adjust colour, clarity, and exposure independently of each other. If you want more of a deep dive on layers, check out this video here.
Custom Workspace
I’ll be honest, sometimes the UI of an app will turn me off and I just don’t wanna use it. That’s the unfortunate reality of Lightroom in my eyes. I know this isn’t rational but that’s just how I feel nowadays.
What makes Capture One so different is that you can customize your Workspace to match your style of editing and have something that feels tailored to you. So, if you’re like me and (unfortunately) picky about how your software looks and works, you’re gonna love the control you have with Workspaces in Capture One Pro.
And yes, of course I have a video breaking this down for you right here.
Speed
Do I have to dedicate an entire paragraph to this point? The app is just f*cking fast. It’ll blaze through 100-megapixel raw files like a power lifter doing cleans with a pool noodle. I don’t know what else to tell you so instead, here’s a link to a 20-minute beginner tutorial that’ll teach you how to get started with Capture One Pro because…
It’s Contest Time!
One of you is gonna win a full license for Capture One Pro 23 as well as my Global Styles Pack. All you have to do is create an account with Capture One with this link here and…
That’s it.
If you’re already a part of the Church & Street club, just make an account with Capture One with the same email and you’re entered. I’m gonna run this contest for a few weeks and announce the winner in late June.
How am I picking the winner? I’ll be taking the mailing list here, randomly picking one person, confirming they meet the requirements and then contacting them directly before announcing the winner publicly.
Oh, and this contest is void where prohibited by law (looking at you Quebec).
One More Thing…
For those of that joined this club, read every two weeks, or take the time comment, thank you so much. Seriously.
I wanted create something where I could share my imagery and experiences in a genuine way with photography lovers around the world. I’m truly appreciative of all you early adopters that have started supporting this new passion of mine. And I’m looking forward to bringing some more surprises in the months to come.
It’s not lost on me the amount of privilege I have to do what I do and I hope that these bi-weekly posts are bringing you even a tiny bit of value in your creative journey.
Anyway, that’s enough for this week. See ya next time!
GB
Thanks for reading Church & Street! Be sure to leave any thoughts or questions in the comments and if you really enjoyed this post, share it with your circle ✊🏾
I have been using capture one since 11 as I HATED how my fuji files looked in Lr. I knew a few people that also moved on to capture one for this reason but it truly seems to be the “better” image editor/processor then Lr is these days.
I know you did a video on your YouTube channel about this before but I am still trying to figure out the process of creating a style that I can use in multiple photos could be interesting to talk about what tools are good for that and which tools to avoid saving in a style.
I clicked the link and signup to C1 account does not go through, however I already have one so not sure if I need to do that anyway.
Always nice to read/watch your guides, Gajan!