A dying breed in today's high-tech world of Blogs, Podcasts and Plug-Ins. With all of that said, and while I like to reminisce about my days in the pro-photo labs of yesteryear, I know that I would be lost without my Mac, my digital SLR, Photoshop CS3 and the virtual toolbox that ensures that I need not do anything more than just reminiscing to get the desired results. After spending a great deal of time with the product, I have added [url=http://www.alienskin.com/]Alien Skin[/url]'s Exposure 2 (US$249) to that toolbox and it let's me bring all of the depth and familiar color balance of my favorite emulsions without the need to wonder if I've actually loaded my film correctly into the teeth of my camera's winder.

Alien Skin has come a very long way in the world of digital imaging, and I'm happy to say that I've stayed on their trail from the beginning. Their most recent titles clearly show their experience and they bring it all to Exposure 2. It's remarkably fast and easy to navigate with a user interface that will feel very familiar to any Mac-user. After trying quite a few images, both glamorous and just some family candid shots, the image selected for this review is one that has a memory attached to it. Just something taken with a point-and-shoot digital camera at a moment in time that was ..."very analog." The challenge was to see what could actually be done so that the mind's eye might match the photograph and have the richness I'd hoped for.

Once the many presets and options in Exposure 2 become familiar, you may wish to check out their online forums and download even more presets from their client base. Creating dramatic image effects and "old school" push-processing results is all built in, but you don't need to be a lab expert to know what you are doing. Exposure 2 is fast enough to try a lot of combinations and styles without a lot of wait time for the previews. The interface allows for quite a few types of previews as well so that you can see the before and after...well...before. This is well beyond most image correction plug-ins and really presents the emulsions, color balance and densities inherent to many types of true analog film. Like CD audio was to vinyl, digital images are to film; so, like adding a tube-preamp plug-in to Logic, Exposure 2 has a similar effect on your photos. Of course, the final output is what really matters and Alien Skin delivers. Again, it is not just a correction -- it's a style of correction with lots of options.

Photo Credit: ©Little Silver Records. Used by permission.

Image: The original shot before (left) and after (right) applying Alien Skin Exposure 2 - shot with HP PhotoSmart M737 8Mp point-and-shoot digital camera. 

Although some might find the $249 price tag a bit steep, especially if your camera didn't cost as much, this is a product for the advanced consumer and working photographer looking to recapture some of the character that one's own choice of film speed, brand, format or dimension allowed their images to have more than just great photographers behind the lens. From the warmth of Kodachrome to the coolness of Fujicolor and with all of the visual flavors that brought digital images to where they are today, Alien Skin's Exposure 2 offers the ability to create photos for the digital heart with an analog soul.

Minimum system requirements: PowerPC or Intel-based Mac; Mac OS X 10.4x or later; 1024 x 768 display resolution or greater; Adobe Photoshop CS2 or later or Photoshop Elements 4.0.1 or later or Fireworks CS3 or later.

Macsimum Rating: 10 out of 10