I get many questions from Lightroom users on what the 1:1 previews are and how they make your life easier. The theory is simple, and in today's Inside Lightroom blog, Michael Clark covers this with aplomb. In short: build them up front, don't wait later. I always build the 1:1 previews on import, which makes the process a lot longer, but you can do other things while it cranks away at them.

On the personal work front, I got back from San Jose yesterday (early as it turns out - I managed to get standby on a flight 6 hours before I was expected - which makes for a happy wife) and just started going thru my pictures from a weekend backpacking in Henry Coe State Park.

Henry Coe State Park is an wonderful place, located less than an hour from the Bay Area and consisting of more than 80 thousand acres of prime wilderness. I've been backpacking and hiking there since 2000 when I discovered it, and its come to be one of my favorite places to get away from the bustle of Silicon Valley.

The sad thing is, the Governor of that great state is proposing to shutter Henry Coe (along with 48 other state parks) as a cost saving measure. It really saddens me when we have billions of dollars to fight unnecessary wars and yet we can't adequately fund our state parks. Henry Coe really does not get used like it should by the nearby residents - people in that blighted place tend to sit in front of their bloody computers instead of getting outside and communing with nature. Its nice, because you get the park to yourself, but its also sad for obvious reasons.

So I really made an effort to get there after my weeks work and was richly rewarded. Henry Coe hiking is characterized by ups and downs. Mostly ups. The views are epic - rolling hills, old trees, expansive meadows and sweeping ridge-lines. The trails are punishing on the weak - they generally go straight up and down, as if switchbacks were anathema to those who settled the area.

Here are a few pictures from the trip that capture some of this majesty (gallery to come):

As an aside, I just put 8 more GB of Ram in my Mac. Yowsza! What an upgrade.

Here is a humorous photo of a coworker and friend of mine supplicating before the oracle of print . Sometimes you gotta appeal to vanity to get something done. And it generally works. Suckas.

Just another day in the development of Lightroom...

Ok, so it was just a setup - a joke if you will - playing on the funny relationship designers and their engineering counterparts go thru daily to bring you good (and sometimes not so good) software.

Moving on to the question of DNG.

I get asked that a lot by photographers wondering why they should convert their proprietary raw files to Adobe's DNG standard. The answer is fairly easy: its free, its open and its archival. I convert all pictures (well at least the ones not coming native DNG from my M8) to DNG as part of the import process in Lightroom. It takes a bit of extra time, but it ensures your pictures will be readable in the future, which is the reason many important workflow gurus suggest likewise. On the Adobe Creative Suite podcast this week, Terry White covers this "To DNG or not to DNG" question...

So, in short, convert to DNG and be happy. Its self-contained, its archival and it saves you space, and if you are smart and do it as you import images, the process is automatic.

I finally got around to taking a few pictures off my M8 from a week or so ago and I was delighted to find a wonderful picture of Liam. After one of Aidan's tournament games - we'd gone to a restaurant to eat and the poor boy fell asleep waiting at the table for food. Such a cutie.

Note the blue dye and soccer paraphernalia - he was done to the nines in support of his brother.

In related news, we found out this week that my oldest son Aidan moved up to the B team for U-12, which makes him the only boy to move from the C team up. He's super proud and super excited to get going with a new season. We are a bit sad to be moving to a new team in some ways - we had a great experience with the previous group of kids/parents - and they will be missed.

So to all you BU-12 Blue people, congrats and thanks for a great season. Good luck with 2008.

Wow, didn't know this was in the offing, but it looks like Adobe is offering the full version of Photoshop CS3 for $299 for any Elements owners (apparently its for any version of Elements too).

Found on the Photography Bay blog.

Must be taken care of thru the Adobe store. The offer expires 2/29/08. Pretty good deal if you need Photoshop CS3 (a great upgrade to an already great program).

And yes, you need Lightroom as well. It makes you faster, smarter and more organized.

I'm still in San Jose at a yearly company get together. Mostly in conference sessions or team meetings - but it is sunny outside and I look forward to getting out and hiking this weekend before heading back home.

I ran into an interesting 3 part discussion on the Epic Edits blog regarding Image Management - the author talks about Lightroom and other image management tools.

My wife got a new haircut this past weekend, and before I left, I had a chance to shoot a few pictures...

Managed to get back into the dance studio for some pictures with EBT's Creative Dance class - with all my recent travel, my time shooting daily classes has been somewhat limited, so it was nice to get back in familiar turf.

Here are a few of my favorites.

This is a bit of a different take on a subject I've been working at for over a year. Like some brown tone with that?

I'm heading to San Jose for a big company shindig next week - might be a bit more sporadic with the updates.

Also, I took Chloe to PNB's Romeo et Juliette tonight. It was gorgeous. Beautiful. Go see it if you live in the area. Really missed having my camera - there was so much visually to take in.

My shoot went well yesterday - I'm quite happy with the pictures.

Here are a few of my favorites...






Outdoor Photographer just posted an online review of Lightroom that presents a short but sweet take on Lightroom's position in the marketplace. My favorite quote:

"Develop is a place where magic occurs. This module mimics Camera Raw in some ways, but it makes working on an image so much easier, effective and faster than Camera Raw. The right panel of adjustments includes the necessary controls to allow you to get the most from your core image processing."

Easier. Faster. Effective. Yup.

Leica has just announced a few interesting things at PMA (Photo Marketers Association) in Vegas. Very interesting.

Updated M8 firmware that, according to initial reviews in the field, solves once and for all the random-white balance problem in AWB mode. I shoot Raw and mostly in b/w so this hasn't bothered me, but it is a boon nonetheless. I've already installed the firmware and it seems to be working. Leica has released quite a few firmware updates, all painless, and all very good at fixing issues. Their support has been tremendous, as you'd expect from an expensive camera. As a side not, i don't see my Canon 40d doing any better than the pre-firmware AWB of the M8. Maybe its just me...

Leica M8 cameras are meant to be upgradable - as new technologies come along, they'll upgrade your M8 to keep pace. I really like this idea. Instead of going for the 3 year cycle of disposability, Leica is trying to make your investment last. This is something most Leica users have come to expect from the M-system - a camera that eschews the bells and whistles and remains eerily independent of fads. After all, an M is a photographer's camera that takes great pictures with a minimum of fuss (well, beyond the fuss of actually paying into the club that is). The first update, available this fall, will provide a new, quieter shutter (very needed, although they drop the top speed to 1/4000 instead of the current 1/8000), a new LCD made of tougher crystal somethingorother, any firmware updates needed, re-calibration and cleaning, door to door service and a new 2 year warrantee. It ain't cheap, but it will keep your M8 up to date. I'm looking forward to the subsequent update that adds all this and a new full frame sensor, dust cleaning etc. Not sure if I'll jump for this right away.

The tag line: A future Proof Investment.

Pretty cool.