A Summer's Walk
I was strolling along in the industrial park near our house and shot a few pictures that I quite enjoyed.
Also, a few of my goofy
boys.
I was rushed today to get
a book done for a client of mine - she wanted
something to take to Russia for family and friends
and just managed to get me a list of the images to
include. So I spent some fo this evening putting it
together and I’m *very* happy with it. Here is the
cover...
I’ll be traveling with
the family over the next few weeks - into Montana and
Wyoming again - this time for a reunion. And then up
to Canada for my 20 year high school reunion. So
updates to the blog will be a bit more sporatic while
I’m gone.
Cheers.
Top 10 Favorite Things About Lightroom 2
So off we go, in no particular order:
1. Local Corrections - you now have the ability to paint on special effects within the raw pipeline (i.e. no having to render a tiff, open it in another application and then manage two separate files like Aperture has to do). You can dodge, burn, add clarity or contrast to a spot and you can soften skin (negative clarity) or add a tone (via a colored brush). This feature is really cool and allows all kinds of things you used to have to go to Photoshop to do.
2. Streamlined
Editing - Lightroom was always good at
helping you edit your photo shoot. Step thru each
image, and either pick it (p) or reject it (x).
(Tip: You can unmark things with the
(u) key). PIcks are for images that I think have
potential. Rejects are ones I’m going to trash.
Nothing new here so far, as Lightroom 1.0 did this.
However we’ve added a great new indicator for those
items that have been rejected. The filmstrip and grid
icons are now grayed out - perfect and much clearer.
Tip: when you’re done editing and
ready to trash those rejects, hit Cmd-Delete and
Lightroom will ask you if you want to remove them or
trash them.
3.
Collections - with Lightroom 2,
collections got a huge and much needed kick in the
pants. First off, they now have little icons that
help you in parsing what can be a long list. Each
collection type (more on that in a second) has its
own icon too. And with 2 you can now create Smart
Collections. This is very cool - you can make
collections based on metadata, just like you do in
iTunes.
4. Volume
Browser - this is a nice little update that
improves the “where are my files” problem that some
people have when they start using Lightroom. The
skinny: Lightroom is a catalog app. You point
lightroom at a folder and it will build a cache with
metadata and previews for the image. The images
remain on the drive where you told the Import dialog
to put them. But some got all concerned with the
“where” question. So we improved the Folder panel
display to show the volume, its status, capacity and
other great info about the file folder structure. And
hint, you can change the LED color by holding the
Shift-Option-Command keys down when clicking on the
LED light.
5. Print Packages - its so much
easier to print a package of images now. Want a 5x7
images and a bunch of wallets? A few clicks and
you’re there. As Borat says “Very Nice.”
6. Match Total
Exposures - Shoot a bunch of things at the
same time and want the exposures to match? One
command, baby...
7. Post-Crop
Vignette - In Lightroom 1.0, all you had was
a full-frame vignette designed to eliminate lens
vignetting. If you wanted it for artistic effect, and
then you added a crop, you lost much of the effect.
Not any more.
8. Custom Camera
Profiles - One of the big complaints we get
is that the Raw files imported into Lightroom don’t
have the “pop” of the camera manufacterers JPG. Uh,
this is kinda the point, but people kept complaining
when they saw Raw files ready for interpretation
instead of pre-processed jpegs. Adding to the
problem: our auto settings didn’t work as well as
they should. So we’ve added the ability for Lightroom
to use custom profiles that can be created by the DNG
Profile Editor. There is even a default set from
Adobe that mimics several known picture styles. Had
problems with red/orange/yellow colors in Lightroom
1.x? Now that is a thing of the past. Making profiles
isn’t for everyone, but you can do it and many will
do it and make them downloadable. Its going to be
very cool. And we tweaked the Auto algorithm too for
good measure.
9. Keyword Suggestions - This new
feature suggests other keywords that might apply to
your image - it uses all kinds of fancy algorithms
done by super geekycool Adobe engineers (hint: I
don’t know how it works, but it sure is nice for
stock photographs).
10. Target
Collection - In 1.x, you had the Quick
Collection for a nice bucket to organize stuff into.
Now you can target any collection and add it by a
simple press of the (b) key. This makes organization
really simple.
Well, that is it. There
is a lot more in the release, but this is what is
floatin’ my boat (as it were) these days.
Sound off in Comments on what is making your life
better!
Cheers!
Lightroom 2 Ships!
We’ve been hard at work on this release for over a
year, and it has some real improvements that will
make your photographic workflow easier and more
efficient. Price is $299 and the upgrade is a sweet
$99.
Learn More:
Third Party Coverage
- Lightroom News
- Macworld
- Photoshop Insider
- Luminous Landscape
- DP Review
- Inside Lightroom
- Imaging Resource
- Lightroom Killer Tips
Training and Learning
- NAAP Lightroom 2 Learning Center
- Kelby Training has new online classes for Lightroom 2
- Luminous Landscape’s Guide to Lightroom 2
- Photoshop Cafe Screenshots & Videos
What has changed from the beta?
Trial? You bet. There is a 30 Day trial available
We’ve also released a
beta version of the Camera Raw Profile Editor.
Simply, this little tool lets anyone change the way
Adobe raw processing software does color. Many people
didn’t like the yellows/reds/oranges they got from
Lightroom or ACR - this software lets you customize
everything to your hearts content. It certainly is
for advanced users, but for those of us not into
CLUTs and such, we’ll be able to download all kinds
of these and use them in Lightroom. The best part is
that we can more easily match camera manufacturer’s
color this way - this is an oft-heard complaint and
now will be a thing of the past.
Gets started with some new color profiles...
Ride Report:
Road. 22 miles from my home to Fall City to
Snoqualmie and home. Sprinkled on me the entire
ride...
Wyoming Revisited
Here is the result of that 5 image shot (drum roll please)...
I must say that Photoshop
CS3 makes this super easy - gone are the days when
you really need a third party tool for this kinda
work. It is almost 10,000 pixels on the long side.
That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
And now, the galleries. There are four, with a total
of about 100 images.
A shout out to all those
from the dig checking in! If you are interested in
using any of the pictures for websites or facebook,
please contact me and I’ll send you a password
protected gallery that lets you download internet
resoution digital files. Cheers!
Ride Report:
Road. 30 miles from my home to Fall City, to
Snoqualmie, to North Bend (via the road running
right by Mt. Si) and then home. Lovely ride,
just the right temperature at 7 am.
Stark B&W in Lightroom
The set was inspired by a Japanese photographer named Daido Moriyama and what the author referred to as his “gritty, harsh, raw, analogish, punk in some way” style.
Also, Rachel Hulin at the
Shoot! The Blog points to a
great photo essay entitled
“Children of God” on the secretive FLDS in
this weeks New York Times Magazine.
I really like the work - it reminds me of some photo essays I saw on the Hutterites - a communal Anabaptist sect amongst whom I grew up in Southern Alberta.
Lazy Sunday
I had a photoshoot setup for this afternoon, but the wind came up and the clouds closed in and it drizzled some, so the parents asked to reschedule.
I put up a gallery for another client tonight and have to make several calls to prospective clients tomorrow. Busy Busy. That and I’ve got to prepare for our upcoming trip to Yellowstone (family reunion) and Canada (20 year high school reunion). Summer is burning fast and I’d prefer it stay longer, given the goofy spring we just had.
Here are a few pictures
from a few months back that I just love. Both taken
with the M8 and an old Canon 1.2 screwmount lens. As
I’ve mentioned before, I’m not much of a sports
shooter - I do it and capture a few good images here
and there - but it isn’t my joie de vivre. However, I
love the sidelines...
Love that glow I get from that combination.
Just less than 2 days
left in my eBay gear auctions. Check them out if you
are in the market for a good deal on some great
hardware.
Before the Feis
The Irish dance world is another beast entirely, and we’ve already had two dance teachers fight over her and our introduction to the crazy world of dance competition is probably going to be more than we can bear. Sometimes parents are just crazy with their kids. I mean, honestly, live your life first and let your kids live theirs - people having proxy childhoods are sure annoying.
So she walks into this contest today like a lamb, hopefully things will go well and she’ll get to compete and dance on her own merits - and for the love of dance.
Last night she put in the curlers - apparently curly hair is a must for Feis competitions - and I’ve heard rumor of completely ridiculous wigs as well. I mean, honestly, does that look natural?
Regardless, my girl has very straight hair, so her chance to keep those curls is low. But they sure are cute for the first 20 minutes. Here she is last night before bed - curlers in and ready.
Update:
She took first in the Reel for new competitors,
fourth for the Jig and third in the overall category.
Not bad for a girl with 3 weeks of training - ballet
training really pays off.
Here is what the curls looked like this AM...
Ride Report:
Mountain. 10 miles at Tokul Creek. One of our
favorite trails there dead-ended half way thru
into a new logging road - that really sucks.
Ugh. Rode with Brett and had a ball.
Tools, Part III
Here is a small selection of images from last week’s shoot. Included are some interesting items - see if you can figure out what some of the more esoteric ones are...
In
Lightroom news, Scott Kelby
announced the latest version of his Lightroom Book -
this one for Lightroom 2.0. Its almost as if he knew
something was afoot in Adobeland.
Ride Report:
Road. 15 miles from my home looping around Fall
City. Lovely ride, but a bit short because I had
to take the boys to Bellevue to a capoeira day
camp.
List Additions
- Lens distortions and abberations got you down? Spend a measily $15 and get PTLens, a good tool that can be run as a Lightroom Editor (and it streamlines the workflow some from a standalone app). I’ve tried it, and it works well. Not as well as a correction module, but that isn’t yet on the radar. Until then, working on a rendered tiff is what you get - and its worht noting that this is Aperture’s solution to everything and it kinda sucks compared to being able to do this fancy stuff on Raw images. See LR 2.0’s Local Corrections for example. Zing! (Via the Lightroom Blog)
- A reader, Mike Solomon, pointed me to a tutorial and a couple of Lightroom presets on his blog. He says they give photos the “it” that sometimes is needed for advertising photographs. Worth a read.
- Like to put your stuff on the web from Lightroom? Check out all the galleries on Lightroomgalleries.com
A Big List of Fun Things
- Why DNG? I’ve covered this before, but here is a video of Bryan Hughes (a former student of mine) on Photoshop User TV covering this very topic.
- Lovely portraiture - Les Africains (via The Travel Photographer)
- Like disecting political imagery? - BAGnewsNotes has it covered. Today’s entry is spectacular.
- Hate what people do with Photoshop? What about those “rush” jobs or “hacks” that shouldn’t have been published? Somtimes it makes great entertainment.
- From Lightroom to your iPhone. Sweet.
- Flickr is cool. Here are some great add-on’s to make it better.
- Practical Exposure Advice - A book review from Studiolighting.net.
- Photoshop Velvia. Tips on how to give your color photos that velvia look.
- Doing Black & White in Lightroom. (via The Travel Photographer)
- With Lightroom 2.0 imminent, you might need a tablet to do all that brushing.
- Man, I get alot of questions - the two most popular: “What bike to buy” and “what entry level DSLR to buy”
- Ride a bike? Like cool T-shirts?
- Learn to edit your photos. And by edit, I don’t mean Photoshop them. I mean culling for the good shots. This is a skill that takes years to develop. Its like dancing. Only with pictures. And you can do it sitting down and avoid the russian woman with the yard stick.
- Copyright Issues? Listen up. I met Jack a few years back in his studio on a site visit.
- Have an iPhone? Need a photo-related application to waste your time with?
- LR/Mogrify is a great tool for doing extra things with Lightroom. Watermarking for example.
- Panasonic has a new high end Point/Shoot. I have the LX2 and like it. The LX3 looks even better.
- Looking for some awesome used photo gear? Check out my ebay auctions right now.
Ride Report:
Road. 25 miles from my home to Carnation and
back. Lovely ride. The leg is feeling good and
I’m riding strong. I sprinted up a 800 ft climb
for the hell of it.
Auctions
- Canon 40D
- Canon Battery Grip BG-E2N
- Wescott 43” Silver Collapsible Umbrella
- Leica M Summicron 90 mm Mount Lens
Also, been spending some
time editing the recent work from my Tools series.
My grandpa had two belts - I’m not sure how he
figured on which to wear but I remember both of these
quite clearly. Maybe the latter was used on days when
he needed the luck. No rain. Enough sunlight. Rain.
Commodity prices up. I guess I should have
photographed it with the horshoe up...
Finally, I saw this series on Shoot the Blog and was blown
away - both by the photography, the story and the
site design. It reminded me of the feelings I have
as I work thru my grandpa’s stuff.
Ride Report:
Mountain. 8 miles at Griffin Natural Preserve 1
hour riding time. Causual pace as I was
accompanied by a friend and was nursing a pulled
hamstring.
Firearms
One of the tools my grandpa used regularly were his firearms. He was a life-long NRA member and out on the ranch, his reliance on them was often necessary. They were poor and my mom often remembers that the things he could hunt were what they ate - they were isolated in rural idaho and it was along way from the individually wrapped sections of an unidentified animal found in today’s supermarkets.
They were tools to him, and he used them. I like to separate him and the rhetoric I hear today when the subject of guns is brought up.
Have a great day.
Summer in Idaho
I setup shop in Grandma’s garage and proceeded to work thru a large collection of terribly interesting objects - most of which I remember directly being used on the ranch when I was a kid. I worked all day Saturday (with a break for lunch and a quick dinner visit to my Uncle Mike’s house close by). By mid-day it was 90 degrees in that garage and the lights sure didn’t seem to help.
On finishing for the day, we then went over to “Cruise Night” which was an annual vintage car festival in Emmett. We saw lots of what you’d expect - hot rods, Harley’s and lots of people. I also managed to take a few bike rides on a sweet cruiser and visit a few interesting places in this slightly out-of-the-way community on the edge of the sprawling Boise metropolis.
I’m just starting to go thru the results of the marathon Saturday shoot, but here are some fun pictures from the trip itself.
More to come on the tools
series later this week.
And what of my hypermiling experiment. I drove
my 1998 Nissan Frontier pickup down and back for a
total of just under 1000 miles 99% of it on the
freeway. First, consider the Federal EPA rating
for this car (and these are the revised EPA
estimates that better reflect current driving
habits):
Thanks to my Scanguage II, I was able to
monitor fuel consumption, efficiency and cost in
real time. I averaged 33 MPG the entire trip,
spending a total of $130 for the trip in gas. I
beat the EPA estimate by 66% and save almost $50
in gas. Of course, it took me an extra hour at
least each way, but it certainly was less
stressful, quieter and the knowledge that I was
being 66% more efficient was a big plus - its a
stewardship/moral thing and I consider it to be a
total success. Hypermiling works.
Taking it to the petro-sociopaths, one gallon at a
time...
To Emmett!
My Grandpa and I were pretty close growing up - I spent every summer on their farm from the time I was 7 years old and tagged along behind him everywhere he went. I was mesmerized by his knowledge, capabilities and just loved every minute I had in Idaho. There is a great story of me introducing my Grandpa to someone as “my best friend” and it was an honest reflection of how I felt then. I sure miss him.
Anyhow, so when we were there recently I grabbed some old tools from his garage (we spent alot of time fixing things in his garage on the farm outside Mackay, ID) and began a photo project documenting him through his tools. I brought them back home and the first two series are here:
Grandpa’s Tools - Series 1
Grandpa’s Tools - Series 2
I figured it would be a good idea to just go down and setup a studio in the garage and document as much as I could over the weekend. This would allow me to make further progress and visit Grandma at the same time. Kristin liked the idea and suggested I bring Chloe along with me - she loves to spend time in Emmett because Grandma is the queen of craft. I swear, that woman made a hat out of Pepsi cans once, and to a tinkering 9 year old, that is very cool.
So, off we go, with a truck full of lighting gear, my cameras and my daughter. Even with the price of gas, I love road trips. I purchased a ScanGuage II this week that monitors your real time gas milage (Holden Caulfield’s comments notwithstanding) and with my new bag of Hypermiling tricks, I should be able to squeeze 30 mpg out of the truck (rated at 23). I’m such a nerd.
Anywho, have a good weekend. I’ll be blazing away with my tethered 5D into Lightroom 2.
Lightroom Tutorial - Import Workflow
He states that weddings vary, but he can shoot 3-4
thousand images at an event and as all wedding
photographers, needs to get thru them quickly and
effectively in short order.
Read more on his workflow here.
One thing that puzzles me is that
many photographers are hanging on to old-school
ingestion practices (i.e. getting images off the
camera and onto your computer). They use all manner
of stand alone ingestion applications (or even just
use the Finder/Explorer) to do the job, when
Lightroom has a very capable and time-saving import
feature that does most of the heavy lifting
automatically for you.
Lightroom was designed to help you speed up your
photographic workflow. Five years ago, the digital
workflow was immature and required many separate
applications that the happless photographer cobbled
together just to get thier job done and
inefficiencies were inherent in the process. Times
change, and Lightroom is a more holistic, efficient
approach.
Importing with Lightroom
Here is a quick tutorial on Lightroom’s Import feature to get some of you off those shareware solutions and onto something that saves you time/effort.
1. Make sure Lightroom is running and insert your CF or SD cards. Lightroom wil prompt you with the Import dialog automatically. If anything else comes up (i.e. a “helpful” Windows or Mac diaolg - turn that off now - you won’t be needing those anymore). This is what you’ll see. I have the Previews turned off as I generally just do a “dump and go” operation, but sometimes it is nice to see the thumbnails.
2. Decide where to save your files. Don’t panic about this - you are in control here with the Copy to pop up. You can save them on the internal drive (ie. in the Pictures folder) or on an external drive in a Photo Archive folder of your creation. Just pick one and stick with it. I save all my files into a Photo Archive/YYYY/Month hierarchy on an external Raid drive. Lightroom will remember from import to import where you put them, so you don’t thave to change this every time. In fact, most things here are sticky from session to session so you’re doing the hard work only once.
3. The Import dialog is designed to save you time at
the front end of the workflow. Here are some quick
recommendations:
- You should convert to DNG automatically by in the File Handling pop up. DNG is more efficient, smaller and archival. Nuff Said. And be warned, it wil take a bit of extra time to do this.
- You can organize the import by various date formats or into a named folder (ie. Job Name/Number)
- You can check to make sure you are not importing files already in the catalog
- Skip the Backup option - right now its a pretty basic back up of the files from the card - you need a more comprehensive backup strategy.
4. If you choose, you can reame your files using the comprehensive File Naming option. This dialog looks like this and contains a plethora of options.
- You can add custom text, or add any tolkens from any of the areas (numbering, date, file name etc).
- You can save templates for future use - this speeds things up even more.
5. In this step, you’ll want to apply a few things to
the images as they are imported:
- A basic Develop preset - I have one from Matt Kloskowski s LIghtroom Killer Tips page that does a basic adjustment that works well for me.
- A metadata template. I have a basic one that contains my basic contact and copyright info.
- Keywords - a quick way to get a basic set of generic keywords for the shoot into the files.
- Preview genration - most files have a basic jpeg preview built in, but it is small and you’ll need something bigger to rate and develop the file - you can do this by choosing 1:1 here. Note again, this will take extra time.
That is it. Importing takes some time, but done properly, you’ll be ahead of the game when it comes to editing efficiently. And as mentioned above, most of the settings you choose will be remembered from import to import - its automatic until you want to change it. Sweet!.
Have a great day.
Lightroom Smorgasbord
- Can Lightroom 2 Replace Photoshop - the short: depends on who you are and the kind of work you do.
- Recovering Highlights in Lightroom - How to do it and should you worry about it.
- Lightroom Color Management
- Frederick interviewed my good buddy Phil on the approach we take to Lightroom Design.
- Split Toning with Lightroom
Microsoft had its Pro Photo Summit this past week. I’ve gone the past two years because it was free, well attended and well appointed. This year I was off with Ira in Wyoming so I missed out.
Here is a review of the conference...
Stephen Johnson on "The Intrigue of Complexity "
A quote:
“I would
strongly urge people to see simply, and edit simply.
Your photographs are your asset, much more so than
your Photoshop skills. Those image-editing skills may
well be critical to your craft, but they are
secondary to your photographic vision. “Fix it in
Photoshop” is a prescriptive attitude that often
leads to making images not worth investing time
trying to salvage through image editing.”
Amen to that. I resisted digital photography for
quite along time, only really shooting digital
seriously starting in 2007 with the arrival of my
Leica M8. I stuck with film mostly because the prints
I could get in Black & White were better with the
analog process. I have a darkroom and used it
extensively for years, but the last year has seen it
become a storage room (like many others I suspect)
because the technology (camera ergonomics, printers
and paper) improved. While there was always
manipulations in the darkroom - dodging, burning,
flashing, and cropping, the image generally had to
stand on its own merits in that rectangle on the
easel. Things have certainly changed, and often not
for the better. We all get fascinated with a certain
look, style or feel and sometimes its post-processing
that gives us what we are looking for, but its always
secondary to vision. That frame still has to have it
before a pixel is tweaked. I’m really grateful I
spent years working with film before I went digital
because it taught me to see and to edit. These two
skills mean more than anything else, and they take
years to learn.
As one who works on Lightroom and has contributed to
other Adobe software related to digital photography,
it always strikes me as odd when a great photographer
comments on his “lack of photoshop skill” as if to
appologize for his work when we talk. These are
tools. They help you acheive your vision, but they
are no subsitute for it. A crappy photograph is still
crappy after 10 actions in Photoshop and some layer
magic. I really like Scott’s cajones for publishing
this article - as one could easily point out his
culpability in the “tips and tricks” arms race.
Another quote:
“Solid
image editing is far less about secrets, trickery,
hidden features and shortcuts, than it is about
starting with a strong photograph, knowing your
goals, and methodically working toward them. Craft is
not tricky; it is most often plain hard work and
care.”
To the point, this past week I was in the field with
a friend shooting a story for the National
Geographic. We spent a lot of time focusing on
getting it right - there were long days (and nights)
working with a bag of techniques to make sure that it
was perfect. After a few hours of shooting a
particular object, we decided that something wasn’t
quite right and we’d need do something a bit
different. More shooting and more work lay ahead. Of
course, the knee-jerk was that we could “just fix it
in photoshop” but Alex pointed out that was the easy
way out. His comment (and I’m paraphrasing - I was
holding a big silk scrim in windy conditions) was
fitting:
“This is
the National Geographic - we get it right in camera
because it matters.”
Preach on, brother...
Soccer Tournament
I generally bring my cameras and shoot pictures for the team, but my heart really isn’t in sports photography. However, I do manage to snag a few informal portraits in the available light (i.e. full on, hard sun) now and then.
PS. They lost the final to a golden goal in the 7th minute of the first overtime period. Argh.
Final Field Day
Yesterday was hot. Desert hot.
We spent most of the day shooting and didn’t stop until after midnight (ok with a few breaks to sip water and sit in the shade). Ira and Alex were great to observe - I picked up quite a few lighting tricks that will be employed in the future. Thanks guys - it was great to observe and in my own humble way, assist photographers of this caliber.
I spent alot of time taking pictures of the camp’s inhabitants and the accoutrements of such grand enterprises. Here are a few of my initial favorites...
Our camp from “Cell Phone Hill”
The Work & Mess Tents
Dino - The 1970 Suburban
Fossils wrapped for transport
The Front Entrance to the Work Tent
A young lass relaxes after a day of digging
Mr. Fashion
Scott Drives Dino
Doing Pull Ups
Potato Cannon Prep
Celebratory Post-Potato Cannon Maneuvers
