Win a Free Ticket to the Lightroom 3 Live Seminar!

This week I’m starting a 5 city tour of the Lightroom 3 Live seminar from Kelby Training. First I head to Phoenix, then on to Indianapolis, Tampa, Arlington and finally Philadelphia. This is an absolute fantastic chance to come out and learn Lightroom from the ground up. I even recorded a quick video about the day that you can watch below.

But… I wanted to give you a chance to win a free ticket to the seminar. So here’s the deal. Leave a comment with the city you’d like to attend the seminar in (here’s the dates of all the seminar stops) and I’ll pick 1 winner for each city later today.

HINT: I’m running a similar contest over on my Google+ page. If you add me to your circles and leave a comment on the post there, you could actually have two chances to win a ticket

Good luck and I hope to see you there! Oh and as always… if you are attending make sure you come up and say hi. I always love to hear from friends of the blog

Lightroom Tip – Resetting Your Presets

What better way to start off a Friday on a holiday weekend (here in the US at least) than with a Lightroom tip OK, so have you ever ruined the Lightroom default presets or deleted one of them all together or just done something plain bad to them? Now you can’t get it back to the way it used to be right? Well, if you go to Lightroom’s preferences dialog by clicking on the Lightroom menu on Mac (Edit menu on PC), you’ll see a Presets tab. Go ahead and click on it. You’ll get something that looks like this window here:

The bottom of the dialog shows a way to reset all of Lightroom’s presets. But not just all of them in one full swoop. The cool part is that you can reset any one area you want by clicking on the button. So if I just want to get back to my original Export presets then I just click that button instead of resetting all presets in Lightroom. Plus, as a side tip, it’s always a cool way to find your presets if you’re not sure where Lightroom keeps them. There’s a button right in the middle that will show you where they are.

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend!

A Quick Note About Comments on this Site

Hey folks. I just wanted to let you know I went into my comments folder for the blog today, and saw that over 200 of your comments were caught in Spam. I’m really sorry about that so please don’t think I was moderating them or deleting them. The only ones I tend to delete are when people are downright mean. Heck, I even let the guy who corrected “me” grammar through today
Anyway, now that I know something’s weird with the spam filter I’ll keep an eye on it. Thanks!

Lightroom 3 is Alive!

Yup, Lightroom 3 is officially out. I can now stop asking you (in my blog posts) to stop asking me when Lightroom 3 is shipping

Anyway, Scott Kelby and I did a bunch of videos over at NAPP’s Lightroom 3 Learning Center. You can watch the videos as well as see our top 5 favorite features right here. So instead of running down the feature list here, I’ll give you a few Lightroom 3 tips that may sneak by if you’re not paying attention.

1. Check out the presets panel in the Develop module (you know I love presets). There’s some new ones in there and I’m extremely honored that they’ve included a few of mine as well

2. When using the Tethered Shooting feature don’t forget to turn on the Auto Advance Selection option (File > Tethered Capture > Auto Advance Selection. It’s a must have since you generally want to see the photos as you capture them

3. You can now optimize your catalog right from the File menu. Just choose File > Optimize Catalog.

4. When you’re in the Import Dialog your Destination area on the far right side will show your new destination of your photos in italics (see image below). That way you’ll know exactly where your photos will end up.

5. When using the Graduated Filter or the Adjustment Brush, look directly below and to the left of the photo in that little dark gray strip. You’ll see an option called Show Edit Pins. You can choose to automatically display those little pins or turn them off altogether if they’re getting in the way of you looking at your photo. You used to be able to do this in Lightroom 2 but you had to know the secret handshake/keyboard shortcut.

6. I use this one a lot actually, so make a note of it. Again, when using the Adjustment Brush or Graduated Filter you’ll sometimes change a bunch of settings (Exposure, Saturation, Clarity, Sharpness, etc…). Well it’s always been a pain to reset them back to 0 so you could make another change using different settings. Now just press the Option (PC: Alt) key and you’ll see a little reset option appear (circled in the image below). Just click that and all settings will return to 0.

Thanks for stopping by folks. Enjoy.

Lightroom Pro Q&A with Chris Orwig

Hi everyone. Here’s another in a series of mini-interviews with some of the Lightroom pros out there where they’ve answered a short series of questions about how they use and feel about Lightroom:

Today’s Guest: My good buddy Chris Orwig.

Bio/Intro: Chris Orwig is a celebrated photographer, author, and is on the photography faculty at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, CA. Chris brings his unique perspective, creativity and passion to all that he does. As a photographer, he subscribes to Marc Riboud’s observation that “Photography is about savoring life at 1/100th of a second.” Find inspiration and see his work at chrisorwig.com, his blog at chrisorwig.com/flipside or learn about his most recent book at visual-poet.com.

Q. How many presets do you have in the Develop module?

A. One of the biggest challenges in digital post-production isn’t tools and techniques, it’s style, voice and vision. When it comes to presets, I know a number of really successful photographers who aggressively use presets to refine, develop and communicate their style. In contrast, in my own workflow I tend to be a bit more of a minimalist when it comes to presets. I only have a few custom presets and many times these help me to not only speed up my workflow but to think more creatively about how I might process a photograph. In sum, when it comes to presets, I’ve found that having a more condensed list of presets has been more helpful than having hundreds and hundreds of options. Otherwise I just end up “channel surfing” all the presets searching for the perfect look. That being said, we’re all different. Most importantly, in your own workflow, experiment with presets and seek to determine a system that works best for you.

Q. What’s your favorite panel besides the Basic panel ( Sorry the basic panel is too much of a gimmee)?

A. Like most Lightroom users, I spend the majority of my time in the Library and Develop module. And the bulk of that time is spent in the Basic panel. After that comes work with the Black and White and Detail Panels. If I had to pick my favorite panel (besides Basic) I’d have to say it is the panel that isn’t included. I’m glad that Lightroom, even in its most recent release, hasn’t been bogged down with an excess of features. It is simple and strong.

Q. What panel/slider/feature do you use the least?

A. It used to be the Camera Calibration panel in the Basic module and the Slideshow module. Yet, now this is completely changing. With the release of Xrite’s Color Passport and the ability to create a camera profile, I now use the Camera Calibration panel all the time. And I mean that. If you haven’t checked out this new color tool, you’ll want to at least google it to learn more. In regards to Slideshow module, I now use that because Lightroom 3 finally has the ability to export a slideshow to video. It’s incredible to be able to create a different narrative by combining design, image order and audio. Being able to share these shows is a tone of fun.

Q. Do you keyword (All the time/Sometimes/Never)

A. In my own context (commercial photo shoots, personal projects, writing and teaching), I keyword when I need to. In certain situations, I don’t keyword at all. Maybe even more importantly, I’ve found it effective to have my studio manager, digital techs or assistants take on the task of adding keywords. Having someone else add keywords has been working out really well and is definitely something you might want to consider.

Q. Do you use Collections (All the time/Sometimes/Never)

A. I agree with one of my students who is fond of saying, “Collections are cool.” In fact, they are a foundation to everything that I do in Lightroom. I use them for many purposes: organization, speed, creativity, client communication, etc. If you’re not using Collections, perhaps its time to catch this wave. It will give your workflow a boost and buoyancy which will help you to become more effective and creative.

Q. Favorite Lightroom Plug-in?

A. My favorite plug-ins are created by the folks at onOne Software and Nik Software. I use many of both company’s plugins on a regular basis. It’s hard to pick a favorite… so how about if I list a few of my favorites, here goes: Nik Color Effects Pro, onOne Focal Point and onOne Photo Frame. That being said, I like to work with plugins in non-traditional ways. In other words, I rarely use a plug-in as a way to finish a photograph. Rather, I use a filter almost like a cook uses spices or seasoning when creating a meal. The spice or seasoning is used in subtle ways to bring out flavor. I think of using them to add just a bit of style so that it doesn’t over-power the image.

Q. If you could add one feature to Lightroom what would it be?

A. More accurate masking with the Adjustment Brush. That being said, the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom is good. Yet, I look forward to the day when we can “paint” in adjustments with even more accuracy and speed.

Chris Orwig
www.chrisorwig.com

My Photowalk in San Francisco is a go

Just wanted to let you know that my photowalk (part of Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk) is live and ready to go on the World Wide Photowalk website. Since I’ll be teaching a Lightroom seminar in San Francisco that Friday (July 23), I figured I’d stay an extra day and do my photowalk there instead. As tempting as it may be to fly home Friday night on the red eye, just to get off the plane and drive to my photowalk here in Tampa, I think an out-of-town photowalk would be a lot of fun. I’ll sure miss the sweltering 95 degree heat of a FL/July photowalk but I think I’ll persevere in the more pleasant northern California climate. We’ll be walking in Sausalito and ending at a restaurant nearby (to be determined but if you have any ideas for 40-ish people please post a comment). Also since the San Francisco area is packed with various Photoshop/photography industry people I’m hoping I can pull a few celebrity names to join in

Anyway, I hope you’ll join me. The walk went live last night around midnight and 20 spots have already been snagged so there’s about 30 left. If you’re around on July 24th then come on out and we’ll have a great time. Here’s the link if you’d like to sign up.

UPDATE (12:30pm): Just wanted to let you guys know the photowalk filled up this morning since I first posted this. You can sign up for the wait list so if people drop out, then you’ll be notified and added. Or you can jump into another photowalk in the area. Sorry

Lightroom Pro Q&A with Rob Sylvan

Hi everyone. Here’s another in a series of mini-interviews with some of the Lightroom pros out there where they’ve answered a short series of questions about how they use and feel about Lightroom:

Today’s Guest: Rob Sylvan.

Bio/Intro: Rob, a trainer and photographer, is the author of Photoshop Lightroom 2 for Dummies, the Lightroom Help Desk Specialist for the NAPP, instructor for the Perfect Picture School of Photography, and Site Director for iStockphoto. Check out his Lightroom tips and tutorials at http://lightroomers.com.
Q. How many presets do you have in the Develop module?

A. Too many to count actually. I went through a crazy hoarding phase, and though I’ve cleaned out a lot, I still have quite a few of yours and a bunch from X-Equals that I’m keeping. I’ve learned a lot from using the presets and from seeing so many creative possibilities. Over time they’ve helped me to re-define my camera raw default settings too. Some of my favorite and most used presets are the ones for local adjustments, such as brightening teeth and eyes (adjustment brush) and darkening skies (grad filter). I only have about 10 local adjustment presets, but they get used a lot more regularly.

Q. What’s your favorite panel besides the Basic panel ( Sorry the basic panel is too much of a gimmee)?

A. This is a tough one as I have a few favs. I adore the Camera Calibration panel since the addition of the camera profiles. It has given me such a better starting point for my raw files. However, I’d have to say my favorite is the Detail panel. Perhaps I’m a pixel peeper at heart, but I do love the fine tuning I can do there, and thanks to the improvements to sharpening and noise reduction in LR3 Beta 2 I’m seeing much higher quality output as a result of that panel, which to me is what matters most of all.

Q. What panel/slider/feature do you use the least?

A. That would have to be the Split Toning panel. Aside from testing and some demonstrations, I never use it as a part of my own workflow.

Q. Do you keyword (All the time/Sometimes/Never)

A. I feel guilty for not saying “all the time”, but then I’d be lying if I said I did. I do it when I need to for stock purposes, and then I try and go back and add keywords as I go for other important shots, but I don’t lose any sleep over it. For the most part I rely on collections, folders, the Filter Bar and good old looking at thumbnails when I need to find something.

Q. Do you use Collections (All the time/Sometimes/Never)

A. I can honestly say I do use collections all the time. I use both the regular drag-n-drop kind as well as smart collections. I love smart collections. For a given shoot, I will set up a collection set for organizing, then several smart collections for filtering out by dates, ratings, color labels and sometimes keywords. I’ll also use output collections in certain situations for web galleries and printing.

Q. Favorite Lightroom Plug-in?

A. Lr2Mogrify is my all time favorite. It completely changed my output workflow, and made Lightroom 2 much more useful to me. I am glad to see the watermarking improvements in Lightroom 3 Beta 2, but I still like some of the features of LR2Mogrify, such as being able to add both a text and graphic watermark at the same time. That said, the new watermarking integration in all LR3 Beta 2 output modules is such an improvement I know I’ll use Lr2Mogrify less in the future. My second favorite (though you didn’t ask) is probably Metadata Wrangler because it is nice to have that level of control over metadata during output.

Q. If you could add one feature to Lightroom what would it be?

A. Being able to access a catalog stored on a network drive. I realize it is no small thing (else I’m sure it would be there already), but if I could make a wish it would be for that.

Thanks for asking!
Rob

http://lightroomers.com/

5 Common (or Potential) Lightroom Slip Ups

It seems every article these days has to have a number attached to it. You know what I mean right? The 5 Most Common Something-or-others. 10 Reasons Not To Do Something-or-other. 25 Websites That’ll Make You Something-or-other So I figured I’d join in with a few FAQ’s and little slip-ups that I’ve seen from fellow Lightroomers lately. Here goes:

1. Moving photos while not in Lightroom
This is by far the biggest slip up that I see or hear about. If you move, reorganize or do anything to your photos outside of Lightroom then you essentially break the connection that Lightroom has to them. If you want to move your photos to another folder or hard drive, then do it from within Lightroom. It keeps things intact and keeps Lightroom in the know about where your photos live. If you want some more info on the topic, then watch a video I did about folders and hard drives a while back.

2. Reimporting your JPG exports
Here’s one that, for some people, makes sense. But for most of the Lightroomers I run into, it just tends to confuse things. When you export your JPEG photos from Lightroom there’s an option to reimport the JPEGs back in to your catalog (watch a video to see how). If you absolutely need a fast reliable way to be able to send a client exactly the JPEGs that you sent them the first time then maybe this option makes sense (barely though). In reality though, you’re pretty much polluting your catalog with a bunch of stuff that just gets confusing. If you don’t fall into a category where you constantly wish you just had those same exact JPEGs you exported a while back, then a good Collection workflow along with the File > Export dialog should keep you from having to worry about the final JPEG files. They don’t need to be in your catalog because they’re just a click away if you ever need to create them again.

3. Resetting a photo’s settings just to see it in a different way
This one sounds a little weird I know. Bus I’ve see a lot of people develop a photo a certain way in the Develop module. Then at some point, they’ll want to see it with a different effect or as a black and white (or some other “look” than what they currently have). So they undo or reset the photo and apply the effect. But what they really want are versions. They want to see their photo one way, and then maybe as a B&W and maybe even as a sepia tinted photo or something similar. In that case, Virtual Copies are the key and really easy to use. Here’s a quick video where I show Virtual Copies and a really cool way to use them.

4. Not using collections
Folders are where all of your photos go when you import them. Collections are where your good photos should end up. And the fact that Lightroom 3 now has the Collections panel in all of the modules makes them a no-brainer. Use Collections to sort your best photos. Trust me. It’ll make life a lot easier. Here’s a quick write up that Scott Kelby did that talks a little more about a good Collection workflow.

5. Thinking that Lightroom has a color space you can change
Lightroom’s color space is ProPhoto RGB. Plain and simple. You can’t change it. That’s the way it is. Now, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with ProPhoto for everything. You can of course choose what color space you want (sRGB, Adobe RGB, etc…) when you head over to Photoshop. Check this video out if you want to learn more about it. Don’t forget, you can also choose what color space you want when you go to File > Export to save your photos as JPEGs.

Bonus: Not deleting your backups.
I could have named this “6 Common Lightroom Slip Ups” but 5 just sounds cleaner So here’s a bonus. If you’ve got Lightroom’s auto backup setting turned on then you may likely have a ton of backups in the LR backup folder. But do you need all of those backups? Probably not. They’re really just there in case of an emergency and if that emergency need ever comes up, you probably just want the most recent backup right. Sure, there are probably people who may want a backup from an exact certain day, but that’s the minority. So go into that Backups folder periodically and delete the old ones.

If you’ve got any others to add (or feel particularly strong about one above) feel free to post it here as a comment. Thanks

Lens Correction Coming in Lightroom 3

Here’s some cool news in the Lightroom world. Adobe Lightroom Product Manager Tom Hogarty revealed on his blog yesterday, that Lightroom 3 will have Lens Correction in it. From looking at comments every time a new beta has been released, I’ve noticed this is one of those things that a lot of LR users have requested so it’s good to see it make the cut into LR3. Still no official date on the full version of LR3 (so please don’t ask) Since LR 3 and Camera stay on par with each other, this technology will also be in Camera Raw 6 (which you’ll get if you purchase CS5). Tom also has a video on his blog if you want to see more.

Blogging Again at Scott’s Today

Hey everyone. I’m blogging over at Scott’s again today while he’s taking a break. I wrote about 5 lessons for landscape photography that I’ve picked up over time. It’s complete with photos and examples so it should make a good read. Included in them are some photos from my Moab, Utah trip the other week so I’d love if you went by to check them out and let me know which ones you like best. Thanks.