That’s why I leave this feature turned off. Instead, I simply import my photos like normal (by the way, I cover this stuff in my Lightroom In Depth classes on Kelby Training by the way). I store them on my main photo drive in a “Photos” folder and I put subfolders under that for each shoot. So it looks something like this:

Then, once a day/week/however long I simply clone the main photo drive to the backup drive. You could use a simple copy/paste or you could save some time by using a program like Super Duper (some other options including PC). Either way, the goal here is to have your photo backup drive look exactly like your main photo drive. That way, recovering from your backup drive is simple. Don’t get me wrong. I’d rather you use the 2nd copy feature in the Import dialog over nothing at all. But if you want my actual backup solution and why I don’t use Lightroom’s features to help me with this, now you know.

• A friend of mine from Paris (who I shot with while I visited last year and was a HUGE help!), Serge Ramelli has a Lightroom app on the iTunes store. Here’s the link if you want to check it out.

• It’s not exactly brand new news but I had a new class go up on Kelby Training last month that’s all about Lightroom presets and how I create them. If you’re looking for a peak inside the mind of the preset creator (and some cool ideas for presets) then check out my new class “Lightroom Creative Presets”.

• Gene McCullagh has a follow up to his article on working with a Lightroom on multiple computers.

• DPReview has an interview with Lightroom product manager Tom Hogarty

@luxx11 and @jennawoodward Ask: @Lightroom why can’t I use my LR3 catalogs in LR4? Is there a way to easily transfer my Lr3 catalogue into Lr4?

Sharad: Since Lightroom 4 is still in beta form, we restricted the ability to bring in catalogs created in earlier versions of Lightroom as a safeguard. This will be lifted when we release the final version of Lightroom 4, and you will be able to import prior version Lightroom catalogs, as well as Lightroom 4 Beta catalogs into Lightroom 4.

It’s definitely worth a read. Here’s the link if you get a chance to stop by today.

“As many have noticed, the Lightroom 4 public beta we released last week does not support Windows XP. This decision did not come lightly and was based on a number of factors. With each version of Lightroom, our goal is always to provide a consistently excellent customer experience. Developing and testing across Operating System versions and platforms to ensure that we’re achieving this goal is a significant effort that takes time and resources. XP is substantially different from Windows Vista and Windows 7, and requires a independent testing matrix, which increases the complexity of our development efforts…”

I know it’s always hard to swallow something like this (well, if you’re an XP user that is), but here’s the thing… Microsoft barely support XP anymore. The Mainstream support phase for XP has passed. And it’s 10 years old. I hate to tell ya, but 10 years in technology might as well be 50. I think Adobe absolutely did the right thing here, so that they can indeed continue to provide a good experience for it’s users, and continually enhance Lightroom and push it in the directions it needs to go (and keep the price at a place that it needs to be).

(photo thumbnail courtesy of Fotolia.com)

To paraphrase, Tom said that when they add features to Lightroom they want to make sure that they’re features that are well planned and thought out, easy to use, and can work within the overall structure of Lightroom (mainly the fact that it has to be non-destructive). Tom explained that there’s not just one retouching workflow in Photoshop. There’s 20 right? Everyone uses the tools just a little different. Some people use Healing, some use Spot Healing with Content Aware turned on, some use the Patch tool, some use the Clone Stamp tool set to the Lighten blend mode at 20% Opacity. When you think about it, there really are a lot of different retouching strategies in Photoshop. For Lightroom to just include a Cloning and Healing Brush doesn’t cut it. Does the brush have Opacity, blend modes, layering, etc…? There’s much more to it then just taking the code from Photoshop and moving it over to Lightroom. They have to do it right or else Lightroom just becomes a clone of Photoshop. Although that seems tempting at first, I’m pretty sure we all don’t want Lightroom to become Photoshop.

In the end, Tom mentioned that this is a feature he’d really like to see in Lightroom as well. Reading between the lines I think we can tell this is at least ON the development table. I guess whether or not we really see it is unsure, but I thought it was really cool that Tom dove right in to that question. And, to me at least, he gave some really good reasons why that technology isn’t there yet, but also answered a question (the whole Adobe making it so we have to buy both thing) that I believe plenty of people have.

If you haven’t see any of the Lightroom 4 Launch Day webcasts with Tom, them make sure you stop by Kelby Training’s website. They’re free to watch and there’s some fantastic info in there that, well, is the stuff you’d only really get from Lightroom’s product manager. Thanks!

That’s why I was really psyched when I saw the Lightroom 4 changed some of the Develop module settings. Mainly because the changes are fantastic and help me edit my photos better. But, if I’m really being honest here, the changes open up more possibilities for new presets as well as a chance to go back and tweak some older presets too.

I knew right from the start that I was going to create a preset that simulated an HDR “look”, so here’s my first one. There’s 3 different versions of it (Light, Medium, and Strong) and each has a few of the new sliders incorporated into it as well as some other settings. As always, let everyone know what you think. However, I caution you now… if you’re one of those that don’t like HDR photos then you may want to consider staying away from these presets I’m just sayin’.

Here’s a quick Before/After (click for larger image):

• Download the presets here.
• Here’s a link to a video that shows you how to install the presets

(click for larger view)

If it doesn’t, that means you’re editing a photo that was edited in an older version of Lightroom or Camera Raw. It’s easy enough to change though. Just scroll down to the Calibration panel in the Develop module. Under the Process setting make sure it reads 2012, not 2010.

Now you’ll be using the newest Lightroom stuff and you’ll be able to take advantage of the new sliders in the Basic panel.