Tag: Lightroom

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My New Lightroom Tethering Display

When I shoot in studio I'm usually shooting tethered to Lightroom 3 99% of the time. While my 15" MacBook Pro has been adequate all these years, I decided to go with an external display in my new studio. The question was, "which one do I get?" Right about the time I asked this question, I saw that Dell (yep, Dell) had just introduced a NEW 24" Display. You might be asking why would I get a Dell monitor for my Mac? Good question. The main attraction for me to this particular display is that it "rotates!" The display can be used in either portrait or landscape orientation. 

It has all the latest bells and whistles including: LED, IPS (in-plane switching) for wider viewing angles, Display Port, USB Hub, DVI, Adjustable Height and a 3 Year Warranty. 

For those of you old enough to remember the Radius Pivot Displays, you'll probably remember that back then the display would auto adjust based on the rotation and the driver on your computer. In the case of this new Dell there is no such magic for the Mac. However, manual display rotation is built-in to Mac OS X's Display Preferences. While it would be a slight pain to have to manually switch this setting every few seconds I find that I leave it in Portrait "most" of the time. If I shoot a wide shot, it displays it, but it just doesn't fill the screen. If i'm going to be shooting a long series of landscape oriented images then I'd make the System Pref adjustment.

 

Lightroom's 2nd Display Feature

Lightroom 3 natively supports dual displays. This means that I can set the second display to Loupe view, full screen with no overlays. It works GREAT!  This also means that I DON'T mirror the displays. I treat the Dell as a second display/virtual desktop.

 

Why not just shoot to an HDTV?

That question comes up a lot and I've tried it. My Nikon DSLRs have HDMI out and I could plug right into a nice big HDTV. The problem I find with this mostly is that the colors, brightness, contrast, etc. don't look the same. This means that after doing a shoot and importing the images into your computer they could look really different than what you adjusted for during the shoot. Since my shots are going to end up on a computer more often than a TV, I'd rather tether into my computer to begin with.

 

Dell? Really?

If you know me, you know that I've rarely if ever mentioned Dell on my blog (or anywhere else), but this time I gotta say that I'm currently a happy Dell customer. I'm actually surprised with all the accelerometer tech that Apple uses in iDevices that they haven't done this with their computer displays. Oh well, for now "it's a Dell."

You can check out the Dell UltraSharp U2412M "W Display here.

I also bought this Display Port to Mini Display Port cable. Of course after I ordered it I remembered that monoprice.com probably has it cheaper and they do.

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Costco Does Canvas Gallery Wraps Too?!

  

I got my first Canvas Gallery Wraps done back in 2009 (see my post here) from MPIX. The quality was great and I LOVE seeing my landscape shots on canvas. The only problem was the cost. They are not cheap, but they are GREAT! About a year later I got an email from CafePress.com (yes the t-shirt people) that they also do Canvas Gallery Wraps and that they were having a 50% off sale to get the word out. I jumped on this as opportunity to get some more done and to go larger in size. Once again I was happy with the results. A few months later they had a 60% sale and yes I ordered more and bigger ones! At home I was set. I pretty much had all the Canvas up in my house that I wanted. I also saved a bundle with CafePress.

I recently moved into a New Photographic/Video Studio and there are many many many walls to fill :). I was waiting and waiting for CafePress to have another sale. In the meantime I was getting all my regular prints done at my local Costco. Their prices can't be beat and I developed a Lightroom workflow that achieved the best results for color/quality. About a week ago I was sitting there getting some more shots ready to upload to Costco and I was once again reminded that I need to get some Canvas done, but after paying 50% off and 60% off regular prices I couldn't bring myself to order at regular prices.I was thinking, boy it sure would be great if Costco did…..wait a minute….do they?… no way…. I can't look….OMG YES! They do Canvas too!

 

Great Everyday Prices on Canvas

I was very pleasantly surprised to see that Costco does Canvas Gallery Wraps too! I couldn't wait to upload some landscape photos and give them a try. Their prices were on par with CafePress' sale prices and that made me very happy. It meant that I could go larger and order more prints for my studio. Costco doesn't print these in their local stores. You can have them shipped from their processing center either to your local store or directly to your home/office. I had them shipped to my store. They arrived about 5-6 days later (quoted times are 5-10 days) and I couldn't tell the difference between theirs and the more expensive ones I'd had done! Score! Yay!

I went with the 24×32 size. Next I'll try the 16×48 for panos!

 

What about color matching?

Here's where I have to confess that I've never been big on color management workflows. Don't get me wrong, I think it's very important to have your print match what you saw on screen or in your mind. It's just that it has never been the most critical thing to me personally. As long as the print is "very close" to what I think it should be, I'm good. With that said, I was sharing this story with another photographer friend of mine and he was telling me how he's had hit and miss results with Costco prints. He said that one of his jobs was a disaster because it was for a corporate client and their blue had to be "their blue." In that case I would absolutely work with a lab that's going to make me/my client happy and look good no matter what it costs. Costco does give you the ability to download color profiles. The odd thing is that in the past I've actually had more problems using them than not using them. In a couple of cases using the profile for my local store resulted in prints that were not just a little off, but WAY OFF. It looked as if someone hit Invert in Photoshop on the colors. All the prints that are currently on my studio wall were done at Costco simply using the Adobe RGB color space and they look fine to me. Same goes for the Canvas. Every now and then I'll get a print that's a little darker than I think it should be, but I get that from time to time no matter where I print.

Check them out at costcophotocenter.com

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Add Images from Lightroom to your WordPress Blog Automatically

Although I really like WordPress as a blogging engine, I find the process of uploading and adding images to a post to be a bit archaic. You can style your blog just about any way you want using CSS. You can add video pretty easily from a variety of different sources. However, when it comes to adding images the process is still pretty painful and the one thing I dislike the most when it comes to writing a post. While you can upload multiple images at once using the built-in Flash based uploader, laying the images out one-by-one is tedious. You have to bring up the Import dialog each time. I found the Faster Image Insert WordPress Plugin and that has been a great productivity booster, but alas the process still requires that you prep the images first manually before you even bring up the uploader in the first place. That's where the LR/Blog plugin comes in.

 

LR/Blog is a Lightroom Plugin for Bloggers

With the LR/Blog Plug-in I can EASILY upload multiple images from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to my blog so that they are ready to insert into my post, directly from Lightroom. Once you install the (Lightroom) plug-in and configure it for your blog (including image dimensions, quality settings, etc.) you can then upload any images from any catalog directly to your blog. If the original images are in RAW/DNG, which most of mine are, the plug-in will do the temporary export to JPG first and upload the JPGs. This is MUCH FASTER than exporting out the JPGs first, then going to the browser and choosing them to upload. Of course it can also use your custom watermarks to watermark the images. Since it's an full fledged Export plug-in you can create one or more Export presets so that you can have a variety of different image export options at a click. Perhaps you like to upload both a thumbnail size and a larger size for people to click on. The plug-in even gives you the option of creating a post at the same time you do the export. With this option the images are not only uploaded, but they are also laid out via your custom HTML template into your post at the same time. Another option in this mode is the ability to insert captions under (or above) your photos from your metadata that you inserted while in Lightroom. 

While I don't always have the images that are going into my post in Lightroom, when I do I always use this plug-in to get them to my blog.

You can check out the LR/Blog plug-in here. It's donationware, which I happily donated to the developer!

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5 Lightroom Keyboard Shortcuts that will Speed Up Your Workflow

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sud57DpfgE

 

In this episode of the Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast I'll show you 5 Keyboard Shortcuts for Lightroom that will speed up your day to day workflow!

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and get the App here. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see. This episode not only has a BONUS CLIP that is available only in the App, but it also has an EXCLUSIVE PDF with tons of Lightroom Keyboard Shortcuts:

Learn Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White - Wizzard Media

 

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How I Broke My D700 By Tethering

If you've been reading my posts for the past few days you've probably noticed a theme: Wireless Tethering/Shooting. Now I'll disclose the reason that increased my interest in wireless solutions for shooting to my iPad or laptop. A couple of weeks ago I taught a workflow workshop in Texas for Precision Camera and Westcott. An important part of my workflow is shooting tethered into Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3. On the 3rd day of this 3 day workshop I just couldn't get the tethering to work. Nothing really changed on my end that I could see and it had worked flawlessly for two straight days, but for some reason I couldn't get past the 1st shot. I tried the usual troubleshooting things, but nothing would get this working again so I moved on. I shot to the card and just took breaks to import the shots via my Firewire 800 CF card reader and showed the class. I got home and didn't think about it again until my next studio shoot. This is when I knew something was really wrong. I tried different cables and nothing would work. Again I had to move on and shoot to the card to get through the session. When I got home that evening I decided to do some additional testing. I tried different cables and again nothing would work until I realized that the cable attaching to the camera seemed slightly more loose than usual. Nothing crazy, but noticeable. I applied a little more finger pressure to the cable end pressing leaning it one way and Lightroom saw the camera. I tried holding it this way as best I could, but the slightest movement would cause a disconnect again. 

 

It was time for a repair

On my way out the door to Photoshop World I stopped by my local authorized Nikon Repair Facility – Midwest Camera Repair (these guys are great) and dropped off the D700. They said that it was probably an issue with the port being broken off from the circuit board or the board itself had gone bad. If it was just the port then the repair would be around $125. If it was a bad board – oh oh – "we'll call you." Needless to say I was praying for a "disconnected port." Luckily that's all it was and I was happy to pay for this versus a whole new board. 

 

I don't want this to happen again

I shoot tethered 99.9% of the time in studio. I can't imagine going back to just looking at a 3 inch LCD. My colleague Tom Hogarty (Lightroom Product Manager) pointed me a device called TetherLock.

The concept is simple. You attach this device to your tripod hole/port (there is a pass-through so that you can still use a tripod) and run your cable through it. When you tighten it it not only keeps the cable in place, but if you accidentally step on or otherwise tug the cable while shooting there will be zero pressure/tension applied to the USB port on the camera. Like I said, the concept is simple. I ordered one here and it works fine. It's crazy expensive for what it is and YES there are several do-it-yourself options (I don't need you to list them for me, I get it 🙂 ), but as I've said before I'm not a D.I.Y. kinda guy. Clearly I'm not the only one with big feet tripping over tethering cables while shooting or this product wouldn't exist. 

The other thing I would recommend whether you go with TetherLock or your own solution, is a USB cable that has a L-Left head on it. This allows the cable to run down flush along the body as opposed to sticking straight out. Here's the one I use.

 

The Bottom Line

Above setup Bogen-Manfrotto Double Head Accessory Arm and Gitzo Laptop tray that sits right on my tripod.

Built-in WiFi on all cameras can't get here fast enough for me. Until that day happens I'll continue to shoot tethered via a USB cable for my studio shoots. Not ripping the cable out during future shoots is going to be nice and better yet not damaging the camera/USB port is even going to be better.

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How To Get Started With Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5SA-uluPns

 

In this episode I show you how to get started with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3. Sure there are tons of videos and sites dedicated to Lightroom and showing tips and tricks, but this time I'm specifically aiming at Lightroom beginners. Learn how to get started the right way with Lightroom 3 no matter where you're coming from in terms of image management.

 

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and get the App here. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see. This episode has a BONUS CLIP that is available on in the App!:

Learn Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White - Wizzard Media

 

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The 5 Things That I Do To Every Portrait

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeVm2Ndc5E4

 

I got an interesting request from my Facebook Fan Page where Craig Marks asked "what are the 5 things that I do to every picture?" I thought it was such a good question that I decided to make it this week's episode of the Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast. Now of course it would vary slightly between portraits, landscapes, product shots, etc. so I decided to start with the 5 things that I do to every portrait and see where it goes from there. Thanks Craig!

Also if you get my App you'll see a bonus clip where I take things even further:

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and get the App here. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see:

Learn Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White - Wizzard Media

 

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Photoshop CS5, Adobe Camera RAW & Lightroom 3 Updates

Adobe just released updates for Photoshop CS5 (bug fixes), Camera RAW and Lightroom 3

 

 

Adobe Photoshop CS5 12.0.2 update

December 7, 2010
The Adobe Photoshop 12.0.2 update fixes a number of high priority bugs including painting performance and type-related issues. The most significant fixes in the Photoshop 12.0.2 update include the following:

  • A number of potential security vulnerabilities have been addressed
  • Top type and font crashers found in the field have been addressed
  • A number of performance issues have been addressed
  • Crash opening 3D layers has been addressed
  • Color Engine crash has been resolved
  • Intermittent file format issues addressed
  • Shift scrolling bug fixed
  • Sharpen crasher fixed
  • Marching ants not seen at certain zoom levels fixed
  • Metadata focus distance issue addressed
  • File info bug addressed for Orphea Studio jpg's
  • TWAIN crashers fixed
  • Brush cursor bug fixed
  • Histogram progress bar issue fixed
  • Droplet issues addressed

Multiple languages: Windows | Macintosh

TWAIN Plug-in update

December 7, 2010
The TWAIN plug-in update includes fixes for multiple document scanning and a crasher when attempting a second scan.

Camera Raw 6.3 Update

December 7, 2010
This new version of the Camera Raw plug-in replaces the original one that was installed with Adobe Photoshop CS5, Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements 9 software. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.

English: Windows | Macintosh

Lightroom 3.3 update

December 7, 2010
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.3 update includes these enhancements:

  • Additional camera support for several new camera models including the Canon PowerShot 95, Nikon D7000, Olympus E-5.
  • Corrections for issues introduced in previous versions of Lightroom 3
English: Windows | Macintosh
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Creating an HTML 5 Website for Photographers in Adobe Lightroom 3

This one is for the Photographers out there!

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has had web galleries since day one. You can either export out an HTML gallery of your images or a Flash Gallery of your images. Each one of course having its advantages and disadvantages. I find that photographers in general like Flash galleries because of two things: 1) they're (pardon the pun) flashy. You get transitions, animations, zooming, automatic slideshows etc. 2) they offer one more level of image protection by making it harder for people to just right click and download the images. The disadvantage is that not every device can display Flash galleries. If you go with an HTML gallery it can be seen on just about any device, but you lose the flashy appeal. 

 

What about HTML 5?

Up until yesterday my photography website was all Flash with an HTML fallback. I loved the features of my template. I loved the animations, image fading and slideshows and while I did have an HTML fallback for those that couldn't see the Flash site the biggest problem was keeping them BOTH up to date. The Flash site was driven by XML and was pretty easy to update with new images.. The HTML part was driven by a Lightroom web engine (more on that later) and required a separate export and upload each time I needed to do an update. It wasn't the end of the world to update them both, but I found myself updating the Flash site more often (because it was faster), which meant that people on non-Flash devices/computers wouldn't see my latest images. Not good!

What's this HTML 5 thing anyway? HTML 5 is next standard of HTML and it's still very much a WORK IN PROGRESS. This is why you don't see a ton of tools for it yet. Also and probably the biggest thing to note is that HTML 5 may never do all the things that Flash can do. This means that it's not a direct one to one replacement. At least not today for sure. HTML 5 authoring isn't just one thing. It's using HTML 5, CSS3 and Javascript. . Actually it's CSS3 that's the really interesting part. If you're really interested in developing in HTML 5 Adobe has already released the HTMl 5 pack for Dreamweaver and Illustrator. Check them out on Adobe Labs. More tools are in the works! Back to the photographers…

 

My goal

I started thinking about my site and the fact that it was a pain to update and therefore I wasn't updating it as often as I'd like to. Then I started listing the ideal things that I would want to have to make it easier:

  • I'd want as much of the site as possible driven by Lightroom since that's where my images live anyway.
  • Until HTML 5 is further along I still want Flash galleries for those who can see them.
  • The site has to be viewable on devices/computers not running Flash
  • I only want to update ONE set of images. In other words, both the Flash and HTMl version would use the same images.
  • I want Video that plays on everything <-this is not as easy as you think!
  • I don't want to write any code! Writing a line here and there during setup is fine, but I don't want to have to code the thing with every update.

 

The Turning Gate To The Rescue

Once again The Turning Gate has come through for me. You might remember my post on using one of their web engines for my client review galleries. Since that review went live I've been working with Matthew Campagna at TTG on the ultimate solution to my goals. After countless emails back and forth (he's a great guy!) on what I wanted and tweaks to his engines based on my feedback I was able to create my entire site from scratch using Lightroom 3 and three TTG plug-ins. 

Continue reading “Creating an HTML 5 Website for Photographers in Adobe Lightroom 3”

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Solving the Camera Strap Mystery

Several months ago I was at an event and Tom Hogarty (Adobe's Lightroom Product Manager) walks up to me and says "let's replace that Nikon camera strap with this one." He hands me an Adobe Lightroom branded strap. It has the Adobe logo on one side and the Lightroom logo on the other. I thought, "cool!". I immediately switched straps and have used that one on my smaller travel bodies ever since. I can not believe the number of emails and comments I get asking…..not where do I get an Adobe/Lightroom strap, but "who makes that strap it looks comfortable?"

I get logo'd items all the time and rarely do I think "hmm, I wonder who makes this?" This is definitely the case with this strap. Yes it is comfortable! However, not once did I ever think about who makes it?

 

 

It's by OP Tech USA

I took a few minutes to look to see who makes it and it turns out it's by OP Tech USA. I'd never heard of the company before so I went to their site and found that they have tons of straps! It actually took me a few minutes to find the right one. It turns out it's the "Superclassic 3/8".

The mystery is solved. 🙂 You can check it out ON SALE here.