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Sharpening to Perfection

January 12, 2019 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Sharpening is a part of the digital workflow that stumps many photographers. It can be easy to apply, but difficult to perfect the application of sharpening. Luckily, Lightroom has a really powerful and easy to use sharpening panel. Let’s take it on today!

First, we have to clear up what sharpening is and isn’t:

  • What sharpening is: an important tool that enhances detail in our phtoos
  • What sharpening isn’t: a magic tool that saves blurry, out of focus photos

Too many photographers will just crank the sharpening all the way up on a blurry photo, and wind up with a horrible finished product. Don’t do it!

The sharpening are found in Lightroom’s Develop module, in the Detail Panel, which you’ll find on the right side about halfway down:

image

Let’s take a second and talk about what the sliders of the Detail panel do for us:

  • Amount – This is pretty simple; sliding it to the right increases the amount of sharpening that gets applied to our image
  • Radius – This
  • Detail  – asdfsd
  • Masking – asdfhafwe

Let’s dive a little deeper to check out the effects of these sliders:

Amount

When we adjust sharpness, adjusting the amount is always my starting point. The amount scale runs from 0 to 150. It varies from photo to photo, but I’ll typically drag it up to a midlevel number like 50-60 on the slider.

(illustration)

One thing that you’ll notice about the amount slider is that the far right side of the slider is red for a small portion. This is a warning area that cautions you against cranking your sharpening so high. More sharpening causes our images to go ugly and funky, and those high numbers should be used with caution.

Radius

The radius slider describes how “far” we want to sharpen from the edge of a pixel, from 0.5 to 3.0 pixels. This means that the sharpening of the pixel will extend

Typically, I leave this set to the default 1.0 pixel setting, Increasing it will increase our sharpening effects.

Detail

Masking

General Advice

Generally, when I do sharpening, I keep it simple: I’ll increase the amount slider for most of my images to around 25-30 on the amount slider and then leave the rest untouched. Easy enough, right? Images that could stand to have their detail emphasized more might receive a little more adjustment on the other sliders.

Try and work at 100% when working with sharpening. This means using the navigator to zoom in and work on the It’s hard to measure the impact of sharpening when you are zoomed all the way out, and it’s easy to apply too much.

When you use sharpening, the biggest point of advice that I want to offer up is to tread lightly. Many beginners, myself included long ago, have the habit of cranking the sharpening all the way up and creating some nasty looking images. Apply it sparingly and it can bring out the detail of our subject, but it can also be way overdone rather quickly.

With that said, I encourage you to experiment with sharpening to enhance the fine details of your photo!

 

 

Filed Under: Lightroom

How to Use Compare View to Select Your Best Image

January 9, 2019 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Do you ever face a tough decision about which image to keep? Sometimes it’s hard to pick that “best” image out of a few.  Lightroom offers a feature that allows us to place two images side-by-side and determine which one we prefer. This is called compare view, and it’s a great way to two-up images and make the choice easier.

Compare view takes place in the Library module. To enter Compare view, press the the letter C on your keyboard, or press the compare view button just below the image workspace.

You can press "C" on your keyboard to enter compare view, or press the button just below the image workspace.

You can press “C” on your keyboard to enter compare view, or press the button just below the image workspace.

After you start up compare view, you may be wondering how to change the two images that are shown in the comparison grid. Lightroom lets us pick any two images to compare, even if they are completely unalike. Entering compare view chooses the image was already selected, plus the image that is directly after it.

Lightroom’s Compare view always shows two images, which it calls Select and Candidate. The select image is on the left and the candidate image is on the right.

The "select" image is shown on the left while the "candidate" image is shown on the right. Think of the select image as your current favorite, while the candidate is a candidate to replace it.

The “select” image is shown on the left while the “candidate” image is shown on the right. Think of the select image as your current favorite, while the candidate is a candidate to replace it. You choose the select image by clicking on it on the filmstrip, and the keyboard arrows choose other “candidates.”

I always think of the Select image as my favorite, and the Candidate as the image that could possibly replace it.

Clicking on any image on the filmstrip chooses it as the Select image. You can change the Candidate image by using the keyboard arrows, left and right.

In this case, I’m picking my favorite image of the wedding venue. I clicked the first in the series to choose it as my select, and then used the keyboard arrows to continue scrolling through the other selections. Putting them side by side turns this into an easy visual decision.

After you find one that you like better, press the button in the screenshot below to name a new “Select” image.

Clicking the button illustrated above names a new "select" image for the left side of the image workspace.

Clicking the button illustrated above names a new “select” image for the left side of the image workspace.

You can repeat this process as many times as you wish, cycling through selections and candidates until you come to a decision.

One more tip: when you’re showing two images side by side, you probably want to see the two images as large as possible. To increase the size of the previews, hiding the panel on the left is a great way to do so. Press the arrow to the far left of Lightroom to hide the left side menu. You can always click the arrow to bring that panel back.

Before hiding the panel, the images may be a bit too small to truly judge...

Before hiding the panel, the images may be a bit too small to truly judge your favorite.

After hiding the left panel, the view of the images is much greater.

After hiding the left panel, the view of the images is much greater as they take up the entire area.

Compare view is a nice tool for selecting the best image out of a set. When you’re looking to make those tough decisions between two great images, consider using compare view to do so.

Let’s recap:

  • Compare view is super handy for choosing between two images
  • The “select” image stays on the left, and candidates are shown on the right side of the workspace
  • Clicking on an image puts it on the left side (select), while using the keyboard arrow buttons puts images in candidate view

Are you using compare view to select your best image? Leave a comment if you are using compare view or plan to start.

Filed Under: Lightroom

Browsing Photos in the Library Module

January 2, 2019 by Andrew Leave a Comment

The Library module holds the power to explore and manage our massive image libraries. Today we’re taking a look at how to browse our images with all the power that the module has to offer. I want to go spend today going over five essential parts and methods to navigating images in the Library module.

This walkthrough assumes of course that you already have some images loaded into the catalog. If that’s not the case, you’ll want to check out this article.

1) The Filmstrip

The filmstrip is the horizontal rows of images at the bottom of Lightroom. Clicking any image

2) The Folder Explorer

Lightroom allows us to browse images and filter them down by folder, just as our computers do as we explore the folders.

The folder browser lets us explore images in the folders just as our computer's file explorer does.

The folder browser lets us explore images in the folders just as our computer’s file explorer does.

3) The Catalog Panel

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A part of Lightroom’s Library module that is important but doesn’t quite warrant its own post is the Catalog panel. This view allows us to switch between three different image selections: all images in the catalog, images in our current quick collection (which we’ll talk about soon), and the images we added with our last import.

4) The Views

Lightroom has four ways of navigating your images that we talked about recently. These views are grid, loupe, compare, and survey. Check out this post to learn more about these four views and how we can use them.

Grid view is one of the many ways of exploring our images in Lightroom's Library module. The four views let us browse the images differently.

Grid view is one of the many ways of exploring our images in Lightroom’s Library module. The four views let us browse the images differently.

5) Filtering

 

Filed Under: Lightroom

The Power of Lightroom Collections

December 27, 2018 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Collections are yet another way that we can section off certain types of images. Creating a collection is a grouping of images that are lumped together.

To get started with building collections, make sure that you are working in the Library module. On the left side of the Library module, press the plus button on the panel titled “Collections” to create a new collection, and choose “Create New Collection.”

Press the plus button to the right of "Collections" to start a new image collection in Lightroom.

Press the plus button to the right of “Collections” to start a new image collection in Lightroom. Choose “Create a New Collection.”

After pressing the button, you’ll see another list of options that pop up. Go ahead and give your collection a name. I’m going to work on putting together venue images from this wedding, so I’ll call it “Venue Photos.”

Go ahead and give your collection a name - I chose Venue Photos in this case. I usually leave all of the other options at default.

Go ahead and give your collection a name – I chose Venue Photos in this case. I usually leave all of the other options at default.

Okay, so now we’ve got a collection! You’ll see that because we left the “Include selected photos” box checked, that two images are already in the collection.

Your collection will pop up on the left side in the Collections pane. You can press the minus button to delete that collection.

Your collection will pop up on the left side in the Collections pane. You can press the minus button to delete that collection.

To add images to the collection, we can simply drag and drop images into that collection.

Do I use collections? Sometimes. I will use them typically when I’m delivering images for a special purpose. I might put together a collection for “Angie’s Corner Florist” or a collection for a particular family member. For me, this use of collections really boosts my workflow and lets those images live in a sandbox separate from all the rest.

On a side note, I want to also say that you may get a little overwhelmed with how to approach a task in Lightroom. If you want to tag your venue photos, you could do it in a ton of ways:

  • With tags, adding “venue” to each venue image
  • With color labels that signify criteria, like blue labels for venue images
  • Using a collection to group venue images in one, easy to find collection

What’s the best way? The good and bad news is that there’s no right way to do things. Design a system that fits what you want to do. I spent so much time searching for the “right” way to do things that I was crippled by planning.

How about you? Are you using collections or will you now that you know about them? Feel free to leave a comment to let me know how you feel.

Filed Under: Lightroom

The 10 Minute Guide to Cropping in Lightroom

December 20, 2018 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Cropping is so important because it can really improve our composition, and we all know about the importance of composition. One of these days, I’ll fill your head with composition ideas, but this is the 10 Minute Guide. 😀 That’s right, in about 10 minutes, we’ll make sure that you can get started with good cropping in Lightroom.

Someday, we’ll take a little closer look at some of the advanced ways to crop photos in Lightroom. But today, we’re taking a look at how to get started with cropping photos in Lightroom in a quick way.

Okay, to get started, let’s make sure that you’re in the Develop module. You can click Develop on the list of modules (upper right hand corner of Lightroom) to enter it, or press D to enter it as well.

Entering the Develop module lets us get started with cropping.

Next, go ahead and pick out the image that you want to work with. To get started with cropping, Press R on the keyboard, or press the crop button (far left) just under the histogram.

Lightroom crop start

Now, we’re ready to get started. You’ll see that a grid has appeared on top of your images, and this is the basis for all cropping.

I’ll make a recommendation here: go ahead and press the lock button on the options on the right side. This will keep the dimensions of the photo locked so that we don’t create funky crops. It will basically keep the image the same “shape” as how it comes out of camera. If you want to create

Clicking the padlock locks the aspect ratio.

Okay, now that that’s taken care of, here’s my recommended way of cropping:

1) Grab a control handle of the photo. These are the thick lines that are at the corners and in the middle at top and bottom. You’ll see your cursor change, and dragging makes the rectangle smaller in area.

Crop Rectangle

2) After you’ve made a smaller box, just drag the box to the area that you want to keep.

After making a smaller box, I just drag the new smaller area to the “keeper” area”. Anything in darker gray is going to be cropped out.

After you’ve done that, just press R on the keyboard again to leave crop mode and you’ll find your new crop!

Just two steps: resize a smaller area, and drag it to the part we want to keep

Another method is to just draw the rectangle over the area of the photo you want to crop to by clicking and dragging the box. If you want to “start from scratch” with the crop, that’s the best way of doing it.

So there you have it – you’ve got a really quick and easy crop method! I can do most crops in under 10 seconds after mastering the tool.

Did I explain this clearly? This is fairly easy to do, but a little tough to get started with. If you need more help, check in with a comment and I can explain more. 😀

Filed Under: Lightroom Tagged With: finished

Should I buy Adobe Lightroom?

December 16, 2018 by Andrew Leave a Comment

This post is aimed at users who have never used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. If you’re wondering if you should upgrade from Lightroom 3, check out this post.

If you’ve taken notice of this site’s name, you can probably get a good idea of what my answer to the question is. But my path to using Lightroom might surprise you.

Given the name of this site, you probably already know my answer.

When I first used Adobe Lightroom, I hated it. I had buyer’s remorse about buying it. I hated the complexity of it, as well as

The problem wasn’t the program. The problem was how I used it.

I’m reminded of a quote a favorite teacher shared with me about how best to attack big problems (or in this case, big programs):

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. 

Attempting to jump into Lightroom and bite it off all at once is not going to end well. Instead, approach Lightroom seeking to solve your problems. As I’ve said before, each of the modules is really a solution.

If you’re serious about taming your image collection, learning Lightroom is the best investment of your time. In my opinion, there are no other applications that come close to rivaling the power of Adobe’s photo management software.

Filed Under: Lightroom Tagged With: finished

The Perfect Computer for Lightroom

December 16, 2018 by Andrew Leave a Comment

We’ve all go the need for speed. My goal in my Lightroom Coaching is to always help photographers move their their digital workflow more quickly. I think we all want to move quicker in the editing phase, and that’s the goal of all of the teaching that I do.

But what if the slowest part of your workflow isn’t you? What if your computer is to blame? If you find it locking up, freezing for several seconds, or generally taking a long time to complete operations, you probably need to upgrade or clean out your computer. Today, we’re talking computers to help make Lightroom run at top speed.

Yeah, probably wouldn’t want to run Lightroom on this computer.

This is kind of a technical discussion, but I’m going to make it as easy as possible. These parts and components are far more complex than I’m going to make them, but the goal here is just to keep it simple. Whether you’re buying a new computer or looking to upgrade your current one, keep in mind some of the things that I’m discussing here.

The Basics

There are really three basic computer components that drive the speed at which our computer moves.

Processor

Out of the three factors, this is probably the toughest to change or install. I recommend buying this right the first time. We  want the absolute fastest processor that you can find. These days, that means looking for an Intel processor that is an i7 processor. AMD also makes processors, but my computers are usually Intel machines, especially given that I am switching exclusively to Mac.

Processor speeds are expressed in gHZ, or gigahertz. The i7 processor I mentioned above is actually a quad core processor. Typically, more processors are better and lead to faster performance. (Again, this is a very simplified technical discussion)

RAM

First, Lightroom loves RAM. The more you have, the better it runs. If you aren’t familiar, RAM is a part inside of your computer that helps (more). Think of RAM as the temporary space that

My Macbook Pro recently was upgraded to 16GB (gigabytes) of RAM, and another computer in my house has 8GB of RAM. 4GB is probably enough to comfortably run it, but again the idea is the more, the merrier.

Hard Disk

Big and fast – those are the two factors you’re looking for in a hard drive. 1TB, or one terabyte (1000 gigabytes) are commonplace today and give us tons of storage for our photos. With high megapixel cameras, this is so important.

When it comes to speed, you’re probably wanting a 7200RPM drive. Don’t overlook the speed of the drive as a key factor of the computer. The faster the drive, the faster it starts up, opens programs, and generally responds to your inputs.

If you haven’t heard, one of the recent big innovations is the rise of SSD hard drives. I’ve got one in the computers I use, and I could hardly live without it. An SSD is like a huge flash drive that works in place of a hard drive. Because there’s no moving parts, they are much, much faster. However, they are also very expensive compared to traditional hard drives – even though prices are dropping.

System Cleanup

Last year, I made a long awaited switch to Mac. However, I feel that I am still probably stronger on the Windows platform after using it my entire life. I know a lot about Windows, and I know a lot about making it work better.

While I was a Windows user, I was semi-religious about periodically formatting and reinstalling Windows. This means completely wiping your drive and reinstalling from the ground up. Remember how fast your computer was when you first got it a year or 18 months ago? It’s like a completely new start.

This means backing up all of your data you want to keep to an external device, as well as reinstalling everything. If you are fairly handy with a computer, it’s not the hardest thing to do.

In general, try and keep things tidy! Uninstall software you don’t use. Have a good idea of where things are stored on your computer, and clean it out frequently. Set time aside and keep it pared down to the basics. I am constantly trimming down what is stored on my computer, and although it drives me a little insane, I know that my performance is better because of it.

Mac or PC?

Oh boy, I’ve got to tread lightly here. There are few debate that will spark a fire like the debate over which OS platform to use.

I went Mac and never regretted it. However, I think PC is a great platform too. Here’s the thing: all computers are simply the creative tools we use to make our art. I personally felt I could make more art more efficiently on Mac, so I switched. If cash is the most limiting factor you have, get the best Windows PC you can afford.

Wrapping Up

Lightroom is a fantastic program, but it’s only as good as the computer that it’s running on. There are some things in life that I don’t believe in cutting corners on – and a good computer that will last and run fast is one of them.

Filed Under: Lightroom Tagged With: finished

My Favorite Develop Module Tricks

December 16, 2018 by Andrew Leave a Comment

I spend a lot of time teaching people how to use the Develop module, but I’m rarely asked about how I use the various tools. Today, I’m going to show you five of my favorite Develop tricks that help me get my signature photographic looks.

Everybody has got those “go-to” moves in the editing phase. Every photographer I talk to seems to have their own little tricks for their signature look. Today, I’m sharing my five favorite tricks to help you get started with building your look.

1) Post-Crop Vignettes

Adding a post-crop vignette is one thing that the majority of my portrait and wedding photos bit. Most of the time, it’s pretty subtle. I love post-crop vignettes because they let me control how someone views my photo. When the edges of the photo are darkened, the viewer’s eye is inclined to move through the photo toward the center and toward the subject.

This image uses a post-crop vignette for an effect.

Find Post-Crop vignettes in the Develop module’s “Effects Panel” on the right side.

2) Tone Curve

The tone curve is probably one of the least understood and scariest tools. You’ve probably never seen anything like it in your image editing up until now, but the tone curve is one of my favorites. I usually will pull the lower left point up a bit, and the upper right point down just a bit for an almost film look that I love.

Wedding Day Smiles Preset

This image used a tone curve to bring in some creamy highlights and shadows.

Find the Tone curve in the Develop module’s “Tone Curve” panel.

3) Warmed Highlights

The Split Toning panel is another underused part of Lightroom for many users. I like bringing a little warmth to the highlights of the photo, so I typically select a warm hue and push the saturation up just a bit. This will make the highlight (bright) areas of the photo a bit warmer.

Warm Highlight Tones

Find the Split Toning panel in the Develop module.

4) A Touch of Clarity

Before Lightroom 4, I wasn’t a big fan of how the clarity slider made my images look. Now, I’m pretty surprised to find how often I use it to add just a bit more “bite” to my images. It gives them a bit of an edgy look and brings the edges to life.

A touch of clarity can make the fine details shine.

Find the clarity slider in the “Basic” panel of the Develop module, in the section labeled “Presence”.

5) A Bit of Warmth

Speaking of warmth, another place that I find myself warming images up is with the white balance tool. Again, I’m a big sucker for warm images, so I typically will push my images a little bit to the right in the editing stage. My clients seem to appreciate this style, and at the risk of sounding cliche, I think warmth gives the images a heartfelt feeling.

Add warmth to photos by adjusting the white balance to the right in the Develop module.

Wrapping Up

Everybody has those million dollar tricks for getting their images looking perfect. If yours aren’t too secret, would you be willing to share with a comment? Let me know what you think.

Filed Under: Lightroom Tagged With: finished

How I’m Using Lightroom Today: Volume 1

December 16, 2018 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Hey again! One of my favorite things to share is how I use Lightroom on a daily basis. I spend a lot of time preaching on ideas, fundamentals, or Lightroom techniques, and I love it when I can actually help users put it all together.

Today, I’m doing some freelance work for a photographer on the West Coast who runs a phenomenal Senior portrait business. He’s outsourcing his editing to focus on photography and building his business, which I think is a phenomenal idea for a lot of photographers. (Just a note, I’ve substituted my own images for the sake of client confidentiality.)

Anyway, I’m working with between 50 and 60 of his images to help him get the images out the door to his client. Here’s the workflow I’ve designed for his images:

1) Import. Pretty straightforward – he sends me images via a shared Dropbox folder, and I grab them from the Dropbox and throw them into a Lightroom catalog.

2) He’s already handled culling (he only sends me images he wants me to edit) so I begin doing basic editing – adjusting crops, white balance, exposure, color, and contrast. Each photo calls for a different recipe to get it looking perfect.

3) Okay, this is where things get a bit trickier. After applying editing to each photo, it gets one of three color labels:

Red – Most photos get a red label because they require some retouching. This means teeth whitening, eye whitening, etc. I’m using the spot retouching tools in Lightroom to do this. I prefer to do all retouches at the same time, so I add the label and then get ready to work on them later.

Yellow – Photos that get a yellow label need to be sent to Photoshop for heavier work – cloning things out, cleaning up backgrounds, etc.

Green – Photos that are finished get a green label! I will either give it a green label right after basic edits, or change red/yellow to green once I’ve applied the retouches.

I use red photos for photos that require spot work in Lightroom, yellow labels for photos to be sent to Photoshop, and green labels are for finished images.

4) Export, email the photographer, and make sure that he is 100% pleased. 🙂

This three color system is really helping me to keep these things straight. I might use this system from now on, or maybe just for today. 😀 Lightroom gives us a framework to create things, and then we can design our own workflows that fit our needs.

Make sense? Any questions? How can I help you learn Lightroom today?

Filed Under: Lightroom Tagged With: finished

Upgrading Lightroom 3 Catalogs to Lightroom 4

December 16, 2018 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Hi again everybody! Today I wanted to take a second to answer a quick question users have about using older Lightroom catalogs. With each new version comes a new catalog format, and that inevitably causes some conflicts. When new versions of software come out, many people fear upgrading, especially if they think they won’t be able to use their old files.

Don’t worry Lightroom fans! I’m happy to let you know that Lightroom 3 catalogs will work just dandy with Lightroom 4, after a quick upgrade. When you attempt to open a Lightroom 3 catalog in Lightroom 4, you’ll get a notice that pops up. One quick note; Lightroom doesn’t destroy your old catalog – when it upgrades it, it leaves the old one untouched, and creates a copy that gets upgraded.

Just go ahead with the process, and you’re upgraded.

 

One word of warning; you can’t take Lightroom 4 catalogs back in time. That means that once it’s upgraded to the Lightroom 4 format, you won’t be able to use it with Lightroom 3, or convert it to a Lightroom 3 catalog.

One last tip; I find that sometimes after I upgrade a catalog it can be a little slow. I always optimize the catalog by clicking on the File menu and choosing Optimize Catalog. I have no scientific data to back up this method

Have you upgraded all of your catalogs? Will you need to, or are you a recent Lightroom convert? Check in with a comment to let me know how you’re doing.

Filed Under: Lightroom Tagged With: finished

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