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» Book Tip: Adobe Lightroom - The missing F.A.Q

Today, I want to share with you something really cool. A friend of mine, Victoria Bampton (aka. The Lightroom Queen) has very recently released an e-book about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. The book is really cool, named "Adobe Lightroom - The missing F.A.W", it’s an F.A.Q with questions and clear, precise answers to them. It’s just a great way to be able to find the quick and clear answers to your questions if you have them and the book really contains most of the most asked questions there actually is about Lightroom. I asked Victoria to describe the book a bit, talk a little bit about her goals with it and why she wrote it. She kindly enough agreed to do it.

Lightroom was officially released on 19th February 2007 after a long public beta period, and it became an instant hit.  The problem everyone had, though, was that it was an entirely new idea, and there was very little information available on how best to use it.  The help files are never the most scintillating read, and half the information wasn’t in there either.  As a result, people flooded the forums looking for information, and a really good community developed around it.  

Over the course of time, I realised that exactly the same questions were coming up time and time again, and whilst a few good books had been published, there was no real reference material.  A lot of people like to dive straight into software without ever reading a book, and just want a reference guide when it all goes wrong.  Others will sit down and read a tutorial book, but when they have a question, tutorial books often don’t answer it.  And if you got stuck, you’d have to spend hours searching the web for other people who’d had the same problem, or ask on a forum and wait ages for someone to help.  

 

I’ve spent so many hours answering all of these questions on a variety of forums, it made sense to compile it into a large FAQ book.  It’s the questions that people ACTUALLY ask, rather than the ones that engineers think you will.  It’s full of answers to questions that everyone hits at some stage, and other questions that you just don’t think to ask, but that make you say "oh, THAT’s how you do it…!!!" when you find out.

 

It’s been fascinating to write - I started out thinking it might be around 50 pages, but it’s just grown and grown, and the 1.4.1 version is now 329 pages, and the 2.0 version will be even thicker.  But the great thing is, it’s laid out in such a way that you can easily skip to the bit you want, and the PDF is fully searchable, in case you’re not quite sure what you’re looking for.

 

So I’m just busy finished off the 2.0 version ready for release at the same time as 2.0…. in the meantime, 1.4.1 version is available for instant download, 2.0 version is available for pre-order on the website, and there’s a discounted bundle if you want the 1.4.1 version right now and to pre-order 2.0 too. 

You can go and read more about this book over at her website, the Lightroom Queen. The e-book runs for £14.95 (which is about $29.95) and you can get it on her website. What’s more cool though, Victoria released a discount to readers of this blog, so upon checkout, just enter the code BM2008 for a discount on the book!

Tags: E-Book, Lightroom, Lightroom Queen, Missing F.A.Q, Victoria Bampton    

» Happy Independence Day

I want to wish all my american friends a very happy independence day! Have a safe day and a very great long holiday!

Tags: Independence Day, July 4    

» How to: Shoot Fireworks

For all in the USA, July 4 is coming up tomorrow and there’ll likely be a lot of fireworks displays. I posted this little how-to right before new years this year and reposting it again for all of you going out tomorrow to take some shots. Good luck and have a safe and fun evening!

How To?
First off dial in Manual mode and set the aperture to f/11 or f/13 or something in the likes then set the shutter speed to Bulb, usually indicated by a B. Now when the firework explode, press the shutter and then when the burst has exploded and is wearing off, you let go of it and you should have a working picture of a firework. If you wish to capture many in one frame, just keep it pressed and make sure the frame is pitch black until the next firework goes up. Adjust the aperture as fits between the shots.

Equipment?
It’s best to have a camera that you have full manual mode on but special firework modes can work, although best result is given with a full manual mode. It’s really necessary to have a tripod because you’ll be working with second long exposures that you simply can’t hand-hold. Also learning from own mistakes, never extend the center column on the tripod, even if it feels like you need to, I did it last year only with a good sacrifice in quality in the images. It also helps if you have a remote release to minimize camera shake further as well. I think also a lens in the zoom range of 18-55 or similar works really well because it allows you to get close enough in the sky (if you are close) and also to get some foreground in there as well if you want to, without changing lenses, changing lenses is a no-no!

Position and Preparations
Get to the fireworks display in time and make sure that you know where they are going to be shooting from and set up in a good place where you can see the display and if you want also include some foreground such as the water or something alike. Also make sure you have clean memory cards that are formatted and that they work, also make sure to have your batteries charged and working! Don’t forget to take something warm to wear if it is cold outside either, and good gloves! I hope this little article can benefit you and it is really fun to photograph fireworks!

Tags: Fireworks, How-To, July 4, Photography, Techniques    

» Landscapes in general – Tips on shooting!

There are lots of things you can say about landscape photography and how to shoot them and I’ll start off by saying that everyone has their own ideas on what makes the best landscape photograph. I’m trying with this article, to outline some tips and tricks that most landscape photographers can agree on and some tips that I’ve learnt myself while being out in the field.

There are some equipment that really helps to have when you are shooting landscapes. Some of it you could do on the computer but it will degrade the quality and really, doing it in the field is much more fun anyway and usually renders a better quality.

A Tripod is a must most of the times in the landscape environment because of a few things really. Many times you’ll be in the early or late hours of the day when you’ll be working with slower shutter speeds that you cannot hand-hold. However it is not only that; it is also so that you can work with the frame in a more advanced way. Composition can be thought about because the camera stays in place while you zoom, think, add filters or generally change settings and take multiple exposures. This all makes the tripod an essential asset.

Filters are really underestimated in this day. Most think that sure, we can add them after in Photoshop or similar programs. I would say that the person who is sure of that probably either don’t know enough about Photoshop or enough about photography. Let me take two types of filters that you can’t replace. Lets first start with the Graduated Neautral Density filter. To selectively darken a part of the frame is genious. It works especially well for sky and so on. Another filter is the ND, Neutral Density. It allows us to slow down the shutter speeds in broad daylight or at sunset to get nice effects on mainly water.

If we leave the equipment for a bit, because really a tripod and filters are really the most important (apart from the lenses etc.) accessories. Should we now move into a little more of the techniques on getting the photo we want in the end, because that’s what really matters, we would start with a very simple tip.

So my first tip for you is to get down low. Whether you have fancy equipment or the small compact camera this is gonna do a lot of difference and it is really what makes the better from the worse snapshots. Just kneeling down, getting down and dirty with the ground can make a photograph so much better! Try it, it costs hardly anything (just bring a plastic bag if it is moist).

The next tip is probably going to sound pretty silly at first but try it! If I go out to shoot a beautiful landscape I might be so focused up in just the landscape and the view that I either knew I was coming for, or saw the first. The tip here is to look for more. Look around. There might be good details to isolate in the field using a telezoom lens. Landscapes doesn’t have to be wide-angle. Also look closer, maybe there is a small insect of some sort or a nice looking flower that would get lost in a wide-angle composition. This is really a big topic just to look for other things in a scene and not to be afraid of differing. Most shoot landscapes with wide-angle lenses, do differ and shoot with a telezoom or midrange prime and experiment. Your photos will probably end up more unique than the other guy’s.

There is something obvious which needs to get written here and that’s obviously about the light. Photography is all about the light and landscapes are definitely not an exception at all.  If you are new to this you may or may not have heard about shooting in the golden hours by sunrise or sunset when the colours are most pleasing. Don’t let that lure you into never going out shooting on other hours. Instead, learn to capture photos at the other times of the day, still doing landscapes. It can be done but it is just a bit harder. One of the main things people usually do if they are forced into shoting in the midday is to go black and white. Sure, even black and white is easier in the golden hours but it does work good when the sun is high on the sky. Again, experiment and try to be different, that’s what makes or breaks you as a landscape photographer.

Another thing to try with landscape photography is HDR. When you don’t have much of a scene it may be very useful to at least try an HDR bracketing because it can help the shot a lot and make it into a pretty good one. Just don’t overdo it. Keep it real!

I think I’ve covered the main things in landscape photography while still leaving the creativity up to you. I’m not going to tell you here how to capture that wonderful effect that everyone else does, instead leave you to try that yourself. However, be wary of the light. Photograpy is all about light and looking at a flat image is not nice.

As a final part, get out there, shoot wary and good luck in the capturing!

Tags: Article, Equipment, Landscape, Photography    

» Late Tipster Tuesday

There are a lot of sites on the web close to being too many to find. Here I share four that’s just generally cool.

• NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) is the first place I start up (apart from my own sites) and check in on the member forums to see what is going on. I just love the place and could rave about it for long. It’s great folks from start to finish. 
   
• Photography Corner is one of the more amazing photography forums I’m visiting and it’s just great all over. From contests to the comments and the members. I’ve learnt so much there over the years that I can’t recommend it enough.
   
• Another great site is CSS-Tricks where you can get a lot of great CSS tricks and learn how to do everything really in a good way using CSS.
   
• The final tip here would be to go and check out the Lexar Digital Photography site section where you can find tips and tutorials from leading photographers in the world.

That’s it from me today and I’m signing off now and going to bed to enjoy another nice day tomorrow! The shot above is also from today’s mini-hike!

Tags: CSS Tricks, Lexar, NAPP, Photography, Photography Corner