8 reasons you should use Adobe Lightroom

8 reasons you should use Adobe Lightroom

Ever since Adobe released Lightroom  in 2007 to take on Apple’s Aperture, I have been an avid user of Adobe’s digital asset management and RAW processing app. I downloaded trial versions of both and despite being an Apple fan, I just didn’t bond with their offering. It’s reached the point now where I can’t see how I could function as a photographer without Lightroom. I can’t imagine dealing with 2000 photos from a day shooting drifting with nothing but Finder, Bridge and Photoshop. Here are 8 reasons I think you should try it too:

 

1. Easy Asset Management

It’s not headline grabbing or glamourous, but the way Lightroom keeps all your images organised is Lightroom’s killer feature. As soon as you import from a memory card, Lightroom takes over and neatly files all your images away in a date-based directory structure (1), both in the program and on your disk. Once in your catalog you’ve got countless way to organise things. I have to admit I am a bit lazy when it come to keywording (4) images , but I do make extensive use of picks, ratings, colour coding (3) and Collections (2). I’ll go into my workflow in much more detail in an upcoming post.

Lightrooms's Library Module

 

2. Simple, powerful RAW processing

The Lightroom Develop module is the same RAW processing engine as you’ll find in Photoshop’s Camera RAW – in a party dress! It’s got a huge amount of power under the hood, presented as a thoughtfully grouped column of sliders. If you don’t shoot RAW (subscribe to the blog for an upcoming post on why you should be) Lightroom can still do a lot of its magic with JPG’s.

Lightroom's Develop Module

Working from top to bottom, you start with basic exposure tweaks and move on to more advanced colour and tone edits. All very quick to work with after you get into the swing, even quicker when you start to automate the process for multiple images.


3. Batch Processing

This comes in very handy after a studio shoot, or anything where at least some of your settings have stayed constant. Let’s say you took 200 shots against a white seamless in manual mode and every image is the same exposure but the background is not quite solid white. You can edit photo one, bumping the highlights and adding a little sharpness and contrast then just apply those setting to all 200 photos in a second. You can sync just one edit, all of them or anything in between.

 

Mt custom import preset

4. Presets

Presets take batch processing a notch further but are one of those things that can be misused just like Photoshop Actions – they are collection of any Lightroom edits that you can stamp onto a photo. But with great power comes great responsibility! You can buy, or download free off-the-shelf presets from the likes of Nicole Young or Matt Kloskowski but I’m not a fan of these pre-made presets. I definitely don’t suggest you use them as they come or your post processing is going to look like hundreds of other photographers’. Third party presets are no magic button to make a bad photo good but they are a jumping off point for creating your own. I have a preset that gets applied to the majority of my motor sport  photography. It’s been incrementally tweaked over time and it’s now at a point where I can have Lightroom automatically apply it at import. Being just a recipe of slider settings, it can be adjusted to fit a particular image or removed entirely without doing anything nasty to the original RAW file.

 

5. Export Options

Since first using Lightroom v1.0, I’ve never kept a JPG file. I know some people will export a batch of images to upload to a 500px or Facebook and then file those JPGs away with the original RAW files but I don’t bother as I know I can easily dump them out again if needed from a Collection. I’ve also built a few export presets to automatically resize, sharpen and watermark my images for various outlets, saving me yet more time.

 

6. Filters

We aren’t talking gimmicky Instagram filters here. These are more like digital copies of real world filters. The graduated filter is my favourite and you see it used in a lot of my photographs. Often if you expose for you subject when outside the sky will blow out a little, losing detail. Dragging the gradient filter down from the top of the image and setting it to pull down exposure and boost the contrast will pull some extra dynamic range from your RAW file and give you much more detail in the sky.

Lightroom's Graduated Filter

 

7. Lens corrections

Yes, you can do this in Photoshop, but the Lightroom implementation is just so good I have it set up to run automatically on import. Lightroom reads the EXIF data within your image, finds out what lens was used and at what focal length and instantly corrects any distortion and chromatic aberration. I’ve seen this make Sigma lenses look like Canon L glass – worth the cost of entry alone!

 

8. It’s a bargain!

Speaking of cost, at a smidge over £100 Lightroom 5 is a steal. If you value your time and would rather be out shooting then sat in front of your computer sorting images into folders, it’s pretty much a no brainer. It might even save you buying Photoshop! Grab a copy of the free 30 day trial and give it a spin.

Feed Your Fire

Feed Your Fire

Being inspired is a crucial part of being creative. The more things you feed your brain with, the more chance a great idea will bubble to the surface. I try to take inspiration from many sources but in this first instalment of what will probably become a sporadic series, I want to share with you a few photographers that never fail to give me an inspirational and motivational shove in the right direction.

davidhobbyDavid Hobby (aka The Strobist)

If you are into photography or lighting enough to be reading my blog, you are bound to have heard of The Strobist. David is the man who brought about the huge off-camera flash renaissance and drove the price of old Nikon flashes through the roof on eBay  If you’ve not read it yet get the hell out of here and go read Strobist 101. I’ll wait! It was reading that series of posts and seeing just what you can do with small flashes that really sparked my interest in lighting. He’s since released two DVDs. The first is a solid intro to off-camera flash with some great live demonstrations while the second really shows how David has finessed his style and will take you even deeper. His current project is HoCo360 – a visual journal of his home county.

Twitter | G+Blog | Portfolio

zackariasZack Arias

Zack is based in Atlanta and describes himself as an editorial and commercial photographer but he is also a great educator. Between them, David and Zack got me interested in working with lights and taught me more than I’ll ever be able to thank them for. Zack’s OneLight DVD is out of production unfortunately but his “shutter speed controls ambient, aperture control flash” mantra really made the penny drop for me. Not only is Zack incredibly good at explaining complex concepts, he has a practical, down to earth, no BS attitude that I have taken a lot from. His honesty and openness is refreshing in a “fake it til you make it” world. Zack also as a huge Tumblr site which is dedicated to nothing but Q&A. This is solid gold! There is everything from advice on lighting and composition to business and marketing tips. To give an idea of scale, Zack has answered well over a 1000 questions, but only 100 of them were needed to fill the The Photography Q&A Book

Twitter | FB | G+Blog | Portfolio

chasejarvisChase Jarvis

Chase epitomises frankness. He’s been blowing open the doors of the photography world for years, or as he puts it, he was “transparent long before it was hip to be so”. So long in fact that the old guard accused him of ruining the industry by giving away all their secrets! It’s Chase’s “rising tide floats all boats” ideaology that inspired me to start sharing what I have learnt with the world.

He even stages what can only be described as his own monthly live chat show on which he sits down with a variety of inspiring creative people. Add a few past episode to your YouTube watch later list, you can’t fail to be motivated. Chase is also the co-founder of CreativeLIVE, an incredible training resource with a unique business model that lets you watch every course, live, as it’s being filmed for free. Being able to ask some of the names in this list questions via Twitter and get a live response for free is well… priceless!

On top of everything he gives back to the community, Chase is an amazing photographer, a hugely likeable chap and walking proof that being different, not just incrementally better gets you places.

Twitter | FB | G+ | Blog | Portfolio

Photo Of The Week – Aston Martin

Photo Of The Week – Aston Martin

Time for another Photo of the Week. This time an Aston Martin taken during the public grid walk before the Britcar 24 hour endurance race at Silverstone. I’ve published images with this ghostly crowd effect before but they are generally created from multiple exposures aligned in Photoshop and layered with stack modes.

_78A6423

It would have been much easier to use that technique on this day as the sun was bright and the car was wrapped in reflective silver vinyl but as I had my tripod and ND filters with me I decided to do it “properly”.

BritCar EXIF

Even with my ND filter in place (I think it was a 6 stop filter) I had to drop my ISO to 50 and stop down to f/20 to get around a 3 second exposure. A nice side effect of being at such a small aperture is the starbursts on the cars highlights.

Ideally I’d have liked a little more blur in the people, but under the bright conditions, with the gear I had, 3.2 seconds was as slow as I could go.

What really lifts the image for me is the fellow photographer lunging in from camera right for a quick shot.

When working for free works

When working for free works

I have a pet hate, a real bug bear. It’s when fledgeling aspiring photographers forget why they picked up a camera in the first place. They’ve bought the gear, practised for a year or two and have now decided that they should be paid for their services on the weekend. What happened to the love of the art itself, of expressing yourself and sharing your work with the world? When did so many people, with even just a passing interest photography, suddenly decide to only ever do it for money? Please don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against people building a photography business whilst still working a day job. It’s what I am doing and it’s what the likes of David DuChemin, Jon Acuff and Chase Jarvis advocate.

What upsets me is when these newly forged photographers publicly moan when someone dares to ask them to work for less than they think they are worth or (brace yourself for the horror) for FREE! Gasp! They complain in forums, and post memes on Facebook and Twitter explaining just what all their gear cost and how much time they spend in Photoshop. Then they throw clumsy metaphors around about how restaurants don’t let you eat for free it you promise to bring lots of friends back next time.

I hate to be blunt but Get Over It!

Here’s the deal: We are new and we are unproven and until we prove our worth in the eyes of prospective clients we don’t have the right to bitch about not being handed huge cheques. It is your job to educate your clients as to the value of you work, not belittle them behind their back.

But, and it’s a big but, not every job has to be a paying job. Getting paid every time you pick up the camera isn’t essential (whether photography is your main source of income or not) but getting something from every job is.

When I get offered a job, or I pitch for one, I ask myself the following four questions:

  1. Is this an interesting/fun job that I have creative control over?
  2. Will the job result in something I want to add to my portfolio (and am I allowed to)?
  3. Will this open doors? Will I get to meet people that can further my career or bring more opportunities?
  4. Does it pay well?

If I can answer ‘yes’ to at least one of the first three, I’m likely to take it, even if there’s no money in it. Does that make me stupid? I think some would argue yes, so I’ll explain.

Let’s look at question 1: If it’s fun and I get to put my creative stamp on the job why wouldn’t I do it? I’d rather be shooting than not. Of course, as with all of these, if there is a budget there I won’t say no, but it’s not essential. I’m trying ideas and learning new things that I wouldn’t have at home. I’d call that a win.

On to the second scenario: Let’s say a local hair salon has asked me to shoot a few portraits to hang on their walls. They are just starting their business and there’s no budget. I could quote a day rate they couldn’t afford and stay sat on the sofa or I could say yes and spend a day shooting 6 models in full hair and makeup using the salon as a studio. I’d not be getting a pay cheque but I’d be coming away with some portfolio quality shots for nothing more than some of my time. I’d get to work with other creatives and make contact with some hair and makeup artists I’d not have met otherwise. Not to mention my name, website and phone number underneath some huge prints hanging on the salon walls. How is that bad business?

Number 3 needs a little qualifying. I am not talking about the type of deal we have all been offered: “If you do this job for free, I’ll send more work your way when we have the budget” Or “If you do a good job I’ll tell all my friends about you”. Never work on that premise. Ever. There will never be budget and you will always be the “free guy”. What I am talking about taking a job in exchange for the opportunity to meet someone you want to meet or gain access to a location.

And then there’s question 4, everyones favourite. How much am I getting paid? Which is great, provided you’ve answered yes to one of the other 3 questions. If not, it’s just a job to pay the bills.

Photo Of The Week – Aston Martin

Photo of the Week – Gemma

A happy accident for you this week. It’s one of those shots that had I tried to get it, I wouldn’t have. What we have here is the combination of a Quadra ECO ring flash and a huge (and I mean HUGE) leaf blower that was found lying around.

GemmaHair

I moved in close, partly to crop out the surroundings (this was shot in a cluttered industrial unit) and partly to make the ring-shaped catchlight prominent in Gemma’s eyes. I took one or two test shots to get my exposure right, then had someone stand camera right and unleash the wind. I have a about a dozen frames of poor Gemma just looking windswept but among them was this one. Luck kicked in when part of Gemma’s hair whipped around towards the camera, framing her face and falling nicely out of focus.

Lessons Learnt

Lessons Learnt

I recently decided I wanted to freshen up my portfolio so I gave myself a kick up the arse and arranged a studio day for myself. Living in the South West, when most of the models I want to work with live in the Midlands and the South East, is a pain when it comes to arranging and funding travel. So, in a flash of inspiration, I booked Saracen House Studio, just outside Milton Keynes for the day, lined up 3 models and even a professional make up artist. It made more sense for me to travel to the people I was working with than have them all travel to me individually. My goal was to get 6 portfolio worthy shots. I feel I came up short, but I did learn a few valuable lessons which made the whole day worthwhile.
 
Expletive Deleted - Charlotte Barnes
 

Timing

When hiring out a studio for 8 hours my immediate thought was to shoot for 8 hours to get my money’s worth, so I arranged the arrival times of the girls to overlap. That way, when one was in hair and makeup, I was still shooting the previous model. This causes two problems; Firstly I don’t get to greet the model, sit down, have a chat over a coffee and talk thought what we are about to try. It all becomes a bit hurried and there’s no time to build a rapport before she’s in front of my camera. Secondly, and it didn’t even cross my mind when planning, there was no down time for me. I was working nonstop from 11am to 7pm. Admittedly that’s only 8 hours, a normal working day but even in the worst day job you get a lunch hour! Besides having no breaks, I was “on” constantly with no chance to freewheeling, even for a minute. I was driving the bus with everyone looking to me for what to do next.  This is what really took it’s toll. It might be just me, but I can’t stay creative under those conditions. I can’t force it. I got tired, my creativity waned and I started doing safe things. Nothing new, just simple setups, things we have all seen a million times and that’s just not the sort of work I wanted to produce.
 

Sets

This is a simple one. I won’t use sets in a studio again, because even in a quality place like Saracen House, they still look like, well, sets in a studio. I’ll stick to a classic white/grey/black seamless. If I want to shoot in a bedroom, I’ll  book a nice hotel suite and take my own lighting. The best images were the day were the ones shot against seamless.
 
Fake Bedroom
 

Working with other creatives

Most models can do their own hair and makeup. In fact they’d be pretty limited if they couldn’t, but they will generally have a go-to look that they turn to. That’ll mean that most shots you see of them will be somewhat similar. That’s why I booked a make up artist (or MUA) to be on set all day. This is something I’ll definitely do again. Emma Stroud and I bounced a few messages and images of the models back and forth before the shoot and she was able to decipher my rather blokey descriptions of looks and come up with a style to suit each of the girls. Emma’s styling had a sizable impact on the shoot and led things in directions I probably would not have thought of on my own.
 
Strip Banks
 

Preparation

I went in to the day with quite a few lose ideas and concepts thinking they’d be jumping off points and things would organically evolve as the shoot went on. To some degree that worked, but you burn through more ideas in 8 hours than you’d think. I’m not sure what would have worked better. I should have either come up with more of those jumping off points or I should have taken along fewer, but more fully formed ideas. I am erring on the side of the latter as the last time I shot at Saracen House, I had a detailed concept in mind for my hour shoot and came away very happy with the results.
 
Rock Chic
 

So next time…

I won’t shoot non-stop all day.

I won’t try and simulate locations in a studio.

I will definitely work with other creatives like MUA’s and stylists.

I will prepare more. Either more loose ideas, or a few fully formed concepts.