Although Adobe’s RAW image processing is extremely powerful, one common complaint is that your images may look flat and colorless at first. Often photographers will lament how beautiful their colors looked on the back of their camera.

Well, in an effort to fix this problem and make our images automatically look a little more crisp and vibrant when we first bring them into Lightroom, we’re going to create a “Standard Import” preset.

For this tutorial we will use the following image as our example:

Basic Adjustments Panel

The goal for a standard preset is twofold:  First, to simply help every image look a little better overall, of course. Secondly we also want to apply default settings such as a personal blend of sharpening, lens corrections, or other calibration-related things.

First, let’s tackle the Basic Adjustments.  Open the Basic Adjustments panel in the Develop Module and apply the following settings:

The idea here is that you want to keep detail in any bright highlights or deep shadows, but do it without making the image look flat overall.  This is why we bring down the highlights to -20 yet push the Whites up to +10, and the same with the Shadows and Blacks. The image gets a little “punch” to it, without blowing out any highlights or clipping any shadows.

To enhance that subtle punch a little further, next we’ll boost both the Clarity and Vibrance to +15.  Note that we leave alone settings like Saturation and Contrast, because for the most part those adjustments are too strong for them to be applied to every single image.

Of course, YOU should tailor the adjustments to your own personal style!  Usually however we advise that going too much further than subtle editing should be saved as a separate preset that you use part of the time, but not necessarily 100% of the time.

The goal, of course, is to minimize the amount of editing you have to do to the majority of your images.  If for example you find that 80-90% of the time you wind up adjusting some of these settings even further, or less, …then you might as well create your Standard Import preset that way because it will minimize the amount of editing you have to do later, even if you have to undo one or two settings just 10-20% of the time.  See how that works?

To be avoided, however, is using a standardized preset to cover your habitual mistakes.  A good indicator for this is is if you feel like you ought to adjust your Exposure slider in your standardized preset.  Unless you have a very good reason; you’ll probably want to simply work to meter and expose your images better in the first place!

Detail Panel Adjustments

In the Detail Panel, we are going to apply our own special blend of sharpening that we apply to 99% of our RAW images.  These settings are shown below:

Sharpening is definitely one of the most subjective aspects of post-production, however this “recipe” is our tried-and-true blend for RAW images, and we use it for all types of images from general portraits, weddings, and details.

So adjust the settings to your taste, however just remember that your goal is for these settings to become the foundation for all your images!  Try out these settings on many different types of images, and settle on something that works best for all of them.

Lens Correction Adjustments

Another common issue on DSLR cameras and lenses these days is vignetting.  By default, we prefer to correct for a slight amount of vignetting by dialing our Lens Corrections’ “Manual” tab to the following settings:

Again, if you commonly shoot with certain lenses that have less vignetting, or more, then feel free to adjust these settings slightly.  Or, of course, if you actually utilize vignetting in your personal style, then feel free to zero-out this adjustment.

If you followed our adjustments approximately, then your final image will look something like this:

To see the real difference in the processing, let’s zoom in a bit:

Again, the goal here is not to make the image over-the-top contrasty or colorful, just to und0 the “flatness” that you initially see in your RAW images.

Saving the Standard Import Preset

If there are any other settings you would like to add to your “Standard Import” develop preset, do that now.  For example certain cameras may need adjustments in the Camera Calibration section, to correct for faint hues or tints in the shadows or highlights.  There are also Camera Profiles that attempt to emulate specific in-camera colors, (“Faithful”, “Neutral”, Landscape”, etc.) …however in our opinion the “Adobe Standard” profile is the best.

When you’re ready to create a preset, open the Develop Module’s left-hand panel and click the little plus sign on the Presets tab:

In the New Develop Preset window you can select which adjustments become part of this preset.  You may wish to only select a few parameters, such as for the specific tabs which we adjusted, however consider selecting “Check All” so that this preset can be used to reset images entirely.

Name this preset “00 Standard Import”, and be sure to put the two zeros at the beginning (or a similar code) so that this preset shows up at the top of your list of presets for easy access. Similarly, you may want to create a new folder and give it a numerical name so that all your presets show up at the top of the Presets panel, instead of below the (annoyingly un-deletable) Adobe-included Lightroom Presets.

Applying the Preset During The Import Process

Now that you have saved this new preset, you can apply it any time when you’re working on images in Lightroom.  However there is another awesome tool that we can utilize which will help us automate or workflow overall.

When you get back from a photo shoot with images that are ready to be imported into Lightroom, you’ll be able to apply this preset to all your images during the import process!

Open the import dialog box by either clicking on the Import button at the bottom of the left-hand panel of the Library module, or simply type the hotkey “Ctrl + Shift I”.

On the right-hand side of the import panel, you will see “Apply During Import” and the first option will be for develop settings.  Find your Standard Import Preset and select it.

By default, these options will remember themselves the next time you import images, so don’t forget this in case you want to change or stop using presets during the import process.

One of the main advantages of setting up your workflow this way is that, by applying a preset such as this during the time of import, combined with the option tell your computer to render previews after it is done importing, (in the “File Handling” section above) …you can tell Lightroom to import an entire photo shoot, apply a preset to every photo, and then render 1:1 previews all at once!

At the end of a long photo shoot or wedding day or whatever, this allows you to simply download and backup your photos once, then commence the Lightroom import workflow and go to bed.  By morning you’ll have your entire Lightroom catalog full of images with the preset and full previews ready to go!

Conclusion

It takes time to fine tune your own “Standard Import” preset and get it to work on the majority of your images, but once you develop it you can save hours and hours of post-production time.

Once we have created a standard preset for all our images, theoretically in post-production we will mostly spend our time just editing certain settings on an image-to-image basis, such as white balance and exposure.  Even these settings can be adjusted in batches though. (This is why we did not adjust the settings for White Balance and Exposure in the Basic Panel for the “Standard Import” preset.)

lightroom-4#ixzz2Tjnr0uWS

• Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 AF-S (suitable for most Nikon “D” series lenses)
• Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS (suitable for Canon 24-105, 24-70 f / 4 IS, 24-70 f/2.8 II)
• Canon 85mm f/1.2 L
• Canon 85mm f/1.8 (for Canon 100m f / 2)
• Canon 70-200 f/2.8 non IS (Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS I and II)
• Canon 100-400 IS L (suitable for Canon 28-300 IS L)

Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S

Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS EF-S

Canon 85mm f/1.2

Canon 85mm f/1.8

Canon 70-200 f/2.8

Canon 100-400 IS L

Disadvantages

1 of the same specification lens focal ratio of Canon slightly slower, but can accept.2 large aperture contrast is low. But the contrast is low, the picture a bit grey, post some contrast. Here need to emphasize the so-called sharp is actually a resolution and contrast of the combination of the two effects. So the head of the large aperture to give people the feeling is not very sharp, but in the digital age, as long as the resolution is low, the contrast is not a disadvantage; the contrast is low, level than the contrast large lens, then slightly pull curve, immediately becomes sharp. 3 no Canon L lens to restore skin pinkish white hair color is so lovable, no condition testing is not to say which is more accurate. 4 wide-angle distortion significantly, but Canon DPP is not correct, can only use third party software correction. So the scene building ability is limited.

Summary

In Amazon.cn I buy licensed, $6850. Feel the high price. Canon 24-70 two if you have IS I must buy, but no anti-shake, limited in photography and video, so the purchase of the Tamron lens. Combined with its price and performance, 5 points!

Zeiss Blog announced a new series of lenses, is dedicated to the anti-camera Sony NEX and Fujifilm X family of E and X-mount lens called Touit, allegedly similar to the English pronunciation of “do it”. The name comes from a live parrot in Latin America and the Caribbean area, a name that means good visibility, flexibility, mobility and diversity. Series starting two lenses are Touit 2.8/12, and Touit 1.8/32, are fixed-focus lens.

They will launch later 50mm f/2.8 macro lens, it is believed that year low.

Yes, for a number of reasons, not all directly to do with image making either.

As a MILC (mirrorless interchangeable lens camera) this is as fully featured as you can get and then offers more in the rugged department: it has a magnesium alloy, full diecast body, coupled with splash and dustproof construction, achieved by tightly sealing sections of the camera body.

Test lens was the Lumix G Vario Power OIS f2.8/12-35mm, equating to a 24-70mm lens in a 35 SLR.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 Controls

There’s a ton of external controls planted on the GH3′s body.

Top deck: at left is a tiny wheel that gives access to single shot or burst shooting as well as the self-timer and an auto bracketted exposure option.

The mode dial has eleven positions: PASM; ‘creative’ video shooting; three custom modes; stills creative control; 13 scene modes (inc portrait, backlit, children’s faces etc); intelligent auto; intelligent auto plus.

By now you will have sussed out that this camera attempts to straddle two levels of user: the expert who wants precise control of image capture and the dabbler, keen to fiddle with images.

Further along the top deck is the prominent on/off lever; three buttons that take you to ISO, AWB and exposure compensation; there is a front and a rear rotating dial that take you through a number of options; the shutter button is right at the front of the pronounced speed grip. And then there is the first of five Function buttons, with the other four sprinkled around the rear surface of the camera.

Rear: replay; Function buttons 2, 3, 5; auto focus and exposure lock button; video record; display options; a rotating control dial and concentric menu button.

So you can see, as I said: ‘There’s a ton of external controls …’

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 Features

The 16.05 megapixel Live MOS sensor can capture a maximum image size of 4608×3456 pixels, or 39x29cm as a print.

Video? You can shoot Full HD in either MPEG4 or AVCHD. I was able to shoot stills while recording video with no apparent interruption to the latter. The AF tracked seamlessly mid video recording … a great performance.

Video users will appreciate the enhanced handling of the program material as it embeds SMPTE-compliant time code either in Rec Run or Free Run count-up methods; this makes it easy to synchronise multiple video shots or sound sources in post production.

In video sound recording, the DMC-GH3 has Dolby Digital for AVCHD Progressive /AVCHD videos, and linear PCM (LPCM) for un-compressed MPEG4 video. There are two 3.5mm terminals for an external microphone and headphone.

The camera uses OLED displays both in the rear LCD and the turret finder: while both displays are excellent, the former suffers in bright sunshine.

In the design of the GH3 great attention was paid to minimising sensor noise, preventing sensor noise from entering the output signal and preventing noise from entering the signal processing circuit, power supply and grounding lines. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 200 to ISO 12800, but you can extend this to ISO 25600 by accessing a special function.

More

The camera’s HDR mode takes three shots at different exposure levels and automatically combines them to produce a single image. Other shooting functions include Time lapse shooting and multiple exposures using four shots to combine into one.

The rear LCD screen can rotate 180 degrees laterally and tilt 270 degrees vertically.

Continuous speed: the GH3 can shoot at 6 fps in full res of 4608×3456 (maximum 18 consecutive shots in RAW+JPEG) and 20 fps at 2336×1752 pixels (maximum 80 consecutive shots in JPEG).

I much appreciated the on screen distinct level gauge, which detects the horizontal/vertical angle of view as well as sensing if the camera is tilted forwards or back.

The touch screen can be more useful than you think: just by touching the subject you want as your point of focus, the camera will focus on the subject and take the picture automatically.

In Creative Control mode you can access a range of additional image effects. You set the effects to add by selecting example images and confirming them on the screen. Such effects as expressive, retro, high and low key, mono. etc.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 ISO Tests

Going well at ISO 1600. Still clean at ISO 3200. OK at ISO 6400. Noise becoming visible at ISO 12800 but colour OK. At ISO 25600 noise is well up and there are signs of a colour shift.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 Review Verdict

Quality: excellent colour, tops in the sharpness dept.

Why buy the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3: built in flash with a GN of 12 (ISO 100 in metres) that covers a 24mm range; access to a wide range of lenses, inc Leica’s optics.

Why not: too many pro-ish controls for some users; too many amateur options for pros!

To me, this would make an excellent camera for an ambitious beginner: you could start by using it as a point-and-shoot, then gradually move upwards as you learn the more complex controls.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 Specifications

Image Sensor: 16.05 million effective pixels.
Metering: Multiple, centre-weighted and spot.
Effective Sensor Size: Four thirds 17.3×13.0mm CMOS.
Lens Factor: 2x.
Compatible lenses: Micro Four Thirds.
Exposure Modes: Auto, Program AE, shutter and aperture priority, manual.
Shutter Speed: Bulb, 60 to 1/4000 second; flash sync 1/160 sec.
Burst Speed: 6 fps.
Memory: SD/SDHC/SDXC cards.
Image Sizes (pixels): 4608×3456 to 1712×1712. Movies: 1920×1080, 1280x720p, 640×480.
Viewfinders: Turret finder (1.74 million pixels), 7.6cm LCD screen (614,000 pixels).
File Formats: JPEG, RAW, JPEG+RAW, AVCHD/MPEG4, MPO (3D).
Colour Space: Adobe RGB, sRGB.
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 200 to 12800.
Interface: USB 2.0, AV, HDMI mini, WiFi, DC input.
Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, AC adaptor.
Dimensions: 133x93x82 WHDmm.
Weight: Approx. 550 (inc battery).

What’s the best “next” lens to buy?

I get asked all the time by my students about what lens they should buy next after the basic kit lens that came with the camera. I almost always recommend picking up a simple 50mm prime lens. Let’s look at some reasons . . .

Reasons why this lens should be in your bag

•  GREAT FOR LOW LOW PHOTOGRAPHY - with the wide aperture of f1.8, especially going from your typical kit lens which is usually f5.6, this lens gives you 3 stops or EIGHT times (2x2x2) more light coming through the lens opening. This allows you to use either a faster shutter speed and avoid camera shake, or a lower ISO and avoid the noise you get from higher ISOs, or a combination of both. 

  

  Shot at ISO 1600, 1/50th a f1.8. Without the 1.8 aperture I would have needed a much slower shutter speed or even higher ISO.

• GREAT VALUE, LOW COST - at a price range of $100-200 for most popular brands this lens’ low price tag makes it affordable as a good first lens investment
• LIGHT WEIGHT - ranging from only 4.3 oz to 6 oz (Pentax, Canon, Nikon, Sony in order of lightest to heaviest) there is no reason to leave this lens at home. That means even when you don’t want to haul a whole bag full of stuff around, you can easily grab your camera and the Nifty Fifty and go. No excuses!
• KILLER BOKEH - prime lenses typically produce nicer bokeh (how the lens renders out of focus areas) than most zooms, and with the f1.8 aperture you can make some really nice bokeh. Bright lights, off in the background, twinkle with this little lens! 
• SUPER SHARPNESS - prime or fixed focal length lenses are usually inherently sharper than zoom lenses, partly due to there being less moving parts inside the lens, and less lens elements. You will also experience increased sharpness due to the wider aperture which allows, as I mentioned above, being able to shoot at faster shutter speeds and lower ISO.  Being able to get a fast enough shutter speed to eliminate camera shake, or freeze a moving subject has a lot to do with getting sharper images as does minimizing noise.
• IT’S VERSATILE - the 50mm lens is a great street shooting lens, not too wide, not too long. On a cropped or APS-C sensor (any non full frame camera body) it is also a great portrait lens, just long enough to remove distortion from your subject’s face and flatter them a bit more, not so long you need to stand across the street.
• GREAT FOR TRAVELING - because it’s light weight, and is a fast lens (big aperture f1.8) the 50mm is a great addition to your bag for trips. Usually I take along a good wide zoom lens (my 17-35mm), a good long zoom (70-200mm) but I never forgot my little Nifty Fifty.  Even if you have two kit lenses that cover that focal length, say an 18-55mm and a 55-200mm, the 50 f1.8 fills the bill for low light photograph that the other two can’t because of their aperture limitations.  Plus it weighs practically nothing, you don’t even know it’s in there.
• HELPS MAKE YOU A BETTER PHOTOGRAPHER - whoa, what?!
  I’ve been thinking a lot lately about “the good old days” when I all my lenses were prime or fixed focal length, and how we’ve come to be dependant on using zoom lenses for convenience. They absolutely have a place in photography especially if you’re photographing things like sports or weddings. However, I also think they can make us lazy as photographers.  Instead of walking two feet to get the crop we want, we can just zoom in.  But what if that angle of view two feet closer makes for a better image?  We’ll never know because we have our feet planted, so use your feet and walk around your subject and see different views. I believe using a prime lens challenges you to think more about composition before you press the shutter, which often makes for better photos in the end. If you want more challenges, you might want to read my free ebook 10 Challenges to help you take better photos without buying any new gear.

Fun bokeh at a wedding using ambient light. Almost impossible to get this shot without the big aperture.

Summary and action plan

Like I tell most of my students, I highly recommend you have a 50mm lens in your bag.  If you can afford a fancier one go for the f1.4 or even the f1.2.  However they do come with much bigger price tags, and are a lot heavier.  So keep that mind if you go shopping for a 50.

This group of EOS cameras is aimed at semi-professional photographers and serious hobbyists. Don’t let that put you off if your budget stretches to one of these models and you’re looking to buy your first EOS camera. There is nothing intrinsically more complicated about these models. In some ways they are even simpler to use as most of them don’t have the automatic exposure modes (portrait, landscape etc) that come on entry-level models.

The main differences between these cameras and entry level models are:

Size and weight. These cameras are bigger and heavier than entry-level models. Most of them have bodies constructed from magnesium alloy frames and are built to last.

Quick control dial. Entry-level models use a set of four cross keys to dial in exposure compensation and make other adjustments. Semi-professional (and professional) EOS cameras use the Quick Control dial instead. This makes it easy to dial in exposure compensation while looking through the viewfinder and simplifies the photo taking process.

Autofocus. Two of these models (the EOS 7D and 5D Mark III) have a much more advanced autofocus system than the entry level cameras and are suitable for shooting moving subjects such as sports and wildlife.

Full-frame. Both the EOS 6D and 5D Mark III have full-frame sensors. Cameras with full-frame sensors cost more but give better image quality and improved high ISO performance over cameras with APS-C sensors.

Names. These cameras have the same name no matter where they are sold.

EOS 60D

September 2010

Key specs:

• 18 megapixel APS-C sensor
• 9 point AF with 9 cross-type sensors
• 63 zone evaluative metering
• Live View and movie mode
• DIGIC 4 processor
• Uses SD cards
• Three inch vari-angle LCD display
• Built-in flash with wireless flash control

The EOS 60D is bit of an oddity in that it has a smaller and lighter body than the previous models in the xxD range like the EOS 40D and 50D. In terms of size, weight and features the EOS 60D occupies the middle ground between the EOS 700D and 7D. However, the 700D, being much newer, has a few advanced features that the 60D doesn’t have such as a touchscreen menu system and hybrid AF for improved autofocus performance in Live View and movie mode.

The EOS 60D is a fine camera to learn photography with but the age of the model does suggest that Canon may replace it with an EOS 70D sometime this year. Whether the 70D will retain the body size of the 60D or return to the larger sizes of its predecessors remains to be seen. However, in the meantime the EOS 60D represents great value for money.

While lagging slightly behind the EOS 700D in terms of specification, it has a much more professional feel in the hand, and the Quick control dial is a great asset. If you’re trying to decide between the 700D and the 60D, it’s a good idea to try both out in a camera store. That’s the best way to appreciate the difference between the two.

EOS 60Da

April 2012

Key specs:

• 18 megapixel APS-C sensor
• 9 point AF with 9 cross-type sensors
• 63 zone evaluative metering
• Live View and movie mode
• DIGIC 4 processor
• Uses SD cards
• Three inch vari-angle LCD display
• Built-in flash with wireless flash control

The EOS 60Da is a modified version of the EOS 60D designed specifically for astrophotography. It contains a powerful infra-red filter that increases hydrogen-alpha light sensitivity by 300%. This means that it can capture light wavelengths emitted by deep space gases normally blocked by the low-pass filters in regular digital SLRs. This camera is a specialised tool for photographing stars and nebulae in space, and not intended for ‘regular’ photography.

EOS 7D

October 2009

Key specs:

• 18 megapixel APS-C sensor
• 19 point AF with 19 cross-type sensors
• 63 zone evaluative metering
• Live View and movie mode
• Dual DIGIC 4 processors
• Uses CF cards
• Three inch fixed LCD display
• Built-in flash with wireless flash control

The oldest model in the current EOS lineup, the EOS 7D marked a turning point in EOS camera design when it was released in 2009. It was the first APS-C camera to feature an advanced autofocus system capable of accurately focusing on and tracking moving subjects. It has 19 cross-type autofocus points (entry level models have 9 point AF arrays) plus other innovative features such as the electronic level and built-in Speedlite transmotter that have since been included in other EOS cameras. Despite its ‘age’ it’s still a very capable camera and the least expensive EOS camera to feature advanced autofocus.

The big question is will Canon release a 7D Mark II in 2013 and if so how much will it cost and how good will the autofocus be? In the meantime, the EOS 7D is another camera that represents excellent value for money. It is ideal for photographers who photograph sports, wildlife or any other moving subject and need an AF system capable of keeping up.

EOS 6D

November 2012

Key specs:

• 20.2 megapixel full-frame sensor
• 11 point AF with 1 cross-type sensor
• 63 zone evaluative metering
• Live View and movie mode
• DIGIC 5+ processor
• Uses SD cards
• Three inch fixed LCD display
• No built-in flash
• Built in Wi-Fi and GPS connectivity

The EOS 6D is less expensive, smaller and lighter than Canon’s other two full-frame EOS cameras, the EOS 5D Mark III and 1D-X.

Unique features include an 11 point autofocus system that Canon claims is the best in low light of any EOS camera and built-in Wi-Fi and GPS transmitters (it is sold in some countries without the latter two features where forbidden to do so by laws regarding radio transmission).

The Wi-Fi lets you tether the camera wirelessly to a computer and will be appreciated by anybody who works in a studio or has bought a dedicated Wi-Fi transmitter separately (expensive!) and struggled to get it to work. The GPS transmitter, if enabled, records your location in the photo’s metadata and will be a useful feature for some.

The EOS 6D, like Canon’s other full-frame cameras, doesn’t have a built-in flash or Speedlite transmitter for controlling Speedlite flash units remotely.

EOS 5D Mark III

March 2012

Key specs:

• 22.3 megapixel full-frame sensor
• 61 point AF with 41 cross-type sensors
• 63 zone evaluative metering
• Live View and movie mode
• DIGIC 5+ processor
• Uses CF and SD cards (dual card slots)
• Three inch fixed LCD display
• No built-in flash

This is the latest model in the venerable 5D range and is used by many professional photographers. While the most expensive of the models reviewed so far, it also has the best autofocus system (61 point array), high ISO performance, dual CF and SD card slots and a 22.3 megapixel sensor. If you can afford it you won’t be disappointed by any aspect of this camera. It is a tool that will serve you faithfully for many years to come.

Professional cameras

Canon’s top of the line EOS 1 series cameras are aimed at professional photographers. They are big, heavy and expensive, built to withstand just about anything the working pro can throw at them. There is just one current model:

EOS 1D-X

April 2012

Key specs:

• 18.1 megapixel full-frame sensor
• 61 point AF with 41 cross-type sensors
• 252 zone evaluative metering
• Live View and movie mode
• Dual DIGIC 5+ processor plus a DIGIC 4 processor dedicated to AF processing
• Uses CF and SD cards (dual card slots)
• Three inch fixed LCD display
• No built-in flash

The best camera in the EOS range by far. I’ve used one and the look, feel and quality just blows the other cameras away completely. Which, considering the price, is exactly what you’d expect.

The EOS 1D-X has an 18.1 megapixel full-frame sensor, 61 point autofocus, 12 frames per second continuous shooting speed, two DIGIC 5+ processors, a weatherproofed body and a maximum ISO of 204,800. It has a built-in portrait grip and a large battery that outlasts every other Canon battery.

If you’re in the market for this camera bear in mind the extra size and weight may be a disadvantage. Take the EOS 5D Mark III into consideration when making your buying decision. The money saved on the body could be used towards some good quality glass.

Final thoughts

Recent advances in digital camera technology mean that there has never been a better time to buy a new camera body, regardless of which brand you use. The recent expansion of Canon’s line-up with the launch of the EOS 100D and 700D means that Canon users have a greater choice of camera bodies than ever before, which can only be a good thing for the consumer.

Understanding EOS

It’s wise to remember that whichever camera you have, it’s only a tool. Photographers create photos, cameras just take them. An understanding of the principles of light and composition are just as important as which model you own.

This is the principle behind my ebook Understanding EOS, which I wrote to help people learn to use their EOS cameras. It’s available now at Snap N Deals for a special price for a limited period. Whichever EOS camera you own, it’s the essential accessory to help you get the most out of your camera.

These are the six shots I used for the HDR blend. I also used the even exposure, and the +2 exposure, for the two image manual blend I did in Photoshop.

With the sun setting directly behind it, exposing for the sky would have rendered the rock a silhouette.  This may have been fine had I intended a silhouette shot- which I did capture and intend to use. But ultimately I wanted some detail in the rock, I wanted detail in the sky, and I wanted to maintain the drama of the spectacular desert sunset that I was witnessing.  Because of the way the landscape was laid out before me, graduated neutral density filters were not going to work for this shot.  If I wanted to bring down my highlights and keep detail in the shadows, I was going to have to either blend two shots, or use an HDR program to get the result I was looking for. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, meaning an image where the range of tones is higher than what the camera can accurately record.

I really wasn’t sure which processing technique would give me the best results.  And sitting there in the desert, I didn’t want to place any bets on it.  So I bracketed my shots using the auto exposure bracketing mode on my EOS-1D X.  I shot in Av mode, at f/16, with the EF 14mm f/2.8L II lens. I bracketed for 7 exposures, but ended up only using six. The -3 exposure really didn’t add anything to the HDR, so that was dropped from my processing.   I use Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 for my HDR processing to blend the exposures, and then finish in Photoshop, adjusting color, saturation, etc.  Nik HDR Efex Pro offers a variety of presets, but I always try to keep the HDR processing fairly subtle. I don’t like the over the top look that some get, but I do like the image to pop a bit. I try to minimize any halos, and keep the tones fairly smooth.

Before I processed the HDR image, I also tried a simple two shot blend in Photoshop. I first processed the even exposure and adjusted for color and saturation.  Then, I took the +2 exposure, and processed in the same way, dropping that image on a new layer in photoshop over the even exposure. I then apply a layer mask to the +2 layer, and paint the entire mask black to hide the layer.

Then, using white, I painted the arch back in to reveal the arch at +2 against the sky at even exposure. This takes a lot of patience since with the exposure difference, it’s very easy to see halos if the masking isn’t done carefully. One way to ease the transition is to run a gaussian blur filter on the mask to soften the edges. How much will depend on what the mask is like. You may need to run the gaussian blur more than once to get it just right.

Looking at the two images, the HDR blend seems to have a smoother transition from lights to darks, as well as a richer overall look. I know there is a lot backlash against HDR, and I understand it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But I believe in using any tool available in order to express what I felt when I looked upon the scene as it happened.  Every scene will be different, and will lend themselves to different processing techniques. Understanding what techniques are available to you can help you overcome the shortcomings of technology and allow you to express your creativity to the fullest.

This shot was done by blending an even exposure with a shot exposed at +2. The +2 exposure was masked off in Photoshop so only the areas I needed to show through did.

Adobe has a number of fine new features in this revision and they are sure not to be missed. They include

• A Smart Preview feature which mobile photographers will love as it creates a smaller, editable version of their monstrously sized RAW image that is easily portable on a laptop and can be synced when the originals, possibly stored on an external drive or NAS back at home, become available.
• Radial Gradient which allows for selecting oval or circular shaped areas for specific effects.
• Upright, which attempts to correct crocked images or fine tune vertical lines. (My experience with this tool has been less than stellar on simple horizon shots at sea. More on this in a minute.)
• Advanced Healing Brush. This one, I like a lot and it is very helpful. Now your “Spot Removal Tool” can be used as a brush to wipe out items that are not in the shape of a circle. This helps a lot and means I spend even less time in Photoshop CS6.

That’s the obvious stuff that Abode packs into their press kit and you probably have seen those items demonstrated on other sites. What I want to show you are three things I found to be helpful in little, but repetitive ways for how I use Lightroom.

(Click any image for a larger version)

Invert Mask

Thank you! I’ve been wanting this feature for the longest time to save time. But it’s not quite right.

Invert Mask is currently only available with the new Radial Gradient feature. See it at the right? It works well and I’d like to see if appear in the Gradient Tool (especially when creating a new gradient…it would be great to great one just the opposite of the one I am using at the moment) and in the Adjustment Brush.

Here’s a simple rundown of how the tool works.

Starting with this image of one of my client’s boats, the Un-Cruise Adventures Safari Explorer off the shore of Maui, Hawaii, I want to see which direction works best: highlight the boat and darken the surrounding seas or slightly darken the boat and bring up the seas, in order to add contrast to the main subject.

I select the new Radial Gradient tool and draw an oval over the boat (Dear Adobe, please make this tool work like the Ellipse Tool in Photoshop for consistency. Specifically, please allow me to grab a “corner” of the ellipse and drag it down instead of starting with the middle of the ellipse. Consistency would really help. Thanks.).

Because I have chosen only to increase the exposure by .39, Lightroom masked the boat and increased the exposure for the rest of the image. But if I want to swap that and mask the entire picture except for the boat, it’s just a simple click of the “Invert Mask” check box.

Subtle, but useful to me.

Now please, Adobe, add that ability to the Gradient Tool and to the Adjustment Brush especially.

Visualize Spot Healing

I’d like to think my sensor was perfectly clean before leading a recent tour to Bhutan. As a matter of fact, it was extremely clean before I left. But, as life goes, things don’t stay clean.

Take this image of a masked dancer at the Paro Tsechu.

I wanted some blur (obviously) and used a small aperture to achieve a slow shutter speed. In this case, f/25 and 1/6th of a second. Closing down that aperture makes dust on the sensor more obvious, but this image has a lot going on making it hard to find all the dust.

If I click on the “Visualize Spots” check box after clicking the Spot Removal Tool, the slider to the right of it comes alive and I can now more easily see spots. This is a technique used in Photoshop for a while and it works best where edge contrast can be spotted, so in areas without a lot going on.

In this image, I found three additional spots, two of which would have been easy to miss without the tool.

Remove Chromatic Aberration Check Box

This one is really small, but helpful. With the addition of the “Upright” feature to the Lens Correction panel, Adobe made it easier to get to the Chromatic Aberration removal check box.

It’s a small thing, but I often use the check box for “Enable Profile Corrections” for my lens and then want to remove chromatic aberration on only select images, but many. The placement of the box here, as well as on the “Color” tab, helps.

Upright Is Not That Functional For Me

Maybe I’m doing something wrong, but I doubt it. This is one of Adobe’s touted JDI (Just Do It) features and it seems to work well on the demos, but not in real life. If it did, it would be cool. I can get the feature to work part of the time, but no where near even 25% of the time reliably.

The feature is supposed to level a scene and make diverging or converging vertical lines straight. It can be helpful when it works. But something as simple as a horizon, an obvious one, in this example is not being leveled.  Here’s the initial image out of the camera.

Now to show that the horizon is not level using the Crop Overlay.

And now using the tool in Auto mode.

I tried in Level and Full modes to no avail. The program clearly states “No Upright Correction Found”. This is supposed to be a boon for landscape photographers, but even with a clear horizon like this, it failed.

I tried another obvious shot from Bhutan.

Now how can it say, in all four modes (Auto, Level, Vertical and Full) that no data can be found?

I’m not saying it doesn’t work, I’m saying it’s wonky and not yet reliable.

But this is beta software and that is why they put it out, to find the kinks that mean the most for their users.

Give it a try, Lightroom 5 Beta is quite useful with all the upgrades instituted.

Step 1

First locate the folder with your images in it. I prefer to make virtual copies of my images and put them in a new collection but you can do whatever makes sense to you.

Step 2

Select all the images in Grid view in the Library module in Lightroom.

Open the Quick Develop panel on the right and, from the Crop Ratio dropdown list, select the crop ratio that you want to crop to. For example you can crop to fixed ratios such as 1 by 1 or printing sizes such as 5×7, 4×6 and so on.

Here I’ve selected 5×7 and when I do so all the selected images are automatically cropped to this 5 x 7 ratio.

Lightroom is smart enough to understand that some images are portrait orientation and others are landscape. Portrait images are cropped to 5 x 7 and landscape orientation images to 7 x 5.

Step 3 (optional)

If desired, you can now move to the Develop module and check the crop for all the images. By default, Lightroom will center the crop rectangle on the image and this may not be exactly what you want for some images. However, it is easy to go to the Develop module, click the first image and click on the Crop Overlay Tool so you see the crop marquee in position on the on the image.

Now from the filmstrip you can click on each image in succession to preview it in the crop window and you can easily identify if any of them need an adjustment to the crop rectangle. If they do simply drag on the crop rectangle to reposition it. When you’re done return to the Library view.

Step 4

As the images are now all cropped to size, press Ctrl + A to select them and then click Export. Choose a folder to export the images into or click New Folder to create a new folder.

You can now set your desired preferences in the Export dialog.

To control the output size – in pixels wide and tall – of the images easily because you already know the crop ratio. To do this, select the Resize to fit checkbox and choose Long Edge from the dropdown list. Then type a pixel dimension for the long edge. So, for example, to prepare 5 by 7 ratio images for printing at 300 dpi the longest edge will need to be 2,100 pixels (7 x 300) so type 2100 and set the resolution to 300.

Step 5

Click Export to export your images and they will be exported to a folder at the chosen size and resolution.

This process allows you to quickly and effectively prepare a batch of images for printing. It manages portrait and landscape images so that you don’t have to separately handle each type. It’s a simple workflow and a fast way to prepare images from a large shoot.