Nathaniel Coalson recently contacted me and asked if I’d review his Lightroom 2 book, entitled Adobe Photoshop LIghtroom 2: Streamlining your Digital Photography Process. I agreed, and it arrived a few days later in the mail.

Then I took my sweet time to review it. Between this crazy summer’s escapades and a nasty spider bite, I’ve been a busy, distracted man this summer.

As an aside, being an erstwhile a member of the Lightroom team, I’m used to getting copies of the latest Lightroom books from the well-known Industrial Adobe Learning Complex (IALC) authors. For the past few years, I’ve recommended Seth Resnick’s book as it is a great extension of his wonderful multi-day seminar that I’ve been privileged to sit in on over the past few years. I also have books from Scott Kelby and Martin Evening kicking around. Or had them - I generally end up giving them out as gifts to family members who like to have a reference guide close by.

Nathaniel’s book fills an interesting niche - his book is for the kind of photographer (like me) that likes to understand the basic technical side, but does not want to get overly obsessive about the technology. The latter being typified by those annoying camera cluby people who never take actual pictures but know everything about a Bayer filters and micro-lenses. And will tell you about it repeatedly. They can rot your insides if you let them. But I digress...

What is a digital workflow you ask? A workflow is the methodological process one uses to approach working with digital imagery. And I say methodological because its like mowing the grass when you’re 12 - a plan makes it easier and look better when you’re done. Workflow certainly isn’t new. Ansel was teaching that decades ago. It just got a bit more complex when someone let the computer nerds in the door.

Anyhow, all the basic workflow topics are covered, including Capture, Import, Organize, Process, Export and Present. Just as you’d expect.

But hold on. Before we get all hot and heavy into keywording and granular slider adjustments, Nat gives you a short look at the fundamental theories of digital imaging (sensor capture, color management, raw file composition) before getting into what my friend Nacho would call “the nitty gritty”. Very nice.

With that, he then spends time on the various aspects of capturing imagery - this chapter is a great refresher on how to avoid frustration later on. In fact, I remember my “Intro to Darkroom” teacher once opine that “bad negatives make for work” and that axiom is just as true today. Read it a few times. You’ll learn something.

Then we get a thorough job walking thru the Lightroom environment and introducing you to the neighbors. Not surprising, as most all books do this well.

Following along, the Import and Organize chapters cover what is necessary to manage that stream of big CR2 or NEFs plopping on your hard drive, including folder/collection management and metadata/keyword tips that will make life easier down the road. Trust me, you won’t always remember that Client A’s shoot was on August 12th, 2009. Competent and thorough.

What actually surprised me was a substantial chapter focused on reinforcing the need for a plan when processing images. It’s not that the idea of “having a plan” is surprising per se (we all get this talk early on in our photographic lives) but it was more that he tackled it so thoroughly. In fact, I tend to gloss over most of this in my Intro to Lightroom tutorials because its such a subjective thing (and I usually don’t have time in a 3-4 hour session to touch much on it). Apart from the capture variables you control at shutter press, the processing aspect is very personal and often becomes the “look” part that so many people talk about. Just as I’ve often stressed editing as an important skill (one that takes years to develop), processing is the next big challenge on the list. This chapter is a great intro to how to methodologically tackle this. Just insert yourself into the process to avoid being a preset weenie, and you’re on your way.

The rest of the book is the mechanics of getting your work to fire people’s synapses in a good way. Exporting, slideshow, printing etc. He covers the important export plugins, basic color management and web presentation. It reminded me how little I print and make web galleries since joining SmugMug. I sure don’t miss that much. Its easier to dump them into an online gallery where commerce and printing are all setup ahead of time.

He does make at least one recommendation I disagree with (i.e. don’t use Auto Save to make sure the files contain the latest metadata), but overall I found his methodical approach to a workflow useful and can easily see it helping others. Workflow is the process of settling on a methodological process for dealing with your output, and this book helps you think about what parts are most important to you and why.

So where does this book fall in the canon of Lightroom literature? I see this as a great recommendation for photographers who want a bit more than the typical “Ten Down/Dirty tips to Lightroom Greatness” type books. It is a great way to get a walk-thru of the fundamentals as well as a great overview of a workflow for those looking to actually develop their photographic skill - be they amateurs, prosumers or professionals. It might be a bit detailed for the former, but the latter two groups can get much from this workflow-centric look at Lightroom.

I see this as a cover-to-cover read. It will serve as an off the shelf reference as well (its well organized), but its best read in order to fully grasp the concepts behind a total workflow solution.

So yes, I heartily recommend this book - especially to people who are looking to define their workflow in a responsible, holistic manner. It is slightly denser than some of the other Lightroom books I’ve looked at, but for the most part, I think he nails the balance between informative and overwhelming.

Thanks Nat, for a great addition for the book learnin’ crowd.

PS. I didn’t find my invaluable blog in the list of Lightroom references though. Such an oversight

Tags:Lightroom

Welcome to Lightroom Tuesday. Huzzah!

This weekly post is aptly named, as each Tuesday I gather together the best presets, tips, tricks, tutorials from the Lightroom-o-sphere and post them for you, meus queridos.

• MattK has posted an update to some retouching presets for the Adjustment Brushes. And a great video tutorial on sharpening.
• A great tip on panning thru an image at 1:1.
• Looks like another big long list of free presets for Lightroom has been posted. Have a look...
• Timothy Armes is at it again. This time its a plugin for Gmail (LR2/Gmail) that lets you send images to others...
• Wonderland Presets just lowered the price on their preset offering.
• Sean McCormack has the shortcut of the day over on the Lightroom-Blog.com
• Here is a short video tutorial on keyboard shortcuts for LIghtroom. KBSC = More Faster.
• A short tutorial from Eric Tastad on recovering a partly shaded area of a photo.
• Want more granularity from your sliders. Get some!
• Photographywired presents a short blurb on how to soften skin in Lightroom.
• Grayscale gradients in the identity plate? Why not. Here is a short tutorial on how to do this. PS. Helps on a laptop and its recommended by Matt K.
• Importing Images into Lightroom. This gets covered all the time, but worth a read if you’re confused about DNG or importing into LIghtroom.
• Backup your catalog on a regular basis. No really. Backup. Here is a story to scare you a bit.
• Another “Meet the Lightroom Team” video. This time of Craig Marble, the guy making sure Lightroom won’t crash. He’s good people.
• Adobe has released Camera Raw 5.5 (support for new cameras like the new Oly and D300s). Comes with a new DNG converter as well.

Not Lightroom related, but worth a look:

• X-Equals has a great two part article on scanning. Part II is now posted.
• David DuChemin has a great article on his blog about exposure and metering. Back to basics!
• Leica S2. Sweet.

Tomorrow I have a short article on LIghtroom books, a book review, and some recommendations for you book learnin’ types, so stay tuned.

Have a great Tuesday!

Tags:Lightroom

So, for those of you not following me on twitter, I’ve been kinda out of it for a few weeks.

After I came back from my backpacking trip in Central Washington, I came down with a nasty flu. Or so I thought.

Chills. Fever. Achy all over. Just nasty. And it stuck around for about a week and a half. The first few days were the worst, but even today I can still kinda feel it there. Lurking.

But it wasn’t the flu.

As best I can tell, I was either bit by a spider (type unknown, but probably a black widow/brown recluse or one of those funnel web spiders) or a tick bite that was all hopped up on Lyme disease. Or maybe both.

Yuk.

So after a week of being Mr. Tough it out, I went to the doctors and got on antibiotics. NyQuil wasn’t cutting it, and I was having crazy dreams.

The doctor was hiarious. He said he sees this all the time. I.e. some moron coming in complaining of a spider bite because they have a mark on their body. People have come in for spider bites and had a “mole” diagnosis. As in, uh, thats a mole you moron.

But he did agree with me. It looked like a spider bite, and the symptoms were just as you’d expect. See here:

Regardless, he put me on some meds and I’ve been feeling much better. I did convince most of my kids I was going to get superpowers of one sort or another, but I ended up only really getting “Super Whiney Man” and “Pissy Husband” powers. Which didn’t impress.

And the funny thing is, the antibiotics have this weird side effect that makes you super sensitive to the sun. As in, stand it it for awhile and you’re skin starts to tingle and you feel really funny. Kinda like when you jump in a too hot shower and you scald your skin. Its like that.

Which sucks because I spend mucho time on my bike in the sun. So none of that for another @#$#@4 week while I deal with this...as I watch summer fade away.

More than a few people have told me I sound like I’m now becoming a vampire too. And I feel like it.

And that would explain my uncommon strength.

Welcome to Lightroom Tuesday.

This weekly post is aptly named, as each Tuesday I gather together the best presets, tips, tricks, tutorials from the Lightroom-o-sphere and post them for you, mes amis.

• Kubota Imaging Tools has released RPG SpeedKeys for LIghtroom. Here is a YouTube video. Spendy, but interesting.
• Sean McCormack has a nice How To tutorial for people wanting to watermark their photos using Timothy Armes’ LR2/Mogrify plugin. If you don’t have LR2/Mogrify, you’re missing out.
• Shhhh. Someone is getting it.
• If you’re still on an PowerPC, get over it and buy an intel Mac. Seriously. My first gen IntelMac has already gone to meet its maker after years and years of service. And now the LR team has announced that it won’t support non-intel Macs going forward. That they humored you powerpc goofballs as long as they did is amazing And if you’re using a monitor that supports less than 1280xwhatever, seriously, you’re dead to me.
• PresetHeaven pointed to a nice AdobeTV spot highlighting the time saving features in Lightroom.
• Michael Clark has released a new Adobe Lightroom ebook. Its for pay, and I have not looked at it, but bears looking into if you’re wanting some Lightroom book-love.
• Jim Goldstein presents his take on JPG vs. RAW (and DNG) for his workflow.
• CreativeTech presents an online, 10 week LIghtroom ecourse. Worth looking into.
• Ultimate free preset list for LIghtroom. You’re sure to find something interesting there...
• Lightroom vs. Aperture. I’m biased, so read this take on which is better. PS. Aperture has a few nice tools that Lightroom is missing...
• Lighroom-News.com interviews photographer David DuChemin

Not specifically LIghtroom-related, but worth a lookie...

• Scanning? Yeah, it still happens. X-Equals has a nice discussion on best practices.

Tags:Lightroom

Welcome to Lightroom Tuesday.

This weekly post is aptly named, as each Tuesday I gather together the best presets, tips, tricks, tutorials from the Lightroom-o-sphere and post them for you, mes amis.

• Panoramas from Lightroom. Very easy. Very cool.
• Photos from LIghtroom right to Facebook? You bet.
• Here is a take on Importing images into LIghtroom.
• Matt K on LIghtroom Killer Tips has a bunch of good stuff: Print Layout, Resetting Presets, Q&A day, Organizing by Date
• Rebecca Lilly shares her presets with you in a slightly odd way. PS: its called hyperlinking
• Christine Meintjes shares a few presets from her toolbox.
• Timothy Armes has a new Lightroom plugin - LR2/Gmail, which does exactly what you’d expect.
• How to simulate Infared photography with Lightroom.
• Here is a neat Virtual Copy trick from the Lightroom Blog and Victoria Bampton.
• How to create Diptychs in Lightroom.
• An interesting tip on Parent and subfolders...
• X= Blog has a great article on resolution you should look at if you print much...

Tags:Lightroom

Here are a few snaps of me in my hiking kilt.

Wore it all 5 days and won’t be going back to shorts anytime soon. 50 miles, one lake swim and more than one breezy ridge-line. Total comfort.

As Kip would say “Thats what I’m talking about”...

Teh awesomes...

In other news, my son wasn’t totally embarrassed.

I just got back from 5 days in the Goat Rocks Wilderness here in Washington.

Two words: Fan Tastic

There really are few words for how I feel after spending 5 days tromping around in the crown of these mountains. On most mornings we had at least one volcano staring us in the face. Yesterday, we had three: Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainer. The wildflowers were blooming, the sky was clear for hundreds of miles and the views caused repeated gasping by all in my little troop.

I mean, what more can you ask.

A quick peek, almost at random from the photos importing into Lightroom as I type this.

Much more to come...

Tags:Personal Work

I’ll be off backpacking this coming week, which means no blogging or twitter. Just walking, stopping, eating and sleeping.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Ed Abbey quotes:

"One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am-a reluctant enthusiast... a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards."

Amen brother.

PS. No Lightroom Tuesday either. Click the “Lightroom” Tag to see all past weeks and do some re-lookin.