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Getting Seen and Going Pro - Professional Photography Workshop
By Scott on June 17, 2009  |  Comments 0

Getting Seen and Going Pro - Professional Photography Workshop

Have you ever thought about getting your images into a magazine or a gallery or a calendar? Have you thought about doing a book but you didn’t know how to go about it? Maybe the thought of earning some money with your images has crossed your mind but you didn’t know where to start? Or you started but your images were rejected and then you gave up. Or maybe you are just stuck in a rut and you want a little inspiration. It sure can be frustrating if you don’t know what you are doing or what the tricks of the trade are.

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Proper Exposure With a Digital Camera
By David on June 15, 2009  |  Comments 5

Proper Exposure With a Digital Camera

The digital camera’s sensor does not see the world the way our eyes do. With our eyes, brightness and tonal variation are linear, but for the camera this scale is logarithmic. Basically, this means that the camera can record lots of tonal variation at the brightest end of the spectrum but it captures very little tonal variation at the darker end.

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Converting Digital Camera Raw Files to the Dng Format using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
By David on June 07, 2009  |  Comments 0

Converting Digital Camera Raw Files to the Dng Format using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

I am a big fan of the Dng raw file format. Dng files hold all of their metadata internally without the need for separate external .xmp sidecar files. I believe that is a huge advantage over the proprietary, camera-brand specific, raw files that my digital camera creates. In my workflow smarter files are worth the extra step that it takes to turn a camera brand specific raw file into a Dng raw file. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom makes this conversion, this re-wrapping of the raw sensor data, super easy.

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Cleaning a Digital SLR Camera
By David on June 05, 2009  |  Comments 0

Cleaning a Digital SLR Camera

Dust spots on the sensor are annoying. Fixing spots in Photoshop or in Lightroom is time consuming. Most modern digital SLR cameras feature an internal cleaning feature that works up to a certain point. Sadly, even the best internal cleaning system is no match for this dusty, dirty world. Sooner or later, you are going to need to clean the camera yourself. Read on to learn about my favorite sensor cleaning equipment.

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Digital Camera File Formats: Raw and Jpeg
By David on June 04, 2009  |  Comments 0

Digital Camera File Formats: Raw and Jpeg

Most digital SLR cameras can record images using either a Raw or a Jpeg file format. Both formats have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is up to you to decide which option is the most appropriate for the way that you work and for the equipment that you have at your disposal. Of the two formats, Raw is both the most straightforward and, ironically, the most complex.

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Using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to Copy New Images in from a Memory Card
By David on May 29, 2009  |  Comments 4

Using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to Copy New Images in from a Memory Card

I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to copy new photographs from my digital camera memory cards into my computer. This is a critical step, and it is one of the first tasks that you will do with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Once you get everything setup, Lightroom makes transfering files from my memory card to the computer easy. Read on for a basic description of how I use Lightroom to empty my memory cards.

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Reader Question: Why does Lightroom tell me that my raw files are damaged but they work just fine in the Adobe Bridge?

Reader Question: “When I insert my flash card into my card reader, and try to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to import my new files, I get a message that tells me that they are damaged. I tried opening the same files using the Adobe Bridge and they worked just fine. What is happening?”

If you are experiencing this problem please read this post. It might solve your problems!

Lightroom 2.4 and Adobe Camera Raw 5.4 Available

Lightroom 2.4 and Adobe Camera Raw 5.4 Available

The free update to Lightroom 2, version 2.4, is now available from Adobe. To install the update, go to your Help menu in Lightroom and choose Check for Updates…

Are you getting all the news?

Are you getting all the news?

If you’re seeing this, you’re probably a Lightroom user. If you’re a Lightroom user, you probably want all the latest Lightroom news, tips, tutorials, and more handy whenever you need them. If you want that, then you need to make sure that you’re signed up for TheLightroomLab.com updates by Email.

Fill out the form in this post, or use our RSS feed.

Shameless Self-Promotion: My Ski Photography

Shameless Self-Promotion: My Ski Photography

I just put this video slideshow of my ski photography up on the web. You can watch it here in HD, or you can download the full-size mp4 from Vimeo.com. If you like it, please feel free to share it with your friends. Hope you enjoy it!

Worldwide Photo Walk - Missoula, MT

Worldwide Photo Walk - Missoula, MT

I’ll be hosting Scott Kelby’s 2nd Annual Worldwide Photowalk event in Missoula, MT this year. If you’re around July 18th, 2009, you’ll definitely want to be a part of this event!

Read more about it and find out where to register in this article.

Recommended Reading: My favorite Lightroom and Photoshop CS4 Books

My students often ask for book recommendations. Here’s a link to all of my favorite Lightroom and Photoshop books.

Apple’s WWDC 2009 Announcements

Apple’s WWDC 2009 Announcements

There were no netbooks, but Apple’s keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference this morning was full of fun announcements.

Read on for all the juicy details.

Digital Daily Dose

Digital Daily Dose

The Digital Daily Dose blog by Laura Shoe is a simple and helpful website with Lightroom, Photoshop and Digital Camera information for photographers.

WWDC Wrap-Up Coming this Evening…

WWDC Wrap-Up Coming this Evening…

I’ll be publishing an article this evening that will highlight some of the items discussed at today’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote presentation so be sure and check back tonight or in the morning.

Subscribe to our feed to make sure you stay up to date on all of our latest posts.

Alltop - Top Lightroom News

I just wanted to mention briefly that TheLightroomLab.com is now featured on Alltop’s Lightroom page.

Alltop is an “online magazine rack” of popular topics, updated every hour. It’s sort of like an online feed reader, but the sources are preselected for you. They have pages on topics ranging from Anime to Zoology, and LOTS in between.

Apple releases Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.6

Apple releases Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.6

Apple has released a software update to address support for camera RAW files.

Check out this article for a list of affected cameras.

Firewire Connectors: A Profusion of Plugs

Firewire Connectors: A Profusion of Plugs

What to do if you have a Firewire 400 drive and need to connect it to a Mac that only has a Firewire 800 port? Or, say you have a Firewire 400 6-pin full size plug but need to connect to a PC laptop’s mini Firewire port?

Answer: Get the right cable or plug adapter!

The Mega-Important Automatically Write Changes into XMP Switch

The Mega-Important Automatically Write Changes into XMP Switch

Today’s article is all about the “Automatically write changes into XMP” switch which lives inside of the Metadata tab. When I teach classes, I call this the “happiness vs. unhappiness switch” and from the factory it is set to unhappiness! The good folks at Adobe make fantastic software, but they don’t always pick the best words for their buttons and knobs. “Automatically write changes into XMP” should have been labeled “Auto-Save.”

Setting Preferences in Lightroom 2– Updated Now with Video!

Setting Preferences in Lightroom 2– Updated Now with Video!

Lightroom has the power to be the photographic computer program that you spend the vast majority of your time in. Because of this, you want to make sure that you’ve tweaked it to perform just the way you want it to.

Check out this article for descriptions of each of the preference settings, as well as my recommendations for each.

How to get your Lightroom Catalog onto an External Hard Drive

Today’s tutorial is on how to get your Lightroom Catalog files onto an external hard drive. This process of moving an existing Catalog, or creating a brand new Catalog, on an external drive is one of the very first things that we do in my Lightroom workshops. I know that this process is not one of the most interesting part of digital photography, but I truly believe that the long-term benefits are worth the extra hassle. Please read this tutorial and watch the video to find out how I move my Catalog files from drive to drive.