Boston, Galleries, and Partnerships

In Boston yesterday and today for discussions about partnerships in a number of areas. More exciting, starting to move forward toward representation from one or more galleries here in the Northeast, and the the Southern US for my work in scenics and images from the natural world. We’ll see how it goes!

Offshore Breeze, San Simeon Sunset

Wash DC Seminar a Big Success

Sponsored by MEI Computing and HP, our session on “Taking Your Photography Business to The Next Level” drew over 100 attendees to the Visarts Center in Rockville. The agenda included new capture technology and color management techniques, getting the most out of your inkjet printer, fine art printmaking, succeeding in print competition, media selection, and hands-on printmaking from attendees image files. Originally scheduled from 9-430, we went overtime and finally finished up close to 8 pm. A great session – take a look at this photo!

Technorati – Reporting Issues

My blog is still inaccurately reported on Technorati, in my opinion. I had in the past considered Technorati to be one of the better services in the business.

Technical support and the so-called Get Satisfaction services not responding. I have written to both, inquiring about recent changes in the service and the impact on blog reporting.

I intend to withdraw from that service by Nov 10 if the problems in reporting, and the lack of response continue. Other bloggers are having the same problem – one can see these on the Get Satisfaction forum.

If your blog is on Technorati, I suggest that you check your listing and confirm that it is on track.

Blog Link: Why Finish Your Prints?

Today there are many new sprays and liquids that can applied to protect the entire print surface, as well as gels that can be applied either to the whole print or selected areas of the print for artistic effects. Plus, independent testing groups such as Wilhelm Imaging Research have shown that products such as Premier Eco Print Shield can extend the display life of a print….

For the rest of the story please follow this

Upcoming Seminar: Fotoweek, Nov 9, 2009, Taking Your Photography and Business To The Next Level

Tools of the Trade:  Taking your Photography & Business to the Next Level, Sponsored by HP and MEI Computer

Monday, November 9th at VisArts (Rockville Town Center) 155 Gibbs Street, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20850

9:00-10:30 – Studio Planning & Set-up, Physical Environment and Ergonomics, Lighting, Display/Monitor Selection.Discover the latest software and hardware the pros use to manage workflow and achieve consistent results. 

10:30-12:00 – Getting the Most Out of Your Inkjet Printer. Camera to printer workflow:  selecting a printer, accurate color previews, printing from image editing software.Media selection. Printer troubleshooting, print correction, archiving. 

12:00-1:00 – Lunch With featured printing demonstrations.

1:00-2:30 – Fine Art Printmaking plus Fine Art Reproduction.  Create Fine Art and Decor Prints for other photographers and galleries.  Learn price points, media types, how to work with galleries and organizations.Fine Art Reproduction, tools for Fine Art Reproduction 

2:30-3:30 – Succeeding in Print Competition  Avenues for Success: Choosing a competition, understanding print comp terms and conditions,  Selecting images, printing, what the judges want to see, and more. 

3:45pm-4:30PM Fine Art Media for Limited Editions. Matching Media and Client Needs, Media Types for Social Photography Commercial/Fine Art/Other Purposes   

4:30-Finish: Q&A & Printing. Participants are encouraged to bring a high resolution digital file to print.

For more information and registration please visit MEI Computer’s web sign up page.

Demo Equipment – One Time Only

All – Just finished the Tour 09 events in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. The sponsors are offering lightly used demo equipment at very good prices. If interested, please contact me via email, and I will put you in touch w/ the distributor.

 Please excuse the “commercial” message; I have had a number of inquiries already, and thought I’d share the info. This is a once or twice a year thing, at most. :)

 Best regards,

 

David Saffir

 

______________________________

  

Mamiya Dl28 kits (AFD III camera body, 80 mm lens, 28 MP Leaf Back) normal pricing $ 14,999 special pricing $ 10,999

Special closeout bonus $ 500-$1,000 in related “free goods” (please inquire)

 Tour Demo Eizo Color Edge monitor sales;

 CG241 w-bk normally $ 2,450 (price drop) special $ 1,799

Two units available for $ 1,299 that are factory refurbs from trade shows, with warranty

 CG243 w-bk normally $ 2,450 special $ 1,999

 CG301 W-BK normally $ 5,299 special $ 4,500

 Epson Expression 10000 XL-Photo Scanner with Transparency option

Normally priced at $ 2,999 special pricing at $ 2, 795

Epson Perfection V700 Photo Scanner

Normally priced at $ 599 special pricing at $ 479.99

Printer Demo Unit Specials from the Fall Tour;

One only; Epson 7900 – 24” normally $ 3,995 special demo unit with full warranty $ 3,495

Qualifies for $ 700 Epson end user rebate thru Oct 31st, act now!

One only; HP Z-3200-24” normally $ 3,895 special demo unit with full warranty $ 3,295

Qualifies for $500 show coupon, also Cash In and Trade Up of $500 Value $ 1,000 rebate!

One only; Canon ipf 6100-24” normally $ 2,895 special demo unit with full warranty $ 2,495

Qualifies for $ 400 end user rebate, and 1 set of 12 x 99ml extra inks! Total Value $ 1,300!

We still can write Premier Media Bonus of Buy 3 , get 1 FREE on any of these deals!

Misc. odds –n- endz deals;

X-Rite Eye One Display 2 show specials normally $249 special $ 199 while they last!

X-Rite Color Munki Photo normally $ 499, special $ 449 and qualifies for $50 coupon thru Dec. 31st

X-Rite Color Checker Passports, only $99, normally $ 129

Sekonic L358 light meters normally $299 special $ 259

Westcott Spyderlite TD-5 Window light kits ( stands, lights, softboxes and carry cases ) normally $ 1,650 special $ 1,495

Used demo X-Rite Eye One XT spectro kit special $ 999 (one only)

Used demo X-Rite Eye One IO spectro table $ 1,299 (one only)

Used table top GTI small light viewing booth $ $399 (one only)

NOTE: No refunds or exchanges, all sales final

 

 

Home At Last

Back home after four weeks of traveling. Been to Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, New York, and now back to California. I feel very lucky to have met so many interesting and talented photographers, artists, business people, curators and archivists, and others. The Tour 09 events hosted by a range of manufacturers (Canon, HP, Epson, Mamiya, and X-Rite, among others) and Digital2You taught many lessons, which I’ll share soon.

Pro Photo East was a bit smaller in scope than last year – but I’m sure that the number of photographers I talked with during various activities increased – and the intensity of interest in digital imaging and new developments has not diminished in the least. The HP exhibit was absolutely packed on every day – breaks were few and far between. I particularly enjoyed the evening session on Friday, where we heard presentations from photographers Joel Meyerowitz and Thomas Hoepker, and Eileen Gittens, president and CEO of Blurb.

Lot of new developments seen and experienced, and I will be posting info about these in the coming week. Some of the things in the hopper include print finishing, canvas mounting, new cameras, imaging software, a cool new printing rip, latex-based printers, medium format imaging, raw processing, and color management.

Last night our plane sat on the runway for almost four hours, waiting for a break in a very intense rainstorm.  I was quite glad to touch down at the LA airport later that night, however late, and return to Santa Clarita.

More to follow!

Medium Format Gaining on DSLRs – Part Two

I’ve received a number of emails and comments regarding changing attitudes among photographers regarding medium format digital vs. DSLRs. Seems to me, first of all, that it’s not about the equipment. My daddy used to say, “it’s not the car, it’s the nut behind the wheel”. That said, I find that I can often see the difference between medium format (MF) images I’ve created, and those taken with a DSLR. My own approach has changed quite a bit; I think it is fair to say that I use my MF cameras much more nowadays than the DSLRs.

Some of the things I notice are sharpness, resolution, acutance, dimensionality, subtleties in tone transitions, and detail in shadow/highlights. In some cases, a MF lens will also show a difference in bokeh (smoothness of out of focus areas). In all of these, excluding the last item, I feel it is a combination of factors that makes up one’s perception of “difference”. For example high acutance coupled with low resolution looks much different than a situation where both are high. (a typical look for the former is a so-called “over-sharpened” image with that crispy look with lots of edge halos). At the end of the day, images I’ve made with my MF cameras usually look quite different than those from the DSLR world – this is particularly the case when I’ve made a large print. The image below communicates some of these in spite of the limitations of computer screens. In print, it has amazing depth and dimensionality, and impressive detail in the leaves and textures in the rocks.

Columbia River Gorge

Hasselblad H-series camera body, P25 back, 100mm lens, f/11, approx one second exposure. It is true that one can make a very “sellable” image using a high-end DSLR. But can one achieve that look, that feeling of a unique image or print that one can almost walk right into? Doesn’t this affect both creative approach and one’s competitive position in an environment that challenges us all? And what about client’s perceptions? Haven’t many of use had the experience of a client choosing a photographer who owns MF digital vs DSLR? Does this set one apart from the pack? Thinking back, it’s made a difference for me – I’ve made far more money with MF than I ever have with my DSLRs. I’m working right now on a tour of seven cities, teaching use of MF digital cameras, high resolution printers, fine art printmaking, and art reproduction. The interest from photographers in MF is intense – something of a wake up call, in fact. More to follow.

Here’s a recent review of the Mamiya AFD III with the Leaf Aptus digital back.

Medium Format Gaining on DSLRs

A quick thought which I’ll write more about later in the week: in the latest series of workshops, I am getting a lot of feedback from photographers that they are re-evaluating the usefulness of medium format cameras vs. 35mm format DSLRs.

Prices are converging – for example, Mamiya is offering a 28MP digital back along with their state-of-the-art AFD III camera with an 80mm lens and Capture software for around 10-11k. The image quality pretty much kicks 35mm to the curb – and that competitive edge, along with the new pricing is getting a lot of attention.

Not too long ago I wrote a review of this camera, which you can see here.

Tour 09: Fine Art Printing and Fine Art Reproduction Update

We’ve been having a great time. We held our Tech Expo (day 1)  and Workshop Session (day 2) at the Denver Studio Complex and Denver Pro Photo. This was the first of seven events planned, ranging through Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.

The Tech Expo featured wide format printers from Canon, Epson, and HP, color management tools from X-Rite, displays from Eizo, cameras from Mamiya/Leaf, papers and print finishing products from Premier, lighting from Westcott, Eizo, and more!

The Tech Expo was very well attended, and we had reps from a number of companies present.

Dennis Halley (digital2you) was the primary host. During the course of the day, we fielded questions regarding inkjet printing, color management, print finishing, art reproduction, media selection, medium format cameras, and displays from Eizo.

We also had quite a bit of original artwork on hand, and print reproductions of many of these examples.

On day 2, we held our workshop on Fine Art Printmaking and Fine Art Reproduction. The session was very well attended; we had approximately 20 students in attendance.

We not only covered the “how to” aspects of fine art printmaking, we also got into the details of the business model for fine art printmaking, using your wide-format printer to make prints for other photographers, art reproduction, color management, print finishing, and more.

We had a complete fine art printmaking setup, and of course a studio setup for fine art repro:

I encourage you to attend one of the next sessions. We will be in Glenwood Springs, Santa Fe, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson, and Albuquerque.

To register for the workshop session, please go to the Digital2You web site here or CALL FOR DETAILS 303-934-2777

Pro Studio Lighting Review: Westcott Spiderlite TD-5

I have had the Westcott Spiderlite TD-5 lighting system in the studio for testing for the past couple of weeks. I’ve used them for art reproduction, still life/product photography, portraits, macro photography, and more.

 

We will have these lights with us during the upcoming Fine Art Printing and Art Reproduction seminar series and Tech Expo, starting later this week in Colorado, moving on from there to New Mexico and Arizona.

 

NEWS BULLETIN, JUST IN TODAY AT 1 PM PACIFIC TIME: X-Rite, one of the sponsors of the seminar series will provide an iOne Display 2 as a door prize/raffle gift at EACH seminar event. Seminar attendees are eligible to win this gift. One device will be given away at each event (approx retail value just under $200). 

 

I have used three cameras with these lights: my Hasselblad H-series with Phase One back, the Mamiya AFD III with Leaf digital back, and the Nikon D3. All did well.

 

 

The lights were provided in a kit, consisting of a transport bag, light stands, light heads, soft boxes, and a few accessories.

 

They provide great “window” lighting using the provided daylight corrected florescent bulbs, which are, according to the manufacturer, set to 5500K. I measured them myself with an iOne spectro, and both came in at 5400K. This is an absolutely insignificant difference, in my view.

 

The lights can also be adapted to other lighting – for example, strobe heads or tungsten halogen bulbs are easily installed.

 

The light heads are easy to adjust; the soft boxes rotate easily from landscape to portrait orientation, and multiple switches on the back of the light head permit use of varying light levels. The soft box mounting ring is built into the light head – very convenient.

 

 

My most color-critical application is art reproduction. Color in artwork is usually so complex that “getting it right in the camera” is extremely important. The even illumination of the lighting system, combined with correct color temperature makes this element of production much easier – and of course minimizes post-production woes.

 

We also recently held a “Hot Car and Motorcycle” photo shoot at the SCV Center for Photography. The TD-5 lights did a great job of rendering the color in our “guest” Porsche Carrera S convertible. (see earlier post). Also recently used them for some macro work - see below – same level of performance.

 

 

Dennis Halley (http://digital2you.cc) and I will have these lights with us on the Focus 09 seminar tour (fine art printing and art reproduction, plus tech expo)  starting later this week. We will be working in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. Join us for these seminars – you just might find a new way to improve business!

 

 

all images © David Saffir 2009

Image From Recent Hot Car Photo Shoot and Workshop

Red Porsche Carrera Convertible

Porsche Carrera Image by David Saffir

Taken at the SCV Center For Photography Sept 09, © D Saffir

Demo Eizo Monitors for Sale

We have two Eizo 24 inch monitors for sale at prices reduced far below new. These are the good ones, everybody (CGW 24). Contact me off-line for more info.

An Interesting Article: R.I.P. HDR

This article was written by my good friend Tom Hubbard. It has excited a lot of interest and commentary, and I think it will surprise you. I encourage you to look at it

as well as the preceding post. It is on the Portland Metro Photographic News. Here’s the link

David

HDR Tips and Tricks, Part One

HDR Tips and Tricks, Part One

Guest Author, Gavin Phillips

High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR) is a creative technique in which you combine 3-5-7 images shot at different exposures, which are then merged into a single image. The advantages are far more detail, vibrant color and control of lighting than you could ever achieve by manipulating a single JPG or RAW image in Photoshop.

 

 

Taking an HDR image

 

You need at least 3-shots to create an HDR image.  With three shots you would have 1 shot regularly exposed, 1-shot  2-stops overexposed and 1- shot  2 stops underexposed. Most point and shoot cameras allow you to change exposure settings. Advanced point and shoots and DSLR’s have a bracketing mode. This makes it easier to take sets of HDR images.

 

Bracketing

 

With bracketing, you can set-up sets of shots to be taken at different exposure levels automatically. Once set-up,  all  you do is hold down the ‘fire’ button and it will automatically run through the 3-5-7 shots at the exposure levels you set-up.

 

For most of your HDR, you will require a tripod to eliminate any camera movement between the shots.

You can take HDR sets handheld, but you must be leaning against a railing or wall in order to keep the camera perfectly still during the shots.

 

 

 

JPG or RAW?

 

You can work with JPG or RAW images. It’s preferable to shoot RAW if your camera supports that format. Shooting in RAW gives you more editing flexibility. And Photoshop’s Camera RAW filter is constantly being updated to support different cameras manufacturers RAW settings.  

 

Merging your images with Photomatix

 

Although Photoshop does have a ‘merge to hdr’ feature, there is a better way to go for the merging and tone-mapping of your HDR sets. Photomatix is the program I use to merge my sets of HDR. It is easy and intuitive to use, and gives you great control over your image. All the images in this article were processed with Photomatix.  It is also available as a free trial download, so you can try before you buy. 

 

Photographing people with HDR

 

You can photograph people with HDR selectively.  This expands the ways in which you can utilize the benefits of HDR. For weddings, I take some HDR at the church. This captures the occasion in a way I could never achieve otherwise.

 

 

 

Avoiding oversaturation or surreal HDR

 

It’s important to remember that you have complete control over your image.  It is easy to stay within a regular color range but still gain a significant advantage by using HDR. You have to watch you do not overdo it with skies in particular. I usually keep the saturation slider in Photomatix  between 50-60.

 

The same is true for the overly processed ‘look’ that I often see on Flickr. There is a place for going in a different direction creatively with certain images. But you do not want all your images processed this way. On the other hand,  you do not want to be so conservative with your HDR that it looks virtually the same as a regular image. 

 

 

Creative Freedom

 

There are no limits on your creativity. I use a full range of Photoshop adjustment layers, filters, masking and plugins to go in many different directions with certain photographs.  We have so many amazing creative tools to work with today; I’m not going to limit myself to staying within a regular photograph all the time.  As the late famous photographer Fred Picker stated, ‘Photographers owe nothing to reality.’

 

I offer my clients both types of images. This increase sales and gives them more creative and marketing ideas. It also allows you to sell these unique images at art fairs and online.

 

                                    

 

 

Gavin Phillips is a nationally-recognized author and educator in the field of High Dynamic Range Photography. Some important links for more info:

 

Webinars for HDR:

http://www.photoeffects.biz/hdrtrain.html

 

Photoeffects:

 

Photoshop ‘actions’/movies 7-sets
http://www.photoeffects.biz/colors.html

Lightroom Presets 2-sets,
http://www.photoeffects.biz/bwpreset.html

My readers and subscribers are qualified for a 10% discount. Use the coupon code SAFFIR.

I have upcoming Fine Art Printing and Fine Art Reproduction seminars in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. These one-day intensive sessions start at the beginning of October 09. For more information, go here.

 

 

 

 

 

Camera Test: Mamiya 645AFD III Camera and the Leaf Aptus DL-28 Digital Back

I recently received a Mamiya 645AFD III medium-format camera to test, accompanied by a Leaf Aptus II DL-28 digital back, and several lenses. 

 

I’m going to report on my experiences with this camera, starting with an overview and first impressions in this post. In subsequent posts, I’ll cover a variety of shooting situations (in studio and on-location), image quality, and the Leaf Capture software and its performance. Note that this is one of the cameras we will be using on the upcoming Focus 09 Fine Art Printing and Art Reproduction Seminar Tour October 2-21.

 

The camera arrived in the original packaging, which is well designed, protecting the camera quite well.

 

Ergonomics are top-notch; the camera is well balanced, and controls are logically placed and fall easily under one’s fingers – in short, it just feels good. 

 

Camera, lens, and digital back build quality is excellent. This is clearly a pro-level camera, robust materials and construction.

 

In the next image, basic features are marked by the numbers. Number 1 is located next to the shutter release, and shutter controls: single, continuous, mirror-up, and lock. Number 2 shows the settings screen, which indicates battery life, aperture/shutter speed, and the like. Number 3 shows the dial which controls shooting mode – Aperture priority, shutter priority, program/auto, manual, X, and custom function. Number 4 indicates the digital back, 5 the stylus used to activate controls on the back.

 

 

 

 

Controls on the front of the camera include depth of field preview, and a focus mode selector (single, continuous, manual).

 

The camera is powered by AA batteries, which is a plus in terms of cost as compared to camera bodies which require more expensive 123 batteries.

 

 

 

Mamiya lenses have a strong reputation for build and image quality. Focusing rings are well-dampened, and autofocus lenses are quick and quiet.

 

Some specs on the digital back: 28MP, which produces a >150MB file @ 16 bits. The sensor size is 44×33mm, and offers  ISO ratings of 50-800. Pixel pitch is 7.2 microns, which is larger than, for example, the Nikon D3x which features 5.9. Dynamic range is reported to be 12 stops.

 

So far, I’ve used the camera mostly in-studio, with a couple of short sessions outdoors. To this point, the in-camera meter has been accurate, handling high-contrast situations accurately. More to follow on this topic.

 

The camera may be used shooting to a CF card, or tethered to a computer. The days of using an attached hard drive are gone. The battery mounts underneath the camera back, which I find convenient as it helps balance things when using longer lenses.

 

The digital back shoots at 1/fps. It has an excellent, bright viewing screen, 6×7cm, which has very good contrast and color. It can be viewed outdoors, but direct sun is a challenge. In-studio it is, in a word, stunning.

 

A feature of the Aptus digital back is it not only provides a preview and histogram of the image – it is a touch-screen controller for the camera, controlling quite a few functions.

 

In short, one can set up the parameters of the shot, from color space to pre-sharpening to pre-set camera profiles – all with a tap of the included stylus.

 

Now some have criticized this for being “too complex”, or “too fancy”, and I just can’t agree. It is much quicker than push-button driven controls, and the menus are clear and pretty easy to follow.

 

For example, one can set up the camera to provide a simple image preview, image preview with histogram in the corner of the image, or histogram overlaid on the image. Quite flexible and useful.

 

 

 

 

 

RAW file format is now compatible with Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture. I applaud the company’s approach to open architecture – makes it much easier to work in a variety of circumstances and locations. We don’t always have control of the resources available to us in the field!

 

Image quality is excellent. Although the camera provides ISO settings up to 800, as a practical matter image quality begins to suffer at 400, and has significant color and luminance noise at 800, even in bright light. To be fair, this camera was designed for lighting-controlled situations – ie, ISO 50-100.

 

I used the camera in studio to capture some macro shots of an orchid. We used the new Westcott Westcott TD-5 lights with daylight-balanced fluorescent bulbs installed. (a check with a spectrophotometer shows these to be dead-on at 5500k).

 

The macro lens is a 120mm f/4 model, updated with a 16-bit CPU. The focusing ring is smooth, perhaps a little heavy to turn. I’d like to see a little less pressure needed, and a better turn ratio for close focusing – after all, this is a manual focus lens. Having said this, I had no trouble at all focusing the lens. (There is a very accurate focusing indicator in the viewfinder).

 

Image quality is superb. On macro shots, I recommend using a sturdy tripod or studio stand, and mirror-up mode for maximum clarity. 

 

The image below shows an orchid photographed in-studio, with a cutout at 100% to demonstrate sharpness. The white “fuzz” you see isn’t sharpening artifact, it’s part of the flower!

 

 

I’ll be photographing a number of subjects this week, including some acrylic paintings for a fine art reproduction project that just came in. More to follow!

 

 

*****

 

We’ll be working live with this camera, among others, at the upcoming Fine Art Printing and Fine Art Reproduction seminars in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. These one-day intensive sessions start at the beginning of October 09. For more information, go here.

 

 

 

 

Take a look at Daniel J Cox’ Web Site – Wildlife and Nature Photography

Dan is one of those photographers who has “the gift” for nature, wildlife, and other photography. His images appear around the world, in a wide range of publications. He also offers a number of excellent field workshops, including his famous Polar Bear expeditions, Kenya, the Everglades, and more! I strongly encourage you to visit his web site – articles, images, and workshop listings abound!! :) He’s a good friend, and an excellent teacher and communicator – you’re sure to gain in your photography and your portfolio.

http://www.naturalexposures.com/corkboard/

http://www.naturalexposures.com/photography-tours-and-events/

Natural Exposures
707 Bridger Drive, Suite D
Bozeman, Montana 59715
Ph: 406-556-8212

New Blog Announcement: Focus 09 – Digital Fine Art Printing and Art Reproduction Seminars

New Blog Announcement

 

Focus 09: Digital Fine Art Printing and Art Reproduction Seminars

Focus 09: Digital Fine Art Printing and Art Reproduction Seminars

Instructor: David Saffir

In October 2009, we begin a new tour and seminar series: Fine Art Printing and Photographic Reproduction. This series provides an in-depth review of the subject from several viewpoints: first, for photographers wishing to make fine art prints, and second, for curators, galleries, and other organiztions in dealing with artists and their work in the context of creating open- and limited reproduction editions of their artwork. Third, for artists who wish to expand their marketing efforts and created editions of their work for exhibition and sale.

Beginning October 2, 2009, and continuing through October 20th, the Tour covers seven cities in three states (Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico).

Designed for photographers, artists, galleries, printmakers, students, and organizations this series provides a number of learning experiences:        read more.

Fall Into New England – A Photographers’ Seminar (reminder)

Fall Into New England – A Photographers’ Seminar Friday Oct 9- Saturday Oct 17 Instructor: April Bielefeldt

April Bielefeldt is a nationally-recognized, award winning photographer. She has lived in several areas of the country, but New England continues to be her favorite photographic destination. She has led photography sessions in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire in the past five years with great success. She has a degree in Fine Art and Design, and has curated both art and photography exhibitions.

Read on – this is an opportunity you shouldn’t miss!

Manage and Archive Photos using Lightroom On-Disk Organization – Part Three

by guest author Robert Ash

Introduction

Our first installment discussed an on-disk organization method that allows you to organize your photos in a way you can use any program you choose to find and view them easily. Our second installment discussed importing your photos into Adobe ® Lightroom®.

In this article we will discuss using Lightroom to manage your on-disk organization, plus show you a folder naming practice that makes it possible to use in a clever way a powerful Lightroom 2 feature – Smart Collections.

Overview

Key principles for organizing photos in Lightroom are:

• First organize on-disk (Installment 1). Again, this will make your file organization largely if not completely independent of what file browsing or organization software you use – Lightroom, Bridge, your camera manufacturer’s or another program like Aperture or CaptureOne. It will also drastically reduce the number of keywords you need, and may even eliminate your need for keywords.
• Import into Lightroom (Installment 2). Use Lightroom to transfer your photos from card to temporary folders on disk, where they’re faster to work with. Import those temporary folders into Lightroom (Installment 2).
• Organize your folders in Lightroom (this Installment). Use Lightroom to move photos from your temporary folders to their final destinations.
• Then create Collections. Lightroom Collections enable you to store a single photo or group of photos in multiple classification categories simultaneously, using on-disk organization alone cannot do this efficiently.
• Finally, do keywording if needed.

Summary

To organize your folders and imported photos using Lightroom:

Go into Lightroom’s Folders Panel

Import photos from memory card into temporary folder 0-ImportThesePhotos

If all your imported photos in folder 0-ImportThesePhotos will go in the same destination folder, select them all. If not, then select one subset of them at a time and repeat the following steps until finished:

• Select a subset of photos
• Move your selected photos to a folder
• Go to Folders panel
• If the folder you want exists, right-click on it and choose Move Selected Photos to this Folder
• If the folder you want does not exist, create it then move the select photos to it
• Optional: Create a Collection or Smart Collection with the same name as the folder (see clever shortcut in Details section below)

Details

Import photos to a temporary folder 0-ImportThesePhotos per Installment 2 of this series. Next, use the Folders panel (left side of Lightroom’s Library module) to manage your on-disk folders. This is more efficient than using a folder browser (e.g. Windows Explorer or Mac’s file browser) to organize your folders.

Selecting a Subset of your imported Photos

In the folders panel click on your temporary folder, e.g. 0-ImportThesePhotos. You’ll see all the photos you just imported. Select some photos to put into a folder (or select them all if they’re all going into the same folder). To select all the photos from a first photo (e.g., photo_01) to a final photo (e.g., photo_50) and all the photos in between:

• Click on the first photo (photo_01)
• Scroll to the last photo (photo_50)
• Shift-Click on the last photo. All photos from 01-50 will be selected
• To skip over photos or choose photos here and there, or to un-select one, use Ctrl-click (Cmd-click on Mac) on each photo
• Your Lightroom panel should like similar to this. All the highlighted photos will be moved into the same long-term destination folder (the gray one was un-selected with Ctrl-click (Cmd-click on Mac) as described:

Moving your selected Photos to a Folder

My selected photos are from the Columbia River Highway in Oregon. I don’t yet have an Oregon folder on disk. As I shared in Part 1 On-Disk Organization, my top-level folders are Locations, Nature, People, Events, Other Subjects, Personal Projects, 0-Personal&Family. So to organize my Columbia River, Oregon photos I do the following:

• Click on Folders to reveal the Folders panel
• Click on Locations to show the Locations sub-folders
• Right-click on Locations > America-USA
• Choose Create Folder Inside ”America-USA”
• Name the folder Oregon
• Right-click on Locations > America-USA > Oregon
• Choose Create Folder Inside “Oregon”
• Name the folder ColumbiaRiverHighway

Note that we do not include spaces in the file name. That is because of a Lightroom limitation in Smart Collections (more details in next installment). I could stop here but because this is a location I’ll almost certainly visit again I’ll go down another level:

• Right-click on the folder ColumbiaRiverHighway and choose Create Folder Inside ‘ColumbiaRiverHighway’
• Name the folder 2009ColumbiaRiverHighway
• Check the box Include Selected Photos to move the selected photos to this folder
• Click on the Create button and watch it go!
• Creating a Smart Collection with the Same Name as your new Folder
• Optional but recommended. Here’s a trick to make doing that easier:
• Copy the folder name:
• Right-click on the folder 2009ColumbiaRiverHighway and choose Rename
• Right-click on the highlighted folder name 2009ColumbiaRiverHighway then choose Copy,
• Now hit Esc to cancel – the folder name 2009ColumbiaRiverHighway is now stored in memory

Here is what your dialogue box should look like when creating a Smart Collection that will automatically pull into itself all the photos in the folder you will name the Smart Collection after:

Create a Smart Collection (you can click on the ‘+’ sign by the Collections panel name and choose Create Smart Collection)

Name the Smart Collection with the folder name 2009ColumbiaRiverHighway by doing Paste into the Smart Collection dialogue box’s Name field.

• In the Set droplist, choose a Collection Set where the Smart Collection will reside or just leave it at the default value – None.
• Leave the Match droplist at its default – All. In the box below the Match droplist you’ll see a droplist that says Rating:
• Change that first droplist value from Rating to Filename
• Select Starts With in the 2nd droplist then you’ll see a 3rd droplist
• Paste the folder name 2009ColumbiaRiverHighway into the 3rd droplist and click the Create button.

Your photos from 2009ColumbiaRiverHighway should all show up automatically in your Smart Collection. If they don’t, then change the 2nd droplist to read Ends With (Smart Collections can be temperamental). Make sure you have no leading or trailing or embedded spaces or other characters in the Smart Collection name.

Moving the next set of your imported Photos – and the next….

The next subset of photos in my temporary folder 0-ImportThesePhotos is still in Oregon, but consists of photos captured while travelling south along the coast on Highway 101. To move these to the correct folder I did the following:

• Return to the Folders panel
• Right-click on the folder Locations > America-USA > Oregon
• Choose Create Folder Inside “Oregon”
• Name it Highway101Oregon (I specify Oregon because Highway 101 also goes through California and Washington – I take pictures on that highway in all these states)
• Right-click on Highway101Oregon and choose Create Folder Inside “Highway101Oregon”
• Name the new folder 2009Highway101Oregon
• Optional but recommended: Create a corresponding Smart Collection as described above. Again, more details about Collections in the next installment.

Robert Ash heads a global team at a leading technology company. He has 15 years of experience with large-scale data environments and has worked with some of the largest data warehouses in the world. All statements and opinions are the author’s own, not those of any company or other party. This approach is the author’s personal approach to photo organization. The material in his articles is not guaranteed or warranted to work for any purpose or in any environment besides the author’s. The author is not an Adobe employee.

Fashion and Glamour Photography Seminar Sept 12

Fashion and Glamour Photography Seminar, Sept 12, 2009

Instructor: David Saffir

 

Location: Santa Clarita Valley Center for Photography, 28368 Constellation Road, 

Santa Clarita, CA 91355

 

We will have two professional models and a pro makeup artist on hand.

 

Fashion and Glamour Seminar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agenda:

 

Intermediate-level class intended for advanced amateurs, aspiring professionals, and working pros.

One-day intensive, includes live shoot and Photoshop classroom work

Two models, professional makeup artist

 

First Segment: (9-12:00): live shoot, preceded by discussion of pre-shoot prep, choosing a “look”, hair/makeup considerations (mostly logistics, such as stylists), venue, lighting, props.

 

Second Segment ( approx 1-2:30): continue live shoot, variations on style such as high vs low key, style changes, etc.

 

Third Segment: (3-5pm)

- Importing images

- Basic editing in Camera RAW (demo of Phase One software)

- Macro-to-micro editing in Photoshop

- Special effects and problem solving

- Finishing up

- Client presentation

- Basic printing tutorial

- Making test prints (live)

 

Fee: $195, plus small ticketing fee. Class size limited.

 

To complete your reservation, use this link to visit Evenbrite ticketing.

 

Thanks, and see you there!

Selected Comments and Responses

I get a number of comments each month that ask great questions – so I thought that once or twice a month I would post the question, and a brief reply, so that we could all read them without scrolling until our fingers get blisters :)

Here’s a couple, more to follow: (I have edited to keep things space requirements manageable). The first theme this month is art, and art reproduction:

Q1:

(I have been told that there is ) software that will fix the single sheet feed problems on the Designjet Z3100-I would like to know how I can obtain this software.

Answer:

I believe the sheet-feeding issues can be solved through a firmware upgrade. It has been about a year since I looked at this issue, and I know that HP moves resources on its web site from time to time- so the best thing to do is to go to the main HP Graphics portal, and search for z3100 and a combination of parameters such as sheet feeding, firmware update, and the like. You can also contact Jack directly through his web site at duganne.com.

 PS – depending on the size of the sheet – if the sheet edges are not ’square’, you’ll have issues. It you can trim the sheet to 90 degrees on each angle, many of your issues will be addressed.

Q2

In the capture process, do you use a black surround to envelope the artwork and then direct the two lights at 45 degree angle from both sides into the inside of the surround toward the artwork? Do you use polarizing filters over the lights as well as on the lens? I have not used the surround yet but other photographers have said that I should. Maybe that’s why not all my colors are perfectly reproduced.

 Answer:

In capture, I usually use a dark neutral grey, or black surround. Color bounce is a big, big, headache. The angle of the lights depends on the reflectivity of the artwork. W/ the HP Artist software, one can light the artwork from one side only. I do not normally use polarizers; however, I do not hesitate to use additional lights and change the arrangement to use a shallower angle, lighting for fill and to kill reflections, etc. Hope this helps.

PS – remember to protect the lens using flags or other barriers – lighting that spills directly past the lens shade will help kill color and contrast.