Lightroom HDR simulation and desaturation templates

In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned a quick and easy way to simulate HDR from a single image in Lightroom. That post was a popular one, and I have had a few requests for the preset, so I have decided to post it here.

I am also including a simple desaturation preset to give you one-click desaturation of an image to give you a base for a black and white photo. This is one of my most used presets. I don't know why Adobe doesn't include this as a standard preset.

HDR simulation preset
Desaturation preset

Matt Kloskowski has an excellent video on installing presets over on his Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips site.

Lightroom 2 Released

Adobe released Lightroom 2 early this morning. This is Adobe's first 64-bit program for Mac and Windows. The full version is $299, but existing Lightroom owners can upgrade for $99.

If you are a NAPP member, don't forget to take advantage of your 15% member discount. See the member area of the NAPP website for details.

The original Lightroom came with a decent manual, so I went ahead and ordered the boxed product to see if they delivered a good manual again.

In the meantime, I installed the 30-day trial. It installed without a hitch and upgraded my existing Lightroom library. This will tide me over until I receive the boxed product to get my product activation key.

Photos make great Christmas gifts

It's been a while since I've posted something photography related. I did get the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Image Stabilizer USM lens, but the weather has been so bad/cold here that I haven't had a chance to get out and use it yet. Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be sunny and around 65 F, so I am taking those days off from work to get out and enjoy the warmer weather and make use of this monster.

For Christmas, I usually do something photography related for my family. I usually create a calendar for my parents and sister. Last year the calendar was all photos that I had taken over the course of the year.

This year, I decided to do something different with the calendar. I have been teaching myself photo restoration and have made a project of restoring several boxes of my mother's old photos. For this year's calendar, I chose my sister and I as the theme. I sifted through 38 years of photos and picked out about 24 of my favorites to restore for the calendar. It was quite a time intensive project, but it turned out very nice and my sister and parents loved it!

I also chose to restore a 37 year old portrait of my grandparents (who are no longer with us) to give to my mother, her sisters (my aunts), and each of the grandchildren (my sister and cousins). I think that this really moved them. They had this picture already, but it was old and faded. I was glad that I could bring them so much joy and memories. This was a tough project because of the state of the photo, but I think my hard work on it paid off.

I used an Epson Perfection V700 Photo scanner, VueScan scanning software, Adobe Lightroom, and Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended for all photo restoration work.

Hopefully I will have some photos to share on Monday or Tuesday. I will probably hit the National Zoo and the Smithsonian area in Washington D.C.. I may even head out to Arlington National Cemetery. I haven't been out there in a few months.

Lightroom 1.3.1 and Camera RAW 4.3.1 updates

Tom Hogarty at Lightroom Journal brings word that Adobe has released two new updates today: Lightroom 1.3.1 (Mac, Win) and Camera RAW 4.3.1 (Mac, Win).

The update includes additional camera support for the Canon 1Ds Mark III, Nikon D3, Nikon D300, Olympus E-3, and more. It also provides updated Mac OS X 10.5.1 Leopard support.

There are still issues with running Lightroom and Time Machine simultaneously.

Lightroom 1.3.1 update

Lightroom 1.3.1 includes additional corrections for the following issues:
(These issues are specific to the 1.3.1 update. Lightroom 1.3.1 also includes all of the previous updates listed for Lightroom 1.3 below)

• The Lightroom 1.3 Print Module could previously cause the application to crash on either OS X 10.5 or 10.5.1 during template usage.
• On Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.5.1, the import process from a card reader or other device into Lightroom could fail to import all or a portion of the selected images.
• A decrease in Develop slider responsiveness introduced in Lightroom 1.3 has been corrected.
• The Lightroom 1.3 Develop module could cause the application to crash if adjustments were made in quick succession.
• Compressed raw files from the Nikon D100 were read incorrectly in Lightroom 1.3.
• A possible artifact in raw file support for the Olympus E-3 has been corrected.
• The Lightroom FTP Plug-in provided as sample code with the Export SDK did not function properly if the password was not saved with the selected FTP preset.
• Editing or creating a new FTP preset immediately prior to using the FTP plug-in provided as sample code with the Export SDK would cause the FTP process to fail.
• Using the Export as Previous option did not work with the FTP plug-in provided as sample code with the Export SDK.

Camera RAW and DNG Converter 4.3.1 update

• Compressed raw files from the Nikon D100 were read incorrectly in Camera Raw 4.3
• A possible artifact in Camera 4.3 raw file support for the Olympus E-3 has been corrected

Adobe updates Lightroom, Photoshop CS3, and Camera RAW

Adobe released a cornucopia of updates today for Lightroom, Photoshop CS3, and Adobe Camera RAW today. I have installed each of these updates on my Mac Pro OS X 10.5.1 Leopard system and haven't seen any adverse effects (knock on wood).

Lightroom 1.3

(Download: Mac / Win)

From the release notes:

Lightroom 1.3 includes corrections for the following issues:

• Writing XMP metadata automatically has been corrected for performance issues
• Printing with the native resolution option enabled no longer sets the wrong dimension for portrait oriented images
• Prior to Camera Raw 4.3 there was the possibility that artifacts in edge transitions could be introduced through the
• Bayer demosaic and luminance noise reductions algorithms. This has been corrected.
• The Canon sRAW format and the Fuji compressed RAF formats are now supported.

Lightroom 1.3 includes the following enhancements:

• The import dialog now offers the option to render 1:1 previews as part of the import process
• The export dialog layout has been enhanced
• A Lightroom Preview Export SDK is available for developers to create and distribute Export Plug-ins. Further details
• are located on Adobe Labs

This update improves support for OS X 10.5 Leopard, however Time Machine was nowhere to be found in the release notes. When I questioned Tom Hogarty (Lightroom Project Manager) about this, he had this response:

"I would still recommend not running Time Machine backup or restore operations while Lightroom is in use. I'll have more details as soon as they're available."

Keep an eye on Adobe's Lightroom Insider blog for more on this topic.

Lightroom Export SDK: The Lightroom team has also released an Export SDK to allow developers to create and distribute Export Plug-ins. It includes plug-in sample code for a Flickr and FTP plug-in. This holds great potential and I am excited to see what the development community produces. The SDK can be downloaded from the Adobe Labs website.

Adobe Camera RAW 4.3

(Download: Mac / Win)

Support for the following cameras has been added. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.

• Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
• Canon PowerShot G9
• Nikon D3
• Nikon D300
• Olympus E-3
• Olympus SP-560 UZ
• Panasonic DMC-L10

Adobe Photoshop 10.0.1 update for Adobe Photoshop CS3

(Download: Mac / Win)

The most significant fixes in the Photoshop 10.0.1 update include the following:

• The speed of moving objects contained within multiple layer sets has been improved.
• Converting images to CMYK using certain profiles no longer results in black files.
• The Save for Web feature now includes an option to "Include XMP" (metadata) in the settings menu within the main Save for Web interface, making the existing capability easier to access.
• When using Save For Web with "Include XMP" enabled, all XMP data is now included in the optimized file.
• Print color matching has been improved.
• Images saved as DICOM and reopened in Photoshop CS3 are no longer corrupted on PowerPC based Mac computers.

Lightroom update coming mid-November

Lightroom Product Manager Tom Hogarty announced news of a Lightroom update coming in mid-November to address compatibility issues with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

"As noted in Adobe’s Leopard FAQ the current version of Lightroom 1.2 is not fully compatible with Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5. The good news is that we’ll be releasing an update in mid-November that will address key compatibility issues. In the interim, the following list describes areas where photographers may encounter problems with Lightroom 1.2 on Leopard:

• The Print module may not load
• The Import dialog and other dialogs can “disappear” below Lightroom’s main window. The dialog can be retrieved by switching to another application and then returning to Lightroom.
• Lightroom’s web module may not provide a visual update after a setting is changed
• The left-side panels in the Develop module may not display properly. Resizing or closing/opening the panels will correct the issue.
• The interaction between Leopard’s Time Machine and Lightroom’s catalog files is unknown at this time. Running Time Machine backup or restore operations while Lightroom is in use is not recommended until more information can be obtained

Feel free to share your Leopard/Lightroom experiences in this post’s comments section."

Head on over to Adobe's official Lightroom Journal blog for additional updates and to leave your comments for the Lightroom team.

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard upgrade experience

I'm a technology geek... I admit it!

And I'm the worst kind of technology geek... the early adopter type. I stood in line for hours when the iPhone launched. It was a fun social experience. However, I decided to skip the launch festivities at my local Apple Store for the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard launch. Amazon.com had it for $20 less than Apple Store. Sure I wouldn't have it in my hands on launch day, but I'm glad I didn't because I would have popped that sucker in the computer and been at the mercy of not knowing how to fix any bumps I ran across during the upgrade.

Good thing I waited...

My order arrived late this afternoon. I did a quick update to bring my daily SuperDuper! backup current. I can't stress how important a current backup is for anyone performing an OS upgrade. This one little thing can save you from feeling that sinking feeling in your chest when you find out that something went wrong and you lost some important files.

Installation

Once that was done, I popped in the Leopard install DVD. Installation was extremely straight forward. Just insert the disc, tell it what drive to install to, and what kind of install you want to do. I did a very straight forward 'Upgrade' install.

I was kind of surprised that there were no screenshots or information about the new Leopard features during the install. It was quite boring actually. I made a phone call and watched an episode of the Colbert Report while it did its thing.

I thought it was particularly amusing how the install seemed to go quickly until it got to the '5 minutes left' mark. Once it said '5 minutes', time stood still. It was at '5 minutes' for no less than 15-20 minutes.

Once the install was complete and the system booted, it asked me to enter my Apple ID information. A message came up that there were two updates available for 'Login & Keychain Updater'. I installed the updates and let the computer reboot.

Bumpy road ahead

Once my computer rebooted, that's when things went south.

The AirPort card in my Mac Pro was no longer recognized! My computer is not anywhere near my cable modem, so I had no way to access the Internet to research the issue.

Thank god for my iPhone that I stood in line for hours to get on launch day! I loaded up the Apple Support website and found this discussion of others that were experiencing the same problem as me.

The solution that worked for me was to delete the following file:

/System/Library/Extensions/AppleAirPort2.kext

Immediately after I dragged that file to the Trash, my AirPort card was recognized and connected to my wireless network without any further action on my part.

No sound from speakers

The upgrade had also disabled my speakers, so all audio was coming from the Mac Pro internal speaker. This was an easy fix. Just go to System Preferences and click on 'Sound'. 'Internal Speakers' is currently selected. I just click on the 'Line Out' device and my speakers started working again. I'm listening to a live version of AC/DC "The Jack" now.

Lightroom and Photoshop CS3

As I reported earlier, Adobe had already released documentation stating that Photoshop CS3 was certified for Leopard, but that Lightroom was not. After monitoring several discussions about Lightroom performance with Leopard, I already went into this with the knowledge that some people have experienced problems importing files into Lightroom and that the entire Print module didn't work at all.

I don't currently do any printing from Lightroom, so that was not a big concern to me. But the ability to import my photos was a huge deal! So naturally that is the first thing I did. I breathed a sigh of releif when I successfully imported some RAW photos from my CF card and some JPG files from my iPhone.

Lightroom was a little slow at first, but then it got back to its snappy self. I'm very pleased with the performance of both Lightroom and Photoshop CS3 in Leopard. Nevertheless, I will be happy when the Lightroom patch is available to address the printing module and any other Leopard compatibility issues.

Other programs

Mail crashed once and I submitted an error report to Apple. Other than that, all of the applications that I have tried are working great. I love the fact that my iCal icon no longer tells me that it's July 17th every day. All of the programs seem a little snappier than they were in Tiger (10.4).

The updates to Mail, iCal, Dictionary, and Address Book are enough to sell me on the upgrade, but there is so much more to this upgrade than you realize going into the upgrade.

Conclusion

Once I got through the AirPort card and audio crises, everything else has been smooth. I will go through and try out everything later, but tonight I wanted to hit the major ones and get a post up incase anyone else runs into the same issues that I did.

Adobe on Mac OS X Leopard compatibility

Adobe has released a PDF document outlining compatibility of their products with Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard'.

Both flavors of Photoshop CS3 are compatible with Leopard. In fact, most of the CS3 line are compatible, with a few exceptions.

Lightroom requires an update, but they do not provide any details as to what features are not working properly (or when the 'future update' will arrive).

"Photoshop Lightroom 1.2 is not fully certified for Mac OS X Leopard, but future updates will address areas of Leopard compatibility".

Bad news for Photoshop CS2 (and earlier) and Photoshop Elements 4.0 (and earlier) users as they are marked as "Not Designed for Mac OS X Leopard". Comments state "Likely to encounter issues for which there is no resolution."

Using Lightroom to simulate HDR effects

UPDATE 8/29/2008 - Download the Lightroom preset for the method described below.

It seems like HDR photos created in Photoshop are all the rage these days. But creating those HDR images takes some effort.

What if you could create similar effects in less than 10 seconds, working with a single photo?

Good news... you can! Flickr member 'Tbatty' shared his method of achieving these effects with other Flickr members.

Here are the settings to use as a base:

Recovery: 100
Fill Light: 100
Blacks: 30
Contrast: 30
Clarity: 60
Saturation: -20
Sharpening Amount: 50

Some pictures will turn out great with these settings, and some you may need to tweak a little, but it's a good base to start with.

I created a User Preset in the Develop module set to these values so that applying this effect is a single click away.

Here are a few photos that I converted using this method. Each photo only required a single RAW file. I included a photo of the Pentagon memorial that I posted in my last blog entry for reference.

Let me know what you think.