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.

My Favorite Photography Subject

I have long considered nature and wildlife as my favorite subjects to photograph. I don't like photographing people very much because there is too much pressure on making them look good because they expect every shot I take to be a miracle shot.

However, now I have a new favorite subject. My niece, Mackenzie, was born 13 months ago and she has captured my heart and focus. She is incredibly active and photogenic! Last Friday she had to hold onto things to walk around. Then when I went to visit her a few days later, she was walking all by herself! She's growing up so fast.

Here are a few shots of her first birthday taken last week. I used Lightroom to apply filters to some for interesting effects. You can see additional photos at my Flickr page.

[gallery]

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

Ordered a new lens today... arrives Monday!

After waiting for a good deal on the coveted Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Image Stabilizer USM lens, I finally ordered it today from B&H! There was a $125 instant rebate by Canon, and I got an additional $100 off from a recent NAPP Photoshop CS3 seminar that I attended recently which B&H was a sponsor. I also got FREE shipping as a benefit of being a NAPP member.

The lens arrives on Monday! Since it gets dark early around here, I'll need to find something indoors to tide me over. Maybe I'll pick up some flowers.

"The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2" available for pre-order

Scott Kelby announced on his blog today the pre-order availability of The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2. This is the sequel to his The Digital Photography Book, which I always recommend to my friends.

If you pre-order it from Amazon.com, currently you also get an additional 5% pre-order discount bringing the final price to $15.67.

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.

Learning how to scan the "right" way

I love my new Epson Perfection V700 Photo scanner. I am planning on scanning a bunch of old family photo negatives and prints. But when I do something I have to do it "right". It's a pain having a perfectionist mentality and sometimes causes me not to do it at all... but not this time.

I found an excellent website called "A few scanning tips." It took me a few days to read it, but I finally finished. The site covers the basics of scanning prints, negatives, and slides to produce great results! There are some topics (such as scanning for faxes) which I didn't feel was relevant to my needs, but as I read I found that even those topics helped me understand the scanning process better. The author does a good job of identifying the items that are essential to know and drills those topics into your head.

The author also has a book available of the same name. I have not purchased the book (yet), but the author claims that the book has more current information than the website. Some information on the website does seem a bit aged.

If you have a scanner, or are considering getting one, definitely bookmark this one!

Photoshop Express demo'd at Max 2007

10/4/2007 UDPATE: Added video below.

CNET News.com has posted a three minute video of Photoshop Express being demo'd at the Max 2007 conference in Chicago.

What they showed looks promising. It integrates Flash heavily into the web based product. Here are some of the topics covered in the video: cropping, picture rotation, white balance, scar removal, and the ability to jump to a specific change in the history.

Mid-week random stuff

This Saturday, I am going to attend the Autumn Conservation Festival at the National Zoo's Conservation and Research Center (CRC) in Front Royal, Virginia. The CRC is normally closed to the public, but it opens for one weekend a year for FONZ members who have made contributions to the CRC. This is my first year going, so I don't know what to expect but it should be a lot of fun!

I had agreed to help out with the FONZ Photo Club table at the CRC on Sunday, but unfortunately we were told that we could not set up a table to sell photos (of which the money goes directly to zoo programs). I don't understand why, but that's how it goes sometimes.

It's a pretty long drive, so I'm kind of glad to have Sunday to myself. I will post some pictures from Saturday's trip to the CRC this weekend.

UPDATED - New hurdle for photographers at airport security

10/1/2007 UPDATE:

I received a response from TSA today. While they did not specifically mention DSLRs in their response to my very specific question, my take on their response is that their policy does not require DSLRs to be removed from bags.

"Laptop computers, full-size video game consoles, full-size DVD players, CPAP breathing machines and video cameras that use video cassettes must be removed from their carrying cases and submitted separately for x-ray screening. Laptop computers and video cameras that use cassettes have long been subject to this policy. Small and portable electronic items do not need to be removed from their carrying cases."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Pro photographers Scott Kelby and Tom Hogan have both blogged about their recent experience going through airport security in the United States while traveling with their DSLR cameras. It appears that there is a new TSA policy that requires DSLRs to be removed from their bags when going through the airport security screening area. TSA has had a policy of requiring laptops and video cameras to be removed from their bags, but DLSR cameras are a new addition.

Scott said in his blog that "while passing through security the TSA Agent at the X-ray belt, said: “That’s a LowePro camera bag; do you have a DSLR in there?” I said yes, and he said I had to remove it and put it on the belt." Scott questioned another TSA agent about the new policy, who said that as of August 4, 2007 that all DSLR are supposed to be removed, but not all airports have instituted this new policy yet, but he felt certain most would.

According to the TSA website:

"Laptop computers and video cameras with cassettes must be removed from their carrying cases and placed in one of the bins provided. You will also need to remove your coat, jacket, suit jacket or blazer and place it in one of the bins. These items go through the X-ray machine."

I was unable to locate any mention on their website of DSLR cameras being added to this policy. I submitted a request to TSA for additional information regarding this new policy but have not received a response as of this writing. I will post an update if/when I hear back from them.

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.