Remember back in our school days, when we had to look up something in our school's library? We relied on the Dewey Decimal System, basically a reference that told us where in the library to find a specific book we were looking for. We knew that all our favorite photography books, for instance, were in the 600-699 range — within the Fine Arts and Recreation category. Well, a photo catalog is kind of like a modern version of that. If you use Lightroom Classic, there are a few things to take into account when it comes to importing and managing … [Read more...] about Understanding Lightroom catalogs
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Understanding Lightroom Classic’s import dialog
A couple years ago, Adobe made headlines by completely revamping the import dialog in Lightroom Classic. Since then, they've restored the classic look and feel that much of us are used to. But there are still several options here that most of us don't utilize, and we're really missing out! Things like applying develop settings, metadata, smart previews and more are always available to us in the import dialog. And what's the difference between Add, Move, Copy and Copy as DNG menu items? Here's an introduction (or refresher) into the Lightroom … [Read more...] about Understanding Lightroom Classic’s import dialog
Quick Tip: Share your Perfectly Clear presets to a new machine
Have a new machine, or want to share your Perfectly Clear presets with an editor or another photographer? Perfectly Clear 3.5 makes it really easy. To get started, click the gear icon next to the Presets heading, and then click Export Presets. It'll prompt you to select where you want to save the export file, and you're done! When you're ready to import the presets, click the gear icon next to Presets again, and click Import Presets. All your custom and previously added presets will now be available on your machine. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Share your Perfectly Clear presets to a new machine
Cheap gear doesn’t always mean good gear
There's an old saying — you get what you pay for. And the same rings true when it comes to camera gear. While the big industry leaders like B&H, Hunt's, Adorama and others are authorized dealers. Their gear comes from distributors who get the goods directly from the manufacturer overseas. These distributors offer reliable, reputable service that you can count on. But what do you lose when you buy cheap, whether it be new or used gear? Understanding grey market retailers While B&H, Hunt's, Adorama and your local camera store will offer … [Read more...] about Cheap gear doesn’t always mean good gear
Quick Tip: Import to this Folder
When it comes to keeping your Lightroom catalog tidy and organized, the import stage of your workflow is critically important. In this quick tip, you'll learn a great shortcut for importing new photos into an existing folder, enabling you to avoid confusion when importing multiple batches of photos. Want more tips like this? Check out my "Lightroom Quick Tips" course on GreyLearning, part of the "Mastering Lightroom" bundle of courses. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Import to this Folder
Why is Lightroom Importing my Images out of Order?
Every once in a while, Lightroom gives me an issue importing images from my Nikon cameras. It’ll import the images out of “filename” order and out of “capture time” order. As frustrating as it is, I’ve yet to find out why it’s doing it. It seems as if the sorting option on the Import Window doesn’t work. So, how do you fix it? If you notice it happening repeatedly, check the Creative Cloud application manager for any updates to Lightroom. Do an update and then restart the computer if there is one. If that doesn’t help, here’s the … [Read more...] about Why is Lightroom Importing my Images out of Order?
Leveraging Lightroom Templates
One of the main reasons we use Lightroom is that it makes our entire digital workflow so much more efficient than using a combination of other tools. A key to getting the most out of Lightroom is to gain mastery over all of the various types of templates that you can employ at different points in your workflow. A template (or preset) is essentially a glorified text file that allows you to save some set of information that you can call into use over and over again, which is much faster than re-creating or entering that information each time you … [Read more...] about Leveraging Lightroom Templates
Speed Up your Import Workflow with a New Card Reader
With new cameras being released every month and new developments in memory card technology, many readers have struggled to find a memory card reader that works well for them. My friend Michael Tapes, designer of LensAlign, was having an issue finding a card reader that could grow with him and evolve as his cameras evolve. The Nikon D5 shoots either dual XQD or dual CF cards, Nikon D810 shoots SD and CF, Nikon D500 shoots XQD and SD, Canon 1DX Mark II shoots CF and CFast cards, and both the Canon 5D Mark III and 5Ds R shoot CF and SD cards. As … [Read more...] about Speed Up your Import Workflow with a New Card Reader
Building Standard Previews in Lightroom
It’s no secret that Lightroom can run a bit sluggish at times, especially when trying to render previews of high-megapixel files from cameras like the Nikon D810, Canon 5DS R, or the Sony A7r II. I hate staring at the dreaded “loading” icon as I move from image to image. Rather than sitting and waiting for each image preview to render individually, here are two options to have Lightroom build the previews in the background. This way, you can get up and get some coffee while the computer does all the work. Option 1 - Build Previews on … [Read more...] about Building Standard Previews in Lightroom
Merging Lightroom Catalogs in 5 Easy Steps
I have two computers - a beautiful 5K iMac at my studio, and a MacBook Pro that I travel with. My schedule can get crazy, especially when I'm traveling 2-3 weeks in a given month. It's not practical to take my entire photo library with me when I travel, so I often find myself creating a temporary catalog on my laptop and merging it with my main catalog back at the studio. While the task sounds daunting, it really isn't that complicated. Let's get started. I'm assuming you already created your temporary catalog and you're about to merge it … [Read more...] about Merging Lightroom Catalogs in 5 Easy Steps
Batch Renaming your Photos with Mac OS X Yosemite
Developing a file structure is one of the first steps in creating your workflow. Whether youre using Lightroom to manage your library or Bridge to view folders of photos, its much easier to find a specific photo if you use a descriptive filename. In my personal workflow, I include the date, project name, and image number. So for example: 2014-09-16_ND_Scout_0001.nef Most everything I shoot is on one day. However, if youre shooting for multiple days, with multiple cameras on larger shoots, then I recommend you include that information too. … [Read more...] about Batch Renaming your Photos with Mac OS X Yosemite
Renaming your Photos on Import with Adobe Lightroom
Developing a file structure is one of the first steps in creating your workflow. Whether youre using Lightroom to manage your library or Bridge to view folders of photos, its much easier to find a specific photo if you use a descriptive filename. In my personal workflow, I include the date, project name, and image number. So for example: 2014-09-16_ND_Scout_0001.nef Most everything I shoot is on one day. However, if youre shooting for multiple days, with multiple cameras on larger shoots, then I recommend you include that information too. … [Read more...] about Renaming your Photos on Import with Adobe Lightroom
How to Transfer Mobile Photos to Lightroom using Dropbox
If you're like me, you probably take a lot of photos and video with your mobile phone. The images I get with my iPhone are what I call my "memory" images; they're not always the most pretty, but they document and record the things that are most important to me. Because of this, I want to make sure that I save these photos on my Drobo, where I know they will be safe and secure from hard-drive failure. Here is how I regularly import my iPhone images to Lightroom. 1. Create an account with Dropbox (or file-storing cloud service of your … [Read more...] about How to Transfer Mobile Photos to Lightroom using Dropbox
Do You Need to Shoot RAW+JPEG? Try Lightroom’s “Big Mac” Button
Before we jump right into the geek speak... indulge me for a moment. Perhaps it's summer grilling season, but I've got food on my mind. I love hamburgerswho doesn't? The way I see it, I've got two choices when I want a burger: I can order out or I can stay in, and there are benefits to both. If I go to McDonald's I can get a Big Mac fast and ready to eat including pickles, cheese, a sesame seed bun, and their Special Sauce. That's incredibly convenient and it tastes pretty good. If I choose to stay home and make my own burger, however, I can … [Read more...] about Do You Need to Shoot RAW+JPEG? Try Lightroom’s “Big Mac” Button
