Want to switch out the background color in Lightroom? It's easy. Select Lightroom CC > Preferences from the top toolbar (or on Windows, go to Edit > Preferences), and then click on the Interface tab. Once there, you'll see a Background area where you can switch the color for the main and secondary windows to one of six options — white, light gray, medium gray (default), dark gray, darker gray and black. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Change the Lightroom Classic background color
Quick Tip
Using the tone curve for RGB color balance in Lightroom Classic CC
In this video quick tip you'll learn how to apply a more traditional RGB color balance adjustment in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC, which can be helpful for photographers who aren't comfortable with the Temperature and Tint adjustments for color. 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 Using the tone curve for RGB color balance in Lightroom Classic CC
Quick Tip: Create a new copyright preset every year
It’s a good idea to create a new copyright preset at the end of each year — but don’t just overwrite the previous year’s preset. Keeping all year’s presets will give you the option to go back in time and add a previous year’s copyright information to images. Want to learn more? Check out the article "Have you created your 2017 copyright preset?" … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Create a new copyright preset every year
Quick Tip: Center the subject’s pupil with the whites of their eyes
A simple tip to ensure a better portrait is to center the subject's pupil with the whites of their eyes. Have the subject turn their head and shoulders to balance their eyes. Want to learn more? Check out this article, "How to Balance the Whites of the Eye." … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Center the subject’s pupil with the whites of their eyes
Quick Tip: Reset Lightroom Classic sliders
Sure, there's a big "Reset" button in Lightroom Classic, putting your edited photo back to its original state. But what if you need to reset just some of the adjustments you've made? Simply double click on the slider text (Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, etc.) and watch the slider move back to zero. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Reset Lightroom Classic sliders
Quick Tip: Use a Black Card While Photographing Fireworks
Firework photos require the shutter be open for long periods. Ambient light can creep in between bursts of exploding visual goodness. Prevent this by holding a black card over the lens until the streak of firework heads into the sky. Remove the card. When the burst is finished cover the lens once again. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Use a Black Card While Photographing Fireworks
Quick Tip: Use Sparklers to Get Exposures Right for Fireworks
Fireworks and the Fourth of July go together like hot dogs and apple pie. Thing is getting the exposure right for fireworks is anything but simple as pie. Here's an easy way to make sure your settings are perfect. Buy some sparklers Give them to your kids Make photos of the lit sparklers After the fun, review the photos to see which setting give the best detail in the brightest parts of the photo. More fast and easy tips for photographing fireworks. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Use Sparklers to Get Exposures Right for Fireworks
Quick Tip: Saturation vs. Vibrance
There are two sliders in Lightroom and most other post-processors that can be handy for adjusting the intensity of your colors. Think of saturation like ISO, but for color — it bumps up the intensity of all of the colors in your photograph. On the other hand, vibrance is more selective, adjusting only the more muted colors in your photograph. This can help lead to a more evenly-saturated image. Both tools definitely have their usage — check out the three photos below to see how they can affect an image. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Saturation vs. Vibrance
Quick Tip: Only Show Your Best Work
You might be tempted to show all of your work to your audience in your portfolio. But try to limit yourself to a certain number of photos, only showing work that you deem to be your "best" and that's representative of you. Information overload is a real thing — and while seeing all your photographs is great, it'll overwhelm prospective clients. Instead, take advantage of social media and actively post there, saving your best work for your website and printed portfolio pieces. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Only Show Your Best Work
Quick Tip: Don’t Toss Those Old Filters; Get Adapters!
When I made my switch to a micro four-thirds camera system, all of my lens filter threads were significantly smaller than what I was used to. None of my filters fit any of my new lenses. But instead of buying up new lenses, I simply bought step-up adapter rings for them. It allowed me to keep the 82mm circular filters I had and use them on my new camera equipment, which had 52mm and 72mm filter thread sizes. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Don’t Toss Those Old Filters; Get Adapters!
Quick Tip: Dehaze Side Effects
The Dehaze adjustment in Lightroom is able to dramatically improve the appearance of haze in a photo, but not without some potential side effects. In this quick tip, you'll learn how to compensate for the most common issues caused by the application of the Dehaze adjustment. 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: Dehaze Side Effects
Quick Tip: What Makes a Great Photo of a Speaker?
One of the things I'm asked to photograph often are speakers at corporate events. These can be boring and uninspiring if not photographed right. So remember this — look at the background and position yourself so there's some texture and depth present behind your subject. In the photo above, the picture frames to the left created a geometrical interest that draws the viewer into the subject's face. Whereas with the photo below, the cross-section of metal helps to frame the subject. If you can, play around with the positioning of your camera, … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: What Makes a Great Photo of a Speaker?
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
Quick Tip: Use the Moon to Find the Sun
The other morning I was in the mountains waiting for the sun to rise and looking for the right composition. The moon was helping me because it was indicating exactly where the sun would be rising, which was great because the layers of hills made it hard to see the center of the sun's glow. Anytime the moon is not full, the thickest part is pointing toward the sun, and you can use this to know where the sun will be. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Use the Moon to Find the Sun
Quick Tip: A Free Way To Create Powerful Images
The old saying, "the early bird gets the worm" is not only true in life it's true in photography as well. One way to improve your photography is to take pictures during the time of day when the light is most beautiful. Over the years, I have learned that the hour right before sunrise is one of those magical times. Sunset / Sunrise Most of us love capturing a beautiful sunset right before the sun disappears from the sky, but watching the sun come up in the morning also offers incredible moments to create powerful images. To capture your … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: A Free Way To Create Powerful Images
Quick Tip: Save the Quick Collection
The Quick Collection in Lightroom is designed to help you quickly group photos together for a short-term need. But what do when a quick collection suddenly needs to become permanent? You simply save the quick collection as a normal collection, as demonstrated in this quick tip. 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: Save the Quick Collection
Quick Tip: Detailed Clipping Preview
If you want to set the white point and black point in your photos with precision, you'll want to take advantage of the detailed clipping preview option in Lightroom. Go beyond the clipping display you can enable from the histogram, with this quick tip that will help improve the accuracy of your tonal adjustments. 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: Detailed Clipping Preview
Quick Tip: Locking the Attribute Filters
In some cases you may want to "lock" the filter criteria you've set in Lightroom when searching for a particular image, so the same filter criteria will remain in place even as you navigate among different folders. In this quick tip, you'll learn how easy it is to lock the criteria you've established when searching for photos in Lightroom. 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: Locking the Attribute Filters
Quick Tip: Reject Before Delete
If you prefer to delete your not-so-great photos so you only keep your best work, you may want to add an extra step to your workflow just to be safe. In this quick tip, I'll share how you can use the Reject flag in Lightroom as part of your workflow for deleting photos that didn't work out as intended. 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: Reject Before Delete
Quick Tip: Browse Multiple Folders in Lightroom
Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you're not sure exactly which folder a particular image is contained in within your Lightroom catalog? In this quick tip, you'll learn how to browse the contents of multiple folders, including those scattered all over the Folders list, quickly and easily within Lightroom. 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: Browse Multiple Folders in Lightroom
Quick Tip: Make Shadows with a Cookie
Cut shapes out of a large piece of foamcore or cardboard. Paint it black. Shine a small light through the holes. Interesting shadows will be created on the background. The cutouts are called cookies short for cuculoris. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Make Shadows with a Cookie
Quick Tip: An A-Clamp Keeps Background Paper from Unrolling
Place an A-Clamp on one side of a roll of background paper to keep it from unwinding. A-Clamps are available at Home Depot, Lowes & hardware stores in 3 sizes: mini, 1-inch & 2-inch. The 2-inch is shown holding the roll. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: An A-Clamp Keeps Background Paper from Unrolling
Quick Tip: Cut Off Elements for Still Life Creativity
In shooting still life from above, I often decide to not show the entire subject, instead focusing on one particular element. In this photograph, there are several drinks shown, but the only one that's shown fully. By cutting off the other drinks from the frame, you help direct the viewer into what you want them to see and still lets you capture the essence of the subject. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Cut Off Elements for Still Life Creativity
Tutorial: Using CFL’s to Keep Cool on your Video Set
No matter what you're filming, you always need to light your set for your video production. Regardless if it's outdoors in the sun, or indoors in a dark small space...you're going to need some light to fill in your subject matter somehow. One way to do this without overheating your talent or subject matter, is by using a CFL or Continuous Fluorescent Light! Traditionally and historically, we've used Tungsten based Hot lights for production work, but as you might have guessed from their name, they do give off a lot of heat, causing some … [Read more...] about Tutorial: Using CFL’s to Keep Cool on your Video Set
