February 13, 2008

A wealth of Lightroom tutorials

Digital photography experts Rob Sheppard and Tim Grey have created a wide range of Lightroom tutorials for the Adobe Design Center.

From Rob:

• Setting up an organizational system in Lightroom
• Working with color management in Lightroom
• Using the Camera Calibration feature in Lightroom
• Working with History and Snapshots in Lightroom
• Split toning for color
• Slideshows:
  • Making a better slideshow in Lightroom, part 1: Organization and layout
  • Making a better slideshow in Lightroom, part 2: Timing, music, titles, and transitions
  • Presentation possibilities in the Slideshow module, part 1: Preparing and selecting your photos
  • Presentation possibilities in the Slideshow module, part 2: Customizing the slideshow’s appearance
  • Presentation possibilities in the Slideshow module, part 3: Playback and export
• Choosing a Web gallery type in Lightroom
• Creating a promo sheet in Lightroom
• Exporting from Lightroom Q&A
• Using the Print Sharpening feature in Lightroom

From Tim:

• Apply metadata, keywords, and presets as you import images
• Working with snapshots in Lightroom
• Working with the History panel in Lightroom
• Working with the Histogram in Lightroom
• Slideshows:
  • Configuring a slideshow in Lightroom
  • Playing and exporting a Lightroom slideshow
• Web galleries:
  • Creating and configuring a web gallery in Lightroom
  • Publishing a Lightroom web gallery
• Exporting images from Lightroom

Helmut Newton, the death of Polaroid, and more

• Mike Johnston shares a number of interesting thoughts on recent photographic news.  Talking about those huge zoom lenses, he says, “[W]hat people are really interested in is who can buy the biggest, baddest, most expensive status symbol in the form of massive glass. Plus, the narrowed field of view of the smaller sensor has now come into direct conflict with the preferred status symbol in sensors, so-called “full-frame” (i.e., 35mm size). We’re back to the best of both worlds in terms of one-upsmanship: the people with the biggest sensors also need the biggest lenses. Perfect.”
• James Danziger has posted a short, funny, and salty interview with the late Helmut Newton:
  • Q: Your about to be published autobiography stops in 1982. What have the readers missed?
  • A: Nothing! People who reach their goals are very uninteresting. What could I have written about the last 20 years? I met a lot of awfully boring Hollywood bimbos. I earned a lot of money. I fly only first class. [Via]
• You’ve probably heard that Polaroid film production is reaching its end.  One can, however, convert a Polaroid cam to digital [Via], and while the film stocks last they lend themselves to painterly manipulation. [Via
  Ashish Mukharji]
• I’m sure my folks in Illinois can relate to this beautiful ice.  Certain things I’m happy to observe from afar. [Via]
• Storm chaser Jim Reed risks life, limb, and gear to get some amazing shots, cataloged in his book. [Via]
• Image database Covering Photography is billed as “a web-based archive and resource for the study of the relationship between the history of photography and book cover design.” [Via]
• I’m late in posting it, but I enjoyed this unusual photo of Sen. John Edwards on the campaign trail. [Via]
• Dan Heller’s blog covers the business of photography.