This week in my class, The World of Digital, I introduced several workflow concepts, as an overview of Lightroom presets. Lightroom is a fantastic application and, in my opinion, should be in every photographer’s software toolkit. Sure, Photoshop has Camera Raw, but the Lightroom interface is a far more elegant way to access the various raw editing tools, especially compared to Bridge. Also, Lightroom trounces Photoshop when it comes to file handling, not only large single files, but large numbers of files. Try handling thousands of photos with preview images in Bridge…you’ll end up wanting to put a screw driver in your forehead. Beyond the file handling, organization, and user interface, Lightroom has a stellar preset system. For those new to Lightroom, presets allow you to save (and subsequently apply) a unique combination of Lightroom’s image editing tools to create unique versions of your photos. Exposure, white balance, tone curves, even cropping are all parameters that may be saved to a preset. There are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of presets available for download from various sites on the Web. So whether you are looking for cross-processing, black and white conversion, graduated filters or just something to give your photos a little more punch, chances are there are a number of presets available to get you close to where you want to be. From there, you may make your own subtle tweaks to get your image just right. Presets are available on a number of sites, but the list below should get you started.

LIGHTROOM PRESETS
Pro Photoshow
Presets Heaven
Lightroom Presets
Lightroom Killer Tips

PRESET INSTALLATION
Okay, you’ve downloaded a bunch of presets, right? Now what? Well, the first thing you want to do is to unzip the downloads into a folder of your choosing (I have a folder on an external drive called “LR Presets”). Once you have unzipped them, go ahead and launch Lightroom. By the way, Adobe has released the public beta for Lightroom 3. The final version won’t be out until next year, but you can download the beta free from Adobe Labs and use it until the final is released. Okay, so once you launch lightroom, be sure you are in the Develop module (just click Develop in the toolbar. On the left side of the interface, you should see the presets currently installed on your system. You may create your own folders, but for now, right-click on the User Presets folder and select Import.



Navigate to where you unzipped the presets you downloaded in the step above. Select the presets you want and click Import. More than likely, when you import the presets, one will automatically be applied to your current image. Simply undo by pressing Cmd+Z (Ctrl+Z on PC) then select the preset of your choice. As you mouse over the various presets, you will notice the small preview image update with the currently highlighted preset.



There you have it. Now go download some presets of your own and just do the work!

Sorry about the lack of updates for last week’s classes. I’ve been swamped working on some new projects, including the very cool (and very big) update to Faded & Blurred. The 2.0 update is going to be very, very cool. No exact launch date yet, but Frank, Nikki, Paul and I are working hard to launch before the end of the year. Look for an announcement on the Faded & Blurred site soon.

Photo 55
World of Digital is still one of my favorite classes this semester. Week 7, we talked about exposure. Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual. We also took a look at some processing techniques in Lightroom. Week 8 will be all about video, including creating “fusion” slide shows.

Photo 139
In the Art of Compositing, we started the “Singularity” movie poster. Have you worked on it? We also took a look at a great technique for building lightning strikes and energy bolts. If you missed it, or just want a refresher, take a look at my video tutorial.

Photo 77
The Web for Photographers is proving to be a tough one, but you guys are awesome for sticking it out. In week 7, we dove a little deeper into CSS. I can definitely see the lights coming on for you and I think several of you will be building your own sites before the end of the semester. Stick with it. HTML and CSS are a bitch to learn, but they are necessary if you intend to build your own site or do any customization to pre-built templates or themes. Several sites out there to help you including:

Web Appers
W3 Schools

Here’s a great list of sites to help you learn HTML and CSS: http://sixrevisions.com/css/20_websites_learn_master_css/

That’s it for the wrap up. Now, just do the work!

Photo55
We talked about creativity in photography and how to “find the shot”. We took a look at some of the work of brilliant Australian wedding photographer Jerry Ghionis. Jerry is a master at posing and dramatic lighting, using very little gear. If you liked what you saw, don’t forget that you can attend a very special Jerry Ghionis all-day workshop for only $100.00, courtesy of the folks at fotografosdecorazon.com. Tix for the event are available on their site or at jerryghionisinla.com. One of the questions in class was about using the SmugMug plugin for Lightroom. Rather than post a tutorial, we’ll go over the installation and usage next time in class.

Photo139
In The Art of Compositing, we started assembling the “Zen Road” image and took a more detailed look at using Smart Objects in our composites. The key to working with Smart Objects is to remember this: edits made to a Smart Object in the document layer palette are non-destructive BUT, if you double-click the Smart Object and edit it directly (you’ll see the “.psb” file extension in the tab title bar), those changes are permanent because you are editing the source object, NOT the Smart Object (virtual copy). This week, we’re continuing on with Zen Road and also taking a look at how to create our own dirty pictures.
You can read a brief primer on using Smart Objects in Photoshop CS4 HERE.

Photo77
Fantastic session in The Web for Photographers. Those who came out, give yourselves a pat on the back. You’re learning some tough stuff and we got through quite a bit. We got an entire page layed out, sized and prepared for images using HTML and CSS. Very well done. The great thing about learning a bit of CSS is that it prepares you to customize not only your own sites, but also your blogs, such as Wordpress and Blogger. This week, we’ll get those images in and add some more pages to our dev site.
There are a number of sites online to help you learn web development, but one that I read quite a bit is Web Appers. They offer a ton of information on development, plugins, components and all sorts of cool bits of code to customize and use in your own projects.

Thank you everyone for continuing to come out each week.