California Redwoods - White Balance Example - Photo on the Left is Auto White Balance the photo on the Right is Shade preset.

First – a short Description of what we are talking about.  The light that illuminates any scene has a color to it, or a color temperature.  Our eyes and brain, being amazing instruments, filter this color out so we see whites as white, blues as blue, greens and green, etc. in almost any situation.  The fact that sun light is very blue and incandescent lights are reddish and florescent bulbs are greenish, generally do not mess up the ability of our eyes and brain to see the right colors – Unfortunately our cameras often have a much harder time at this.  So generally we have three options on our camera – Setting Auto White Balance, setting one of the presets (often Sun, shade, clouds, incandescent, florescent, flash and manual), or the final option where some cameras can read the white balance from an image that you have taken of a white or neutral object under the light you are shooting in.  There is a fourth option, which is to figure it out in post processing, which I generally rely on, but it is good to give yourself some help by get it at least close in the camera.

As I said at the start, most of us use the auto white balance of our camera and hopefully you are shooting RAW.  Different cameras have a varying degree of accuracy when using auto white balance, but even the best cameras can blow it at times.  Furthermore the camera presets are just approximations and often need fine tuning.  The Auto White Balance feature in most cameras generally do a good job, but at time the lighting situation can being rather tricking, such as the above mentioned California Coastal Redwoods.  In situations where the light is heavily filtered, being reflected from a non-neutral surface, or your subject or frame is mostly one color your camera can have a very hard time determining the correct white balance and at times will choose an incorrect white balance.  This will result in images that just do not have punch, saturation or contrast.

To further compound this, when shooting in JPEG mode the white balance that the camera is set to or reads in auto white balance mode is used to process the final JPEG and therefore the camera bakes the white balance into the image (the image data/color will be changed with the white balance data in attempt to correct the image as the camera process the image into a JPEG file), as a result it can be very hard to make corrections to white balance in a JPEG image.  In the case of RAW format, the white balance setting (or calculation in the case of auto white balance) is simply written into the header of the file as a color temperature and tint to let the processing program know what the white balance should be (at least according to the camera) – the actual image data is not altered, it is still the image data right from the sensor.  It is up to the RAW processing software, like Lightroom, to apply any necessary white balance corrections the user thinks are necessary.

Lightroom White Balance

As a result you may be asking ‘I am shooting RAW, so why do I even care about all this white balance stuff, I will fix it in post?’  The biggest reason is to give yourself a base line to work from.  It is much easier and faster to process images that are close to your final goal.  Part of what I am trying to achieve is to get images that represent what I saw – I have some faith in my memory, but it is helpful to make the image look at least close as it comes up in Lightroom.  It is my experience when I am looking through images that just don’t live up to my memory of the image I took, one of the first things I suspect in white balance.  Sometime I will even see it at that time of shooting in the LCD.

One place it is important for me is while reviewing my pictures in Lightroom, I use the image previews created by Lightroom as the images are imported to evaluate my images.  These previews are created from the RAW files I shoot, the Lightroom defaults I have selected and the whit balance that the camera was set to, or in the case of auto white balance the white balance it calculated.  As I am reviewing these images to determine what is usable (this at time could be hundreds of images) I will be forced to make quick decisions about what I am going to use and what will not be used.  Small errors in white balance can make huge differences in how the image appears and if I will choose to accept it or rejected it.  What I find is these images that have improper white balances will usually not get a reject, but also will not get chooses with a ‘pick’ flag, leaving the image in limbo.  The lack of proper white balance make the image have less punch or impact and as a result I just may not think it has what I need in the case of a quick review,  resulting in the image not getting the attention it may deserve.

This can be a hard thing to learn and even harder to come up with a solution for, there are some things that can help improve on this situation.  Recognize when you might be in a shooting situation where your camera may not make the best decisions on auto white balance.  This is often when you are in shade, when the sun is not up (dawn or dusk), using light that is being reflected from a colored object like a building or you are inside under artificial light.  Things that can compound this further is when there are large areas of color near you when you are shooting, such as heavy green tree cover, large painted walls, or just a predominant color in the image.  And of course electric lights will always through off your color balance.

Keep an eye on your preview LCD to and make sure the images look right for the shooting situation.  This is the first line of defense.  Learn to read your LCD on your camera.  Yes, I know, people make fun of chimpers, but you should take advantage of the technology and learn how to use it, don’t just look at the image, read what the LCD is telling you.  Once you get use to seeing images on the LCD, you will learn to spot when things are not looking right.  Saturation will not look right or the image will look muted.  These are signs that the white balance is not right.

If while in the field you feel like you might not be getting the proper white balance, take actions to improve it. The simplest first thing might be to try the presets.  They will often get you close or at least closer to the desired proper white balance.  If you need something more accurate or you are shooting a lot of images under the same conditions, such as event or wedding photography, it pays to get the white balance accurate so you are not post processing hundreds of photos with bad white balance.  There are typically 3 approaches depending on your situation and post processing technique.  Most cameras will use a sample image as its reference image for its white balance on all future images.  This allows you to photograph something that you know is neutral gray or better yet a gray card -make sure you fill the frame with it and it is under the light you will be using.  You then use the cameras white balance menu to select that image for white balance (each camera does this different), but generally it is not too hard once you have it figured out.  Another option is to use this neutral image in post processing to determine white balance and then Sync it across all the images in the shoot under that lighting.  Lightroom makes this very easy.  Another method that is popular is to use a tool like an Expodisc to make the neutral image.  The Expodisc is a lens filter like device that you put over your lens and shoot toward your light source.  The resulting image should be used to set the white balance, either in the camera or post.

An 18% Gray Card can be an important tool to insure your colors are accurate by allow you to set a perfect White Balance

OK, you are going to buy a grey card or Expodisc, but in this shoot you did not have one…. What now.  The next best thing to just guessing (which is not a bad option) is to look though your images and find a neutral grey color.  You will use this grey with the white balance picker to get your color temperature and tint settings, then as above you will sync them across the other images that were taken under that light source.

The other option – guessing… It is an educated guess.  How this works is that you are going to select an image that has good selection of colors, in Lightroom or ACR, you are going to choose the preset that gets you the closest to the way you think your image should look.  Then you are going to fiddle around with Color Temperature and Tint to get it right.  I found that you generally want to leave tint pretty close to zero in most situations.  Some minor alterations may help.  But color temperature can be set as low as 4000 in some case and well over 7000 in others.  If you are outside that range, it does not mean you are wrong, it can happen.

In night photography you are dealing with so many different colored light sources you often must correct to taste. Left is Auto WB, the Right is corrected in Lightroom.

Also keep in mind that in the creative work flow of photography you may want to alter the white balance to set a mood to your image.  White balance is just one of the many creative tools you have at your disposal to say what you want with your image.  Cooling an image by setting color temperatures low or warming your image by setting higher color temperatures drastically effect the mood and impression of the image.

It should also be noted that color temperature is still enabled when you put Lightroom into Black and White mode.  This is because color temperature affects the color relationships and affects the colors before they are interpreted to determine how they will be converted to black, white and grey by the color mixer.  Color Temperature can drastically affect the overall contrast of a Black and White image.

The thing to remember here is that even small errors in whit balance can drastically affect the appearance of your photographs.  These errors can result in you assuming your shots are not acceptable and resulting in you rejecting the image or at least not processing it further.  Worse it might result in final images that does not reach its full potential.  Learn to watch for errors in white balance and learn some methods of correcting for it.  I think if you do, you will find that you have more keepers in each shoot.

Camera Settings

So, what do you do?  My recommendation is to create a startup routine.  Computers do this – every time you turn them on they go through their startup routine setting everything to its starting point.  You can do the same.  Make a habit of every time you pick up your camera for a new shoot you are going to go through your startup routine.  Your startup routine should consist of checking the following settings:

• ISO/ASA
• Exposure Mode
• White Balance
• Exposure composition
• Image Stabilization Setting
• Battery Level
• Auto/Manual Focus Setting on the Lens
• Metering Mode
• File Format (if you every change it)
• Memory Card – Formatting
• Focus Point Selection
• Drive Mode
• Flash Setting, including Flash Exposure Compensation
• Self Timer Mode
• Diopter

Lens Settings

Keep in mind, some of these may have been left from a previous shoot; some of them can be changed from the act of putting your camera in and out of the camera bag.  This list is a bit large and you may want to create a smaller one that is easy and fast and specific to the features on the camera you use, but keep in mind, a minute or two of checking can save photographs that could be irretrievable if shot with the wrong settings.

I tried to concentrate the ones that would affect actual image quality in a shoot or many photographs at the top of the list and the ones that you would realize in your first few shots near the bottom.  If you are shooting a wedding or people you probably want to go through the entire list, even the wrong setting on the first couple shot can be embarrassing.

If you shoot JPEG image format, you might want to check some additional things in your cameras menu such as compression, size, tone, sharpening, etc. if you ever play with them.  Keep in mind that these items get backed into a JPEG and cannot be easily undone.  I will sometimes set my camera in a small JPEG for time lapse work and forgetting to return it to RAW can really ruin ones day.

If you can set this as a habit you will save yourself some time and possible embarrassment and possibly save some pictures.

Kelby TV

I just recently started using Kelby Training, an online video training service, that I subscribed to when I renewed my subscription to NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals).  So far my experience has been mostly positive – I will be posting more on that soon.  But as a result I found KelbyTV.  Now Scott Kelby is one of these guys that does EVERYTHING -  He is a photographer, blogger, video podcaster, President of NAPP, founder of Kelby Training, writer, etc. As I have been working my way through Kelby’s web of offerings I recently found KelbyTV (www.kelbytv.com) – This web sites offers a ton of photography oriented video shows in the form of video podcast, these show range from talk show format with a guest photographer to training type videos.  So far the offerings seem to target the range of beginning to starting pro photographer. Kelby has put together a good group of photographers and trainers to make these videos and for the most part they seem to be pretty informative. And the best part – It they are FREE!  I would recommend you check it out – let me know what you think.

Taking Stock by Rob Sylvan

Title: Taking Stock – Making Money in Microstock Creating Photos that Sell

by Rob Sylvan

Publisher – Peachpit Press

Copyright 2011

Taking Stock Web Site

Microstock has been one of the fasting growing segments of stock photography; it has also been a segment that has received a lot criticism.  Many photographers blame it for destroying the lucrative stock industry.  But, love it or hate it, it is here to stay and some people are successful at it.

If you need a bit of an education on microstock photography you can look at Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microstock_photography

I personally have been intrigued by Microstock for some time and have dabbled in it, posting images up on iStockPhoto and Dreamstime.  I have only placed a handful of images and only considered it a marginal success in that I have made a bit less than $1000 over the last few years and came away with the understanding that it takes work to produce really successful microstock images.  With this in mind I have an interest and have been eyeing the information and books that have been published with the goal of someday increasing the revenue I make on microstock.

I just finished Rob Sylvan’s book Taking Stock, which was just published a few months ago.  It is a great introduction to the microstock industry. Sylvan background as an iStockphoto inspector and a long time successful contributor to iStockphoto gives him a good insight into what it takes to sell microstock. I feel he gives a pretty realistic view of the pros and cons of microstock and what it takes to be successful.  Keep in mind, that the microstock industry has had years now to mature and some feel that the opportunities as they are gone.  Many photographers are well established and that it is hard to compete with such strong portfolios.  Despite this, Sylvan effectively makes the case that there is still great opportunities in microstock and gives good information to help start making money in the field.  Early on in the book he explains that there are different levels of involvement and success can be different for different people.  He for one does not make a full time salary from his microstock, but shows examples of people who do.

Because of Sylvan’s background at iStockphoto,  the book is heavily focused on that company. Although, he does makes an effort to discuss the other major agencies by outlining strategies and comparing plans of going excusive with one agency or working with many.

The book is also a surprisingly good source of information on Lightroom.  Sylvan spend several chapter in a discussion of using Lightroom and Photoshop Elements as tools in a workflow for microstock.  The workflow can easily be adjusted for Photoshop and Sylvan insists that the workflow can be adapted for any photo editing software, but it is my opinion that Lightroom users will get the most advantage of about one third of the book.

Sylvan does a good job of highlighting other successful microstock photographers and photographs by including little mini interviews with these photographers throughout the book.  And one chapter is dedicated to spotlighting other photographers and with more in-depth interviews.

I am guessing that this book has the most value to people with an interest in microstock, but have yet to get involved.  Sylvan’s book is a good introduction, but I feel the more experience stock photographer will find the book too basic, with little value in growing an already functioning portfolio of microstock photos.  My other concern would be if you are not using Lightroom and do not intend to use it as you primary photo editing tool you might find a big part of the book less then effective.  Although, I do agree with Sylvan, the basics are the same with all photo editing packages and his steps can be translated.

Again, Sylvan heavily refers to iStockphoto as his primary agencies, which to be fair is the biggest.  iStockphoto also has the reputation of having the hardest inspectors, so if you can get your work approved there the rest should be easy.  I feel that even if you have no interest in submitting to iStock, Sylvan’s points translate to were ever you wish to work.

In concussion, I would recommend Taking Stock to anyone interested in micostock photograph as a way to make some money with their photography.  The book is a good introduction, while at the same time has enough depth to get the photographer new to microstock well on his or her way to making money in the field. I will reiterate a point that Sylvan makes in his book – microstock photography is not easy and is not an easy way to get rich.  With some effort it does appear that you can make a good return from your work and I believe that Sylvan is right there still are opportunities in microstock.

I also think that if you are interested in microstock and learning Lightroom, this book could be a double bonus, in that it is also a good introduction to a Lightroom workflow that is effective and produces good results.

What you will need: Materials

What you will need:

• Clear Bags – These are very clear flat plastic bags that are designed to hold a variety media and art.  They come in sizes from 4”x5” to larger then 30”x40”. Usually they are sized about a 1/8” larger than most standard media sizes to make up for the thickness of the item you put in it.  They seal with a sticky strip either on the flap or on the bag – I recommend that you purchase the bags with the sticky strip on the bag itself, since the sticky strip on the flap has the potential of sticking to your artwork as it is removed from the bag. Clear Bags can be purchased from many art supply stores or on-line and can run from $0.25 to $3.00 each depending on size (of course they are cheaper in quantity). http://www.clearbags.com/crystal-clear-bags/protective-closure-bags
• Foamcore – Foamcore is a standard framing material that consists of a dense foam sheet with paper lining both outer sides.  It comes in 3/16”, 1/8” and 1/2” think.  It generally comes in sheets 32”x40” and larger.  Most art supply stores will cut it to size for a small charge, although with some talent it can be cut with a ruler and a utility knife – I opt for having it cut for me.  Foamcore comes in white, off white and black.  You can get the white in an acid-free version too.  I tend to use the black when I am not putting a mat on the photo, because I like the way it make my photographs look.  A 32”x40” sheet will set you back about $15.  I would recommend the thinnest option you can get – it will be the least expensive and will be plenty think to keep the photograph flat.  Some people use mat board for this, but I find that mat board has a tenancy to warp and will not stay flat.
• 3L Photo Corners – There are a lot of options for photo mounting corners, but I like the 3L 32mm MaxiView Mounting Corners.  These are clear plastic mounting corners that have a cut away center so they don’t overlap your image. And they are relatively easy to apply.  They also make it easy for the customer to remove the image without chance of damage when they are ready to have it framed.  These can hold large images up to 20”x30” or larger (depending on the thickness of the paper your photograph is printed on).  I have seen people recommend repositionable ATG Tape for this, but in my experiments it did not work very well. http://www.3l-adhesives.com/page.asp?id=102&ses=
• ATG Tape (double sided tape) – This is only necessary if you are going to use a mat or apply photograph information to the back of the Foamcore (see below).  ATG Tape is a double sided framing tape.  It generally requires a special gun to apply it, but you can buy it in a disposable applicator.  You can get ATG Tape in an acid free version. Make sure you buy the permanent variety.
• A Cut Mat (optional) – You can purchase pre-cut mats in most framing or art supply stores or you can have custom mats cut to order.  I generally only put mats on my smaller standard size images.  Keep in mind, many people who purchase your work are going to have it custom framed and most likely will replace the mat.  If you feel like it adds to your image or improves the chance of sales, then by all means put the mat on. But I don’t recommend spending a great deal on mats.

I am sure there are many ways of doing this, I will show you the way I do it – fill free to alter this process to meet your needs.

I generally mount my photographs on a standard print size larger than the image – so a 5”x7” will go on an 8”x10”, 8”x10” on an 11”x14”, and an 11”x14” goes on a 16”x20”.  Odd sizes can go on the size that you think is best.  There is no standard.  I like leaving an inch or two around the edge of the image to help visually isolate the image and protect it if it gets dropped.  The trick is to purchase Clear Bags in the sizes you need and have the Foamcore cut to the appropriate size to fit in the bags.  You want the Foamcore (and mat if used) to make a snug fit, but not tight.  You want the bag to help hold the photograph in place.

I trim the photograph so there is about 1/2” boarder around the image (sometimes more for larger images).

Position With Out Mat

Lay the photograph on the cut Foamcore and visually center it.  If you are picky you can use a ruler.  Some people find the image looks better if it placed slightly higher on the space (assuming no mat).  Keep in mind the unframed photos will probably be displayed in an artwork bin and be views by flipping through the images from above, giving another reason for possibly mounting the photo a little high in the space.  If you are going to use a mat you will want to set the mat over the photograph and adjust the mat to the edge of the Foamcore and then position the photograph within the mat.

Position With Mat

Once the photograph is positioned, carefully place something heavy on the center of the image to prevent the photo from moving.  Framers use a weighted bag (which is basically a leather bean bag) for this purpose, but you can use anything that will not mark or damage your photographs surface.

With the photograph held in position, use the 3L mounting corners to mount the photograph to the Foamcore.  For small photos you might get away with 2 corners in opposite corners of the photo, but always use 4. Keep in mind that the photo might be moved around a lot and if it falls out of the mounting your photo could get damaged.  It takes a bit of practice to pull this off, but I do it as follows – Pull the center plastic part out of the pair of corners (this is the part that will be disposed of).  Remove one of the mounting corners from the backing. By lifting the corner of the photograph (make sure you do not move the photograph on the Foamcore) slide the corner onto the photograph with the sticky side of the corner down.  Once it is fully on the photograph, lower the corner and attach it to the Foamcore. Repeat for all four corners.

3L Mounting Corner

Once the photo is securely mounted to the Foamcore you can use ATG tape to secure a mat to the front.  I use only a small amount of ATG on the  foamcore to attach the mat.  Again, most people will probably replace the mat with one of their choosing, so you do not want to overly secure it.  You just want to make sure that it does not break off the Foamcore rub against the photograph.  Keep in mind this is a temporary display for selling the photograph, in all cases the customer will take the photo out and have it framed. If you use too much ATG the mat will be damages as it is removed, making it useless.

Attach Mat with ATG

If you sign your photographs – this is the time to make sure it is signed.  There is nothing worse than realizing you forgot to sign the photograph after you are done.

Some photographers have a photograph certificate of authenticity, or information about the image and/or you, the photographer – you can attach this information to the back of the Foamcore with ATG tape, although keep in mind most ATG tapes are permanent (note the above mentioned repositionable ATG – still don’t recommend it), if you want to allow the customer to remove the information it might be best to just insert the information sheet in the back of the Foamcore when you insert it into the bag.

Once the photograph is mounted and you have added a mat (if you want) and any info to the back, you are just about ready to bag it.  I would recommend carefully blowing off the photograph with canned air or brushing it off with a very soft brush (the type framers or drafters use).  You can now slide the photo into the Clear Bag, image side facing the non-sticky strip side of the bag and seal it up.

Bag It

This process makes a very presentable package and it is fairly durable.  You might find that after some time if they do not sell, you will want to replace the Clear Bags as they do have a tendency to get scuffed up make your presentation look a little poor.  You can purchase a floor standing art display bin for displaying your work and sell the heck out of them.

Done

The Basics

For starters, Lightroom 3 (LR3) is different than most other photo editing tool you have probably used.  If you are using LR3 at this point you already probably know this, but just so we are all on the same page, I am going to go over it.  LR3 is not a photo editing tool were you open a photo, edit and change the photo and then save the new version.  LR3 has a much different approach, instead it uses your base image (often a RAW Format Image) as a digital negative, LR3 does not actually change your original image/file that comes out of the camera.  Instead it tracks the changes you make in the editing process in a database (LR3’s catalog) and overlays those changes on a preview copy of the image in real time.  As you are editing, LR3 saves your edits to the catalog and your original image is untouched.  When you want to export, print, or output the image LR3 processes the image combining the original image and the edits.  This has many advantages over traditional tools like Photoshop, but it does require the photographer to pay attention to some new files that LR3 uses that will become as critical to your workflow as the images themselves.

For starters LR3 has 4 main types of files or file groups that it uses and one optional file group.  The four file groups are:

• The Main Catalog – This is the database that LR3 uses to track all the images you use in LR3 and the changes you make to an image in the editing process.  This file (CatalogName.lrcat) is where all of your editing work goes and as you process all your images (which can be a LOT of work), it will become a very important file.  As I said, the base images that comes out of your camera are not changed in this process and the image data is not included in the catalog file, so if you lose the *.lrcat file or it becomes corrupt you lose all your work (edits), but fortunately not necessarily the base image  file.
• Your RAW images – These are the files from your camera – Usually RAW format.  If you use the LR3 workflow, you will use LR3 to import these files from your camera or memory card onto your computer in a place you will configure when you set up the Catalog.  Although LR3 uses these files as basis for its previews and then eventually for whatever output you will do (web, print or other file format) it does not change the base images – it is a true digital negative workflow.
• Preview Files – LR3 uses pre-processed (usually Low-res) versions of the images to display and for the base image for the editing to be overlaid onto.   These Previews will be stored in a directory called ‘CatalogName Previews.lrdata’ with the CatalogName.lrcat file.  You have probably figured out that I am using the CatalogName for what you would call your catalog when you create it. These previews are the least important of the files, because LR3 will recreate them as needed.  In LR3’s preferences you can define how long to keep the previews to reduce disk usage, since it takes time to generate the previews you will want to balance disk space with render time – I believe the default is to keep previews for a month.
• Preset and Plug-ins – These are files you will download, purchase or create that will do specific tasks such as apply a group of edit commands to an image or setup a print temple.  These sound trivial, but the can represent a great deal of work and if lost leave you in a difficult place if you need to get work done.

The optional file group is a side car file that LR3 can optionally create for each image file that would contain all of the edits you make for that image and can be readable by Adobe Camera Raw for import into Photoshop.  These file are saved with the main image file, they will have the same name as the image with a XMP extension.

It should also be noted that you can have more than one catalog file in LR3.  Different photographer’s approach this in different ways and I have read about many approaches on the web, but it breaks down to two primary approaches – put everything in one catalog or break your portfolio in multiple catalogs.  I have read were some photographers put each shoot into its own catalog (a bit excessive) and others have everything in one – the full range.  One consideration that people have brought up is concern that there is a limit to the number of images you can have in one catalog – I can tell you that I have well over 50,000 images in one catalog and I have read about people that have well over 100,000.  This should not be a concern for most shooters.  So the major consideration should be what works for you.  I take the approach of grouping my images by use; so I have a couple catalogs – fine art, commercial, and personal.  The idea is that I do not want to work between multiple catalogs when I am searching for a group of images; I also see little reason in breaking down my images into anything smaller than this. I could probably put everything in one and use some of LR3’s powerful categorizing tools to organize them, but decided to keep them separate, so that searches don’t combined fine art with personal snapshots. I intend a new article on organization inside of LR3 soon.

Backups

The trick here is that you should back up all this data. I am going to go into this more in the Configuration section, but I wanted to touch on LR3’s backup features here.  I want to point out that LR3 has a backup routine that it recommend you use and (I think) by default runs it once a day or week when you exit LR3.  There are two problems with this backup routine beside it giving you a false sense of security.  First it will by default, backup to the same drive as your catalog.  So if you lose the drive or computer… you lose your catalog and the backup… and probably your images… This is BAD! The Second problem is that it ONLY backs up the catalog, not your images, or your presets and plug-ins.  The preview can be recreated.  So, what you need is a complete backup plan that will protect all the important data – Most important your images and the catalog, a second concern is your Presets and Plug-ins.  This does not mean to not use LR3 backup – its primary purpose is to protect you from a database corruption that make the catalog inoperable.  From what I have read on the internet this can happen.  Use the catalog backup, but be sure to change the backup locations to some other place besides the drive that has the current catalog.   The location of the backup file can be changed in the backup pop up that appears when you close LR3.  One more problem with LR3 backup tool – It creates new files (copy of the catalog) every time it backs up.  This can very rapidly fill up a hard drive.  So you will have to occasionally go in and delete old files.

Some other backup considerations:

• You do not want to backup to the same drive as your primary drive – in the event of drive failure you lose your main data and the backup.
• You will want some program or routine that will backup all the data we are talking about on a regular basis.  How often is a matter of how much you process and shoot?  A wise saying that goes back to the beginning of computers is – ‘When you done more work than you want to redo, Save’.  This can apply to backup too.  Keep in mind some pictures cannot be retaken.
• Off Site backups – I am a BIG fan of this concept.  If you are backing up to a USB hard drive that is always attached to your computer it is often susceptible to the risks of the main system, including theft, fire, virus, meteors, etc.  The best way to protect yourself is to have your data taken off site (a friends, your mothers, work or safe deposit box) on a regular basis.
• Online backup may not be the best solution.  Online backup is a great idea for manageable amounts of data and if you are a light shooter, it might be ideal. But if you are a pro or heavy shooter, you might find that you just do not have enough bandwidth to upload you backups in a timely manner.

Image File location

LR3 Catalog

It is up to you to decide where all of these files and file groups should be stored on your computer.  If you are using a laptop or desktop with a single drive you will probably store it all on your primary drive (C: on PCs) in your documents directory. One thing to keep in mind is that you should keep all your images files in a single directory on your computer.  LR3 will allow you to put your base images almost anywhere and as a result you can manage images stored in many directories or even different hard drives, but this can become complicated to manage for many reasons.  Despite the fact that LR3 does a great job of helping you manage your images with in the program, some thought should be used for managing your raw files on your hard drive.  Again this is a place different people use drastically different approaches.  I have one primary directory called Main, and within that I have year directories (this is so I can look as smaller groups of shoots at once), and within the year directory I have my shoots in directories.  Shoots directories are named  ‘YYYY_MM_DD – Name of the shoot’, for instance ‘2011_02_11 – Reno Skyline Lights’.  The year, month day format allows the directory to sort chronologically when doing an alphanumeric sort.  This directory structure is represented in LR3 and is my first layer of organization.  Keep in mind I have already made different catalogs for my major groupings (Fine Art, Commercial and personal).  But the main point here is that all my images are in one primary directory/folder and not spread around the computers.  PC users can use the My Pictures directory or Mac users the Pictures directory if they choose for this based directory in a one drive system. But as I am going to point out below, it might make sense to store these on a separate drive.

Configuration

With all this information we can start to look at some options for configuring your work environment to make LR3 most efficient and safe.  To do it right, you have to think about things like, are you on a laptop or desktop, do you have more than one computer, how much image data are we dealing with, etc.  Another consideration is that LR3 is a pretty heavy duty application and if not run on the right system with the right environment it can be a bit sluggish.  So, if you want it to work fast, you need to set it up right.

Simple Configuration

The simplest configuration for LR3 would be on a single drive computer such as a laptop or a desktop computer.  There are some considerations with this environment:

• In a single drive computer, such as a laptop, you have to consider the drive size, many laptops come with fairly small hard drives.  For instance a laptop with a 500 GB drive can only hold 15 32GB flash cards (the size I am shooting now).
• Drive speed – Laptops and some desktops will come with slow hard drives – 5400 RPMs or slower.  LR3 is drive intensive and as a result will benefit from the fastest drives you can through at it.  You also get advantage to putting your data such as catalog, and images on separate drives so the computer can access them at that same time.
• In the case of a laptop that you take with you into the field or on trips, backups are critical

A recommended strategy for this kind of environment is to get two identical external hard drives (USB/Firewire) that are at least as big as your systems hard drive.  Do regular backups to one of the drives, this would include all the files listed above and any personal information on your computer.  Then regularly swap them, taking the un-used drive off site.

Improved Configuration

There are ways to improve on the above configuration, mostly to give you more speed and storage.

If you are using a desktop you can add one or two fast and large hard drives.  Hard drives have come down in price to be very reasonable and offer great performance.  You can easily add one or two 2 Terabyte hard drives to your system to handle your growing number of photographs.  And if you buy a drive that spins at 7200 RPMs (highly recommended) you will get good performance out of it.  Most desktop computers can hold as many as 4 to 6 hard drives.

The way this works, is if you add one fast hard drive, you will put your catalog, previews and photographs on it.  If you add two hard drives you will put your catalog and previews on one and photographs on the other – in this case you can get away with a smaller drive for your catalog, as it takes much less room then your images.  Computers can access more than one hard drive at a time, so if you have LR3 installed on your main drive (C: drive on a PC), the catalog and previews on the second drive and your images on a third you give the computer the opportunity to be accessing all of them as it needs.  Processes like building previews require the computer to be accessing the images and writing previews at the same time, so if they are on separate drives, the task will be faster.

For laptops, it is kind of hard to get more than one drive in your system.  If you only work on the laptop than your configuration should be based around that and you probably should consider mechanisms that allow you to leave the majority of your catalog and images at home when you take the laptop.  Otherwise you will want to be sure to do very regular backups that stay at home.  With laptops you will want to consider as fast and large of a primary drive as you can get.  In addition you will probably want to attach some fast external drives.  Seagate makes their GoFlex Pro drive line that is 7200 RPM and you can get Firewire 800 or USB 3 connection options.  I have found the 7200 RPM with Firewire 800 makes for a pretty fast drive that can handle a pretty large catalog.  If you laptop only has USB 2.0, you might consider an add-on card to get a faster connection type.  The configuration would be similar to a desktop.  Adding one or two large drives to your laptop and putting you catalog and images on it would be a good option.  When you travel you can export a subset of images to the built in drive to travel with and leave the external drives at home.

In both cases, desktop and laptop, you will want to backup to another external hard drive or two as mentioned above… And keep one off site!!!

Other Considerations

Drobo

If you are a working pro or a heavy shooter you know that you portfolio of images grows at an astonishing rate.  A good option to manage growth is to purchase a drive array that allows you to easily grow you storage.  The Drobo or Drobo-FS is a great option (www.drobo.com), and there are others with similar features.  I have a Drobo-FS and love it.  In a nutshell, the Drobo allows you to put 4 or 5 hard drives into it (depending on model) and it will build a drive array from them – this array will appear to your computer as a single hard drive.  This has several advantages (see web site for all), but the most important is that ability to protect your data from drive failures and to easily grow it by adding larger hard drives.  I currently have five 2 TB drives in by Drobo-FS with double redundancy.  This means that I have about 5 TBs of available space and 2 hard drives can fail without any data lose. Once I fill that up, I will be able to replace the 2 TB drives with 3 TB drives.  The challenge is that you still have is to back this data up.  I actually use another Drobo to do this and it stays off site, except during backups.

Using this, I actually came up with an undocumented way of using my catalog on 2 computers (a desktop and a laptop – both PC based).  My need was that I wanted to be able to work at my primary workstation when processing images, but I also wanted to be able to work on my laptop elsewhere in my house (such as in bedroom or the kitchen table) at times to keyword, review, work on my blog, etc.  In both cases this would be in my house, not remotely.  My solution was to put my image files on my Drobo-FS which is a network attached storage unit (NAS) and is accessible from both computers.  I made sure to map the Drobo as the same drive on both PCs – Z: drive.  I purchased a Seagate GoFlex Pro external hard drive that has a Firewire 800 connection.  On this I put my catalog, plugins/presets and the preview files.  This drive is configured to mount on both computers as my P: drive.  In this scenario I can run lightroom on both my desktop and my laptop with the same catalog, by plugging the GoFlex Pro drive to the computer I wanted to work on.  I do recommend that you backup your catalog each time you use the catalog for safety, but I have yet to have a problem.

Conclusion

This article actually became much larger then I was expecting, but I did cover a lot of information.  LR3 is a great program and has some real advantages to other types of image editing programs, but with that comes some added precautions and work methods to insure that you data is safe from data lose and you get good performance.  By putting a little thought and research into your configuration you will be able to come up with a setup that will meet your needs and also offer you a piece of mind that you data is backup in the event of disaster.  Do insure that you understand what each of these file groups does and where they are on your hard drives.  Be sure that you backup method is making regular backups of all the files and that you keep a backup set off site.  If you observer these precautions LR3 will be a great tool.

Bruce Dale - National Geographic Photographer

http://www.vimeo.com/8910838

Waiting for Sunset at Tunnel View in Yosemite

A couple of weeks ago I was reading the December issue of Outdoor Photographer Magazine (http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/) and in an article, 25 tips from 25 of their writers (or something like that) – one of the tips was about using a tripod.  The editor interjected that all of the photographer/writers had recommended the use of a tripod, even though they only used it once in the article.  I realized that I had an opinion about that and decided to write about it.

I will warn you right off the bat that this post has a contradiction in it – I am sure at some point you will be reading this and you are going to say “Mark – You’re contradicting yourself!”  But, I hope you will understand why as I wrap this up.  As we will be talking about tripods, I also want to warn you that some Image Stabilize lenses should have the image stabilizing feature turned off when you mount the lens on a tripod.  You will have to check the instruction for you lens to confirm this.  It has to do with the fact that the electronics in the lens is designed to look for movement, when there is no movement the lens will react to electronic noise that is part of any electronic system.  This is not unlike the digital noise you see in dark areas of an image… just in stabilization.   Again, each lens is different and you will want to verify with your manufacturer before using your image stabilized lens on a tripod.

Tripods have a variety of benefits, but their main function is stability.  Most photographers have learned the hand held rule that says you can hand hold a camera down to a shutter speed of 1/(mm length of the lens).  So a 50mm lens can be hand held at anything faster than a 1/50^th of a second.  But many notable photographers have stated that even that is too slow for truly sharp images and it takes speed above 250^th of a second to get really sharp images.  Of course, with image stabilizing lenses (or bodies) the rules have changed to some degree.

Another advantage of a tripod is that it adds flexibility to your exposure options as you approach a scene. You are often balancing Depth of Field (f-stop), ISO and shutter speed when setting up an image.  When your camera is on a tripod, it removes (or at least changes) shutter speed as a limiting factor.  In fact, if there are elements in your image that are moving, you also have the option to allow them to move and enjoy the sense of motion in your image.  So, tripods can add creative options and more flexible exposure options that you really do not have without one.

Thomas Creek, Reno NV

Back in the day when I was shooting medium format cameras I discovered a lesser known advantage to tripods.  What I found was when I took out my medium format camera, I almost always shot it on a tripod.  In contrast when I shot 35mm I used a tripod much less.  The interesting thing I found was that the hit rate of keeper images was much higher in a roll of medium format film then on 35mm.  This is further emphasized by the fact there are only 12 exposures on a roll of 120 film as opposed to the normal 36 exposures on 35mm, so the ratio of keepers to non-keepers was substantially higher on my medium format.  And what I attributed this to was that the medium format camera was a much slower more deliberate process.  The medium format camera did not have a built in light meter, was manual focus and I usually shot it on a tripod.  By the time I set up I was pretty sure I wanted the image – the process of taking a picture, due to the time and effort, was more deliberate.  When walking around with a hand held 35mm (or now days with a digital), it is VERY easy to just snap shots.  The risk of this is that you might not take the time to setup a shot that deserves more attention.   As a result I believe there is an advantage of slowing the process down and taking the time to setup a shot and give it the attention it deserves and a tripod is one way to slow the process down and you get the benefit of stability and exposure options.

I do want to note – I am not advocating going back to manual everything – I am a believer in utilizing the technology in modern cameras, but that technology must be controlled by your brain to make it create what you want.  I will have another blog post on this.

Now, here is where the contradiction comes in – I have run in to a few photographers (who I will leave nameless) who were very proud of the fact that they shoot large format.  Large format takes the complexity of medium format to the next level and is a much slower and more complicated process.  What I found while looking at their work was that I did not feel like they often got the best image the scene was capable of.  Either they just did not get the good light, angle or the right position to take the image from. What I felt was these photographers where too encumbered by their complex and big cameras and did not or could not properly explore the scene, or could not move around fast enough as conditions changed.  This got me thinking – one advantage of shooting hand held and digital, is that you have this very easy light-weight camera that gives you the advantage to truly explore a scene and does not limit you to a set number of images and the complexity does not slow you down.  You can walk around and quickly move from one place to another as conditions or light changes and be snapping the entire time.  So whereas a large format photographer might go out and snap 2 or 3 images in an hour, you with a hand held digital camera could snap hundreds allowing you to explore the scene both by moving and time wise.  You might end up with a lot of duds, but you might end up with a few jewels too.

Hunter Creek Falls, Reno NV

Here lies the challenge – On one hand, a slow deliberate process can be beneficial to your images and give you a much more creative options, while at the same time there are benefits to being fast and flexible.  So my recommendation is to try to combine both of these approaches into a process that works for you.  First, if you do not have a tripod – buy one.   Make sure it is a good one – there is a lot of garbage out there.  When you get to an area you are planning to photograph – start with the ‘exploring the scene’ approach.  Walk around and shoot from the hip, explore and start to figure out where the good shots are.  Once you have identified a location, it is the time to slow down, pull out the tripod and take the time to setup your shot.   As you set up – think about composition, lighting and how the final photograph is going to look.  Once you have completed your setup you should have a good idea of what the final photograph will look like and know in advance you have a keeper.  I at times will take a hike in an area that I want to shoot and only take my camera.  On the hike I will explore, but never spend a ton of time in any one place, but what I will do is be looking for that potential great shot.  Once I have identified some options, I will figure out when I think the light and conditions will be best and plan a trip out with all the needed gear to take the final image.

Morning Light on Mt. Whitney

Photography is so often about balance, finding the right combination that works.  So, even though these two approaches seem like a contradiction, you might find that by combining them in the right mix will yield better results than just following one approach. I think by combining fast flexible exploring the scene method with the slower deliberate method of using a tripod you will find you will improve the number of keepers and the over quality of your photographs.

So, what is it about some photographer’s work that is so distinctive? I refer to this as a photographer’s voice; it is the thing that makes an artist’s work theirs and theirs alone.  It is something that comes to a photographer’s work over a great deal of time and practice in their craft.  I personally do not think you can force a voice, or try to intentionally add voice to your work.  Voice is something that evolves in your work as you mature as an artist, as you learn to master your craft, and as you choose processes that allow you to express your vision.  As these things come together, your art begins to become distinctive and separates itself from others that are doing similar work.

As we begin in an art such as photography most of us are working to master the medium (or our equipment).  We are often plagiarizing other photographer’s style and techniques in order to learn.  As we master some aspect of our art, we learn something new that allows us to look at some other aspect of our work that is lacking or does not live up to our vision and we go to master that.  We often cannot learn a technique or process where we have yet to learn to see why that technique or process is important.  Learning photography is like climbing an endless staircase with platforms between flights.  As we top a flight of stairs and arrive at a platform we can recognize the accomplishment, but also see the new flight before us.  We, as artist, always see the next flight and have the need to continue bettering our work.  But, keep in mind, the outside world has a different view.  At some point they will see you as a beginner, then as an amateur, then accomplished, and eventually as a master – at some point they will see that your work has it’s own voice, even before you might recognize it as that yourself.

Voice is not a technique, process, tool or piece of equipment.  Some beginning photographers will look at some tool or process (especially new ones that give a distinctive look) and think they have found their voice.  They will begin producing images that are different due to the tool or process.  This can be a special HDR process, a ring flash when shooting models, or a Lens Baby lens.  This is not to say that you cannot develop a voice or vision with these tools; it is to say, will your work be distinctive when 1000 other photographers start using that tool, process, or technique?  When Ansel Adams published his Zone system, many photographers adopted it as a technique for creating their work, but none made work that rivaled Ansel Adams in his genre.  This is because Ansel Adams used the Zone System as one process to create his work, but it was not the element that gave his work voice.

So, how do you create a voice in your photography?  As a photographer that is striving for that very thing myself – I cannot give you a defined answer, I can only tell you I believe it is through practicing your craft, always striving to better your work, constantly learning to improve your technique, keep working on your vision and, most important, keep photographing.

One thing to keep in mind is everyone is at a different level or place when it comes to photography.  I am going to try to give some ideas for the advanced and beginner alike. I will try to point out if the source is more for one of the other.

Magazines

There are a lot of magazines out there, and some might consider them a bit ‘old school’, but I still find some of them very helpful.

Digital Photo Pro

Digital PhotoPro – digitalphotopro.com
This is my current favorite, although it is for the more advanced photographer.  Many of the articles are directed at the pro or very serious amateur.  With that said the articles are current and I have found that I have learned a lot from them.  The often have articles or interviews with very prominent photographers, in addition they have technique articles, gear reviews and information on legal aspect of photography.  

Outdoors Photographer – outdoorphotographer.com
For those of you shooting Landscape or Nature photography I think this is one of the better.  At one time I almost read this magazine cover to cover.  They have some very notable photographers writing for them – Art Wolfe and George Lepp comes to mind and Galen Rowell wrote articles for them when he was alive.  I think that Outdoor Photographer does a great job of appealing the the beginner to advanced – still find it interesting enough to regularly buy. Almost all of their articles have a landscape/outdoors/nature edge to them.  

Photoshop User

Photoshop User Magazine - www.photoshopuser.com
Photoshop User Magazine is a benefit of being a member of National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), but can be purchased on the news stand.  Photoshop magazine is directed to photographers, artist and graphic designers, despite this there is still some very good content.  Each issue has a section on Photoshop for photographers and Lightroom.  

B&W - www.bandwmag.com

This is not so much of an informational magazine as an inspirational magazine.  The magazine often having some truly spectacular photography in it.  The same group just came out with another magazine called ‘Color’… imagine that.  

Web Sites

There are a multitude of web sites out there for all aspects of photography, Photoshop, etc. – The trick is to find one that you find is covering subjects that are of interests to you.

dpreview.com – This has to be one of the most popular of the Digital Photography web sites. I am putting here, but it could have easily been under the Blog section.   The strong points are their very extensive camera reviews and their forums.  It should be noted that DPReview’s forums have gotten hugely popular and with that comes a lower signal to noise ratio.  Meaning the number of quality post to garbage, uniformed or just toll posts have gone down a lot.  Despite this I still find myself perusing the forums at times.  If you are brave enough to actually post here – just know that you will likely get a few ‘Are you and idiot? My 5 year old knows that’ kind of responses – Just ignore them, there are lots of very helpful knowledgeable people on these forums that will help.  I also noticed that DBReview is striving to write more informative type articles, which will be a welcome addition.

www.fredmiranda.com – This site has a lot of great information too.  It has product reviews, how to articles and an active forums also.  This site was started by a guy, Fred, that writes Photoshop actions and then plug ins.  I have used many of them in the past.   What I like about this site is that they have become the go-to-place to buy and sell used photographic equipment (mainly digital).  Down in the forums section is a ‘Buy & Sell Photo-Gear’ section – It has hundred (if not thousands) of post per day.  I have personally bought and sold on this forum.  I would go here before e-bay.  

www.flickr.com – I think most people know this is the place to post images.  They also have a lot of other features including a forums section and the ability to buy prints, books and such.  I have a Pro membership and use it to post some of my better shots from a photo-shoot.  A few months ago I published my 2010 Burning Man pictures on Flickr and one day I got 12,000 photo views, so there are a lot of people that browse Flickr.  It is a good place to get feedback on your images.

www.deviantart.com – This site is somewhat like Flickr, but caters to a much broader range of artists.  I no longer use this site – just so many hours in the day – but some feel it had a more engaged and interactive user base.  The trick to any of these sites is that you must participate, more than just posting images up.  It takes friending people, commenting on their work and responding to posts.  

Blogs

Other than mine - blog.hammonpoto.com and photoriverblog.com.  Blogs have really taken off and, like web sites; there are blogs for any subject.  The nice thing about many blogs, they are somewhat interactive.  You are usually welcomed as a reader to participate in a comments section – These comment sections that follow each post are sometimes as good as the post itself. 

Adobe Light Room Killer Tips – lightroomkillertips.com
Matt Kloskowski does a great job of posting very usable tips, presets and advice for Lightroom users.  If you are a Lightroom users this blog should be in your favorites.

Scott Kelby’s Photoshop Insider – www.scottkelby.com
Scott Kelby is an author, Editor (Photoshop Magazine, Layer Magazine), blogger and trainer (www.kelbytraining.com) – his blog has a lot of great information for photographers and Photoshop users.  

Canon Rumors – www.canonrumors.com
First – This is a rumor site and you have to take the rumors with a grain of salt.  But, with that said, I think it is a good place to keep up with what (hopefully) is coming down the pipe. Although they are not always correct – Still waiting for the Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L IS II!!!  The site also points to other interesting things that are going on and has a forums section.  They are also attempting to write some content.  If you are a Canon user, you might want to check this out.

Podcasts

Podcasts are the internet radio of the future.  You can easily and for free subscribe to a Podcast stream and when the new episode comes out it is downloaded to your computer.  Some podcasts now have images and even video.  Podcasts can be subscribed to and listened to in iTunes and other dedicated software.

This Week in Photography - www.thisweekinphoto.com
TWiP can be downloaded with iTunes.  This podcast targets the serious amateur photographer, but includes much great info for beginners and serious photographers also.  The honesty is that I have not listened in a while, just got out of the habit of listening to podcasts, but intend to get back into it soon.  When I did listen I found this a worthwhile hour of listening.  

Books/Authors

Michael Freeman Photography - www.michaelfreemanphoto.com

The Photographer's Eye

The photographer’s Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

I have two grips with this book – First I do not like Freeman’s writing style, but after talking to others, it might just be me.  I just found his writing hard to follow and found myself re-reading sentences and even paragraphs to follow his line of thought.  The second problem was the example photos – I just did not find them that compelling.  Having seen other work by Freeman, I know he does good work; just felt that examples were not that great as photographs or at times examples of the concept.  

With my grips out of the way, I still highly recommend this book.  This is one of the first books I have read that talks about photography from a non-techie point of view. The book is almost entirely about the image.  Freeman is great about not saying ‘this is how you do it’ it is more of a discussion where he goes over elements that are important to an image and ways of incorporating them in your images.  

Freeman recently releases the second book in this series:  The Photographer’s Mind: Creative Thinking for Better Digital Photos.  This book is on my desk waiting for some time to read it.

Scott Kelby – www.scottkelby.com

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers
I recently upgraded to Lightroom 3 after using Lightroom 2 for over a year.  Thought I would get a book to get me up to speed on LR3 plus just get to the next level of proficiency.  I was pleasantly surprised; I found Kelby’s casual and very readable style enjoyable and very informative.  Not only did it get me up on the new feature in LR3 it also get me taking advantage of features in LR that I had not figured out on the first pass.  

Martin Evening – www.martinevening.com
Evening has written many books on Photoshop and Lightroom.  I have not recently read any of his books, but I have found the books I have read of his in the past to be very informative.