October 15, 2008

There is a new version of this article. Read it here>>

I‘ve mentioned this technique on the Pro Photo Show podcast, but I felt I should write it down in simple terms since I get questions about it. It’s how I use LR catalogs, and manage my jobs. Today I’m gonna share some power user tips  that can really make your life, and image management easier.

I make a new Lightroom Catalog for each session. That’s right every senior, family, and couple get a catalog made in their honor. Sometimes people think it’s a bit crazy, but usually change their minds. It’s simple management mechanics and if you try it you might just love it. If not you can modify it to fit your needs. Though I use Lightroom, these techniques can also apply to other software.

Why?
Most photographers that use Lightroom have one huge catalog that all their images are stored in. They manage those shoots from within that catalog using collections, and the image files are referenced to various drives and directories all over the system. What happens when the disk gets full and images are archived, or when things get moved? The files are now separated from the main catalog. To use them again one has to bring back the files, and/or point LR to the right location.

There’s also the somewhat smaller issue of speed and reliability. Though the programs we have, deal with large amounts of images well, it’s basic math that tells us the bigger a database becomes, the more the system must process. I like portable streamlined catalogs and not having to worry about a huge master catalog getting corrupt. Here’s the two parts that make up my system.

The Portable Container Method:
The container method can apply whether you have one giant catalog, or a catalog for each session like I do. You simply make a folder that contains your catalog, as well as your images (usually in a sub folder). This way the entire unit is within one folder rather than scattered across various locations. It now becomes portable. You can even do this with existing catalogs by moving the images to the folder with the catalog. You’ll have to spend a few minutes showing Lightroom where you put everything, but then you’re set.

The Job Catalog Method:
It works great… Seriously though it does. It’s so seamless and easy to access a job from any date because each job has a customer folder which contains the catalog, as well as the folder with all the original images. It’s totally portable to any drive. If I want to archive or move, I can drop the entire folder anywhere and if I ever need it again I just open up the catalog and all my images, settings, ratings and info are right where I left them because their all within one folder along with the images.

When I finish editing a job I export final JPEG’s to a finals folder (separate from the catalog images) and I’m ready to put them online, send to the client, or wherever their going. I don’t ever have to worry about things getting lost or mixed up because every job is a own catalog, in it’s own folder, with it’s images inside. See the screenshot below for an example how I contain the entire job with it’s catalog in one folder for easy management. When I need to free up space I simple archive the entire folder on an archive disk catalog and all.

Going further:
Yep you can do more… I have a portfolio catalog that manages my sample images. Inside the images folder of that catalog are a few other folders, so I can keep weddings, portraits etc easily viewable, but also together in one catalog. This portfolio catalog fits in a few gigs, and I can copy the whole thing to any disk and take it with me. Then I can fire up LR and can be showing my portfolio in a LR slideshow within seconds. I can view the entire portfolio, or simply select on of the enclosed folders to narrow down to weddings, portraits etc.

Something else I often do, is make the customer catalog before a session. With weddings for example, I make the catalog on my laptop and dump images in it throughout the day. Not only do I have a backup, but now I can I easily edit a few and throw up a simple slideshow during the reception to WOW the guests (great advertising). Better yet, when I get home all (or most) of the the images are already in that catalog. I can apply one of my auto presets, and start 1:1 previews before bed, and in the morning I just copy the entire folder to my main machine, ready to sort, edit, and ship. Portability saves time again.

The Bottom line is that it’s really simple. Making a new catalog is barely more than creating a new folder for a job. You can manage things better, archive them easier, get work done quicker.

Exceptions:
In some situations a single large catalog might be needed. You can still the the container method, but If for example you are shoot stock, or nature and need a large tagged searchable database you may want a single catalog. If you’re shooting job based work, then most jobs can be better managed from their own catalogs. It’s a preference. Try it out and see what works for you

In my case I have personal images and large ongoing projects in master catalogs, since there’s far less of them and I work with them on a regular basis. Unlike client jobs that get filed away in the archives. I still use the portable container method of placing the images with the catalogs however.

Gavin Seim
seimphotography.com

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September 3, 2008

 canon-rs-80.jpg nikon-mc36.jpg
This weeks Cool Photo Product(s) Of The Week

This weeks gadget comes in various types, but you’ll find plenty of links to various options. The bottom line is that you should ABSOLUTELY have a cable release in your bag.

The release is basically a button that connects to your camera (occasionally wireless, but usually wired) that allows you to trip the shutter, and often allows you to lock it open (using Bulb mode on the camera) for long exposures. It’s also important for long exposures as you don’t have to “touch” the camera.

The lock button is invaluable for night images and if you’ve never done long exposure night photography, you owe it to yourself to try it. It’s pretty amazing what can come out of a camera after a multi-minute exposure. I’ve shot exposures to over 60 minutes with some neat results.
The release is also perfect for the portrait, commercial, or any other type of photographer; allowing you to set the camera on a pod, and shoot without leaning over it. Great for shooting while interacting a subject.

Last but not least I almost always use a release for shooting my HDR sequences because again I don’t have to touch (and thus shake) the camera. So now that you know you want one, here a few options…

Canon RS-80N3: Is what I use. It’s fits most newer Canons, has a lock, and works great. Runs about 50- on B&H

Canon TC-80N3: Is the big brother to the RS80. It runs close to 150- but offer a digital screen with a timer, This is perfect is you plan on a lot of long exposures.

Nikon MC30: This is for most of the Nikon line N90-D3 range. Again at about 50- it’s simple but effective.

Nikon MC36: This is the big brother on the Nikon side. Display, timer, and other cool functions for about 130- Again a good choice to the person who does a lot of long exposures.

Now there’s other models available, some from third parties as well, and also if you shoot other camera brands. Just search around. This is one piece if kit you should not be without.

Gavin Seim

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August 15, 2008

world.jpgWe already get a significant amount of traffic from photographers across the globe. It’s easy to be so used to your own language that you just think it’s normal for everyone. English is automatic for me, but not for everyone.

I was reviewing stats last night and decided it was time to look into more choices for our non US photo friends. In the last 30 days PPS has had visitors from 126 countries.

I was up till 2:30 last night and now if you look to the left you’ll see the language panel. Just click your a flag, and the page will be translated into one of 21 languages. Thanks to the Global Translator The system sends the text to a translation engine, and then the site caches it. For that reason you may have to return in a few minutes to get the translation. Here’s and example of our popular Lightroom Preset Directory translated to Spanish.

Are the translations perfect? I doubt it, but it brings us one step closer to each other across the globe and I’m pretty excited about it. I’m also working on implementing this  feature on our sister site Seim Effects. There’s still more to be done of course. The podcast is English only of course, but we making progress, and who knows what future technolighy will bring us.

Gavin Seim

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March 30, 2008

I wanted to post a free video from my up and coming Seim Effect video series.

Burn and dodge is one of those overlooked gems that can give you control over where viewer attention is drawn to in an image. Some people avoid vignettes, burns and dodges because they don’t realize how effective they can be.

I see images nearly every day that could be twice as good with a little B&D Love. This is just as important with HDR images ass well ad they tend to be a bit flat in their natural state. Here’s a Seim Effects video on the topic. It’s slightly cheesy, but a good look at how I leverage B&D. Click the link to get the free High Res version.

~Download High Quality Version For Free~



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September 25, 2007

If you read the main PPS site you may well have already picked these up, but since this is my official effects blog I wanted to post them up. These are some free samples from my Power Workflow Preset Collection. Cruise Control set can be a huge time saver when it comes to correcting large batches of images, I needed something that I could start out my workflow with automating image corrections I made these. Both include JPEG & RAW version just like the Power Workflow collection.

The fantasy sampler includes a few of my favorite special effects that are included with the Power Workflow preset collection that I’ve made for lightroom.

400, based on the very popular “300? series by Mikelao. Their not really the same, so if you don’t have 300 then you’ll want to get it.

Fantasy is a preset I started some time back and have found it to be very useful. Fantasy Basic is a great lightweight general use effect that gives a nice gentle look.

Vintage is also included and is one of 3 vintage presets from Power Workflow.

There are more variations of them in the full Power Workflow, but this should give you a cool start.

lightroom-fantasy2.jpg

Check out power the POWER WORKFLOW2 Complete Collection

This set includes is the results of me wanting something to apply to large batches of images, and have them basically auto correct and look great out of the gate. I’ve spent a lot of time playing with this type of preset and I’m pretty excited about them.

Since images vary I ended up with four presets, and choose depending on the project. There’s only three here, but all four come with Power Workflow. With some of these I manually edited the xml of the preset to get what I wanted. I also found that Lightroom’s auto tone feature (used in Full Auto) can be good, but often is makes images too bright, or too dark because it miscalculates exposure. You should find that as long as your exposures are pretty close to correct you can apply “Semi Auto” to them at import and have most images look rocking from the start. Here whats inside the set.

lightroom-workflow.jpg

Semi Auto WB. This is my latest, and I believe my favorite general use batch preset. It auto corrects some things, and adjusts others, to try and make an image that pops, and just generally looks good. A great batch tool.

Full Auto. This is just what it says. Applies auto settings to main elements like exposure, contrast etc. I find that while it can be great, it sometimes miscalculates. For those situations I turn to Semi Auto.

-WB.
versions of each preset are the same except they auto correct white balance. Theres no golden rule for WB, and really it come down to what you think looks good.

The full collection for RAW & JPEG can be found in my Power Workflow Preset Collection. Have fun… Gav

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