March 21, 2008

by Gavin Seim. Updated 01/2010:

Most of us use and love Adobe Lightroom. One of my favorite features is presets. One click WOW & workflow for our photo’s. I even make some very popular preset collections that I sell over on Seim Effects.

So there’s a couple of ways to install Lightroom presets and today I’m gonna show you both, including the guru method. I’m talking about develop presets, but it should be noted that these methods are essentially the same with any user preset, such as print presets, gallery presets etc. If your installing brush presets see this article. Also, I’m using a Mac, but the same process will work on Windows.

How to install lightroom presets
Start by going into the Develop Module (shortcut D) On the left panel you'll see your presets.

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March 19, 2008

Wicked WeddingWelcome to the inaugural post of Wedding Tip Wednesdays. My goal is to share helpful little tips and tricks pertaining to photographing weddings. While these tips and tricks are intended for photographers of all skill levels, those considering sticking their toe into the wedding photography waters and newby wedding photographers will probably get the most out of these. You may even find that some of these tips will spill over to other types of photography besides weddings. Some topics will be broad while others, like this first one here, will be random, simple, and straight to the point.

Todays tip features a piece of equipment that those of us who use non-battery power lights or strobes, use at every wedding shot indoors. It’s an extension cord. Seriously? Yes, stick with me. What I have noticed, especially in some of the older historic churches, is that after plugging in an extension cord and then strategically weaving it under the maze of pews back to my lights only to realize that when I tried to fire up the lights…no power. The hunt for another working power outlet soon followed. Irritating and time consuming.

My solution: Use an extension cords that feature “power-on indicator lights.” This is basically a fancy way of saying that the female end of the extension cord has a little built in LED that lights up when plugged into a live outlet. In a day where time is of the essence, this little tip might just save you ten minutes that you could spend creating more beautiful images.

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March 19, 2008

phase one camera

The new Phase One Medium format digital has been announced. It’s body is a Mamiya 645 AF. Then add the phase one back and you’ve got quite a system. It has a wide range of compatible lenses, and can also do exposure up to 60 minutes long. Fun!

We don’t have a lot of details on it yet, but you can check it out on the Phase One site. Be prepared for a slow hard to navigate experience though. Hopefully their site it not representative of how the camera interface will be.

The system is supposed to be available in Q2 of this year, and though we don;t have a price you better plan on giving a wad for this beauty.

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March 18, 2008

As a photographer in the USA I’ve had more than one instance of people trying to bully me because I had a pro level camera. The worst offenders have been security guards.

If you’ve ever been in the situation you know what I mean, and if not you should be prepared. You get treated like your a criminal, they threaten to take away your gear etc.

Of course of you are standing on private property you can be asked to leave and are required to do so, but DID YOU KNOW that in most cases even a police officer can’t take away your camera without a court order? After some hassles I decided to look into it some years back, and there’s even a book called The Legal Handbook for Photographers that I picked up. It goes in depth into these issues, but if you just want the basics heres some places to start.

Photojojo just wrote a great article outlining photographer rights so check it out here. Most of the info info came from a lawyer named Bert Krages who wrote the afore mentioned book. He also has a PDF called The Photographers Right that outlines the basic rights. I suggest you downland that and keep in in your bag should you ever have a confrontation.

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March 17, 2008

Wanting to go pro, but haven’t made the jump? Check out this article from Eric Hamilton Photography where ho talks gives his thoughts for shooting what you love and making a living doing it.

Photo By Gavin Seim

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