Last night the DALPUG (Denver Area Lightroom Users Group) had their bi-monthly meeting and host Brian Reyman walked us through some of the features of the Lightroom 3 Beta. It was a gret seminar and offered an opportunity for many to get an idea of what to expect. I had not realized that there are many work flow options out there because when queried, the audience responded with quite the variety of software approaches. We didn’t officially count votes, but it seemed roughly along these lines:
40% Lightroom 2
40% Photoshop CS (no query here on version #)
10% Aperture
10% Elements or some other platform, including GIMP, Corel, and others…
If you think about it – the first software platform you learn for editing photos is usually the one where you really cut your teeth, grind your fingers to the bones, and once you know it, you just know it. So, for a new software application to come out and challenge the fact that you have this established work flow, suggesting that there is a better way can often be both disheartening and somewhat defeating. After all, some of us can even remember dodging and burning negatives in a dark room not too long ago.
It was quite an epiphany though to see people from such a wide variety of backgrounds – some younger than me (in their 20’s), many in my age range (30’s – 40’s), and others even senior to me (50’s and up) coming out to learn about this new-fangled technology of Lightroom 3.
What it brought to mind for me was a fundamental dichotomy in the way photography has transformed us. We have learned so much and in such a little time frame, yet there are always barriers to learning more, not the least of which is our own prejudices. We learn something, we know something inside and out, and then something new comes along that changes the paradigm. It’s no wonder there is still so much confusion over what “the best” way to work through images is.
One the one hand, if you have a flow, and it works – why change something that does what you want it to do, and it’s something you not only know, but are reasonably good at? Meanwhile, on the other – what if you are spending countless hours doing something much slower than you wish it could be and this new carrot is being dangled? Do you stick to your guns or do you lay that gun down and find a new one that fires better?
It’s a struggle to be sure, and while sticking to your guns can be a good thing in the face of a changing technology, for those of us that stick too long, we can ultimately find ourselves actually staring down the barrel of a gun. It’s all ammo in the armaments and the important lesson I learned is that while the principles may not change the tools to flex those principles are always changing.
So, the answer for me is to stick to my guns in principle, but be ready for a new rifle and prepare to adapt to meet the needs of that new tool, because odds are, the new one will ultimately do it better, faster, and cleaner than anything that came before it….eventually!
Sort of a philosophical musing for today, but nonetheless one I wanted to share, and hopefully get some feedback on. Are you an early adopter? Do you come out guns blazing with new technology whenever it becomes available, or do you stick with the rounds that you know how to fire until the proven replacement has been demonstrated and taught? Sound off in the comments, and come on back tomorrow for yet another round! 
One of the more recent episodes from the guys over at This Week in Photography had them wrapping up their coverage of PMA, where they talked tech about all the latest cameras to come out from the various vendors. Canon was noticeably absent from the show, but it didn’t detract from an interesting comment I think Ron Brinkmann said where he wished he could pull all his favorite features from each of the cameras and basically make his own.
To me, the idea screamed “blog post”! So, I decided to go for it. I went through every major SLR on the market today and cherry-picked my favorite features from each camera. It took a while (there’s a lot out there), but I kept on plugging at it for a few days. Finally, I’ve completed the list, and here’s my “perfect camera” wish list:
- Full Frame Sensor – It seems the market is trending this way, and while the added zoom on a crop sensor can be nice, I’d love to see my 10-22 on a full frame body!
- EF-S support – This is Canon-specific, but because of my 10-22 and 18-55, I would really love to get that super wide angle on a full frame without vignetting or fisheye distortion…I know, the impossible dream, but hey, it’s not like such a camera will ever really exist, so I may as well dream, right?
- Low Light Performance – Think Nikon here – they’re beating the pants off pretty much everyone in the market with their low light sensitivity and handling.
- ISO handling – the fact that you can shoot at ISO 102400 is pretty amazing, but the noise is crazy. Sure, I’ll take the high ISO, but at least let me make decent prints from it. This kind of ties into the low light performance, but since it’s a separate spec, why not…
- Multi-card compatibility – Lately more cameras are supporting the CF and the SD format cards, but mine currently does not support the latter, so, it’s on my list!
That’s it? Of course not, but do you really want me to list ALL the features I want to see in my dream camera in ONE SUPER LONG POST? Of course not! I wouldn’t want to read that either, no matter who wrote it! So, I’m saving the other segments for another day soon (hint, hint, hint)! I’m not even sure this is my “Top Five”, but it could be close. I dunno, is it worth it doing a “top five” features list? Would you? Also consider this: what is your dream camera? What are the must have features for you? How much would you pay to have them all under one hood? I know it’d be a pretty penny, but think about how useful and how long it would last you…! Sound off in the comments with your favorite features!
Don’t forget, the March Flickr Giveaway is underway where you can win a Cheetah Stand, so make sure you enter your favorite WILD pic today!
That’s right, we’re back to a photoshop tip again on the blog, and this one comes courtesy of question I read in the NAPP community forums. The person there had asked about pricing on some photography for a large company’s set of employee photos and his concern was about the post production time in creating the border and logo that the company wanted on each.
The community quickly sprung to action, pointing him in several directions, and it occurred to me that I had never done this sort of tutorial before! It’s not too difficult but there are some pitfalls to be aware of when dealing with borders and logos in photos, especially if you are trying to program these steps into an action or script. Suffice to say, I figured this was as good a time as any to jump back into Photoshop and keep the digits (and brain) fresh! So, here’s a new video tutorial on creating borders and logos! Enjoy!
Download This Episode of the
Canon Blogger Podcast Series
Your thoughts and feedback are welcome and encouraged as always! Thanks for stopping in, have a great week, and be sure to stop back in tomorrow for more photo goodness! Oh yeah, and don’t forget the March contest is in full swing where the winner will go home with one of these super cool Cheetah Quickstands – the theme is wild and the link for submissions is here! Happy shooting and we’ll see you tomorrow!
