Is this summer your time to learn Elements or Lightroom?  Here is your chance!

The Texas Chicks summer schedule of Photoshop Elements and Lightroom classes has been posted and is waiting for your registration!

And, if you sign up between now and May 28, you can save 20% on your workshops!

If you’re wondering whether an online class is the best learning environment for you, read what one of my students from my most recent classes said:

Also, HUGE KUDOS for actually giving a LIVE presentation…being there to physically answer the questions that we have, in real-time, really means a lot. And having the video as well as your screen-view and chat box are UBER helpful! I always worry about if I’ll be able to hear the presenter…but you not only were clear, audible, guiding, and assisting, but also kind, educated, authentic, and genuinely HAPPY to be there. I didn’t feel like I was just another number…moreso that you truly cared whether we understood the processes and what you were teaching.

It was a bright-ish but overcast day.  Beautiful filtered light.  I was shooting just inside my garage door in front of a white backdrop.  There is no need for flash on days like this, right?  The photo looks good:

Compare the photo above (with no flash) to the photo below (with off camera flash).  The difference can make a blah photo out of one you previously thought was great.

The flash photos (all but the first in this post) have a bit of pop that the first is lacking.  There’s more sparkle in the eyes and hair, the contrast is better, the decorations on the clothing pop.  And the skin tones look more natural and dimensional too.

The best part is that I edited the photos from this shoot in well under an hour.  Once you nail exposure using OCF. the edits almost take care of themselves.

I learned this technique at the Zach Arias One Light workshop I attended last year.  If you are into off camera lighting, this is the workshop to take.  It looks like Zach isn’t teaching One Light much this year, but he does have a DVD you can buy.  I’ve watched it and it’s as good as a DVD can be, especially if you make yourself practice.

I still need lots of practice myself, even after attending a live class.  (See the grimace in the diagram below.)

Anyway, this was my set up.  I was pretty close to the kids – within 5 feet.  The flash was slightly in front of me and to my right.  And here is the equipment I used:

• Flash:  Canon Speedlite 580EX II
• Flash stand
• Umbrella
• Seamless white paper backdrop
• Backdrop stand
• Wireless trigger

So, why the grimace on my face?  Shooting with a flash is really not hard.  Once you have the equipment set up correctly, it’s really just a matter of taking a few test shots with the flash until you find the proper power to expose the scene like you want.

I shoot with my flash on manual, just like my camera, by the way.

The grimace is coming from the fact that I still have to think about set up and power adjustments.  I don’t want to think, “ok, I reduced the aperture by one stop so now I need to move the flash 3 clicks to the right.”  I want that to happen without thinking.  And I need more practice to get there.

Shooting off camera flash is an investment in both time and money.  But you’ll make up the time quickly by editing less.  And your photos will look better.  Want to practice with me?

Tamron is giving away a 17-50 mm lens over at MCP.  f/2.8, no less!  It has vibration control and works on both Canon and Nikon cameras.

How many of you purchased MCP’s Quick Clicks Collection for Lightroom when it came out?

I’ve heard quite a few people say that they’ve waited to upgrade to Lightroom 4 because they rely on our presets so much and didn’t want to leave LR3 if they couldn’t use MCP’s Quick Clicks.

Well, the wait is over!  Jodi and I have just finished the total rework required for Quick Clicks to take advantage of Lightroom 4′s awesome new features.  And the best news is that this upgrade is complimentary!

We added 5 new sections of presets to this upgrade, bringing the total number of presets in this collection to just under 300!  (These are available to those who aren’t upgrading to LR 4 as well – just redownload and reinstall your product.)

If you’ve purchased Quick Clicks already, return to MCP Actions, log into your account and look for your Downloadable Products.  Redownload the Lightroom product that you originally purchased, unzip it, and look inside to see the Lightroom 4 presets.  Or, look for the LR 2 and 3 presets if you just want to take advantage of the new one.  Read the MCP blog post for more info.

And if you haven’t purchased Quick Clicks yet, here’s what you can do:

1. Read the product reviews
2. Download Mini Quick Clicks to get a free taste of what these presets can do
3. Purchase the product here
4. Slash your editing time

And if you’re still trying to figure out Lightroom, sign up for my online classes that begin Monday evening, May 14.

Yesterday, Patti Brown’s Kaleidoscope released a new set of Photoshop Elements-compatible textures:  Eloquence. 

I’ve been playing with this set for about a week now, and was not at all surprised to find that it is one more in Patti’s long line of high quality textures and overlays.  Kaleidoscope is running a 40% discount on all products through May 22, if you’ve been waiting to purchase textures.  And yes, they are completely compatible with Photoshop Elements!

For each of these photos, I simply added a texture or two and created a vignette to darken the edges.  For the portrait above, the textures are both in the Overlay blend mode at full opacity.  I also removed the texture from her face and dress by blurring the texture layers over those areas.

In the photo above, Complexity uses the Screen blend mode at 56% opacity.  In the photo below, Halcyon III uses the Screen blend mode at 78% opacity.

• My layer mask doesn’t work
• The new action I just installed doesn’t work
• I run an action and nothing changes

I’ve been using Elements for many years now, and I’ve never once encountered a broken layer mask.

Friends, it’s user error.  Layer masks don’t break.  And I’m saying this with a smile because I’ve been there myself, multiple times.  Let’s end the layer mask mystery once and for all!

If you need a basic tutorial on layer masks in PSE, start here.  And then, when you think you’ve got masking down but your mask isn’t behaving like you think it should, come back to this article.

Layer Mask Troubleshooting

• Make sure the regular brush tool is selected – not the Impressionist Brush or one of the others hiding under the regular brush tool
  
• Check that the brush Blend Mode is Normal.  This particular setting is haunted and has been known to change frequently without the user knowing about it.

• Turn brush opacity all the way to 100% to make sure you can see its changes,
• Is the brush the right size?  If it’s too big or too small, you might not see it at all.
• The layer must be turned on with its eyeball showing and active for editing (highlighted).
• Make sure the layer mask is active for editing (has a white outline around it).

• If all else fails, reset All Tools using the arrow just above the Tool Box
  
• Sometimes, after running an action, you won’t see any changes.  Check these items:
• Is the layer turned on?  If no eyeball is visible on the left of the layers panel, that means the layer is off.  Click it to turn on.
• Is the opacity of the layer at least 1%?  If the layer opacity is 0%, that means the action maker wants you to increase the opacity in order to turn on the layer.
• Is the layer mask black?  Remember that with layer masks, black conceals and white reveals.  If the layer mask is black, the effects of the layer are hidden until you paint them in with a white brush.

Never let those layer masks in Elements make you think they’re broken.  They’re not!

The Lightroom catalog is an amazing creation that makes my life easier every day.

However, it is also a hard topic to get your head around if you’re not familiar with a photo catalog setup.  And it is the number one source of questions in my Lightroom classes.

This catalog is a database that stores 2 types of information about your photos:

1. The location of the photo – where you saved the photo on your hard drive (where the photo”lives”)
2. Data describing the photo (including shooting settings, time, date, AND the edits you’ve made to a photo inside of LR)

Note that the Lightroom catalog does not store the photos themselves.  In other words, the photos that you look at inside of LR do not live inside of LR.

Why is this a good thing?

One of the things I like the best about LR is its crop function.  You can change the crop on a photo anytime you want because the pixels are never thrown away.  (Unlike Photoshop Elements.)  You can even undo a crop that you made last year.  How is this possible?

Because the catalog stores the location of the photo and a description of it, but not the photo itself.

When you crop a photo, this is what Lightroom says to itself:  ”The file located at Hard Drive/My Photos/2012/April/Clients/Smith/SmithCakeSmash45.jpg should be cropped to an 8×10 beginning the the upper left corner.”  However, because the photo doesn’t live in LR, the file isn’t actually cropped.

Anything you do to this photo from within Lightroom will have this crop applied.  And you can do a lot from within LR:

• Upload to Facebook
• Email
• Print at home
• Create a slideshow or web gallery
• Create a book at Blurb
• Burn a CD

Ok, so what happens if you need to use that photo outside of Lightroom?  For instance, you want to upload photos to a print lab for printing.  You can’t do that from within Lightroom.

Exporting is essentially “sewing” the actual photo together with the list of edits that the catalog holds.

To export a photo, simply right click and select Export.

Have you ever noticed that you don’t save your photos while editing in Lightroom?  Why is that?

Because the photos don’t live inside of LR, so there is nothing to save. The catalog stores the location of the photo and a list of edits made to it.  Those edits are stored the minute you make them.  So there is nothing to save.

The only way to put a photo on your hard drive with the LR changes is to export it.  However, you ONLY need to export if you’re going to do something with itthat you can’t do from within Lightroom.

How many of you are participating in Ali Edwards’ Week in the Life?

I’m not much of a scrapbooker, except that I follow two of Ali’s projects every year:  Week in the Life, and December Daily.  Follow, you understand, can be a loose term.  I completed both projects in 2010.  In 2011, I took all the photos but never assembled the books.  This year, I’m going to do better.

I love Week in the Life for many reasons.  First, it allows me to document the everyday moments that I might forget otherwise.  The “Daddy, look what I made” moments.  This project focuses on the routines of life rather than the big celebrations or milestones.  The things that I will miss when the kids are grown and that I’d like to be able to show their kids someday.

Another thing I like about Week in the Life is that it’s good practice.  Aside from using my camera all day, I really try to get the shots right in camera.  ’Cause there’s no way I can do timely edits on all these photos.

Between Monday and Thursday of this week, I’ve taken just over 300 photos.  I will use about 10-20 in the final book for each day.

I also try to jot down memories of each day so that I don’t forget when it’s time to assemble the book.  It’s memorable, for example, that Daddy cooked dinner one night.

And while Daddy manned the grill, I put my feet up to read a cheesy British gossip magazine for news about the royal family.   Did I mention that I’m obsessed?  Royal watching is an important part of my weekly routine!

Week in the Life also reminds me to photograph everything, all the time.  Not just when rooms are clean.

I have to get creative about including myself in the photos.  The image below is the shadow of Daddy and me walking home after taking my older daughter to school.  My younger daughter is on his shoulders.

Tomorrow, I’ll drag out my tripod and remote timer to get some of me sitting at my desk.

Week is the Life is also good for me because it reminds me that a beautiful photo that evokes important memories and emotions doesn’t have to be perfect.  It’s liberating, and good for my photography, to let go of that compulsion from time to time.

I use my phone to take photos also.  The last thing I want to tote to the gym is a big camera!

I also let Daddy take the camera with him sometimes.  I just tell him to set it on “green” (full auto) – he does a great job!

I keep my editing to a minimum for these photos.  Brightened the eyes and dark circles on this photo.  And I love capturing the memory of how her nose is always in a book, even if she’s in her costume for the Mexican performance at school.

This is another phone photo.  It’s focus is soft, but it illustrates so well how my BFF literally took the shoes off my feet because they matched her new dress and she needed a pair for a party this weekend.  I drove home barefoot.  Yes, that’s a good story to remember.

If you haven’t tried a Week in the Life project before, I highly recommend it.  Even though Ali presents it just one week a year, you can start your week whenever you want.  Remember to:

• Keep a camera (any camera) on you all week
• Don’t worry too much about editing
• Assure yourself that the photos don’t have to be perfect
• Be present in life for the week.  Enjoy the high points and even the annoyances.  We’ll miss them one day, I’m told!

After a recent photography workshop, I noticed a theme in the composition of many of my photos.  Some of my favorite “portraits” didn’t have faces in them.

Do you have any favorite photos that look like these?  Please tell me you do!  And post them on my Facebook page so I won’t worry about any subconscious head-chopping urges that I’m having….

One reason that these photos work, in my opinion, is that they aren’t ONLY about the subject.  They’re about the setting, the feel, the style.  And how the model plays into the scene with her unique characteristics.

Picture the photo above with your toddler who just started walking in the background.  And his first pair of shoes in the foreground.

Even without the face visible, some of these photos work as portraits and say alot about the subject’s personality.  And come to think of it, I have some shots of my kids running away from the camera that I love!

By reader request (thank you, my awesome readers!), I’m going to share my photo storage, organization and backup routines with you.

This is a process that everyone has to deal with and different methods work for different people.  I’ve changed and refined my own process multiple times over the past 8 or 9 years, and I’m quite happy with how it’s working.  For now.

My equipment

• An iMac with a 1 terabyte hard drive.
• La Cie Little Big Disk – 1 terabyte
• Western Digital My Book Essential – 2 terabytes

My Importing and Storage Process

• I import photos using Lightroom
• During the import process, I store my photos on the La Cie using the following organization:
• Year
• Month
• Event/client/shoot
• When importing via Lightroom, I also make a 2nd copy of my Raw photos to my Western Digital (the secondary external drive).  This is so easy to do – just check the appropriate box in the LR import window.  You import and backup at the same time.  The photos are stored in folders corresponding to the Event/Client/Shoot but not month and year on the secondary drive.  This is just to have a backup copy of the unedited files.
• After editing photos, if the edits are completed using LR only and printed at home, I don’t need to store a separate file.  If my edits are done in Elements or Photoshop, I save a PSD in the same Year/Month/Event folder as the original.  If i export JPGs from LR to send to print labs, they are stored in the same folder as well.
• However, if I create low resolution photos, they live in their own folder, by month (Year/Month/Low Res).  I keep them all in the same folder so that I can find them easily when posting to Facebook or emailing.

Offsite Backup

I backup all files, photos and videos to Crashplan.   Backing up to external hard drives will save you if your primary hard drive crashes.  However, in case of fire or robbery, those external hard drives probably won’t help.

Online backups are slow, especially within my price range.  The initial backup (after you sign up for the service and backup all your existing files) can take a couple of months.  I chose Crashplan for their $100 “seeding” product.  Crashplan will send you an external harddrive to put your existing files on – copying all the files took a day or two.  That’s a huge improvement over 2 months!

I currently have over 1.2 terabytes backed up to Crashplan.  Each time I add new files or modify existing files at home, my Crashplan account is updated as well.  Crashplan backs up my external hard drive and the storage is unlimited.

Notes

• No photos live on my hard drive.  My large files (photos, videos, etc) live on the La Cie so that I can keep the computer itself from being too clogged.
• My 1 terabyte La Cie is almost full.  I have digital photos dating from at least 2003, plus home videos and movies that we watch on Apple TV and the iPad.  Wish I would have bought the 2 tb!  I use this as my primary external drive because it has a Thunderbolt connection and is very fast.  There is no delay when editing photos.
• I originally used the WD My Book on my PC.  It is strictly for backup of my Raw photos.

What do you guys do?  This process is one that should work invisibly and behind the scenes for all of us.  Unfortunately, as important as photo storage and backup is, it’s just not always easy!