Greetings to PPC Members

I was drinking my orange juice this morning reading the newspaper when I saw the following Dear Abby article:

Dear Abby:

I feel compelled to comment about the letter from "Miffed Pro in South Carolina" (April 20), the professional photographer who complained about guests taking photographs at weddings.

I am a clergyperson who has seen more than my share of rude, incompetent professional photographers. I have seen them attempt to set up tripods at the altar, leaving no room for the wedding party to stand. I have seen them squat in the middle of the aisle, stopping each couple as they approach to get a "candid" shot. I have cleaned up front pews cluttered with their camera cases and jackets thrown over the altar, delaying the start of the ceremony.

After the wedding, they set up equipment, checking lighting and settings interminably until the bride has lost every bit of "glow" and the candles have burned to stumps. One bride finally shouted, "Enough!" and burst into tears because she wanted to go to her reception.

Ultimately, the bride and groom are often left with substandard photos at a premium price. This, I believe, is why guests bring their own cameras - so they can capture some fun-filled memories of the day that are affordable.

MICHIGAN MINISTER

The question I have to ask, "Are you this photographer or are you a professional?"  Please be considerate of your clients and their guests at weddings.  Remember this is their day not yours.

Michael Collins,

Is celebrating it's 60th birthday in 2008.

Adobe Lightroom - I like it!

I am a software junkie and have tried several different RAW workflow programs;  Nikon Picture Perfect, Apple Aperture, and Lightroom.  (I shoot a Nikon D2Xs). A few years ago I had issues with Adobe/Nikon compatibility, and wasn't able to edit images in Bridge Camera Raw, and instead had to use a Nikon PP plug-in.  So I snatched up Aperture as soon as it came out.  I was so excited!  It has a great workflow for the Mac, especially if using iPhoto, but it still has some limitations in RGB ranges. I am one to install and start using, then read the manual later, but if I can't figure out a workflow easily I become frustrated.  I still use it on my Mac because I can organize projects and store files in an Aperture vault on my external hard drive, but I still want to edit my images in Photoshop (CS3!  see?  snapped it up!) 

Then along came Lightroom!

     I took a leap of faith at 52 years young to become a professional photographer.(I'm almost 55 now)  It meant hurrying up and learning as much as I possibly can in a short time.  I bought Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium.  I might as well learn how to edit images from my camcorder, too. 

By now Adobe and Nikon were compatible, but I still had to convert my NEF files to PSD in Bridge (not so in Aperture - both Aperture and Lightroom retain the original uncompressed files as shot)  Lightroom is great!  It has quick editing when first installing images.  Metadata and settings can be quickly sync'd on entire projects.  The links are right there on the library page.  Basic fixes-like light exposure and saturation etc. can also be applied to all of the images simultaneously. As keywords are applied to images, a filtering system automatically adds them to an indexing file.  Just like that!

Then, the next step, the editing 'develop' workflow is great! It shows a histogram on one side, the image being edited in the middle, and another preview image for changing color presets. There are intricate adjustments for white balance, exposure, contrast, a regular tone-curve, HSL/Color/Grayscale, split-toning,sharpening, noise reduction,lens corrections and camera calibration. In many cases I might not need to go any further before showing the client.

Another thing I like is the 'quick collection'.  I might create a portfolio of 30 images out of a session of 150.  I can easily send my favorites to a quick collection without having to create a new folder somewhere in my computer.  (Aperture does too, but I find Lightroom much easier to read) The next part of the work-flow is a slide show of your edited collection.  It, too offers lay-out options, Then when I am done editing (Lightroom is developed to work smoothly with Bridge and all Creative Suite programs) there is a 'print' page with various options and then a 'web' page that can be linked for the client. 

I have only been using it since early March, and now wish I had bought it for my Mac, but it is a laptop and only has Photoshop CS3 on it, so I chose to save it for the Creative Suite. (yes, I have Creative Suite CS3 standard now on one PC and The CS2 Pro on the other.  Adobe loves me!) 

     This time I am going to read the manual, but everything I just told you I discovered for myself, and I am glad!

  Kathy Nash

     Mountain Kat Productions

    Custom Art & Photography

  www.mountainkatproductions.com

         mtnkat@mac.com