Category Archives: Photography

Spring in Yellowstone National Park 2017

So, another trip to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks is over. As was the case on previous trips, our first few days were spent around Jackson Hole (Wyoming). We visited all of the our favourite locations in and around the Grand Teton National Park. The wildflower meadows at Antelope Flats were a mass of colour with Arrow-root Balsam, Mules Ears, Penstemons, Skyrockets, Lupins, Paintbrush, etc. Unfortunately, the weather and lighting conditions were less than ideal with heavy grey skies being the norm. However, the odd break in the clouds allowed strips of sunlight to make for some moody images.

The Grand Teton, Grand Teton National Park

Some time was also spent around the Gros Ventre river and camp site where we came across Western Tanagers. Adult males have a bright red face and a yellow nape, shoulder, and rump, with black upper back, wings, and tail.

Western Tanager, Grand Teton National Park

After a few days in Grand Teton we moved on to Yellowstone National Park. As is usual when we visit Yellowstone we based ourselves in West Yellowstone. The town and park were both very busy as would be expected in holiday season. The trick is to be in the park early to avoid the crowds, but also to ensure that the steam clouds rising from the rivers and thermal pools hadn’t been burnt off.

Morning Mist On Madison River

The Upper Geyser basin (location of Old Faithful) is another early morning favourite and the following image of Morning Glory Pool is a particular favourite of mine. The wooden deck around one edge of the pool helps frame one side of the pool. However, it can be a problem due to morning shadows spilling on to the pool itself. On this occasion I was lucky.

Morning Glory Pool, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

Some time was also spent exploring the Lower Geyser Basin area, especially the spouters and geysers such as Clepsydra.

Clepsydra Geyser, Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

We’re always on the lookout for bears as we travel around the park, and this year presented us with more sightings than usual.

Black Bear Cub, Blacktail Plateau, Yellowstone National Park

Having spent four days photographing the main park we moved across to Cooke City, which is on the south side of the park. From there we had easy access to the Beartooth Mountains.

Snowcapped Mountain, Beartooth Mountains

We spent the next 5 days high up into the Beartooth mountains.  These gave us plenty of opportunities to photograph the wild Mountain Goats that roam high up in the mountains, and the wild flowers.

As with our previous spring trips to the area we had arranged to meet up with a local wildlife photographer. He had sought out many good nesting sites for birds such as: Red-naped Woodpeckers, American Three-toed Woodpeckers, Mountain Bluebirds and Northern Flickers.

Northern Flicker Leaves Nest, Shoshone National Forest

More photos from this trip can be viewed in this gallery.

Note: I don’t allow comments on Blog pages, but am more than happy to receive your thoughts on the photos and/or the tutorials etc. Just send an email to ilyons@msn.com

Adobe releases Lightroom CC (2015.8) and Lightroom 6.8

lr-cc-logo As with most point release updates, Adobe’s goal for this release is to provide additional camera raw support, lens profile support and address bugs that were introduced in previous releases of Lightroom. There are also a few new features for CC subscribers.

 

New Feature – Reference View

This is a new view mode in the Develop Module that provides a dedicated 2-Up view that lets you place a Reference (static) photo next to an Active (editable) photo. This is helpful when making a group of images from a single event look similar. Other examples where you might use this feature are:

  • To match the look of a photo for preset creation.
  • To adjust for white balance consistency in photos.
  • To fine-tune a camera matching profile to the appearance of a camera generated JPG file.
Reference view

Reference view

There are a number of approaches to accessing the this tool, but below is probably the simplest.

  1. In Library module, drag photos you want to edit to a collection
  2. Go to the Develop Module
  3. Click on Reference View button ra Its on the Toolbar, and you may need to show the Toolbar if hidden (i.e. tap the T key)
  4. Drag your Reference Photo onto the left pane.  You can change your Reference Photo by either dragging a different image onto the left pane or using the ‘Set as Reference Photo’ context menu in the Library Module.
  5. Edit the active photo. Use the Reference Photo to guide your editing decisions.

In addition to the horizontal 2-up view it’s also possible to display the reference and active photos as vertical 2-up. It would have been useful to also include split views. May be next time.

Reference view - vertical

Reference view – vertical

In general, the tool is most useful when used to visually match photos to a reference photo. It’s also possible to adjust by the RGB values associated with pixels directly under the cursor. However, the RGB values themselves are displayed under the Histogram, which means you are constantly having to switch your view from the photo to the histogram. Personally, I find this rather tiring on the eyes, and would prefer that the RGB values are displayed at the cursor position rather than the histogram.

While above describes a work flow where the reference photos and all of the other images are from the same event it is possible to set any photo in your catalog as the reference photo.

Note that by default, Lightroom will clear the current reference photo when you switch away from the Develop module. To lock the current reference photo to the Reference window, click the Reference Photo lock icon  in the toolbar before switching away from the Develop module.

Other new features include:

  • You can now filter or create a Smart Collection for images that have Snapshots associated with them.
  • You can now export a Collection Set as a new catalog.

Other performance improvements include:

  • With Lightroom CC (2015.8) / 6.8 there are a number of  activity prioritisation changes designed to improve the responsiveness of your Lightroom experience.  As a result, you should notice improvements in photo editing responsiveness when background tasks (such as Preview Generation) are running, moving files between folders, running catalog backups, etc.
  • You can now zoom to fit and zoom to fill.  Particularly when using ultra high-resolution (i.e. 4K and 5K) monitors, prior versions of Lightroom would not completely fill the Loupe window.

New Camera and Lens Support in Lightroom CC (2015.8) / 6.8

  • Canon EOS M5
  • Fujifilm X-A3
  • Google Pixel
  • Google Pixel XL
  • Hasselblad X1D
  • Leica TL
  • Nikon D5600
  • Olympus E-M1 Mark II (*)
  • Olympus PEN E-PL8
  • Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ2500 (DMC-FZ2000 and DMC-FZH1)
  • Pentax K-70
  • Samsung Galaxy S7
  • Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
  • Sony Alpha a6500 (ILCE­-6500)
  • Sony Alpha a99 II (ILCA-99M2)
  • Sony DSC-RX100 Mark V

* denotes preliminary support

Additional lens profiles have been included for: Apple, Canon, Google, Go Pro, Leica, Nikon, Ricoh, Samsung and Sigma cameras and smart phones.

New Tethered Shooting Support in Lightroom CC (2015.8) / 6.8

  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

Installation Instructions

Select Help > Updates to use the update mechanism in the Creative Cloud app.

Disclosure: As an Adobe Community Professional I receive a free subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud.

Adobe Lightroom on the Web

lr-mobile-100Lightroom on the web? Yes, there’s a web version of Lightroom.

What is it? It’s web based version of Lightroom that you access from within a web browser. You can easily access, organize, and share photos you’ve synced from Lightroom on the desktop, Lightroom mobile for devices or dragged directly into the web browser interface. Lightroom on the web also allows you to edit photos, including cropping, making adjustments, and applying presets.

If this is the first you’ve come across a web based version of Lightroom then more details can be found at Lightroom on the web.

Lightroom on the web - sign-in

Lightroom on the web – sign-in

Having signed in you’ll be greeted with a screen not unlike Lightroom mobile. The default view is Grid view (for viewing photos in collections).

Lightroom for the web - Grid View

Lightroom on the web – Grid View

On left side you’ll see all of the Collections you’ve synced, and along the top are options searching photos, adding photos, sharing photos, and displaying a slideshow. You can also apply flags or ratings in this view. Clicking on a thumbnail in Grid view opens the photo into Loupe view. Here you can switch to Edit view by clicking on a button located at top left corner of loupe view window edit_button In this view you can non destructively edit your photos.

Lightroom on the Web - Edit mode

Lightroom on the Web – Edit mode

Lightroom on the web shares many of the editing features found in Lightroom mobile, and like mobile any edits you apply will be synced back to your other devices and Lightroom desktop catalog.

Lightroom on the web - Develop Presets

Lightroom on the web – Develop Presets

 

November Updates

As of November 2016 Adobe has introduced a number of enhancements to Lightroom on the web. These are primarily focused on Sharing. For example, you can now add a header graphic, add sections within your Shares, and add text describing the sections.

Lightroom on the web - Selecting photos to share

Lightroom on the web – Selecting photos to share

If you have already tried it, then do so!