PhotoAbuse – The Blog

If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m a big fan of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. I’ve been using it for a few years now and would be lost without it. As time goes on, it has become a bigger and bigger part of my workflow. Recently, Adobe released a new beta version of the next release. I put it on my ‘puter,  played around with some test files, and so far it seems like this will be a great release. Some of the functions don’t work yet and word is that the folks at Adobe haven’t even included all the new features yet. That’s the way things work in the beta world I guess. You can download it for free here and give it a test drive.

I found a few pages out here on the interwebs dealing with Lightroom in general that I think would help just about anyone who uses Lightroom in their workflow. Simple tips, yet good, solid advice. The first one is on Ron Sylvans site Photo Focus.  A solid 10 item list for sure. The next one is from Scott Kelbys Photoshop Insider. Another solid 10 point list.

While a few of the points made might not make that much sense to new users, they will make sense in time.

Ever wanted to just upload some photos from Lightroom via ftp instead of a gallery? I just came across this plugin over at PRESETSHEAVEN. Minimal effort to get it set up and you are on your way!

Well, that’s it for now….back to your regular program already in progress….

Just a quick post today. I ran across this in my Google Reader this morning. Brandon Oelling posted an excellent article dealing with Lightroom Shortcuts in his blog XEQUALS+BLOG. I like using shortcuts and Brandon, just moments ago, turned me on to a few that I wasn’t aware of. If you are a user of Lightroom, you should put Brandon in your bookmarks or get the feed. He always has quality content.

Also, if you are a Lightroom user, Adobe has released a beta version of LR3! A little rough around the edges but they have juiced it up a little feature wise. You can test drive it by going to Adobe Labs and download it. I haven’t messed around with it all that much yet but the noise reduction and import functions are looking good.

Well, that’s it for now. I have to get ready to go shoot a Halloween parade! Have a fun Sunday!

Whoo Hoo! I recieved a Noteworthy from Photo Friday!

I have been submitting photos to that site for about 5 years now and finally made it. I’m not really that big on bragging about myself but this really made my day. Every week there is a new theme posted and you link a photo that fits the theme. Then everyone votes for the best photos. Folks must have liked this one!

I posted a photo of Sammy. It was not a good photo to begin with and I didn’t include it in the gallery for Sammys owner. The lighting was off. It was dark and just not a good looking photo. I did however, like his pose. Off and on for a few days, I messed around with this one in Lightroom & Photoshop, trying a few different techniques to lighten things up and bring out more of the details. I ended up putting a few hours into this one. Considerably more than I usually do! I was just using this photo to do a little experimenting on and for once, things worked out!

I have been using Adobe Lightroom as the first phase of my workflow since it came out in beta. Without sounding like an ad for Adobe, let’s just say I think it’s a great program. While I am rarely in a rush to get my photos processed, I have been attempting to learn shortcuts in both Lightroom and Photoshop. I recently came across This Page posted on The Lightroom Queen, Victoria Bamptons’ site, The Photoshop Blog. Keyboard shortcuts are pretty cool. Even though I have the memory of a gnat, I do remember a few of the ones I use on a regular basis and it does make things easier than searching around the menus!

If you use Lightroom, this will be a good resource. I think you’ll like it. If you don’t use Lightroom in your workflow, you should look into it. Great Program!