Seventeen Years of “Ask Tim Grey”!

It is hard to believe that it has been seventeen years since I clicked the “Send” button on the very first edition of the Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter (which at the time was called the Digital Darkroom Questions newsletter).

Since then, I’ve answered thousands of questions from photographers on a wide variety of subjects. And it doesn’t seem that I’ll be running out of questions to answer anytime soon!

To help celebrate this milestone, we’re offering two special discounts to my readers.

Lightroom Cleanup One-on-One

First, for those who have a bit of a mess they’d like to clean up in Lightroom, we are offering a discounted price on the “Lightroom Cleanup One-on-One” bundle, which features direct access to me so you can get answers to all of your Lightroom questions over the course of three months. And of course, to help you really master the use of Lightroom, this bundle also includes all of my video training courses on Lightroom Classic CC. You can get a 32% discount by using coupon code “seventeen” during checkout, or by getting started with this link:

https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/cleanup-one-on-one?coupon=seventeen

GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle

Or, if you’d like to get access to my entire library of educational content for photographers, new subscribers have the option of getting a discount on the “GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle” to celebrate the anniversary of the Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter. You can use coupon code “17ultimate” during checkout, or have the discount applied automatically by starting with this link:

https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/greylearning-bundle?coupon=17ultimate

A big “Thank You!” to all of the photographers who have been a part of the journey of the Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter. I look forward to getting started on my 18th year of publication!

Webinar Recording: “Managing Folders in Lightroom”

If you have a mess of folders, or you haven’t yet figured out a good strategy for using folders in your workflow for organizing your photos, you’ll want to check out my recent webinar on “Managing Folders in Lightroom”.

During this presentation I covered:

– One thing you should NEVER do with folders in the context of Lightroom.

– How to define your folder strategy for managing photos.

– Ways you can refine your folder structure within Lightroom.

– And MUCH more!

You can view the recording of the “Managing Folders in Lightroom” webinar on the Tim Grey TV channel on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/vmcyYM8TmqY

 

New Course: “Behind the Photo”

Every photo provides the opportunity to learn valuable lessons, which is exactly the intent of the new “Behind the Photo” course.

This course provides a new lesson every week, based on one of my favorite photos. You’ll learned what went into create the photo,  as well as the many valuable lessons I learned along the way.

The new “Behind the Photo” course is included in the “Quick Tips Bundle” you can find here:

https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/quick-tips-bundle

In addition, “Behind the Photo” is available as a standalone course here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/behind-the-photo

New Course: “Photo Gear Quick Tips”

As photographers we obviously employ gear to create our photographs. To help you get a better sense of which gear might be most useful to you, and how to best put to use your existing gear, we have created the new “Photo Gear Quick Tips” course.

This course provides a new lesson every single week, focused on some aspect of gear for the photographer. I some lessons you’ll learn about a new piece of gear you’ve never heard of before. In other lessons you’ll get tips for getting the most out of common photo gear. And in all lessons, you’ll get insights and entertainment.

The “Photo Gear Quick Tips” course is included in the “Quick Tips Bundle” that you can find here:

https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/quick-tips-bundle

In addition, “Photo Gear Quick Tips” is available as a standalone course here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/photo-gear-quick-tips

New Features in Lightroom Classic CC 8.0

Today Adobe has announced the October 2018 release of Lightroom Classic CC (version 8.0). There are a handful of technology improvements in this update that many photographers will find helpful. The updates include:

Masking by Depth Map

It is now possible to refine a targeted adjustment in Lightroom based on distance ranges within the scene. The Range Mask feature for targeted adjustments has now been updated to include support for depth maps embedded in certain image formats.

At the moment this feature applies to HEIC photos. In other words, for now this is a feature for photos captured with the iPhone or other smartphones running the new Android Pio operating system. It is reasonable to expect, however, that other cameras will offer similar support in the future.

An HEIC capture can include an embedded depth map, which effectively maps out the distances from the lens for all areas of the scene being photographed. That depth information can then be used to refine the mask for a targeted adjustment, such as with the Gradient Filter, the Radial Filter, or the Adjustment Brush.

For photographers familiar with the Focus Area feature in Photoshop CC that enables you to create selections based on areas of a photo that are in focus, the concept of masking based on a depth map is somewhat similar. The key difference is that the Focus Area selection evaluates an image and attempts to determine which areas are in focus, while the new Depth Map feature in Lightroom actually uses depth information embedded in a supported photo.

With this feature you can apply adjustments to areas of a photo based on a range of distances. This can be incredibly helpful for applying adjustments only to foreground areas versus background areas of a photo, for example.

Merge HDR Panoramas in One Step

For more than three years (since April 2015) Lightroom has supported the ability to merge multiple captures into an HDR (high dynamic range) image, or to a composite panorama. With the new October 2018 release of Lightroom Classic, you can now merge captures into an HDR panorama with a single process.

Previously, to create an HDR panorama in Lightroom, two steps would be required. You would first need to assemble all of the bracketed exposures into individual HDR image, and then assemble the HDR images into a composite panorama.  With the new update, you can simply select all of the captures that represent bracketed frames of the full panorama, and then merge all of the images into an HDR panorama with a single process.

Improved Tethering for Canon Cameras

While there aren’t any new features for tethered capture in the October 2018 update to Lightroom Classic CC, there have been improvements to tethered capture with Canon cameras. With tethered capture you are able to connect your camera to a computer running Lightroom Classic CC, control the captures within Lightroom, and have the tethered captures added automatically to your Lightroom catalog.

The improvements for tethered capture primarily relate to greater stability and faster performance when using Canon cameras for tethered capture. In addition, support has been added for a couple of additional Canon camera models (the Rebel T7 and the M50).

New Process Version

The October 2018 release of Lightroom Classic CC includes new Process Version 5. While a new process version has typically involved the addition of significant new features in the Develop module, with this release the updates are a bit more modest.

Noise reduction has been improved to help reduce the appearance of a purple color cast in photos captured at high ISO settings. In addition, the Dehaze adjustment has been improved to help reduce noise when you use a negative value for Dehaze.

HEVC Video Support

The HEVC video format is essentially the video version of the HEIC (or HEIF) capture formats for still images. With the October 2018 release, Lightroom Classic CC now supports HEVC video captures, so you can import videos created in this format. At the moment, this update primarily relates to videos captured with an iPhone using the latest operating system update.

Updated Camera and Lens Support

As with perhaps every other update to Lightroom, the October 2018 release also adds support for additional cameras and lenses. This translates to support for additional proprietary raw capture formats, as well as automatic Lens Corrections adjustments for photos captured with newer lenses.

New lenses supported in the October 2018 release are:

  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II USM
  • Canon RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM
  • TAMRON 17-35mm F2.8-4 Di OSD A037E
  • Venus Optics Laowa 15mm F2 Zero-D

New cameras supported in the October 2018 release are:

  • Canon EOS R
  • Fujifilm X-T3
  • Nikon COOLPIX P1000
  • Nikon Z 7
  • Panasonic LUMIX DC-LX100 II

Contest Winner: “Abstract”

Photographer Frank Waters has been selected as the winner of the September 2018 GreyLearning Photo Contest with his closeup image of a flamingo. The theme for this photo contest was “Abstract”, inviting photographers to submit their best photo where it is not immediately obvious to the viewer what the subject is.

Flamingo Detail by Frank Waters

Frank had this to say about the photo:

<<

This photo was shot at the San Diego Zoo. It was taken with a Canon T6i  equipped with a Canon EF 28-135mm lens. My settings were pretty simple:  f/16, 1/200th of a second at ISO 200, with automatic white balance and manual exposure settings. The lens was fully extended, at 135mm, as the birds were pretty far from the closest place I could stand. I also used a tripod, because of the extension of the lens.

When I imported the photos into Lightroom, at first I was not terribly thrilled. They just looked like simple photos taken at the zoo. But upon closer examination, I liked the quality of the feathers, and I thought I might be able to make a decent composition with a pretty severe crop. There was not a whole lot of processing in Photoshop. I added a Levels adjustment layer and a Hue/Saturation layer. I brought out the highlights in Levels, and brought out the yellow a bit, while decreasing the luminance of yellow at the same time.  

>>

As the winning photographer Frank will receive a Tamron 18-400mm lens valued at US$649, thanks to a sponsorship from Tamron USA.

Congratulations to Frank on a beautiful winning image! You can view more of his photography on the following pages:

https://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/profile/1396981/

https://500px.com/alfalfa19

https://www.instagram.com/frankwatersv/

New Course: “Learning the Nik Collection by DxO”

With an update to the Nik Collection now having been released by DxO Software, we have published a new comprehensive course to help photographers make the most of all of the applications included in the Nik Collection.

The new course includes more than three hours of video lessons, covering all seven applications in the Nik Collection. In addition, a “Getting Started” chapter includes lessons to help you better understand the overall workflow involved with using the Nik Collection applications.

You can get more details about this new course on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/nik

“Charm of Austria” Photo Workshop

I will once again be leading a photography workshop in Austria, this time focused on the “Charm of Austria” in Salzburg and the nearby Alps.

During the workshop we’ll explore small towns, rugged landscapes, mountain peaks, Alpine lakes, and more. You’ll capture great photographs and create cherished memories along the way. With a small group of just four photographers, you’ll get individual attention as we spend five full days exploring beautiful locations in Austria and Germany.

For all of the details about my “Charm of Austria” photo workshop, please visit my website here:

http://www.timgreyphoto.com/austria-2019

Webinar Recording: “Ten Favorite Photos (And What They Taught Me)”

We have published the recording of my recent presentation on “Ten Favorite Photos (And What They Taught Me)” on the Tim Grey TV channel on YouTube. This presentation was part of the GreyLearning Webinar Series, and focused on helping you improve your photography based on the lessons I’ve learned from some of my favorite photos.

You can view the full webinar presentation recording here:

https://youtu.be/rnDbibpPaik

 

Contest Winner: “Skyline”

Photographer Brad Larsen has been selected as the winner of the August 2018 GreyLearning Photo Contest with his panoramic image of the Seattle skyline. The theme for this photo contest was “Skyline”, so Brad’s panorama was a perfect fit.

Seattle Skyline Panorama by Brad Larsen

Brad had this to say about his photo:

<<

The photo, obviously of Seattle, was taken from Alki Point in West Seattle. I used my Canon 5D Mark lll with a 70-200mm ll, shot at 1/60th of a second at f/10. I stitched 7 photos together using Photoshop. Most of the editing was done in Lightroom with a few adjustments in Photoshop. This was probably the 5th or 6th attempt at creating a panorama that actually worked. The trial and error part being a good learning experience.

>>

As the winning photographer Brad will receive a US$100 Amazon gift card. Congratulations to Brad on a beautiful winning image! You can view more of his photography on his website here:

https://www.bradlarsenphotography.com/