I decided to give the Web module in Lightroom a try to see if I could improve the look of some of my non-flash (html) portfolios.

If you are going to use the Web Module there are a couple of things you need to be aware of:

1. You have to use Collections to select images for the Web Module

Lightroom v1 Web module behavior has changed in that you have to make a "Collection" from which you then send the images to the Web Module. You are not able to select a sub-set of Library images as you could do with the previous betas; and as you were able to do for the Print and Slideshow modules.
It is possible to create a sub-folder with the images you want and then select the Web module.

2. Make sure you use the Add Button after customizing your Web layout

It is really easy to spend time fine tuning you web template and then lose your work by selecting another preset. To save a modified template you need to click the "Add" button and give it a new name.




If you make further changes you will need to repeat the "Add" process and save with a different name. Hopefully this clunky interface behavior will be fixed in a future version.

So my plan is to upgrade my non-flash portfolios to Lightroom generated ones as I prefer the result to what I have to-date. You can see a finished example in the non-flash close-up portfolio.

Hope you find this useful.

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The reflections here are in ice not water. Taken at dusk at Loch Ba on the wild and remote Rannoch Moor in Glencoe. The shot was taken at dusk when the somewhat flat light improved just enough to light up the frozen river Ba.

Reflections, Loch Ba, Rannoch Moor, Scotland, UK

More images of Glencoe

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If you are new to Lightroom and you have a large number of images I would suggest that you don't import your whole library straight away. Start by importing just this months images, or the last couple of shoots.

The approach that I have found very useful is to import images by year. I have imported Jan and Feb 2007, applied ratings and metadata, and this way I have been able to explore the Lightroom program without getting bogged down in cataloging.

If you import the whole lot and if you are anything like myself then you will start ranking and rating endless old shots and not get to grips with the functionality of Lightroom.

Don't forget to use the Metadata presets as you import as this can save an huge amount of time by applying keywords, ratings and location information as you do the import.

Let me know if this was useful. Please share your comments here.

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There are a whole host of tools which can be selected from the lower toolbar. Some are new such as the color label and others have been relocated such as the select by Rating. I initially thought that the select by rating had been removed but was thankful to find it again.

Lightroom lower toolbar setup

The more I explore the new Lightroom v1 the more I like it.

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Version 1 of Lightroom has arrived - now officially called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. I have decided to give it a try with the view to using Lightroom instead of Aperture.

What has improved over Lightroom beta 4.1?

Well quite a lot. I will concentrate this time on the Library module as there are far to many changes and improvements for this one post.

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• In the Library module there is now a Metadata browsing mode which allows you to see your collection automatically sorted by date, camera, lens, file type or location.
  
• A new Folder view reflects the folder or directory structure on you hard disk. As you move folders or files around outside of Lightroom changes will be automatically reflected in the Lightroom folder structure; even if Lightroom is not running at the time.
  
• The Find functionality has changed and sports a date finder (slider). Gone though is the ability to show or hide subfolder contents. I found the old way very useful as I could check to see if all my photos had been allocated a sub folder.
  

  
  

• Keyword handling has been extensively enhanced in the library module for keyword searching and assignment. There are now displays of recent keywords and implied keywords
  

Will I switch from Aperture?

I still find the Lightroom interface somewhat cramped. The text size is quite large and even on an 1600 x 1024 monitor I find there is not enough room to get a good view of you folder structure. Aperture has the edge in that it can span multiple monitors and gives you a much better folder view of your image library.
I had hoped that Lightroom would provide better image management functionality as I still find Lightrooms' Develop and Print modules are better than Aperture.
So the bottom line is that I will continue to use both programs.

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There is always a shot to be had, no matter what the lighting conditions.
I found this colourful boulder and was drawn to the vivid oranges and yellows. The lichen on a rock like this can take thousands of years to form and what a display once it has!

Scottish Lichen, Torridon Mountains, Scotland, UK

(Canon 10D handheld with 70mm lens)
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I grabbed this shot from the deck of a boat as we were sailing past the entrance to the Helford River in Cornwall.
For me the drama in the shot comes from the large ship which appears to be steaming towards the main activity of the scene. Try covering up the ship with your finger and see the the difference without it. It's the ship which makes the shot in my view.

Cornish Liferaft Rescue, Helford River, Cornwall, UK

(Canon D30 handheld with 300mm lens)
See this and other seascape images.

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When preparing your images in Photoshop for web use make sure that you convert your profile to sRGB before saving. Otherwise your colours will look washed out.

Lets assume you are working in AdobeRGB colour space and you just save for the web. You will imeadiately lose a huge amount of colour information as the colour space of AdobeRGB will not fit into sRGB and the result is a very washed out image. See example below.

Left - Original 'adobe98' Image, Right - Image saved without profile conversion to sRGB prior to Web Save.

The trick is to use the 'Convert to Profile' which can be found under the main 'Edit' menu and to select sRGB before you save for Web. Your colours will be preserved.

It's really easy to miss this vital step when saving your images for the Web. Hope this helps.

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This image was taken a a location called New Bridge in the upper Dart valley near Dartmeet. The river was very full and there were just enough leaves left to provide late winter colour.

Waterside Boulders, The Dart Valley, Devon, UK

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See this and other portfolio images of the River Dart.

While most people are now shooting Digital I have decided to revert back to film. Why would he do this you ask?

The first 10 years or so of my photographic life was spent shooting film. Like many others I could not wait to switch to a digital camera. I quickly worked my way through a succession of digital SLRS; which included the D30, D60 and finally the 10D.

The digital results I obtained, I liked, but I always felt that I was spending twenty percent of my time taking the shot and eighty percent manipulating it later in Photoshop. So for the last six months I have reverted back to shooting slides with my trusty Olympus OM4Ti and I have been very happy with the results.

To summarize why have I switched back to film?

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• No more white balance problems. I look at the slide itself to see the colour that the final scanned slide should be
  
• I spend most of my time composing the image and using my handheld spot meter
  
• I can produce a very high resolution scan which can be cropped with little or no loss of resolution
  
• I just like using the OM4Ti as its a superbly constructed classic camera
  

There are some downsides as you would expect:

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• You need a decent film scanner
  
• you need a powerful computer to handle the large scanned image files
  
• there is no longer the instant gratification that you get with digital
  
• slides are not easy to correctly expose
  

Will I stay with film? I don't know yet. I am enjoying the composition aspect as well as forcing myself to take my time to get the image right in the camera before I press the shutter. However I am a technology geek and wonder how long I can resist the return to digital temptations.

The image below was captured halfway down the remote Glen Etive. The Glen runs for about 18 km before reaching the sea via Loch Etive.
The Scoop descends from the slopes of Ben Starav and cascades across the local pink granite. It's a great location for capturing the evening light as it paints bands of warm purple and orange across the floor of the Glen.

The shot below was taken using an Olympus OM4Ti using scanned Fuji Provia 100 slide film.

"The Scoop", Glen Etive, Scotland

Large version (1000x736 / 930KB)

See this and other images of Glencoe.