Show Notes for Digital Photography Life #9: All About Lightroom II

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom product manager Tom Hogarty joins us today to discuss the awesomeness that is Lightroom II. Whether you already have the program and want to learn how some tips on how to use it, or if you just want to know what Lightroom II does, you'll enjoy Tom on today's show. 

You'll also have a chance to win a copy of Lightroom II for yourself. Send your answer to the trivia question in the show to DPLContests@gmail.com. 

Tom and I also discuss the advantages of Adobe's DNG format over the proprietary RAW files promulgated by some camera manufacturers. In Adobe's words: 

Raw file formats are becoming extremely popular in digital photography workflows because they offer creative professionals greater creative control. However, cameras can use many different raw formats — the specifications for which are not publicly available — which means that not every raw file can be read by a variety of software applications. As a result, the use of these proprietary raw files as a long-term archival solution carries risk, and sharing these files across complex workflows is even more challenging.

The solution to this growing problem? The Digital Negative (DNG), a publicly available archival format for the raw files generated by digital cameras. By addressing the lack of an open standard for the raw files created by individual camera models, DNG helps ensure that photographers will be able to access their files in the future.

Before we're joined by Tom, Michael and I talk about the digital photography stories that caught our eye in the last week. 

• For the first time ever, the official Presidential portrait was taken with a digital camera. 
• The camera was the - now fixed - Canon 5D Mark II. 
• Looking for a full body condom for your camera? Camera Armor has you - and your equipment (so to speak) covered.
• How popular is the iPhone? A picture taken with it crashed Twitpic. You can find PopPhoto's favorite iPhone apps here.

SmugMug is our favorite site for sharing and - how nice would this be? - selling your photos. SmugMug has two fantastic offers just for our listeners:

• 50% off your SmugMug service at any level (enter code "Flickr" at checkout). This is a fantastic discount and you should take advantage of it in time to share your holiday photos!
• A free camera strap to any listener of Digital Photography Life: This one is just crazy. A high-quality camera strap that replaces the neck-slicing piece of canvas that your camera's manufacturer condescended to include with your DSLR. Get your freebie here.

The Grand Prize Winner of our Joy of Photography contest will receive a terrific camera bag from ThinkTankPhoto: You get to pick which one fits your needs. Either:

• An Urban Disguise 40, which will hold more gear than you ever imagined, such as a wide angle lens with a hood attached, a 24-70 2.8 with the hood, a 70 -200 2.8 with the hood reversed, AND two pro-size SLR’s in the expandable front pockets (without the lenses attached). The beauty of the Urban Disguise line is that you won't look like you're carrying equipment, making yourself a lot less interesting to unsavory urbanites like me, OR
• An Airport International V2.0: Designed for International carry-on, this roller provides advanced security features and peace of mind. Front security cable & combination lock allows you to lock a laptop to the front of your roller. Th is very effective when you are traveling with a laptop case stored in the front stretch pocket The included security lock allows you to lock it to immovable objects, and is very effective when you have to leave your gear for a period of time in a media room, wedding hall, hotel room, or other open area. It holds two pro-size DSLR's, as well as a bunch of other lenses and accessories. If all your equipment won't fit in this bag, you're doing a lot better than me and Michael. 

As always, thanks for listening! Let us know what you think at digitalphotographylife@gmail.com.  

Comments

[Greenjellybean]

Found your discussion about the iPhone interesting. I do like Apple products but when it comes to a camera and phone on the move, it is the Sony Ericsson C905 mobile every time! I have a Pentax K100D DSLR but when I'm out with my young family, the convenience and power of the C905 is great. 8.1 megapixel, xenon flash, image stabilisation, face detection, need I say more? Ok. It's not a looker like the iPhone but at least the camera isn't pants! Come on Apple, upgrade your pathetic camera. :-)

[Paul M.]

Anyone not sure about DNG - GO FOR IT!!! I was a little nervous but last year made it part of my workflow. No problems and glad I did. A plus I like, that Tom mentioned, is the "sidecar" file is included in the DNG file.

Great show once again guys!

[Walt]

Hey Scott,

There's no hyperlink entered for the Presidential Photo you linked in the show notes. Could you post that link at some point--I'm very interested to see it.

Great Show!

[Stewart]

Walt,

Just google "obama canon 5d mkii". Apparently it was shot @ f/10 & 105mm!

cheers,
Stewart

[ejdalise]

I thought the picture was unusual. Not bad as portraits go, but I would have thought the lighting could have been improved. The left side of the face (right side of the picture) seemed a bit dark (at least in the two monitors I use).

I looked back at a number of past presidential pictures, and other heads of state, and none showed a portion of the face in what I would call a shadow.

Not a big deal, but it struck me as odd.

[bill]

is there a program that can make a still photo of a person walk and talk?

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