My Lightroom Process: So you spent 3h at an event. You shot 1,500 images. It is totally your job and added-value as a photographer to present a coherent, fully edited and reasonably sized story for your client (I like 50-100 images /hour of shoot). Oh, and the client wants the pictures on Facebook the next day. Game on! Here is my process, What is yours? : STEP 1 - UPLOAD I upload all my raw pics in dng format with all my preset metatags, that's a full step because each file is 20Mo and it can literally take hours. :( They are going to a new folder named "2012-05-24 Location - ClientName - ShootName" that will nicely sort itself chronologically on my drive. STEP 2 - CULLING + CROPPING: I try to shoot with intend, it's easy to use the camera as a machine-gun. But you look like a japanese tourist. And then you go home, open your 3,000 pictures and you cry. Usually I shoot something then I modify something, then again something else, until I'm happy. I know the right shot will be the last one of the serie. Some other time I shoot things that go too fast to think through (group of blinking people, laser show...) in those case I burst 2-3 shots to get a good one. - In the Library mode (G) I select the first serie (click on first image, then click+shift on last image). - Then go into Survey display (N). That brings me thumbnails of the full serie. - I activate my filter preset called "unflag, < 3stars". I manually change that to "< 1 star". - Then I shoot down the bad images by clicking on them and giving them the "rejected black flag tag" (X). Those got discarded on the fly thanks to my filter. The one(s) I like remain. - I usually crop in camera but sometimes I'm not happy and crop/rotate them (R, X to switch from portrait/landscape), I learned that keeping the original ratio or square is best because custom is a nightmare when clients want prints after. - Then I give my selected pic(s) the value "2 stars" (2), they also disappear because of the filter. - I then select the next serie and repeat until I'm done with the entire shoot. - At the end there should be no more images of this serie because of my filter (they're all rejected or 2 stars). I increase it to 2. Now I see all my selection. If I shot 1h event I try to keep this step within 30min, that's pretty fast but I like putting pressure on myself, we all know that we can spend 5min deciding between 2 subtle differences. We have better things to do with our time. STEP 3 - REMOVING NOISE When I shoot at night I'm not afraid of using my highest ISO value (6,400). That brings major grain in the image, especially in the blacks. - I choose a representative image I shot at 6,400 ISO. In the Develop module (D) I play with "detail", usually "Noise reduction/luminance" until I remove the noise without making people looking like plastic. - I select all the images I shoot at 6,400 ISO (manually or by a filter on the ISO value). - I synchronize my modified image on all others only for the parameters I changed. STEP 4 - CORRECTING COLOR Indoor lights can be colored and cast a yellow, orange, blue, name-it color on your entire image. That's bad. The best is to assess that color-cast right away on location before shooting and select a custom white-balance that will neutralize the cast. The issue appears when the location has several lights with different color casts (aka damn-it-situation). In that case I correct those in post-processing. - In the library module I select a typical picture with one specific color cast. I play with the color temperature until I remove that cast and bring each color true, my priority is to focus on the skins, if they look real the rest follow usually. - I manually select all pictures of the shoot that have the same color cast (usually from the same corner of the room). - I synchronize the temperature parameters of the modified picture on all the others. - I repeat for another color-cast if any. STEP 5 - BALANCING EXPOSURE I am doing my best to nail the exposure in camera (by looking at the histograms on the screen). But sometimes things go too fast and you just don't have time. That's where shooting raw saves you as you can add/remove up to 2 stops of light in post-production. - I go back to the Library module (G) and select average thumbnails size. All the images visible should be labeled "2stars". - I select the first image, have a look at the histograms. - If I don't like the exposure I add/remove some. I sometimes play a little bit more with clarity/contrast/blacks to add variety... but generally I keep my images clean. - If/when I like it I label it "3stars" (3). The picture disappears thanks to my filter. - I go through all the pics one-by-one. - At the end I change my filter to "3stars". They all come back. STEP 6 - VERIFYING - I go back to the first image, browse one-by-one and sometimes adjust a bit more. Usually I don't need to. This editing process (3-4-5-6) should be fast (also 30min /hour of shooting). Remember, time is money, you want to be efficient and enjoy your life, not spending it in front of the computer. Remember also that if you put pressure on yourself during the shoot and SHOOT CLEAN, the post-processing should be butter. Everyone loves butter. :) STEP 7 - EXPORTING & POSTING - I am using a SmugMug website, so I am using the Lightroom-SmugMug Add-On to post the full-resolution images directly to my site gallery. Usually that's an over-night process. - Clients usually want light web-versions. I select all the images (Ctrl+A) and press Export. I have a preset export that adds my watermark, resizes the images, and puts them in a sub-folder named "WEB". That step takes some time. I then post on Facebook those web-versions with watermark(s). STEP 8 - BACK-UP & ARCHIVE Despite my clear rule, some clients don't pay full due before the shoot. In this case I skip step 7 and wait for the money. When all is good and done I move, within Lightroom, the entire folder to my folder "2012". I know there's nothing more to do on those, I don't want to see them anymore. I have the high resolution on a drive, a mirror back-up drive and on the SmugMug cloud.

EXPOSURE Imagine light is like water. To create an image you need to fill your image (your water-bucket) with a specific amount of light (water). Not enough light will give you an UNDER-EXPOSED, too dark image. Too much light will give you an OVER-EXPOSED, too bright image. The main challenge in photography is to put the exact amount of light needed to get PROPER EXPOSURE. Like water in the bucket is expressed in liters units, light is expressed in STOPS units. You can increase/decrease light capture by playing with 3 parameters: SHUTTER-SPEED (Tv): Duration - How long you open the eye? Time you open the captor. 1 stop Incrementation = 1/1000s, 1/500s, 1/250s, 1/125s, 1/60s, 1/30s, 1/15s, 1/8s, 1/4s, 1/2s, 1s, 2s, 4s, 8s FAST = less light SLOW = more light Set first when: MOTION Blur (slow) or Freeze (fast) But not too high: slow Tv requires tripod. RULE= if handheld, never go slower shutter-speed than your lens length (with a 50mm lens -> never go slower than 1/50s). APERTURE (Av): Quantity - How wide you open the eye? Size of the captor. 1 stop Incrementation = f/32, f/22, f/16, f/11, f/8.0, f/5.6, f/4.0, f/2.8, f/2.0, f/1.4, f1.0 NARROW = less light WIDE = more light Set first when: DEPTH-OF-FIELD Bckgrnd blur (wide) or Sharp (narrow) But not too high: wide Av gives a very small in-focus zone. ISO: Sensitivity - How sensitive is the eye? Light sensitivity of the captor. 1 stop Incrementation = 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400 LOW-ISO = less light HIGH-ISO = more light Set first when: AMBIENT LIGHT Night (high) or Beach/Snow (low) But not too high: high ISO brings noise in the blacks in picture and burns the whites if too much sun. As there is reciprocity of the 3 light controllers, Tv, Av and ISO are linked together, like in a triangle. If we decrease one stop on the Tv (from 1/60s to 1/125s) we have to add 1 stop on the Av or the ISO (from f/11 to f/8 or from ISO100 to ISO200) to get the same amount of light in the image (light-exposure). Extremes are hard to get (frozen move with sharp background). Facing a situation we determine what we want to emphases: motion, depth-of-field or ambiant light. We set the first controller, then we see how we can play with the 2 others to get back the proper amount of light. Goal: keep the overall exposure (avoid under/over exposition) and maintain the different light qualities (intensity, quality, colors, white balance...). FROM AUTO TO MANUAL This trade-off to achieve exactly what your image needs is only achievable in MANUAL MODE where you can set each of the 3 parameters. In automatic mode the camera take a quick light-metering and plays it safe by deciding that the overall exposure should be middle gray (crossing fingers that there is an equal amount of whites and blacks in the image). It usually gives you an decent image, as long as you stay in a simple situation but anyway never let you any artistic choice to make (blur, mood...). In semi-automatic modes (Auto-Tv and Auto-Av) the ISO value is taken out of the equation (by getting automatic/fixed), the camera takes a light-reading and decides by itself the amount of light needed (to get middle grey), the camera lets you then choose the Shutter-Speed (mode Auto-Tv) or the Aperture (mode Auto-Av) and computes the other value to match the amount of light needed. The path of a beginner is to learn full-automatic, then semi-automatic modes, to then understand manual mode. e.g.1: Runner frozen in motion with background sharp, we set fast Tv (freeze) and narrow Av (sharp Bkgrd) BUT both gives us less light, we HAVE to boost the ISO. If the day is very sunny it might be possible to increase ISO, if it's dusk we will get noise by increasing the ISO. We might need then to compromise and forget about getting a sharp background, to not have to go with extremely high ISO (noise). e.g.2: Children on a swing. You want to freeze the action so fast Tv. It's winter and there's snow everywhere, you need to keep the ISO low not to burn all this delicate white everywhere. You HAVE to use a wide Av to get your light. That means you might not be able to get a sharp background. e.g.3: It's dusk/night and you want to shoot a landscape. You need to start with high ISO, but you don't want noise in the black so you cannot go very high. You still need to get more light. You cannot really get a wide Av as you want depth-of-field in the landscape. You HAVE to slow the Tv. That's why you need a tripod. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUNNY 16 RULE = Outside on a sunny day, the blue sky is always exposed at f/16, ISO 100, 1/100. Camera position in sunny16: to sky with sun in the shot (-1stop=f/22), to sky and sunshine (f/16!!), 90deg from sky/sidelite (+1stop=f/11), 45deg from sky(+2stops=f/8), against sky (+3stops=f/5.6) A variant broads the rule to different weather = f/22=snow/sand, f/16=sunny, f/11=slightovercast, f/8=regularovercast, f/5.6=heavyovercast, f/4=openshade/sunset

Photography 101 I never took classes for photography. I read a few books to try to understand the concepts. Here is a digest that I'll update at the same time I'll figure out more in this universe. 1 CREATIVITY (What to shoot?) 2 TECHNIQUE (How to capture it at best?) Scan the viewer before shooting!! 3 POST-PRODUCTION (How to bring it to the clean form we envisioned?) Photoshop: Get better composition, more light, more contrast, more vibrant colors, smoother skin...

Learn http://www.creativelive.com http://www.lynda.com Books Fashion Flair The Complete Photographer The War of Art Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques Captured by Light

Set Canon 5D Mark II - Fast memory cards (at least 50MB/s) 1. Set Menu: - MENU > Tool2 > Live View/Movie Funct, - LV func = "Stills+Movie" with "Movie Display" - Other settings: off, mode1, 16sec, quickmode. 1920x1080-24, auto - MENU > Camera2 > UserDef3 (set on sharpeness -100%, contrast -100%, saturation -50%, tone 0) 2. Set Camera: - Manual Mode - Tv 1/50 (for 24frames, or 1/60 if 30frames/s) - ISO 160 or 320, 640, 1250 (stay below 1000) - Picture style: UserDef3 - Manual Focus 3. Recording - Press the "Live View" button (back camera on left or viewfinder), image switch to sceen - Focus manually - Press SET button to start or stop recording (red circle on the screen)

FLASH & STROBES Tv control the ambient light. 1st shutter = high synch (face-blur) 2nd shutter = rear (blur-face) OFF-CAMERA FLASH Expose on the bride---------- 1- Set the bride, set the strobe (angle, height) 2- SET LIGHT METER = dome out, mode Flash, Tv=1/100, ISO=100 (outside daytime) 3- TAKE A METER READING (at the bride chin) with the flash Read Flash % (target 70%=ratio3:1=natural, 80%=4:1=drama, 90%=5:1=superDrama) If below target, then power up the strobe, until target % reached (70% natural for e.g.) Troubleshooting: if Av= too low (f1.0) --> raise ISO, if E.u 0% --> boost flash a lot 4- SET CAMERA to meter reading (ISO, TV, AV, WB=Flash) 5- SHOOT, exposure is perfect. 6- We can tune background: To darken Background = less ambient light = faster Tv (from 1/100 to 1/200) To lighten Background = more ambient light = slower Tv (from 1/100 to 1/50) Expose on the sky (daytime)---------- 1- Set bride and strobe 2- SET CAMERA: Tv=1/100, ISO=100, WB=Flash, Point camera into the sky 3- FIND PERFECT Av FOR SKY: In camera, adjust Av until 1 stop underexposed (or what you prefer), Read the Av (for blue sky rule: 100-1/100-f16) 4- SET LIGHT METER (at the bride chin) with the flash, dome out, mode Flash, Tv=1/100, ISO=100 Read Av (target = what camera Av said). if Av below target --> power up strobe 5- SHOOT, exposure is perfect for sky and bride. 6- We can tune sky: To darken Sky = faster Tv (to 1/200) To lighten Sky = slower Tv (to 1/50)

1 COLOR OF THE LIGHT Global (filter on camera) or Local control (filter on flash) 2 SIZE OF LIGHT SOURCE The larger the light source, the softer the light. Large source -> soft light Small source -> hard light 3 DISTANCE OF THE LIGHT Far source -> gentle light fall-off Close source -> rapid light fall-off Inverse-Square Law = The intensity of light radiating from a point source is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source; so an object twice (x2) as far away, receives only one-quarter (1/(2x2)=1/4) the energy (in the same time period). The light falls off faster the closer we are from the subject. 4 ANGLE OF LIGHT TRIANGLE OF DIMENSIONAL LIGHT Camera-Subject-MainLight Glamour (0°) Loop (30°) Rambrand (45°) Side (90°) Rim (90°-180°) Full Rim (180°) PORTRAIT LIGHT SETTINGS women: add beauty reflector from bottom to bright eyes and remove checks angles. subject/background separation: RIM light or light background 1 LIGHT - Face Light-Shadow-Light = 1 front side, reflector on other side - Face Shadow-Light-Shadow = 1 front center above, black reflectors on sides - Beauty = 1 front middle above, reflector front below - Beach Rim = [face LSL+rim] strong upper backlight, reflectors close on each sides - Ajar Door = 1 on side, 2 black blockers in front of it with 20cm apart 2 LIGHTS - Clam Shell = 1 front middle above, 1 front middle below - DarkBg/LightFace/DarkFace/LightBg - Angel Dream 3 LIGHTS - Ring Light = 1 above camera, 1 low-left side camera, 1 low-right side camera - 3 Points = [face LSLSL+rim] 1 front middle above, 1 behind right side, 1 behind left side

POSES Pose from feet to face, pause and get eye connection arms and legs into triangles to fill the frame shoot direct, from left, from right 1 3/4, 1 headshot, 1 detail eyes direct/closed/away flat-fashion / from-above Stand-Up Cover Girl lean-backward, Stand-Up Against-The-Wall LEAN, RECLINE back-on-wall, omoplate-on-wall, recline-on-wall, 1hand-behind-head, look-over-shoulder, 2hands-pushing-wall, Sat stool-chair Sat On-A-Box Sat Floor lean on wall lean on box recline on wall recline on box Laid Belly Ottoman Laid Back Face (vertical, eye on first 3rd line, crop top of head) Beauty (serene soft expressionless) FreeFlow Candids FreeFlow Fabric Dance BackLight windows Feminine Masculine Chin forward-down forward-up Shoulders up-forward down-backward Hands ballet cowboy Shape hourglass-2triangles triangle Asymetry +++ + Connection ++ ++