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Free Lightroom 2 Videos and New DVD on PhotoshopCafe.com
After adding PhotoshopCafe’s Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Learning Site to the list of items in the Related Links section of my last post, I then viewed four of the free videos that are now available on the site. They cover Dual Monitors, Photoshop Integration, Smart Collections, and Local Adjustments. They are each under 8 minutes long and I found them to be very well produced, and easy to understand. To go directly to the page where you can view the videos, visit this page.
Screen capture from the free sample Lightroom 2 video section on PhotoshopCafe.com
I’ve learned a lot over the last 3-4 years from Colin Smith, who runs PhotoshopCafe.com and who has produced virtually all the training on the site, including the Lightroom 2 DVD. He’s a great teacher and a talented artist. I found the Smart Collections overview particularly interesting and well produced. The full DVD (downloadable or in physical DVD format) costs $99, runs about 7 hours and has 91 separate movies. All the source files are also included, which really helps to make the training easier to follow.
To view a text overview of the Lightroom 2 training DVD visit this page.
ImagingBuffet.com has an affiliate relationship with PhotoshopCafe (as we do with Amazon.com and a few other selected companies). A coupon code is listed in the Sponsored Links section below for any product available on their site.
Related Links:
• Many free tutorials on PhotoshopCafe.com
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 30 Day Free Tryout
• Lightroom 2 Learning Center on photoshopuser.com
• Lightroom 2 Photowalk with Scott Kelby
• Audio interview of Tom Hogarty, Lightroom Product Manager by Scott Bourne of TWiPPhoto.com
• Lightroom-News.com
• PhotoshopNews.com
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Adventure: Tasmania. This post about the new Clarity slider by Mikkel Aaland is very interesting.
• Excellent Lightroom video tutorial for converting to B&W by Martin Evening.
• Photoshop CS3 Launch site on PhotoshopCafe.com
Sponsored Links:
Coupon code for PhotoshopCafe.com (10% off any order):
Enter the word: cafeimaging in the coupon code box at Checkout.
•Shop for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom at Adobe.com
•Free Shipping on all Adobe orders over 600 Euros
•Free Shipping on all Adobe orders over 300 GBP
Adobe Releases Lightroom 2 with Local Correction and Many Other New Features
Adobe Systems today officially announced the release of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2. From the online demo I recently viewed, it is an impressive upgrade. There are many new features that are not currently in the Lightroom 2 beta.
One big improvement is in the Print module. Based on the size of your print output and the resolution of your image, sharpening is determined based on algorithms developed with expertise from the folks at PixelGenius (pixelgenius.com), the makers of PhotoKit SHARPENER, a piece of software that I highly recommend. Another welcome addition to the Print Module is the ability to create custom picture packages, similar to those currently available in Photoshop CS2 and CS3. Any one photo at a time can be set up to print in a multitude of different sizes on a sheet, and those templates can then be saved.
New Print Module for Lightroom 2, showing the new Picture Package Layout option. Image courtesy Adobe Systems. (click on image to view larger version)
Two more very welcome new tools are the new Graduated Filter tool, as well as the improved Lens Vignetting tool. Now, after cropping, the vignette acts as it does in Photoshop. Prior to that, it would act as if the image was not cropped, resulting in an uneven vignette.
The new Graduated Filter tool in Lightroom 2. Image courtesy Adobe Systems. (click on image to view larger version)
One of the other “big news items” is the ability to do local correction, which is really quite revolutionary in a product that uses nondestructive editing.
Image showing the masking capability of Lightroom 2, with an example of before and after edits. Images courtesy Adobe Systems. (click on images to view larger versions)
The Adobe press release has a lot of good detail about Lightroom 2. You can read it in its entirety below. I look forward to adding articles soon about my hands-on experiences with the product.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 is available now (in Windows and Mac OSX versions) through the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store in English, French and German with the Japanese language version planned to be released at a future date. The estimated street price is USD$299 for new users with an upgrade price of USD$99 for registered users of qualifying Lightroom customers.
Adobe’s Official Press Release: Continue reading
Fireworks Tips and How to Find Shows in Your Area
With July 4th just around the corner, I’ve been thinking about where I will go this year to watch the fireworks. About a year ago, I contributed a number of fireworks photography tips for Tamron’s eViewfinder newsletter and Tamron’s online Learning Center. You can find the article here (one of the photos featured in the article is shown below).
Photograph © Andrew Darlow
Finding Fireworks Shows Using Google Maps
I was on maps.google.com today and noticed a “fireworks” link, which shows a map of many fireworks displays planned for the 4th of July, 2008. If you are reading this in any year after 2008, I would recommend searching for “4th of July and your town (or a nearby town/city) ” in your favorite search engine to find a list, since this resource does not seem to be current after 2008.
There are many more shows planned around the country, so I recommend checking your town or county’s website to see where you can view the “rockets red glare”.
By the way, the most incredible fireworks displays I’ve ever seen were at Epcot Center (Walt Disney World) in Orlando Florida, between Christmas 2007 and New Year’s Day, 2008.
Enjoy the 4th!