May 2018 – Lightroom, Color Range Masking, HDR vs Luminosity Mask, Lighting, Beginner Don’ts

We’ll follow up Richard Smith’s two well received Lightroom Bootcamps with a couple of tutorials focused on using Lightroom.  The first is from Scott Kelby’s blog, Lightroom Killer Tips.  Here Scott will go through the entire process of taking an image from start to finish in Lightroom.  Scott titles it of all things, “Intermediate Level “Start to Finish” Lightroom Tutorial”.  You can find it here:

https://lightroomkillertips.com/intermediate-level-start-finish-lightroom-tutorial/

Here’s another tutorial from Lightroom Killer Tips On using the new Color Range Masking feature in Lightroom.  This new feature is great, easy to use and eliminates a lot of trips into photoshop.  Benjamin Warde does a spot called Lightroom Coffee Break where he does 1-minute Lightroom Tutorials.  This one is titled “Make Precise Selections with Color Range Masking”.

https://lightroomkillertips.com/use-awesome-color-range-masking-60-seconds-less/

Back in May of 2008 I got my first DSLR, I discovered HDR early on and my June I was shooting everything in HDR.  I liked to say saw in HDR.  Over time, I drifted away from what has affectionally called the Harry Potter look to a kinder and gentler treatment of my images.  This new approach to Achieving High Dynamic Range is done by Luminosity Masking.  Here’s a video by Greg Benz that explains the difference between HDR and Luminosity Masks.

https://gregbenzphotography.com/photography-tips/hdr-vs-luminosity-masks?__s=7br3zmx7cqfqjbxzf5vw&utm_source=drip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HDR+vs+Luminosity+Masking%3A+7+Major+Differences

We’ll close this month with a couple of articles that go back to the basics.  The both have Beginner in their titles, but I think even advanced photographers need to remind themselves of these things occasionally.

The first article is posted on Picture Correct and is by Simon James.  It’s titled “A Beginning Photographer’s Guide to Light”.  All we’re doing in taking a photograph is capturing light, so it’s definitely in our best interest to understand it as best we can.

https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/lighting-for-photography/

The Next article by Jack Hailman, also on Picture Correct, is titled “The 8 Worst Habits of Beginning Photographers”.  We should all go over this list regularly to make sure we haven’t slipped into any bad habits.

https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/the-8-worst-habits-of-beginning-photographers/