Back in the Saddle

So, it's no secret that I've been semi-retired from photoing for several months. Since photography for me is an elaborate hobby rather than a profession, I've had to focus on other things.

I still get the occasional request to make some photos for friends and family, but I've had to be selective about which of those I do in order to guard my time. However, my bother-in-law is getting married, so he asked me to do some engagements and bridals.

In the spirit of posting anything on this blog just to get some content out there, here are a few from the last couple sessions with Chase and Taylor.

These are Lightroom previews, not final edits, so please judge kindly!

SmugMug and Lightroom 3

One of the best photographic tips I ever received was also one of the most simple. It was from an article on workflow, and discussed a method for naming files. It may not seem like a big deal, but that one thing that took me about 30 seconds to implement has saved me hours and hours.

One of the simple features that I love in Lightroom 3 that I think has the potential to create MUCH more time for professional and amateur photographers is the built in Publish Services. While there are several third-party plug ins, the standard plug ins for Facebook, Flickr, and SmugMug are amazing.

So here's how I do it...

1. Create a Smart Gallery: If you don't already have a category for your gallery, right click on the the SmugMug Publish Service button to create one. Then, right-click on the category and select "Create New Smart Gallery."

2. Define which photos will be included. There are several ways to do this using Color Labels, Pick Flags, Keywords, and Star Ratings. Right now I use a combination of Pick Flags and Keywords. So if I want to publish photos in a folder to the Alaska gallery on SmugMug, I make sure the photos have a Pick Flag, and contain both Alaska and SmugMug in the keywords. When I set up the Smart Gallery, I make sure these are the criteria for included photos.

3, Select all the appropriate settings for your new SmugMug gallery and click ok.

3. The photos will magically appear in the SmugMug Smart Gallery. Now just right click the folder and select "Publish Now." The pictures are automatically uploaded to the SmugMug gallery.

The great thing about this process for me is that I use my SmugMug account to link to forums and blogs, and because Lightroom 3 keeps track of any changes I make to my photos, it will tell me if one of the photos in the Smart Galleries has been edited and needs to be re-published. All I do is click Publish again, and it not only updates on SmugMug, but everywhere else that links to SmugMug, including my blog and forums in which I participate.

I also love the way I can see my SmugMug folder hierarchy in Lightroom and make changes to SmugMug galleries directly from the software.

The same type of process is available for Flickr and SmugMug, although I haven't found a way to make the default "Photostream" folder "Smart" in the Flickr service.

The process isn't perfect, but maybe you will find a portion of it helpful.

Sunday Drive

Sunday we took an afternoon drive up to Squaw Peak, which is an overlook that can be accessed by going up Provo Canyon about 1 mile, and then following the signs on the right side of the Road.







We spent a couple minutes there, and were going to head up to Sundance, but discovered a road that runs the entire length of Timpanogas, from Provo to Hobble Creek Canyon. It's about 15 miles long and suitable for four-wheel drive vehicles only. Given the rough condition of the road, it took us about three hours. However, it was extraordinarily beautiful!

Maintenance

So, given the advent of the new Publish Services in Lightroom 3, I decided to clean out my SmugMug account and begin managing it with Lightroom. The two days have been spent keywording my catalog and exporting new albums to SmugMug. I love the new features, but the downside is that I have to go through and re-link every post I've ever made to the new photo locations in the SmugMug Albums.

If you don't see any pictures, that's why! Hope to be back up and running soon!

Portrait Project #15

#15: Seek an Alternative View

Panel

This truck is visible from the I-15 freeway near Willard, UT. I've seen it there for the last two years and always wanted to stop, but never took the time to find the way to the frontage road where it's located.

I finally decided to scout it out on the way back from doing some business, and it's a pretty cool looking little rig!

Josh

My cousin Josh who's leaving to Bolivia to serve an LDS mission.