When you have a lot of similar images from a shoot, you can organizing them using the Lightroom Stacks feature. This allows you to stack images together so that only one image representing the stack appears in the Grid, Filmstrip and Loupe. This can clean up the screen reducing the number of images you see.

To stack images, in the Library module, select the images to stack, right click and choose Stacking > Group Into Stack. This stacks the images on top of each other.

In Grid view you will see a small number in the top corner of the image at the top of the stack showing the number of images in the stack.

You can add an image to a stack by dragging and dropping it on top of a stack.

To expand a stack, right click on the number showing the number of images in the stack and choose Expand Stack from the Stacking shortcut menu or click the double line marker either side of the stack. Click the double line marker again to collapse the stack or right click an image in the stack and choose Stacking > Collapse Stack.

When you expand a stack, the images from the stack have a darker color underneath them indicating that this is an expanded stack.

There is some important terminology to know about stacks. You collapse and expand a stack to view or hide the images in the stack. If you unstack a stack you permanently remove the stack – you do not remove the images just the stack. There is no restack command so, when you unstack a stack, your only option for getting it back is to reselect the images and stack them again. You also cannot create a stack in a collection – you may only stack images in a folder.

To change the image at the top of the stack, expand the stack, click the image to use as the top image and choose Stacking > Move to Top of Stack. The topmost image is the one that is visible when you collapse the stack again.

You can remove an image from a stack by expanding the stack, right click the image to remove and choose Stacking > Remove from Stack.

There is another stacking option you can use, for example, where you have captured a series of images to use for a panorama or where you have captured a series of bracketed exposures for HDR processing. Because these images will have been captured within a short period of time, you can stack them based on capture time. To do this, select all the images, right click and choose Stacking > Auto-Stack by Capture Time. Set the time between stacks value – as you do you will see an indicator telling you how many stacks this will give you and how many images will remain unstacked. Use this as a guide to the optimal value to use. Click Stack to have Lightroom create your stacks for you.

Once this is done, right click and choose Stacking > Collapse Stacks to view the stacks that you have made. This is a quick way to group images that are most likely to be part of the same sequence of images and if one or more stacks aren’t correctly formed, you can either unstuck them or split a stack in two by right clicking the image at the point that the split should be made and choose Stacking > Split Stack.

Stacks are a useful way to restore order to a large folder of images containing a lot of similar images. By stacking images you’re not altering the images in any way, simply organizing them a little more neatly.

photo credit: MoHotta18

This quick little tip is aimed mostly at the dSLR users out there who are still learning the ropes. I know how easy it can be to leave the camera in an “auto mode” so you don’t have to worry about all that technical crap. But the non-auto stuff really isn’t that bad, and it opens up a world of possibilities for you.

So this little exercise might be somewhat disappointing on your first go, but it should get you rolling in the right direction. You can do this in a single outing or split it up over multiple days — whatever works for you. And if you don’t feel enlightened after your first try, do it again. Alright, here’s the technique:

1. SHOOT IN AUTO MODE
   If this is what you’re used to doing, just go ahead and get warmed up. Don’t think about that comfort zone you’re about to step out of, just shoot some photos.
2. SWITCH TO APERTURE PRIORITY
   When you move to aperture priority mode, you control the f-number and everything else is automated. So now you need to start thinking about depth of field. Look for photo opportunities where you might want to blur the background or have everything in focus. Lower f-numbers equate to lower depth of field and higher f-numbers equate to greater depth of field. Pay attention to your foreground and background subjects, and experiment with different f-numbers on the same shot to see the results. You’ll also need to pay attention to your auto shutter speed chosen by the camera — low f-numbers on a sunny day might max out your shutter speed, and high f-numbers on a cloudy day might result in long exposures.
3. SWITCH TO SHUTTER PRIORITY
   When you move to shutter priority mode, you control the shutter speed and everything else is automated. Now you need to think about motion blur. Look for opportunities where you might want to blur a fast moving object or freeze everything in the frame. Lower shutter speeds equate to more motion blur and higher shutter speeds equate to freezing action. Pay attention to moving objects, and experiment with panning your camera as you take a shot. You’ll also need to pay attention to your auto aperture chosen by the camera — slow shutter speeds on a sunny day might max out your aperture, while fast shutter speeds on a cloudy day might pin your aperture wide open.
4. SWITCH TO MANUAL
   If you have a handle on the aperture and shutter priority modes, try switching over to full manual controls. The only difference is that you determine both aperture and shutter speed at the same time (and it’s not as hard as it first seems). Modern dSLR cameras have built-in light meters that tell you if your exposure is correct when shooting manual. That little scale in the viewfinder… that’s your light meter. Move the shutter speed and f-number around and you should see an indicator move across that scale at some point. If your exposure is correct, you should be somewhere around the center of that scale. As you experiment with the manual controls, you’ll probably notice that you prefer to leave the aperture or shutter in a steady place while modifying the other. This will tell you which priority mode you lean toward.

Again, if you’ve never shot the priority modes or the manual mode before, this might be brutal on the first round. You’ll mess up a bunch of shots, you’ll miss shots entirely, and you’ll probably be pissed off. Stick with it though!

The best way to learn the semi-manual and fully-manual controls is via practice. You can read about this stuff all day long, but that will only take you so far. So get out there and learn your camera!

Any of you experienced folks have tips for those experimenting with the mode dial? Things to watch out for? Things to try?

A Guest Post by Chris Folsom.

Lineup of Lenses – by canonsnapper

It’s a question I hear a lot from new photographers: “what lenses should I buy?”

And while there are a lot of different types of lenses appropriate for many different situations and needs, time and time again I find myself primarily relying on three lenses in my bag: a fast general purpose zoom (18-50mm), a macro lens and a telephoto zoom (70-200mm). These three lenses will give you enough versatility to shoot in almost any conditions. Also, these three lenses are available for just about every camera system and lens mount on the market.

The general purpose zoom

This is the lens that sits on my camera the most. For APS-C cameras, something in the 18-50mm range is best… for 35mm format cameras, a 24-70mm will work. This will give you the ability to go fairly wide while also being able to zoom into objects off in the distance. This lens might be your kit lens, but it should preferably be fairly fast (a fixed f/2.8 if possible) to give you greater control over depth of field. It makes a great “walkabout” lens when you aren’t sure what you will be shooting.

The macro lens

The length of this lens isn’t as important as its ability to create a 1:1 magnification of subjects. I currently keep a 50mm f/2.8 macro in my bag because it is small and light… easy to carry around for when I might need it. It makes a decent portrait lens (very sharp and the f/2.8 provides a fairly shallow area of focus) and the level of detail you can get when shooting objects up close is fantastic. Having a macro lens opens up a whole new world of tiny objects to photograph. Also, if you do any type of product photography (jewelry, food, etc.) this lens will allow you to capture a much greater level of detail than is possible with non-macro lenses.

Fortune by Chris Folsom http://www.flickr.com/photos/zero101/3335373821/

The telephoto zoom

The telephoto zoom should be in the general range of 70-200mm with a maximum aperture of at least f/4 (faster is nice though). This will give you a lot of distance to work with and a very shallow depth of field to bring focus to your subjects. For faster moving objects, the bigger aperture will allow you to shoot at faster shutter speeds which will help capture moving objects (birds, sports) too. This is also an excellent portrait lens as the focal length minimizes distortion and narrows the angle of view to fill the frame with your subject.

Wait… what about?

I am sure many of you reading this have other lenses you would consider essential. A fast 50, or a wide angle or a longer zoom… and all of those are great lenses to own also. However, for someone who is new to photography or who has just bought their first DSLR, these three lenses will give them the versatility to shoot in almost any situation. Family gatherings, sports events, birds, insects, flowers, landscapes, portraits, etc. Once you narrow in on a particular type of photography that most interests you, other lenses may be more useful for that specific subject, but until then these are the lenses all photographers should be carrying with them.

What lenses would you include in your ‘every photography should own’ basket?

Recently, I posted that my biggest frustration is improper focus.

If you use a point-and-shoot, the solution it pretty simple. You hold down the shutter button halfway until focus is achieved and then push it the rest of the way down. The only reason you’d be likely to end up with poor focus is, as I said before, you’re shooting in an improper mode. For example, you’re shooting a landscape in macro mode.

For us DSLR users, focus becomes another monster all together.

{Factor 1 – Selecting Focus Mode}

The first thing to consider is the mode you’ve set for your camera. In the menu, there will be an area for ‘AF Modes’. The three you may see are:

1.} One-Shot – Suitable for still subjects. Press the shutter halfway and the camera will focus only once. If the subject moves or you want to recompose the shot, you must release the shutter and press it halfway again to refocus.

2.} AI Servo – Also known as ‘continuous focus’ on a Nikon, AI Servo is used to keep a continuous focus on moving subjects until the shutter is pressed all the way. The ‘AI’ stands for ‘artificial intelligence’ and the camera uses these algorithms to predict where a subject is about to be. This is the setting to be used in sports photography and I use it with children on the go. Wikipedia’s entry on AI Servo says it so well: “Before servo focus the photographer would generally pre-focus on an area where he/she thought the best action would take place; today he/she can follow the entire sequence of events, and select the best later.” In AI Servo mode, the camera won’t beep once focus is achieved. It just keeps focusing until you decide to take the picture.

3.} Al Focus – AI Focus mode starts with normal one-shot focussing (hold the shutter down half way and it will beep when focused) but if the subject starts moving, it will switch to AI Servo mode. Certainly, this is clever of the camera, but Nikon doesn’t even have this option. Why? Your subject is either a living, breathing, moving being or it isn’t. I’m either in One-Shot or AI Servo. AI Focus just seems kind of dumb to this Canon user

{Factor 2 – Selecting the AF Area}

In my camera (A Canon 7D) there are three AF Areas and it should be pretty much the same in most cameras.

1.} Single Point AF – this selects one spot to be used for focus. In the viewfinder, you’ll see the little square and you press the shutter halfway and the camera will beep to let you know that focus has been achieved. This mode is useful if you often follow the rule of thirds because you can focus on your subject, slowly re-compose the shot and take the photo. Your subject will be in focus.

2.} Zone AF – Focus points are organized into five different groupings, and the camera uses one of the points in the group to autofocus. Can be used in the thirds composition as above but offers a bigger area for focus, useful for tighter shots and portraits.

3.} Auto Select 19-point AF – All 19 available autofocus points are used. If multiple areas are in focus, all of these points will light up in the viewfinder. This is the mode used in full auto and creative auto modes. Pressing the shutter halfway will display the AF point(s) which have achieved focus. If multiple points are displayed, it means they all have achieved focus. This mode tends to focus the nearest subject. Great for moving subjects.

How to take advantage of what is right above you.

The sky is the single most abstract and dynamic canvas that a photographer has at his disposal. It is an endless source of inspiration that can change a boring photo into one of tremendous interest.

Sweet Home Under White Clouds – by tipiro

The sky is a key element in almost all landscape photos and if you can’t get it just right the entire photo will suffer. The problem is that it is often very difficult to properly expose the sky and the ground at the same time.

By turning to tools such as graduated neutral density filters or bracketing photographers have been able to perfectly expose photos right on the camera, however, this isn’t always possible given circumstance.

furthermore, the sky itself doesn’t always behave. Sometimes you show up for that shoot and the sky is boring and uninteresting. Other times the sky simply does not convey the right mood. Sometimes an image needs a new sky.

Shoot the sky when it is interesting

Carry your camera everywhere with you and always make a point to look up to the sky as you go about your daily routine. If the clouds are doing something interesting. Take a picture of them.

Begin to create a collection of cloud photos that you save for later use. The clouds don’t have to always be wickedly cool or on a vibrant sky but it is important to build a diverse collection.

These photos, while often are interesting enough to become stand alone images they truly shine when used to augment something else.

Tricks to shooting great clouds

• Make sure that you shoot more of the sky than you need. It is easy to crop in later if necessary.
• Slightly underexpose the image. The sky is notoriously bright during the day. Overexposed clouds tend to look goofy. You can always fix up the exposure later in post processing.
• Get creative, clouds are very abstract try interesting things with them. Long exposure times. Wild Filters. Go Nuts!
• Watch out for things in the sky. While they can always be removed later it is annoying when a bird or plane is in the middle of your frame.

How to make certain skies more interesting

Even though the sky is almost always interesting to a degree, sometimes you want to make it that much more compelling. This can easily be done in Photoshop.

Cheery

Everyone likes bouncy soft clouds. They can make a scene feel more fun and energetic. Cheery clouds are characterized by smooth white tones in the clouds set upon a vivid blue backdrop.

Energetic

Clouds can also look very interesting when given tension.

This can easily be achieved by framing the clouds at a unique and compelling angle.

Antique

They have nearly become a cliche but they are also very effective.

Antique clouds can perfectly help frame all sorts of interesting photos. Antique clouds tend to be moody and work best in a more overcast sky.

Muted

You could also consider them boring clouds. However they are also very useful when you simply want to add texture.

Muted clouds are characterized by less bold lines and lower contrast.

Ominous

You can also add powerful emotion to a piece with more rugged and defined clouds.

These clouds tend to feel foreboding and can really add tension to a composition. Ominous clouds looks best when the clouds themselves have high contrast and often are very dark. Such as before a storm
.

From Above

Did I mentioned that you should take your camera everywhere?

This includes on an airplane. Clouds look really cool from above.

Getting Creative

Once in Photoshop you can either let your clouds remain realistic or you can easily change them dramatically to add another dimension to their abstraction.

This will usually depend on the style of image you are aiming for in the final piece but given how abstract clouds are it is very easy to vastly change them without ruining their effect.

Don’t be afraid to really experiment, the worst possible outcome would be starting over but the rewards can be infinite.

Things you can do to clouds to make them more abstract

• Add extreme color of any type. We are used to seeing clouds with sky blue as a back drop. They also look good with most other colors of the spectrum.
• Give them movement. Add motion or radial blurs to simulate movement.
• Warp them. Given that clouds have no predefined shape you can use tools such as liquefy to mold them to your desired shape.
• Add things to them. Birds, rainbows, and lightning can all add an interesting twist.

You have shot your clouds… Now what?

Take advantage of them. As mentioned above you can’t always count on the sky to deliver it’s best performance when you are taking your pictures.

Next time you have a photo that you think could have been amazing but just isn’t quite right consider how it would look with a new sky.

Look through your collection of clouds and find the perfect sky to match your photo. Just make sure the sky you have chosen fits with the image you are giving it to.

Things to watch out for when adding a new sky

Make sure to cut out the original photo well. A halo of the old sky can look really weird.

Instead of completely replacing the old sky, consider blending it with the new sky to make things look more natural.

Make sure the lighting matches. It would look really weird if you add a sky behind a mountain with the sun in it but the shadows on the mountain imply the sun is behind the photographer.

Match the tones so that the entire image has similar saturation, brightness, and contrast. It needs to look natural.

Other cool tricks

• You can vastly increase the size of the sky. For example, in the image above the original sky looked fairly good but it was cut off by the end of the frame. By adding a new sky I was able to use one that was much taller and thus make the picture more interesting with a taller aspect ratio.
• You don’t always have to replace a sky. Perhaps you photo doesn’t have any sky in it. But it does have some water or other reflective surfaces. Create an interesting reflection.
• Layer skies. If done well, and carefully, you can layer several skies together by blending them and create a compelling effect.
• Transform them. Flip and rotate them. A sky doesn’t always look it’s best right off the camera. Find the angle that best benefits the final image.

Conclusion

Clouds are a great and fun canvas to work with. They inspire creativity and help expand your ability as a photographer. The greatest strength of the sky is it is endless in it’s abstraction and thus is only limited by your imagination.

If your digital camera has a hot shoe, it can accept an external flash. Here are five compelling reasons to use one.

Often when you’re working in Lightroom you will want the images to be sorted in the order that you want to see them, not in as order such as capture date which is one of the Lightroom sort options.

You may want to do this when assembling images for a slide show or for printing, for example as the order of the images in the filmstrip will affect how the images appear in a print template and in the slideshow.

You can control the order of images in a Lightroom folder by dragging and dropping an image from one place to the other in the filmstrip view. To do this, grab the image in the middle and drag on it until you see a black bar appear between two images. If you let go the image it will drop into the indicated position.

This drag and drop process works in most instances but there are some exceptions to be aware of.

The first is that this will not work if you are in a folder where there are images in a subfolder below it which are also visible. You can see if this is likely if you open the fly-out for the folder in the Folders panel in the library. If there is another folder the one you are working on, chances are that the images in the subfolder are included in the filmstrip and so you cannot arrange the images by dragging them into position if this is the case.

To workaround this limitation you can remove the photos in the subfolder from view – this just removes them from the grid and filmstrip and not from Lightroom or your disk. To do this, click Library in the menu and disable the Include Photos from Subfolders option.

With this disabled, you can now move images by dragging and dropping them into position.

Another exception is when you are working with a Smart Collection. While images can be located in a regular collection and rearranged in order to suit, they cannot be rearranged if they are in a Smart Collection. If you have images in a Smart Collection that you want to be in a specific order, you will need to create a regular collection for them and add them to it to do so.

Another situation where you cannot reorder images to your own preference is when you are working on the images in the Catalog such as Previous Import. You must, instead, locate the folder or collection in which the images are stored and rearrange them there.

Once you have arranged the images as you want them to appear, Lightroom stores your ordering so it is as accessible as, for example, any other sort order options for that folder or collection. So, you can return to your preferred sort order at any time by selecting User Order from the Sort dropdown list.

We ran this question/discussion just on two years ago now but a lot of new camera bags are now on the market so it’s time to do it again.

What camera bag do you use and recommend – and why?

• Do you use a brand like Crumpler, Tamrac or Lowpro OR do you prefer a more anonymous brand that looks less like a camera bag (and makes it less attractive to thieves)?
• Do you use a bag that is not really a camera bag at all?
• What features do you look for in a camera bag?
• Do you have more than one bag for different situations?

Last time the most popular bag was the Lowepro Slingshot 200 All Weather Backpack (pictured). It’ll be interesting to see if it still ranks highest among our readers or whether another bag takes the cake now!

The Canon PIXMA iP2702 is an inexpensive, compact photo printer. Photo quality is acceptable but not on par with printers that use more colors.

A Guest Post by SusanG from Camelot Photography Forum.

We talk about things like Workflow and Task Management. Yet, how much time do we dedicate to looking, really looking, into our own work? The end product itself!

I spent eight months last year photographing one linear mile. It wasn’t a planned series, but evolved into a long-term project. I recently reviewed the whole collection to select forty images as representative. In re-assessing the series, I took a long hard look to determine if the photography was an evolution of a signature approach, or a rut. That was not easy. It almost teetered into a self-involved downward spiral of “Why is everything rubbish?”

I kicked my ass out of that one ASAP as the end result of whinge-influenced decisions often is not a forward motion but a knee jerk response. Which can result in decisions that don’t further the goal. What does further the goal is to analyse objectively why an image (or images) failed or didn’t succeed as well as expected. Define the problem then look for solutions.

Also take the time to see what has been accomplished. If you know in your heart and mind that you have achieved a goodly portion of your photographic goals, take a moment to bask in that. There is more to be gained from honest congratulations then beating your self up. But keep that “Why Is Everything Rubbish” on hand for brief self-indulgences, and then use it in a positive manner.

My appraisal identified what lens and camera purchases I will be making next. I see that I still have issues resolving what I think I’m seeing to what I’m actually seeing in terms of composition. Which tells me I need to evaluate more completely the scene before I think I’m ready to click the shutter.

Perhaps that isn’t earth shattering, or a Road-To-Damascus moment. It is an important process and it has helped me to plan the next steps to where I want photography to take me.

Practical Things – Recap!

1. Look at what makes the bulk of your subject and composition. Think about making a specific purchase (lens, filters, even camera upgrade) to take those types of images.
2. Look for what’s missing! Could you have repositioned the camera to take a better or more complete perspective? Do you need to spend more time looking for different views to photograph a scene or subject?Be brutally honest with yourself when considering the above. You’ll stand a better chance of purchasing the equipment you need, and have a better idea on how to use it.
3. Look for what’s right in your photography! No matter how small you may think it, everything you feel you got right is one more step towards becoming the photographer you want to be!

These are only a part of an ongoing process. Once you know where your photography is, you have taken an intelligent and objective look at your work. There’s bound to be items I missed or are unique to your own photography. That is what makes your work unique. That is what defines part of your signature style.

SusanG is the Creator of Camelot Photography Forum, a MySpace™ Photography Site where anyone can find their new level.