Use Lightroom Classic to create meaningful photo file names automatically during import
Your camera automatically names image files using the convention: DSC_1234 (or similar). The problem with this naming format is that when your frame counter hits 9999, it rolls over and begins again at 0001. This means that over time, you’ll end up with many images on your computer all sharing the same filename. That can create headaches over time, especially if you’re trying to locate specific images on your computer outside of Lightroom.
In this video, I’ll show you how to rename your images upon import using Adobe Lightroom Classic. The convention I use combines my initials (JPO) with a sortable date (YYYMMDD) and then the frame number from the original image. This technique only works if you’ve set the date correctly in your camera. The advantage of this technique is that if you’re looking for images on your computer, each file will have a unique name that includes date information to help you locate it. Once you’ve set up a file renaming template in Lightroom, you can use it to rename images that are already in your Lightroom catalog.
Mirrorless cameras converted for infrared capture can be prone to banding artifacts.
When I got my infrared-converted Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera, a colleague told me to watch out for banding in my images. I have never seen banding in images from my normal Nikon Z cameras, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
It turns out that in rare instances, I can detect slight banding patterns, especially if I’ve made strong local contrast adjustments, like the Structure slider in Silver Efex Pro 2.
Fix a weak sky using Lightroom Classic’s Dehaze Slider
Fix a sky in Lightroom with the Dehaze slider.
I was out photographing landscapes the other morning at Garden of the Gods, and the sky was just not great. Fortunately, I capture all my photos in raw format and make sure that I expose as to not blow out the highlights. Turns out, there was definition in the sky, but I had to bring the image into Lightroom Classic to fix it. I used the Dehaze slider and local masking to pull it off:
Fix your weak sky with the Dehaze tool and local masks using Lightroom.
Collared trogon (female), Trinidad, West Indies Nikon D850 at ISO 6400
Do your high-iso images seem noisy? Chances are that it has nothing to do with your camera, and a lot to do with your image processing. Here are some tips for dealing with noise in your raw digital images.
Digital exposure is about data, not the final image
Photographic capture is not about “getting the image right” in-camera. It’s about recording the *best possible data* to further work on in post. In other words, we try to make sure that the original exposure preserves the elements of the image that are important to us, so that we can then execute the final image (in the darkroom or on the computer).
