Month: May 2011

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Lightroom – Importing Presets

Installing Lightroom presets can be a little tricky but Mat from Lightroom Killer Tips has recently found out, there is a far easy way.

Just Drag and drop the preset file on to your Lightroom icon in the dock.

Thanks Matt.

Of course that is if your a Mac user. If you’re a Windows user then double click the preset file. It will most likely say it does not understand the file type. Associate the file type with Lightroom and then double click will install it.

Have not tried it in Windows, as I do not have a Windows machine handy to test it on, only Apple Mac’s, Linux, and Solaris at present. Must rebuild that Windows 7 test machine of mine.

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Photo Tip: Sharpness 4

Sharpness.

Something all photographers worry about, this the fourth in a series of posts.  This time something a little different that you might not have thought of.

Are your shots tack sharp?

  • Do you use a heavy tripod?
  • A cable release?
  • Still not sharp?

Try using your mirror lockup, something I always use on my
Hasselblad when shooting landscapes, most digital SLR’s have
this function these days.

On lower end DSL’s it is generally buried in a sub menu, but on higher end models there may be a dedicated button or dial.

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iBird UK

I am no bird watcher and certainly no twitcher but I do enjoy a trip to the Park or Nature Reserve, either to just enjoy the view, walk or fresh air.

Often I’ll take the camera and photograph the birds.

That often leaves me with a problem. Recognising the birds. While I have books at home, sometimes you want to know there and then what it is you have spotted/photographed.

This is where your iPhone/iPod Touch comes in, together with an app called iBird UK (also available for other countries).

Download the limited free version and give it a trial. I am sure, like me after a short while you will end up buying it.

Now where is my UK iPad version!

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Focus Practice – Bird Photography

I have been having a bit of a play lately with my DSLR’s. Modern SLR’s have very customisable focus modes, you can set the number of sensors, wide or narrow area, and focus pattern. Add to that lock on time out and you have a confusing system that can be difficult to figure out.

I have five years experience with the Nikon D200 SLR body but still need to practice and familorise myself with all the functions. With a big trip planned soon, and as well as my customary medium format landscape photography, i’ll be shooting wildlife.

Because of that every couple of weekends over the last few months I have been visiting the local parks and RSBP Reserves. Trying different focus modes and techniques.

Today was another visit to a local park with Chris a far more experienced wildlife photographer then me.

I tried various techniques, including programmed auto ISO, aperture priority and shutter priority, to improve my chances of getting a good shot.

Practice makes perfect. As you can see the shots are not perfect, but I have learned a lot a over the last few weeks and have a number of photographs I am extremely pleased with.

Today we saw Herons with young, Mute Swans, Greylag Geese also with young, Canadian Geese, Tufted Ducks, Cootes, and Common Terns.

We saw a number of males competing for females. In particular two male Great Crested Grebes and also two male Coots were really fighting it out. It was quite something to witness.

A good day out.

Update: Chris has just posted his pictures, stunning couple of shots of the Herons.