SEim Effects LIghtroom PResets, Photoshop Actions, Effects

I‘ve mentioned this technique on the Pro Photo Show podcast, but I felt I should write it down in simple terms since I get questions about it. It’s how I use LR catalogs, and manage my jobs. Today I’m gonna share some power user tips  that can really make your life, and image management easier.

I make a new Lightroom Catalog for each session. That’s right every senior, family, and couple get a catalog made in their honor. Sometimes people think it’s a bit crazy, but usually change their minds. It’s simple management mechanics and if you try it you might just love it. If not you can modify it to fit your needs. Though I use Lightroom, these techniques can also apply to other software.

Why?
Most photographers that use Lightroom have one huge catalog that all their images are stored in. They manage those shoots from within that catalog using collections, and the image files are referenced to various drives and directories all over the system. What happens when the disk gets full and images are archived, or when things get moved? The files are now separated from the main catalog. To use them again one has to bring back the files, and/or point LR to the right location.

There’s also the somewhat smaller issue of speed and reliability. Though the programs we have, deal with large amounts of images well, it’s basic math that tells us the bigger a database becomes, the more the system must process. I like portable streamlined catalogs and not having to worry about a huge master catalog getting corrupt. Here’s the two parts that make up my system.

The Portable Container Method:
The container method can apply whether you have one giant catalog, or a catalog for each session like I do. You simply make a folder that contains your catalog, as well as your images (usually in a sub folder). This way the entire unit is within one folder rather than scattered across various locations. It now becomes portable. You can even do this with existing catalogs by moving the images to the folder with the catalog. You’ll have to spend a few minutes showing Lightroom where you put everything, but then you’re set.

The Job Catalog Method:
It works great… Seriously though it does. It’s so seamless and easy to access a job from any date because each job has a customer folder which contains the catalog, as well as the folder with all the original images. It’s totally portable to any drive. If I want to archive or move, I can drop the entire folder anywhere and if I ever need it again I just open up the catalog and all my images, settings, ratings and info are right where I left them because their all within one folder along with the images.

When I finish editing a job I export final JPEG’s to a finals folder (separate from the catalog images) and I’m ready to put them online, send to the client, or wherever their going. I don’t ever have to worry about things getting lost or mixed up because every job is a own catalog, in it’s own folder, with it’s images inside. See the screenshot below for an example how I contain the entire job with it’s catalog in one folder for easy management. When I need to free up space I simple archive the entire folder on an archive disk catalog and all.

Going further:
Yep you can do more… I have a portfolio catalog that manages my sample images. Inside the images folder of that catalog are a few other folders, so I can keep weddings, portraits etc easily viewable, but also together in one catalog. This portfolio catalog fits in a few gigs, and I can copy the whole thing to any disk and take it with me. Then I can fire up LR and can be showing my portfolio in a LR slideshow within seconds. I can view the entire portfolio, or simply select on of the enclosed folders to narrow down to weddings, portraits etc.

Something else I often do, is make the customer catalog before a session. With weddings for example, I make the catalog on my laptop and dump images in it throughout the day. Not only do I have a backup, but now I can I easily edit a few and throw up a simple slideshow during the reception to WOW the guests (great advertising). Better yet, when I get home all (or most) of the the images are already in that catalog. I can apply one of my auto presets, and start 1:1 previews before bed, and in the morning I just copy the entire folder to my main machine, ready to sort, edit, and ship. Portability saves time again.

The Bottom line is that it’s really simple. Making a new catalog is barely more than creating a new folder for a job. You can manage things better, archive them easier, get work done quicker.

Exceptions:
In some situations a single large catalog might be needed. You can still the the container method, but If for example you are shoot stock, or nature and need a large tagged searchable database you may want a single catalog. If you’re shooting job based work, then most jobs can be better managed from their own catalogs. It’s a preference. Try it out and see what works for you

In my case I have personal images and large ongoing projects in master catalogs, since there’s far less of them and I work with them on a regular basis. Unlike client jobs that get filed away in the archives. I still use the portable container method of placing the images with the catalogs however.

Gavin Seim
seimphotography.com

~ Download Gavin’s Brush Presets ~

Did you know that in Lightroom2 You can use a brush to make precise corrections, and even have brush presets ready to go to make those corrections easy.

Well I knew about LR  brushes, but I had not given enough attention to them until Matt Kloskowski posted up some darken brushes, and got my mind in gear on a great workflow asset.

Here’s a collection of brush presets I made for… Burn, Dodge, Color Boost, Color Drain, Skin Soft, and Detail Boost. Remember that these don’t work the same as my Develop presets. These are for “Brush” settings. If you need to learn how to install them take a look at my Installing Lightroom Brush Presets article. The download is above. Just download unzip and follow the directions.

Once you get them installed you can just select the brush effect that you want, from the drop-down. Bush size and softness are still filly controllable. Just select the preset, then set the size you want.

Gavin Seim

Hey gang. Here’s a small set of actions I made to help watermark photo’s. If your in SE fan club on Facebook you got these a few weeks ago. but I wanted to post them up here for the blog readers.

Nothing huge here. These just take a logo, or type and make it have that transparent bevel look of a watermark. These probably won;t be in a Seim Effects set anytime soon. I just thought some of you could use them.

You can also modify them to speed things up. For example you could record a command at the beginning of the action to place your logo at the start, and then save and close at the end so that you could automate the watermarking.

You can add commands to an action like this by simply selecting the action and pressing record. Then re-save the action when your done modding it.

~Here’s the Free download link~

Gosh I sure made this cool fire photo UGLY!

I really enjoyed the book Purple Cow. It’s a book about making your business stand out in an world where paid advertising is failing. It got me thinking about what we do here at Seim Effects. Aside from saving time editing, I use the effects to help me stand out more. I made the above photo bad just to get your attention. It probably worked, but I wouldn’t suggest using that effect to get new clients.

I think people sometimes feel that automating parts of their business takes away from their creative edge. That does not need to be so. It can be applied to many areas, but lets take actions and LR presets for example. If we did all our effects manually, we would use far fewer of them, and because they would take so much longer. In the end the effects might not be as good because we would be in a hurry.

So I for one am looking for more ways to stand out. Here’s a few things on my mind for Seim Photography as well as Seim Effects

• 1. Am I being extraordinary in the products and services I sell?
• 2. How can I make it even better?
• 3. What does my target market really want?
• 4. What can I do to give them simple added bonuses? ( the prize inside)
• 5. What can I do that’s daring and amazing?

I have various answers to these questions rolling in my head like marbles. We’ll talk about those later. The bottom line is this. If I can answer the questions above, and then take action, I can be the purple cow that everyone is amazed by and telling their friends about. That’s FREE MARKETING!

Do you do anything to be the Purple Cow?

By the way. Here’s a good version of that photo.

Gavin Seim

Personally as a photographer I get pretty into creative post processing. I make lightroom presets, actions etc to super speed that workflow a lot, and I still find myself in front of the computer even though I don’t really need to be. Do you deal with this?

What’s on my mind today is how much playing with post can take away from our creative photography if we allow it to. I literally have so many images that I could spend months behind the computer trying to make art out of them.

I can get to a point where I’m in the studio just playing with the web, emails, photo’s etc. I can browse endlessly thru tech and photo blogs, and get all the great tips in the world but if I don’t go out and shoot I become only an observer.

This sounds crazy since I love photography, but sometimes I get in a mode where I tend not to pick up the camera unless it’s a paid job! I have to force myself to go out shooting somewhere. It can be a country drive, or just a walk down the street. Great images are everywhere , so if I am not finding a shot, I figure I need to spend more time learning to see the see the beauty in the things around me.

We don’t have to be on a roadtrip, or a brand new place to find great stuff to shoot. I know I get in this rut at times and maybe you do to. Though all this online content is great, there’s nothing like picking up a camera and getting out hands dirty. Getting a speedy workflow is always something I’m looking for, and it works great. I just need to remember to use that extra time to get creative behind the lens.

NOW STOP READING THIS AND GO SHOOTING!

Gavin Seim