This new capability will allow you to apply very targeted adjustments in Lightroom that you currently would have to apply with masks inside Photoshop.  And right on top of the panel is one you may overlook – color balance.

We’ve blogged before about the varying temperature of different light sources, and problems that can occur when you mix light sources in a single photo.  If this isn’t something you did purposely for an effect, it can be very difficult to balance the light sources.  Now you have a new tool to assist you.

When I was out in our one little snow earlier this year, I managed to create an example of two different color balances in one photo.

I was adjusting my settings on arrival at this gate and noticed how the headlights’ color cast was decidedly orange.  Since this was taken right before we went to Alaska, I never got around to processing all the photos from that shoot.  (That’s lucky because this would have gone straight into the bit bucket.)   You can easily see the clash of the orange (warm) headlights against the blue of the early morning (cool).

With the new brush, I can knock that orange right into submission, cooling it so the light looks like it fits into the scene better.  Most of your viewers would never question that the light might not match reality; it would just seem to fit better.

Here is another example where your viewers’ perceptions of what is correct might not match reality.

When I came back from Alaska this summer, I had some shots from the glaciers.  If you’ve ever seen glaciers, you’ll immediately notice their deep blue coloring.  Many people looking at this photo of gulls on an ice flow asked me about the blueness of the birds.  “Why are the birds blue? Did you tint them to match the ice?”  (Once co-workers know you dabble in the evil world of Photoshop, they’ll question everything you do – even if you didn’t use it.)

Of course, I could go into Photoshop and warm up the color balance on the gulls and mask the rest of the image.  It won’t take too much effort.  Just add a new layer; adjust the color balance; mask the base image to reveal the warmer gulls; save to file; and you’re done.  Or you can stay in Lightroom and make the changes with the new Adjustment Brush.

Doing all that is possible in a single program makes more sense.  And another big advantage to working in Lightroom is Adobe’s policy that all Lightroom adjustments are completely reversible.  If I decide I’ve gone too far with warming up the gulls, I can change it instantly with the slider or easily revert to the original.  All the original pixels are still there.

I find it funny that people who proclaim they don’t like it when I resort to Photoshop are happier with the warmer tones on the gulls (“Everyone knows seagulls don’t look that blue”).  In order to make them happy, I had to adjust the image away from the original pixels.  And now both parties know I didn’t use Photoshop. 

I just got back from Alaska, and it was cold!  It was -48 when we stepped off the plane.  I had lots of plans for the trip.  They didn’t pan out.

Why would anyone go to Fairbanks in January?  I really wanted to get some shots of the aurora borealis.  I’ve seen the northern lights many times when we lived in Alaska, but I never had a camera with me in those days.  You need a nice clear night, a night without ice fog.  I hoped  to get lucky while we were there.

The ice fog obliterated the sky for five of our seven nights; the other two, the lights weren’t out.  Yes, I’m quite aware that a big solar storm lit up the night sky right after we left.  Like I said, my plans didn’t pan out.  Here is the ice fog thinning out at 3:30 pm one day.  Notice how low the sun is?  We got less than five hours of daylight each day.

The real reason to travel north in the middle of winter was the arrival of our most recent grandchild.  We scheduled our trip two weeks after the due date, but he decided to come a couple of days after we arrived.  We just hung around the house and waited with the dogs.

When he finally arrived home, I just took a few snapshots and held the boy (when I could get him away from my wife).  It was a wonderful, relaxing week with the family, which just grew by one more.  Doesn’t get better than that.

The boy goes by the nickname of Dodge.  I may sprinkle some shots of him into the blog now and then.  We sure were glad to see him.

Our plans to get home didn’t pan out, either.  But the re-routed flights and misplaced bags came with a silver lining – airline dollars to return in the spring when the weather will be warmer and the boy crawling.  Anyone want to travel north in May?  It’ll be fun….

Mark told you that the Nikon D4 was finally announced, but they also announced an 85mm f1.8 lens at $500.  A lens that will give you lots of speed and creamy bokeh for relatively few dollars.

Canon announced their high-end compact, the G1x.  It shoots RAW; 1080p video; and has a 28-112mm zoom.  It will compete with Nikon’s 1 (although the Canon doesn’t have inter-changeable lenses) and the Fuju X100 (also fixed lens).  Go read Google News about all the photo gadgets that are being introduced in Vegas this week.

But the photo world wasn’t just buzzing over the neat new hardware….  Adobe announced the public beta of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.  There are some major changes, including a revamped Develop panel; a Map panel that connects to Google Earth and let’s you geo-tag any image; and a Book panel to create your own Blurb photobooks.  You can download it here; there is no cost to try it.

I’ve been playing with it all week on some recent photos, and I’m already hooked on the improvements.  It is still a Beta, so you only want to use it on copies of your photographs.  You will probably experience some slowness and crashes, but this is normal in a Beta.  They’ll have that taken care of in the final release.  When does the final release come out?   They haven’t announced that, but the Beta expires on 31 March.  (Isn’t that less than a week after Photoshop World?  Hmmmm.)

You can bet we’ll blog about all the features when it comes out, but let me show you a couple of examples of the new Develop panel.  I really love the changes here.

Here is the York Minster.  A blah sky provides enough light to create a common problem – the camera meter averages the scene, and my sky is too bright and the church is too dark.

In Lightroom 3, I would globally lighten the church and then use the adjustment brush to bring down the brightness of the sky.  This isn’t difficult, but it will take a few minutes of brushing to get the sky the way I want it.

In Lightroom 4, I moved few sliders to give much better results in seconds.  The corrections were so fast, I used the lens correction to minimize the image distortion and still had a much better image in less than one minute.

The clouds have more definition; you can see details in the towers; and the exposure is fixed.  The transformation is really something to watch as you move the sliders.  Of course, I could do this in Photoshop, but that would take even longer.

I had to try it one more time.

Wow!  I really like the way shadow detail can be revealed.  You should download the program and give it a try.  This new Lightroom is going to be fun.

The Aurora Ice Bar is located in Chena Hot Springs, Alaska.  It is just a little bit south of the Arctic Circle.  The resort is open year round for your vacationing pleasure.  They say it’s a great place to see the Aurora Borealis.

The Aurora Ice Bar is kept at about 20 degrees inside a specially designed building, so you can even enjoy it in the summer time.  We were there in August, but the nasty warm weather never bothered us.

The entire bar and stools are made of ice.

The bar is open during the tours, and many of the tourists tried their Apple-tinis.  You can see the glasses – they’re also carved from ice – lined up on the shelves behind the bartender.

The building is filled with ice sculptures.  They have a xylophone made of ice that is playable.  There is a workshop at one end of the building where you can watch current sculptures being made.  The artists there have sculpted jousting knights, ice fish, and the Coca-Cola polar bears.  They never seem to run out of ice up there.

We were only there for an hour because we had lots of other things to see, but we did look around at the two ice bedrooms, complete with an ice outhouse.  (No, the outhouse isn’t ever actually used.)

As you can see from these photos, I was in snapshot mode.  The bar wasn’t on our original schedule, so I was just carrying the camera and one lens.  I was really set back because I didn’t have my flash.  I hope to get back there someday with better preparation.

So, if you’re ever up near the Arctic Circle, looking for a drink, stop by for lots of fun.  Tell them I sent you….

Are you ready for the winter weather?  This is a great time for photography.  You’ll find lots of interesting scenes for your camera.   The snow covers the ground clutter and simplifies the scene.  On clear days, the sky seems crisp and saturated with color.

You need to take care to cover your camera and lens when the snow is blowing.  A common problem is the fogging of the lens from large temperature differences as you take the camera in and out of the weather.  You should give yourself some extra time to for the camera’s temperature to slowly equalize to the cold outside or the warmth of your home.  If you wrap your camera in a clean towel and insert it into a plastic bag, you can reduce condensation while the camera’s temperature is changing.  When you’re done for the day and the camera has warmed, dry everything.  Your lens will be ruined if you get moisture inside.

With all the light reflecting off the snow, your camera’s meter will react by reducing exposure to average out the scene.  This will give you gray snow, instead of the white you’re seeing.  Adjust your camera by increasing the exposure 1-2 stops.  On an SLR, you can do that in the menus.  If you have a camera with scene settings, be sure to use the snow or beach setting.  You want to keep your whites nice and clean.  Yes, you can do some work in post-processing, but proper exposure is much better than punishing pixels in software.

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This year, I’ve got a special trip planned to guarantee snow.  I’m heading back to Alaska for the snow and, hopefully, clear skies filled with the northern lights.  I’ve seen them many times, but I was in the field with the 6th Infantry Division.  They had other plans for me, and they did not include running around with a camera.  I’ll also get a chance at photographing a newborn grandson.  Guess I better take a flash with me…

There is one last thing to remember when you’re out there in the cold: batteries hate cold weather.  Make sure you keep a couple spares handy in your jacket.  You don’t want to be forced into quitting before you get all that goodness captured.

If you prepare now, you’ll be ready when the first flakes start falling.  Don’t forget to try to shoot from some unconventional angles to make some interesting shots.  It’s more fun that way.