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. 

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.

At the top of the Library module is the Library Filter bar. This exceptionally powerful tool lets you search using any characteristic about your photographs, to quickly and precisely sort through your catalog of thousands of images.

The Text option lets you search through any field which contains, well, text.  Keywords, Filenames, Titles or any of the metadata fields, can all be rapidly filtered. 

Sometimes you are searching for other Attributes, such as finding all the pictures you shot with 3 or more rating stars, or even all the virtual copies you have made.

Finally, the Metadata search panel lets you look for any of the data that your camera automatically captures such as Date, Lens Type, Focal Length, Aspect Ratio, Shutter Speed, etc., or the IPTC data you put in such as City, State, or Copyright info.

If you really want to know how many shots you have taken with your 105 mm f/2.8 lens (1056), or how many images you have taken in Burbank, CA (37) you can find that out in a flash (oh, 6872 photos with a flash).   

The Library filter really lets you see what you have been shooting.  Play with it and you will learn a lot.

We’ve written about working in Lightroom before, but I thought this would be a good time to review how much you can do to improve a photograph.  This is done completely in LR.

The first several steps are part of my usual workflow. When you develop a consistent pattern, you’ll get more consistent results and learn how different tools will impact your final image.  I shoot in RAW, but a consistent workflow will help you get better results from your JPGs, too.

This is part of a bracketed set (for an HDR) that I shot last year.  I picked the underexposed image to demonstrate that even a less than perfect initial image can be dramatically changed.  My first step is to apply the lens correction and move the camera calibration to landscape.  This actually makes the image a little darker, but gives me stronger greens and blues.

Next, I move to the top of the Develop panel to address the basic adjustments.  Bumping up the exposure by half a stop and adding some fill light, brings back some of the sunlight.  If you were shooting a JPG, this is probably a pretty good representation of what you’d have if you had the camera set in Program mode.

The image still looks a little flat, so I would apply the Punch preset.  Presets have a bad reputation because so many people just hit the preset and move on.  Presets are a good beginning point; they affect the image in a consistent manner, but you may still need to make some further adjustment.  Don’t be afraid to do this.  The Punch preset affects the clarity, vibrance, and saturation of your image.  Adjust the sliders further to your taste.  I see this as a big improvement to this image.

I’ve been on a panorama kick, lately.  I really like the look of the extra-wide images from combining several images into one.  This is a single image, but I can still get that look by cropping the image.  Make sure you unlock the crop aspect or you won’t be able to crop it this way.

Moving down to the hue, saturation, luminance sliders, I’ll slightly darken the sky and add some saturation to make it the way I like it.  I bumped up the luminance on the green.

Next, I apply some sharpening to the image.  Sharpening should be applied cautiously, so you don’t overdo it.  Use the masking to sharpen only the edges of features within the photo.  Holding the Alt button, while using the masking slider will show you exactly what you are sharpening.

Finally, I review the image for any other changes I might want to make.  In this one, I just touched the brightness a little. This is, certainly, not the only way to work on your images; it is the just workflow I’ve gotten accustomed to.  In real time, these adjustments would take me about three minutes or less.  If you are consistent and develop a personal workflow, you’ll enjoy the process and be happier with your results.  Then you can get back to the fun of shooting something new.

Before

After

Vignetting is a technique which creates a window to better frame your subject.  It can be used on portraits or landscapes.  It can be subtle or very dramatic. There are tools in both Adobe® Lightroom and Photoshop which provide a variety of options. We are going to focus on LR today.  Here is a photo of my musically talented, close friend, Al.  Those people in the background are distracting and I want to hide them.

Working your way down the menu choices in the Develop module provides a good workflow for image processing.  In the Effects panel, you will see the Post-Crop Vignette menu.  Even if you go back and re-crop the picture the system will keep your vignettes framed in proportion. As with all LR choices, the best way to learn them is to play with the controls and just look at the results, adjusting them until you are happy.

The first choice, the Amount slider, allows you to have a white border if you push it all the way to the right or a black one if you push it all the way to the left. 

The Midpoint slider lets you control how far into the image the effect goes, while the feather slider lets you control how hard the inner edge is. Here I’ve pushed it all the way to 0 for a very hard edge.

Finally the Roundness control does exactly that, pushing the frame to a perfect circle at 100 or a round cornered rectangle at  -79.  What you select is entirely up to you.  Mess with it and enjoy!