Lightroom Tutorials - Importing Images and Watermarking

A member of my photography club emailed me a couple of questions about Lightroom and rather than answer via an email response I thought that I would address these questions via a blog post. The first question was in regards to image/catalog management specific to importing images and the second question was about how to create a watermark for your images.

Let's address the first question first. Can we set it up somewhere in LR that the 'already' imported images will be automatically 'unchecked' when we are ready to import new files?

Lightroom 3.6 Import Interface

The easy answer is yes are a couple of ways to not have images in your catalog automatically unchecked or ignored altogether.

Select New Photos option

The first possible method is used the file options, All Photos is selected by default. Change this to New Photos and this should show only new photos, or photos that do not exist in your catalog already.

This may have odd effects, such as if you store all your photos in one location and just import them into your catalog. If you are doing this, when you remove an image from your catalog, without deleting it from the disk, the image will reappear in your import dialog each and every time you do a new import. This is because the image doesn't exist in your catalog but still exists in the folder. 

Don't Import Suspected Duplicates

The second option, which will have similar results as the above but remains checked for each import until you uncheck it. Under the file handling on the top-left panel of the import dialog, you can click the Don't Import Suspected Duplicates checkbox. Again, this only works if the image exists in the catalog already, but could prove problematic.

Image management can be tricky, but successful image management starts with how we import our images. As a part of my workflow I always move the images to a new destination from a separate Import folder on my desktop. This ensures that the only images shown in my import dialog are the new images from my shoot. This is one of the fundamental workflow things that I teach in my Lightroom Workshops.

Lightroom Watermarking

The second question that was asked is; How do I add watermark / copyright on the images?

The easiest way to add a copyright to an image is to put a copyright notice in the metadata. Then when exporting or printing select the Simple Copyright Watermark which used the copyright metadata entry for the source of the text for the watermark.

There is a lot to understanding watermarking. Watermarking is a very powerful way to brand your images. In addition to Metadata, watermarking gives a visual clue to who made the image. But offers little as a deterrent to theft. 

If you are watermarking your images to prevent image theft you might as well be using a Chihuahua for an attack dog; just not that effective. Watermarks can be cropped or cloned out of image easily. They have little impact as measure of theft prevention.

Lightroom allows you to add two types of watermarks; text and an image. The text watermark allows you to put any text you want to. An image watermark allows you use whatever you want as a watermark. The image above uses an image so I can brand my photos with not only my domain name, but also my logo. The image also gives me access to thousands of fonts rather than the select few Adobe allows Lightroom to have access to.

The first step is to create a new watermark in Lightroom is to click on the Edit menu and select Edit Watermarks... menu item.

This will open the Watermarks dialog box, below.

To create a text watermark, select Text as the Watermark Style: option.

Enter the text you want to have as your watermark. This may simply be your name, or ©, year and your name, for example; © 2012 Jane Doe Photography or simply your business name. 

As a bonus for this article, to type the copyright symbol, simply press and hold the Alt key while you type 0169 on the 10 key keypad then release the Alt key. This trick doesn't work without a 10 key keypad, so if you are using a laptop without a 10 key keypad, simply copy and paste the © from this or any other website.

Now under the Text Options in the dialog box you can change the font, style alignment and color of the text. You can also add a shadow to the text and adjust the shadow's opacity, offset, radius and angle. 

Scrolling down through the watermark options you can also change the Watermark Effects. This allows you to change the opacity of the watermark. Making a watermark a little transparent helps it to not over power the image. 

You can change the Size of the watermark, to fit the image, make it proportional or fill the image. I typically use Fit in this option because regardless of the size or orientation (landscape/portrait) of my export, it fits in the area I set it up to do. The other size options have strange results from time to time. 

The Inset adjustments allow you slightly shift the watermark left, right, up and down to get it aligned the way you want. The inset adjustments are in relation to where the watermark is anchored, described below.

The Anchor tools allow you anchor the watermark to a specific area of the image; top left, top center, top right,  middle left, middle center, middle right,  bottom left, bottom center, bottom right.

Watermarking using an image works just the same as a text watermark, except you are using an image. Under the Image Options you will click on the Choose... button.

This will open a dialog box where you can select images you have already made for use as a watermark. 

The adjustment sliders all work the same for the image watermark as they do for the text.

Once you have your watermark made, click the Save button. Give the watermark preset a name and click the Create button.

Now comes the time to use the watermark.

If you are printing from Lightroom, there is an option to include the watermark in the printout. This is a great option for printing client proofs. In the Print module, simply check the Watermarking option and select the watermark you wish to use.

For exporting your image for use on the web, you scroll through the export options and near the bottom check the Watermark checkbox and select the watermark you want to use. 

As you can see you can have many watermarks. This can be beneficial if you are doing work under multiple businesses as well as having top and bottom, as well as left and right aligned watermarks, as well as dark, light and even numerous color versions so you can theme the watermarks to match your images.

That's it for now. I hope this answers some of your questions about file management and watermarking. Feel free to email if you have any specific questions about Lightroom.

 

Artist Versus Analyst

Following the Rule of Thirds

Let me preface the following statement with: this is not a post about how great a photographer I am. My ego is in healthy check. Now that I have said that I can say: I am generally a pretty good photographer. 

As a photographer and teacher of photography I preach the rules of photography. I preach about composition; the rule of thirds and filling the frame. I preach about exposure and the histogram. I preach about subjects needing to be interesting. I preach about light and shadow and how to make them work.

I also practice these things, some times to a point of my Analyst squashing my Artist. My artist asks what-if questions and my Analyst doesn't like what-if scenarios. My Analyst knows that 1 + 1 = 2 and that is not to be challenged, ever.

The image above was an attempt by the Analyst to make a technically good photograph. I followed the rule of thirds. The horizon is not in the center plane of the photograph. I properly exposed the subject. I did everything right. Yet the image lacks pop and impact. This image would not be able to move a turd with bulldozer, let alone move someone emotionally. I might as well have photographed a black cat in a black room with the lens cap on. If I were to post this by itself, it would have likely received a few obligatory comments, if that, but it definitely would not have moved anyone.

Following my Artist

Then there is this photograph to the right. The photograph breaks several of the rules mentioned above. Lets start with the composition. The horizon is on the center plane of the photograph. The subject, the sun, is dead center in the image. Rule of Third/Fill the Frame rule is thrown out the window.

Now let's talk about exposure. In relation to the rest of the image, the lower right corner is under exposed. This leaves a dead spot in the image technically speaking.

Technically speaking, this image is a train wreck. But from an artistic standpoint, this image moves people in spite of the rules. This photograph evokes an emotional response that the first photograph could not. Why? Because I allowed the scene to move me before I tried to capture it. My Artist saw what was beautiful about the scene and captured it shutting down my Analyst

So when I posted my Artist's photograph on social media sites it received more comments and "likes" than most of my images usually get. As a matter of fact, I had five "favorites" from complete strangers, people I don't follow or don't follow me, within fifteen seconds of posting it.

What makes one photograph work and the other not? The first photograph was a true attempt at capturing the scene of a setting sun. It was shot with a Nikon D200 using the 200mm lens with careful consideration on exposure and composition. It was edited using Adobe's Lightroom with some dodge and burn and noise reduction. A professional photograph from professional equipment.

The second image was made using my cell phone and an HDR app that anyone can buy for $3.49 from the Android App Store of your choice. The photo was edited on my phone using Instagram. Both photos were taken by the same photographer; me. So why the huge disparity between the two? Is a camera phone that much better than a Nikon DSLR? I have said it many times, it's not the camera that makes an image it's the photographer. The failure of the first was a result of my Analyst being in control and the success of the second was the difference between my Analyst and my Artist.

Trusting my artist

Sand Patterns

I think I know what happened; how my Analyst got in control at the start. When I first got to the scene I was thinking, location, shot lists, exposures and composition. I set up, pointed the lens, fired a frame or two recomposed, refocused, fire again. Rinse and repeat. I didn't let the scene talk to me and let me know what it was showing me. My Analyst doesn't see such things. I was focused on getting the specific shots I wanted or thought I should get given the rules of photography. I was hell bent to get "The Shot" even if the scene wasn't really showing me "The Shot". My Artist was buried in the world of technicalities.

I finally put my camera aside, unhappy with the results. Took in the breath-taking scene for several minutes. I saw what was happening; I wasn't seeing the sunset through the sun. I shut down my Analyst and my Artist came rising to the surface. I grabbed my phone, opened the HDR app and fired off three frames. I stuck my phone back in my pocket as the HDR app was processing the three image series. I grabbed my camera and walked back to the campfire we had on the beach to warm up. 

I put my camera away and sat on a log by the fire. I grabbed my phone, saved the resulting photograph and shared it via Instagram. I didn't dink around with lots of post processing and cropping and tweaking. The photograph didn't need much of anything to make it pop. The photograph captured exactly what my Artist saw in the scene. The photograph captured exactly what the scene made me feel when I finally stopped, shut down my Analyst and took the scene in while my Artist came to the forefront.

I walked away from this experience re-finding the value of not getting lost in the technical aspect of the process. I know the technical aspects of photography, so I need to let go of the Analyst in me more often. I need to allow my Artist to do the job an artist does best. In the end, I know how to use the tools and I know the rules, so my Artist knows how to use the tools and knows the rules. More importantly my Artist knows when to break the rules. I need to trust that more moving forward because when I do, my Artist truly shines.


How about you? When do you struggle between your Analyst and your Artist. Who usually wins? How do you overcome your Analyst? Share in the comment below.

4th of July Preview

Close Enough to Taste 

Last night was our night to celebrate our independence with our kids. We invited our good friend Liz and her niece Kiersten over for some homemade pizza and fireworks.

Blinding Flashes

There are so many ways to shoot fireworks. This year I chose to allow the fireworks to do all of the movement.

I placed my camera on the tripod and triggered it with a remote.

Fun and interesting images resulted.

Enjoy the rest of the evening's images below.

Angry Chicken

Star Bursts

Bombs Bursting in Air

Rocket's not-so Red Glare

1/4 Second Exposure

Ground Flowers

Light Painting

Smoke Signals