"lightroom or photoshop?", he asked.

Creating a more interesting image using the digital tools available can sometimes be a daunting task.  Once you've pressed the shutter button and committed the light to pixels, ones and zeros you've only just begun the creative process.

Lately I've been taking a pared-down approach to creating images of everyday objects. My philosophy is to simplify the image down to the most basic of elements and avoid anything which might subtract from the image or dilute its impact.

To that end, I've been utilizing a second bit of software that you might be familiar with. Adobe Lightroom.  When I shoot in my home studio space, I connect my camera directly to my computer and open Lightroom. Using Lightroom (LR) as my capture, storage and manipulation tool has sped up my workflow immensely. 

The image above and indeed a few of the others I have been working on over the past week have all been created this way.  Shoot into LR, add a filter using the LR library of filters, then finish making adjustments in Adobe Photoshop.

I then make a copy, reduce the size and resolution, post the image to my website and other galleries. The original is a 16 bit raw file that is saved both in a cloud based storage and on disk.  I could save it in a third place, but considering that this is personal, not for a client, I don't feel that amount of redundancy is necessary.

Here's a quick tip for faster workflow in a studio environment.... if at all possible use a tethering cable to connect your camera to your computer and use LR or another dedicated piece of software to capture, preview and manipulate images. Doing this sort of work in this fashion is a major time saver.

Don't have LR or Nikon' tethering software?  Try out Sofortbild for Nikon/Mac and any of the other well known tethering tools. Some are free or low cost, while others with more features will cost a few dollars more. Either way, a good investment.

The image above is of my grandfather's shoes. I shot them on a blue fabric, using one flash on either side. On camera left is a Nikon flash popping through a 24x24" softbox. On camera right is a Vivitar 285 flash bouncing off a large white card. At the bottom of the frame is a tiny white reflector. That's it.

The camera is on a tripod. The lens is a 28-70 Nikkor AF 3.5 lens. I trip the shutter using either the button in LR or using a timer. I never touch the camera at time of exposure if I can help it.

The image was shot at f 16 60 sec, iso 200, and run through one after market filter via LR.
Any questions? Please ask.