• Day One was “Overview” with a quick rundown from image capture to print.
• Day Two naming and organizing your images.
• Day Three is a great look at DNG versus the RAW format.
• Day four is editing.

If you take a lot of images and/or don’t have a great deal of time to process then then a good workflow is essential. My greatest weakness is not doing a better first cut once I upload new images. Because of this I spend to much time in later steps continuing to plow through the images that are not worth keeping. In my experience after awhile you will recognize a good or great images right away and those are the ones to spend your time on. My two best time savers have been getting a fast card reader (Kingston FCR-HS215/1) and uploading all of the images to their directories and letting Lightroom generate the thumbnails overnight. This way the next day I can sort through the images with a fresh set of eyes and don’t have to wait for the thumbnails to generate. During Football season I generally sort through ~4,000 images and narrow that down to 500 to post to my web gallery. For me a good efficient Workflow is key.

Adobe has released a beta version of their new web based version of Photoshop! This is a slimmed down version of Photoshop but still very powerful and useful. You have to sign up for your free account that includes 2 GB of online storage. The interface for uploading your files is quite simple to navigate and use. Once the images are uploaded rotating and adding captions to them in the gallery viewer is quick and easy. The editing of a full sized image (10 MP JPEG) was slow for me. I realize this is a beta but still I was a little let down by the extremely slow response to edit a single image. Once you have done your editing you can share them with other users, email them, or use them in your Photobucket or Face Book gallery. I recommend you check it out and reserve your custom URL today.

Adorama Imaging Resource Center (AIRC) editor Mason Resnick is posting a new photo tip everyday until July 4th 2008 on their website. This is his second such article of this type. From September through December Mason posted his first 100 in 100 and no is on to part II. Every five days he tackles a new subject for five days with a new tip each day. So far he has done shooting in low light, sports/action photography, digital camera scene modes, shoot to sell – successful eBay photography, and make ultimate-quality digital prints. The page is located here and check out last years list here.

Tired of the same old gallery templates provided in Lightroom? There are a number of places on the web that have free downloads to change things up a bit. “Lightroom Galleries” not only has some neat gallery add-ons that you can download for free but tutorials, news, and a user forum as well. The latest addition is TTG Panic Gallery from the Turning Gate website. If you like their galleries you are encourage to donate.

Nikon announced their new entry D60 in advance of the PMA 2008 show. The DLSR offers a resolution of 10 megapixels, 3 FPS, Nikon’s exclusive EXPEED image processing concept, and a VR-NIKKOR lens in the standard kit. This appears to be an excellent to the Nikon line up and as is now the trend several key technologies are being pushed into the consumer cameras. By pushing the VR (Vibration Reduction) image stabilization technology in to the kit lens for this camera Nikon is upping the ante for entry level DSLRs. Nikon D60 product page.

Canon announced their newest upgrade to the Rebel line with the improved XSi. The new features and upgrades for this camera are a 12.2 MP sensor, 3.5 FPS, 3.0” LCD, 9-point AF, DIGIC III image processor, and Live View. The two new feature additions to the camera that surprised me are the Live View and the DIGIC III processor. Both of these are great features I was just surprised to see them show up in the entry level camera before the prosumer version. My guess is the we will see a updated 40D soon that will have these features and more. One of things that I will be curious to see is the picture quality at higher ISO ratings. I am not sure how closely this is tied to the DIGIC III image processor but if it is anything close to the quality of the 1D MK III then this new camera will be one to beat at this price point. Canon’s XSi Product Page

For along time now the Canon 200mm 1.8 lenses has been one of the most sought after lenses of Canon photographers. The image quality is heralded as one of if not the best in the canon line up. Some might speculate this is because the lens was discontinued in 2004 and therefore everyone wanted what they could not easily have. Canon recently introduce its replacement in the form of a newly designed 200mm 2.0 lens now with image stabilization. The new version is available for $5,999.00 which will continue to likely drive the price of the old version us which can typically be found for around $3,500 to $4,200 on the web and eBay. This lens has found a great niche among photographers that do portrait work for its very shallow depth of field and for indoor sporting events where flash is not practical or often not even allowed. Canon’s product page.

When the Adobe Lightroom Beta came out I was on of the many that downloaded it and played around with it but honestly I was no blown away, at first. As I played around with it more and more and discovered some of the new tweaks and features. Soon I started really looking at it and how it could improve my workflow I got excited. I eventually purchased the Scott Kelby Lightroom book and then I started seeing the improvements in my ability to import files, tag them, and catalog them. I like the fact that Lightroom treats all files (RAW and JPEG) as if they were negatives and does not alter them. I do sport photography and a typical day is shooting close to 4,000 JPEG photos and then having to short them and select the 10% to 15% that I will process and post for purchase. Lightroom has really reduced the amount of time required for my end to end workflow.

Click to see at Amazon.com

The Canon EOS 1D Mark III is definitely a step up from the EOS 10D and EOS 20D that I have previously shot with. I shoot a lot of sports so the blinding fast 10 FPS is a must and a noticeable upgrade from the 20D’s 5 FPS. I was an early adopter and suffered from the early focus problems when I shot outdoors in the sun. The camera has since been fixed and shots as I would expect. The autofocus is very fast and was the upgrade I was looking for as well. The dual memory card slots are very convenient and prevent running out of storage space and having to switch at the worst times. The brighter viewfinder is also a welcome sight too. All of that being said I personally think the best upgrade or improvement is the low noise at the high ISO ratings. I find the 800 ISO shot compare well with the 400 ISO shots from the 20D. The 1600 ISO is also very usable and produces great snapshot sized prints with little or no grain. I have nothing bad to say about this camera. Link to Canons 1D Mark III product page