Last Wednesday I got to talk to Erica May of Erica May Photography. This was a different e-learning session for me to host because Erica is not a brand spanking new photographer, which is the type of photographer I’m used to talking with in my e-learning sessions. You can visit her website by clicking here, follow her on Twitter here, and fan her on Facebook here. I’m super jealous that she has the beautiful D700! I totally can’t wait to have one someday! Erica primarily does family photography but will be doing some wedding photography in the near future and had some good questions to ask. I’ve posted a couple of questions from our e-learning session below. Enjoy!
1) Do you use Lightroom or Photoshop?
I use both. For bulk editing I use Lightroom because I can apply my presets to all of the photos. Then I select my favorites and do some further editing in Photoshop and post those to my blog.
2) I’m new to using Lightroom. How do you create a preset?
To create a Lightroom preset, edit the photo the way you want it to look. I suggest NOT playing with the brightness or exposure because that will vary from shot to shot. You want to apply the preset first then adjust the exposure. To create a preset in Lightroom, once you’ve edited the photo to the effect you’re trying to achieve, go to “Develop” and then “New Preset.” A new window will appear. I suggest creating a folder for all of the presets your create. For example I have one labeled “Jen’s Presets” and another labeled “Jen’s Mix.” Once you’ve created the new folder, name your preset, choose your folder from the drop down menu and save. A helpful hint for those who don’t know, to apply the same effect to multiple photos, select the photo you already have the preset applied to then hold the shift key and select the last photo you want to apply the preset to and under the “develop” mode, select “sync” and press ok.
3) What is your lighting set up for receptions?
I use one of my backdrop stands and attach a flash to it and use Pocket Wizards to trigger them. I also use another flash for my camera to get more even directional lighting. Because equipment is really expensive and I don’t believe in going into debt for more equipment when you have what you need to start with I rent extra flashes for the events. Until I have the extra money to spend on really expensive equipment I’ll continue to rent.
Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer
Leave a Reply