Category Archives: Lightroom

Adobe’s masterpiece for processing and cataloging

Tethering the Leica SL2-S to Lightroom Classic

Leica, Lightroom

Easy, but ….

Tethering means connecting your camera to a computer running Lightroom Classic. When the picture is taken the image pops up in LRc for editing, emailing, etc.

BUT, while a Nikon D800, say, will tether nicely with version 6 of old (non-subscription) Lightroom running on older Intel CPU Macs, the Leica SL2-S firmware dictates that the Mac must be running an Apple Silicon CPU (M1, M2, M4, etc.) and the Lightroom version must be 15.0 or later. Don’t bother trying with the pre-subscription versions. I have. No go. Also make sure you have the latest firmware installed in the SL2-S. These steps ensure that you need no external software kludges for everything to work. I use a 15 foot cable and have had no issues.

Connect the camera to the Mac using a USB-C to USB-C cable. Any cheap cable will do. Don’t fall for the costly orange ones at 6x the price.


USB-C connection on the Leica SL2-S.

Open Lightroom, and go to File->Tethered Capture->Start Tethered Capture, thus:


Starting tethered capture.

Hit Return and you are ready to start:


Tethered capture session started.

I use an inexpensive Mac Mini M1 bought used for half the price of the latest version with just 8gB of memory, and it works very well. RAW images pop up in LRc in 2 seconds allowing your client to view results and choose the preferred snap in real time. That Mac Mini is networked with the M4 Mini in my office, so after concluding a session, I export the LRc catalog across the network to the M4 for further processing, after import to the regular LRc catalog.

Note: The LRc license permits installation of the application on two computers. I have no issues running both simultaneously.

Comrade Yezov and Lightroom AI Remove

Lightroom, Photographs, Software

Easier today.

When Comrade Stalin was busy whacking anything that moved, one of his victims was Nikolai Yezov, head of the NKVD secret police, which became the KGB, which became the FSB, with will become something else under the next Soviet psychopath/dictator.

One unfortunate unintended consequence of Comrade Yezov’s whacking – he headed the NKVD 1936-38 and got his in 1940 after falling out with Uncle Joe – was that all those danged encyclopedias proclaiming the might of the People’s State had to be rewritten, the pictures therein edited. And Stalin’s lads did a fabulous job before the days of Photoshop and digital technologies. Here’s the famous ‘canal’ picture of Stalin with Yezov, still in favor and looking Hollywood evil, walking by a canal. Then, once Comrade Y met his end at the barrel of a Belgian Nagant revolver, (designed for silence, so those in the cell next door remained unsuspecting), it was time for some serious retouching. Here’s the Before and After, courtesy of hundreds of man hours of some poor schlub in the basement of the Lubyanka Gaol. Doubtless he had an appointment with the aforesaid Nagant shortly after completing his work:


Yezov gone – original Soviet photographs.

Building on the astonishing capabilities of the AI Remove function in Lightroom Classic I decided to see what I could do to Comrade Y in LRc. After about thirty seconds of effort, no subsequent meeting with a bullet required, I came up with this. I have removed Yezov from the original Soviet image at left and it took …. all of 30 seconds:


The LRc version is at left.

Not only did it take a couple of weeks less than Comradeski Photoshopski devoted to the task, the result – check the water – is better. So, considering the ethics of the matter, the dictators of the world will revel in the capabilities of AI Remove whenever they have to rewrite the history books.

All in all, I rather prefer this version. Notice that AI has conferred a claw like right hand on the murderous Yezov, which seems entirely appropriate:


No Uncle Joe.

On a more practical note I decide to see what AI Remove could do to my snap of the wrapped ‘Christo building’ downtown, and here is the truly stunning result:




Click the image for a larger version.

I made some 11 passes with AI remove and the cars, the intrusive building at left and the street signs are all gone. I took it in small bites to let AI ‘learn’ the surroundings. Comrade Stalin would be proud.

AI object removal in Lightroom Classic

Lightroom, Photographs, Software

Effective and fast.

Lightroom Classic has added an AI powered object removal capability. It’s superior to Content Aware Fill in Photoshop or Affinity Photo 2. The latter two frequently get confused when an object is closely bounded by others, wrongly duplicating the bounding objects and generally doing a poor job. LRc is superior in this regard.

Here is where to find it in the Develop module:


The AI Remove panel in LRc.

I am busy documenting fall in my community but the lovely fall colors in the streets are frequently disrupted by the presence of parked cars. Case in point:


The scene as photographed.




After applying LRc’s AI object removal.
Click the image for a larger version.

In the enlarged version you can clearly see that the car peeking out between the tree trunks has been removed perfectly.

Impressive technology. LRc 15.4.1. You must have an internet connection for this technology to work.

Leica SL2-S, 20-200mm Sigma at f/5.4 and ISO 100.

Lightroom masking in v15

Lightroom, Photographs

Extraordinary.

I’m one of the crowd that detests Adobe’s subscription model for its many photography applications, having paid to own Lightroom many years ago only to find that Adobe made sure it refused to work on the Mac Mini M4, forcing me to ‘upgrade’ to the subscription version with its predatory pricing. So much for lifetime ownership.

However, giving credit where it’s due, the masking and highlight recovery capabilities of v15, the latest upgrade, are extraordinary. These are best illustrated by the image I took of Marion Campbell in 1977 in the Outer Hebrides island of Harris, off Scotland’s northwest coast.

Back in 2008 I wrote:

I have been trying to process this snap for thirty years. Every decade it gets better as processing technology improves. Oh! if only I had had a fill in flash with me. Anyway, I now have the burned out highlights largely recovered and some vestige of detail in that wonderful, craggy face.

And that effort was tortuous indeed, requiring much work in Photoshop.

Now, with Lightroom v15, the process has become an order of magnitude easier. A while back I had re-‘scanned’ my early Tri X film images using the Nikon D800 and a Micro Nikkor lens. Definition is as good as you will ever get from a film scan, and far faster than using a flat bed scanner with its mediocre results.

Still, the ‘scanned’ image does not look great. After importing the image into LR and straightening things up, with some added tweaks on the sliders I had a half decent image but one which still has horribly burned out highlights from the window behind Ms. Campbell’s head:



The unprocessed film scan from the D800.

Adobe claims that v15 of Lightroom uses AI – doesn’t everyone claim AI as the magic sauce today? – in helping with masking, so I had a go using the dropdown box which gives several masking options:



Masking options.

I chose ”Select Subject’ and LR did a great job of doing just that, allowing me to add contrast and vibrance to the face. Next I added another mask, this time choosing ‘Select Background’, which LR accurately did, and had at it with the Highlights slider, for a truly exceptional result. A third mask using the ‘Brush’ this time allowed me to paint in her blown out hair with another tweak on the Highlights slider and here is the result which took less time to do than to write about:



The final result.

So finally, 48 years later, I have the displayed image which, until now, has resided in my mind’s eye.

Why, I’m almost feeling good about that Adobe subscription ….

Adobe +50%

Lightroom

Yes, a 50% price rise!

The crooks at Adobe are at it again.



50% price hike.

The rest of the letter goes on in tedious detail about how Adobe is the greatest public benefactor since Social Security and generally claiming sainthood. It’s so puke worthy I am not publishing it here.

When I was using my Mac Pro I had ‘lifetime’ ownership Lightroom for a single purchase. When security enhancements – which Apple refused to apply to that fabulous machine (shock news!) – ceased to be available I had no option but to upgrade to a modern Mac Mini M4. Naturally, Adobe saw to it that my Lightroom ‘owned’ application ceased working at the same time, forcing me to sign up to their $9.99 monthly subscription.

I passed on Photoshop, buying a lifetime ownership of Affinity – and that looks like it’s about to adopt a subscription model soon as well. Affinity does most things Photoshop can, though there’s a bit of a learning curve involved.

I write ‘forcing me’ as I have yet to find an application which competently combines LR’s excellent processing and cataloging features, but now I will get serious about doing some research of alternatives.

Meanwhile I have signed up for one year with the crooks at Adobe at the existing $10 monthly rate, and earnestly hope this is the last time I ever pay them: