Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I shoot sports photography for local Parks & Rec baseball teams. My grandson plays on one of the teams and I want to give priority to processing his images first. I can’t determine if it is better to store his images in a separate folder when shooting the event, or to flag his images in Lightroom Classic after import so they can be processed first.

Tim’s Quick Answer: In this type of situation, it is probably faster and easier to flag the photos after capture rather than trying to do so during the event. In Lightroom Classic one great option is the Painter for applying metadata quickly to photos.

More Detail: Depending on your camera, it may be possible to flag photos in some way during the process of capturing images. For example, many cameras enable you to assign star ratings to photos as part of the process of reviewing the photos on the camera’s LCD display, and you could mark the applicable photos with a one-star rating to help identify them, for example. However, this would likely be a challenging workflow in the context of capturing a relatively large number of photos in a relatively short period of time.

I therefore recommend flagging the photos after the capture as a more efficient approach. In Lightroom Classic I think the Painter tool is a great way to approach this.

To get started I would import all photos from the game into the same folder. You can then browse all those photos in the grid view display. On the toolbar below the image preview area, you can click the Painter tool, which has an icon showing a can of spray paint. To the right of where the Painter tool icon appeared (which will now be a circle where you can drop the Painter tool when you’re done) you can select a metadata option from the popup. For example, you could choose “Label” from the popup to use a color label to flag the photos, selecting the desired color label from the set of options to the right of the popup.

Once you’ve configured the Painter for the metadata you want to use to flag the photos, you can click on thumbnails to mark them with the metadata attribute. In addition to being able to click on a single photo to mark it, you can click-and-drag across multiple thumbnails to mark a series of images. This can make it very efficient to mark multiple photos as you scroll through the thumbnails.

When you’re finished with the Painter tool you can click the Done button on the right side of the toolbar below the image preview area. You can then set a filter based on the metadata field you used to mark the photo, so you can view only the images you want to prioritize for editing.

Today’s Question: I am doing as I saw you suggested [putting the catalog on an external hard drive] to be able to use Lightroom Classic on both my Mac and PC. I formatted my drives in exFAT and they are read fine by both computers. My problem is that for some reason Lightroom Classic is not able to find most of my photos. If I locate them and restart, they are found, but the next time I use Lightroom they are again lost. What do you think I am doing wrong?

Tim’s Quick Answer: This issue is caused by the fact that Windows and Macintosh use a different approach to managing the path to folders and photos. In this scenario I recommend using a top-level folder for photo storage so you only need to reconnect that single folder when you switch platforms.

More Detail: The Lightroom Classic catalog is cross-compatible with both Windows and Macintosh, meaning you can open the same catalog on computers running either Windows or Macintosh (though you can still only open the catalog on one computer at a time).

The first step is to make sure the external hard drive you’ll use to store the catalog is formatted with a file system that is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh. For example, you can format the drive with the exFAT file system, but keep in mind that formatting a drive will completely erase the contents, so you’ll want to perform this step before you have put any data on the drive.

I then recommend creating a top-level folder on the drive for storing your photos. For example, you could create a “My Photos” folder on the external drive, and then create subfolders that will contain your photos within that top-level folder. Photos contained within that top-level folder can then be fully managed within your workflow using Lightroom Classic.

When you switch platforms, all folders and photos will appear missing initially. That’s because Windows is using a drive letter to track the hard drive, and Macintosh is using a volume label. After switching platforms and opening the catalog, you can then right-click on your top-level folder in the Folders list on the left panel in the Library module and choose “Find Missing Folder” from the popup menu. Navigate to that folder on the external hard drive and click the Choose button, and all folders and photos will be reconnected, so they are no longer missing.

I also recommend assigning a specific drive letter to the external hard drive on Windows using the Disk Management feature, so that when the drive is connected it will always be assigned the same drive letter.

You will need to use the “Find Missing Folder” feature each time you open the catalog on a different operating system, assuming you had reconnected the folders and photos the previous time you were using the catalog on a different operating system. But it is possible to work with the same Lightroom Classic catalog on both Windows and Macintosh, as long as you don’t mind reconnecting the top-level folder each time.

Today’s Question: I’m considering trading in one of my Nikon mirrorless cameras (Z6II) and I know the first thing they’ll ask me about is what the shutter count is. With my Nikon DSLR cameras, I was able to take a photo and look at the EXIF data to find the shutter count information. But I can’t find a Shutter Count field for my mirrorless camera. Do mirrorless cameras not have that field? How do you find the information?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Most mirrorless (and DSLR) cameras do track the number of shutter actuations, but that information isn’t always displayed in typical photo-management software. However, there are other resources that can help you get this information.

More Detail: First off, since today’s question related to shutter actuations on a mirrorless camera, I wanted to point out that this topic is referring only to actuations of the mechanical shutter. If you use the electronic shutter rather than the mechanical shutter, then you obviously aren’t adding wear to the mechanical shutter. Most cameras are rated for the shutter to last for about 100,000 to 400,000 actuations. That’s not to say the shutter will fail right as you reach that number, but it provides a sense of the degree to which you should be concerned about a possible failure.

With many cameras you can use software provided by your camera manufacturer to find out how many times the shutter has been actuated. For example, the EOS Utility software from Canon enables you to check this information for Canon cameras. With other cameras also include an option to check the camera directly on the menu system for the camera to determine the total number of shutter actuations.

If your camera model doesn’t provide an easy way to determine the number of shutter actuations, in many cases you can use the Camera Shutter Count website to determine this information. Simply upload an original capture from your camera (not an edited image) to the website, and the number of shutter actuations will be shown. Note that small text on the website lists the camera models that are supported.

You can find the Camera Shutter Count website here:

https://www.camerashuttercount.com

Today’s Question: When I have been working on a number of photos in Lightroom Classic and close the program, I often get a message that it has not finished updating Metadata. However, sometimes I see this message when I haven’t done much work on photos, and I think Lightroom should have easily completed the Metadata updates. What do you suggest?

Tim’s Quick Answer: This is an example of a situation where I recommend turning on the “Don’t show again” checkbox in the alert dialog, so you won’t have to see this unnecessary alert when quitting Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: When you turn on the “Automatically write changes into XMP” checkbox on the Metadata tab of the Catalog Settings dialog in Lightroom Classic, updates to standard metadata fields will be saved to the source image file in addition to being saved in the catalog. This won’t include all information included in the catalog, but it does provide a good way to back up standard metadata fields beyond the catalog.

If Lightroom Classic is still working on saving metadata to the source images when you quit, you’ll see a dialog alerting you to that fact. As noted in the dialog, however, if you choose to quit then Lightroom Classic will resume updating metadata to the files the next time you launch the software. So, there’s really no need to be concerned about this issue at all.

You can simply turn on the “Don’t show again” checkbox in the alert dialog so you won’t see the message in the future. Lightroom Classic will still continue updating metadata in the background, resuming the process if you quit before it was finished.

If at any time you want to make sure that metadata updates have been saved for some (or all) your photos, you can use the option to manually save metadata. Start by selecting the folder that contains the images you want to update. You can even choose the “All Photographs” collection in the Catalog section at the top of the left panel in the library module to browse all photos in your entire catalog.

Next, select all the photos you want to update, such as by choosing Edit > Select All from the menu. Then choose Metadata > Save Metadata to Files from the menu. At this point you’ll see a progress bar on the identity plate at the left end of the top panel, showing the progress of saving the metadata. That means you’ll have an indication of when the update has finished, so you can be confident that the selected photos had standard metadata values updated based on the updates already saved in the catalog.

Today’s Question: What could I lose if I did not keep a proprietary raw file?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Assuming you discard a proprietary raw capture only because an appropriate derivative image was created to take its place, the only risk would be losing camera-specific metadata proprietary to the camera manufacturer.

More Detail: Today’s question is a follow-up to an earlier question about converting proprietary raw captures to the Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) file format. In my answer to that previous question, I mentioned that one of the reasons I prefer to retain the original raw captures rather than convert to DNG is to ensure I retain all original capture data without the risk of losing some information.

For most photographers with most typical workflows, this is not really of any concern. If you’re not taking advantage of unique features of your camera that require proprietary metadata, then you aren’t at risk of losing that metadata by virtue of the information not being applicable to your workflow.

Put another way, if you were taking advantage of features that depended upon proprietary metadata, you would have a workflow that made it reasonably clear that was the case.

For example, one example of this sort of proprietary metadata that could be lost if you convert a raw capture to DNG is automatic image cleanup information, which is a feature of some Canon cameras. To take advantage of this feature, not only do you need to enable it on the camera, but you need to use the software from the camera manufacturer to leverage the feature.

So, if you are using a workflow that revolves, for example, exclusively around Adobe software, then you obviously aren’t taking advantage of any features of your camera that require software from the manufacturer of your camera to take advantage of. If that’s the case, in my view there is no real risk in converting raw captures to the Adobe DNG format.

Having said that, I still personally prefer to retain the original proprietary raw captures from my camera, without converting them to Adobe DNG or any other file format, at least in terms of the original capture (as opposed to creating derivative copies of selected photos).

Today’s Question: I have quite a few images in Lightroom Classic that have develop adjustment icons (badges) on the grid, but the photos only have import and exports and no develop adjustments [in History]. Do you know why the development adjustment badge is being shown?

Tim’s Quick Answer: This scenario means that the images in question were either edited prior to being imported into Lightroom Classic or had a Develop preset applied during the process of importing them into Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: Badges in Lightroom Classic are small icons that appear on thumbnails for photos to indicate a particular status. For example, the Develop module badge is an icon showing a plus at the top-left corner and a minus at the bottom-right corner, indicating the image has been adjusted.

However, the Develop badge does not necessarily mean the image has actually been adjusted within the Develop module in Lightroom Classic. It is possible that the adjustments occurred either before or during the process of importing photos into the Lightroom Classic catalog.

For example, if you processed a raw capture in Adobe Camera Raw via Bridge or Photoshop, the adjustment settings would be preserved in an XMP sidecar file for that image. Those adjustments are exactly the same as those available in the Develop module in Lightroom Classic, and they are compatible. If you later import such a raw capture into Lightroom Classic, the image in Lightroom Classic would reflect the prior adjustments, and the image would have a Develop module badge, even though the history would not show any adjustments from the Develop module.

Similarly, you can use a Develop module preset to apply changes to the appearance of photos during the process of importing them into your catalog. This is done by selecting a preset from the Develop Settings popup in the Apply During Import section on the right panel in the Import dialog. In this case the adjustments reflected in the preset would apply to the image, the image will display the Develop module badge, but there won’t be any Develop adjustments shown in history.

Note, by the way, that the history can be cleared for an image in Lightroom Classic without removing or resetting the adjustments related to the history steps. This is done by clicking the “X” icon to the right of the History heading on the left panel in the Develop module. Clearing history in this way will not alter the image, so it will retain its current appearance. In addition, clearing the history will not remove the Develop badge from an image.

However, in this case the Import history state would also have been removed from history, which is why in the scenario addressed in today’s question it is obvious that the issue was that adjustments had been applied prior to or during import, not that the history had been cleared.

Today’s Question: I apply Noise Reduction, and then I use Sharpening to improve softness that was caused by Noise Reduction. Is it okay to do that?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can most certainly apply a small degree of additional sharpening to help compensate for a loss of sharpness caused by noise reduction. However, in many cases you’ll likely find that increasing the value for Texture and Clarity will provide a better result.

More Detail: By its nature, noise reduction reduces the sharpness of a photo, at least to some degree. That’s because noise reduction operates in large part by averaging neighboring pixel values to minimize the appearance of noise. This is the reason that noise reduction should be applied in moderation, especially when it comes to luminance noise (you can be a bit more aggressive in many cases when it comes to color noise).

Because noise reduction can reduce the sharpness of a photo, it is common to want to apply some additional sharpening after you have applied noise reduction. However, I find that in many cases a better result can be achieved by using the Texture and Clarity adjustments available in Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic, and the cloud-focused version of Lightroom.

Texture operates at a very small scale and is therefore the most similar to sharpening. It is best used for images where there is a lot of fine detail you want to maintain or enhance. Clarity operates at a larger scale, enhancing midtone contrast, which can provide a nice supplement to Texture when it comes to enhancing perceived sharpness in a photo.

Today’s question, by the way, was a follow-up to my recent presentation on “Noise Be Gone!”, as part of the “GreyLearning Live!” webinar series. You can view a recording of the full presentation on my “Tim Grey TV” channel on YouTube here:

https://youtube.com/live/2Ua36sO82wQ

Today’s Question: I have Adobe Bridge on my new computer, but it does not include Adobe Camera Raw and can only be used as a browser for viewing images. When I try to open in Camera Raw, the message that pops up says a subscription is needed to use it. Am I missing something?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While Adobe Bridge is available for free without the need for an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, using Camera Raw to process raw captures requires a subscription that includes Photoshop, such as the Creative Cloud Photography Plan.

More Detail: As I’ve mentioned previously, Adobe Bridge is available for free to anyone with an Adobe ID, with no requirement to pay for a Creative Cloud subscription. That means anyone can use Bridge to manage their photos and other creative assets, without having to pay for the software. You can get more info (and download Bridge for free) on the Adobe website here:

https://www.adobe.com/products/bridge.html

However, Camera Raw is effectively a feature of Photoshop, even though it is possible to access Camera Raw from within Bridge. In other words, if you don’t have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription that includes Photoshop, you don’t have access to Camera Raw.

So, with the free version of Bridge you can manage your photos but not open them in Camera Raw to process them. You would need a Creative Cloud subscription so you can install Photoshop and therefore have access to Camera Raw, either directly from within Bridge or by opening a raw capture in Photoshop.

Today’s Question: As I read articles about Lightroom, it appears that I need to learn to use Lightroom as Adobe seems to be on a path to replace Lightroom Classic with Lightroom. My question: what are your thoughts on how I should start to get up to speed on Lightroom so that I will be ready to make the switch?

Tim’s Quick Answer: First, I don’t think you need to worry about Lightroom Classic being discontinued in the immediate future. In the meantime, however, if you want to get more familiar with the newer cloud-focused version of Lightroom, I can offer a couple of suggestions.

More Detail: Every now and then there is a flurry of rumors suggesting the impending demise of Lightroom Classic. I’m sure Adobe would prefer to streamline their portfolio of software applications focused on organizing photos. After all, we have Lightroom Classic, Lightroom, Bridge, and the Photoshop Elements Organizer, all from Adobe and with considerable overlap among them.

However, I don’t imagine that Adobe wants to discontinue Lightroom Classic anytime soon, considering the large number of photographers currently using this software. Of course, I could also just be too optimistic, since I use Lightroom Classic to manage my library of almost 400,000 photos. But I really don’t think Lightroom Classic will be discontinued anytime soon.

That said, if you want to get more familiar with the cloud-focused version of Lightroom, I do have a couple of (admittedly biased!) suggestions.

First, if you haven’t already seen my webinar presentation on the subject of “Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, or Bridge?!”, I think it is worth watching. During the presentation I shared an overview of each of these applications, and suggestions for choosing the right one for you. You can view the full presentation on my “Tim Grey TV” channel on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwpneG4y0nQ

If you want to take a deeper dive into the cloud-focused version of Lightroom, including the relatively new ability to browse locally stored photos in addition to managing photos stored in the cloud, my “Mastering Adobe Lightroom” course provides comprehensive coverage. You can find the course on my GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/courses/mastering-adobe-lightroom-cloud-2024

Note, by the way, that I have recently published updated courses on Bridge, Lightroom Classic, and Lightroom. All these courses, and much more content, is included in my GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle, which you can learn more about here:

https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/greylearning-bundle?coupon=99ultimate