Lightroom 4 Beta

Christmas is coming early this year for Lightroom users. LR 4 is photo management and editing software's latest version and public beta can be downloaded from Adobe Labs. Final release estimated to be released during summer. Update: it was released during March. First impression is that this does not feel as big jump as from versions 1 to 2 and 2 to 3. Development module has been updated but the RAW conversion quality looks about the same than before. With new map module photos can be dragged to the map and you can save favorite locations. It feels as easy and fast to use like in Flickr map. Location tagged photos will keep the coordinates when you export them from Lightroom (and there is option to drop the location info when exporting). Nice!

Then there are new things like soft proofing, moire removal, adjustment brush with local white balance adjustments, more controls for video and small tweaks all over the software. Beta feels pretty stable but I noticed some bugs that didn't allow me to adjust video file. And this is anyways must have update as traditionally the RAW support for new cameras is only updated to the latest versions of Lightroom & Photoshop. 

Get the public LR4 beta from Adobe Labs (available until product expires, March 31)

Roosa

First studio photos from this year.

Testing parabolic umbrellas

Tested the light distribution from 5 different parabolic umbrellas with Jamo & Janne.

Profoto Umbrella XL - silver 65"
Paul Buff PLM - extreme silver 86"
Paul Buff PLM - extreme silver 64"
Flashpoint - silver 86"
Flashpoint - silver 64"
White reflective umbrella about 33" (reference to just see the difference)

C-stand

Century stand. By their legs design, sandbags are easier to use and allows you to place stands closer to each other. They are also very heavy, which is good for stability but for not portability.

Stand with wheels would be better for studio, but not for location. By some setup photos, I have seen people using these even in water. Should be durable stands, let's see..

Grid as gobo

Yet another use for softbox grids. Create interesting shapes to the background by using grid as gobo.