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I love things that provide variety and flexibility, like my necklaces from a certain jewelry company. I can wear them long by themselves, or layered together, or doubled for a shorter look. With a few tweaks, one necklace can look like three different necklaces. That is how I feel about the Toolkit that comes with the Film Bohemian and Film Pastels collections for Lightroom. The Toolkit is installed just as regular presets, and is accessed in the Presets panel on the left side of the Develop panel. Once you run a preset from Bohemian, Pastels, or another preset collection, you...

I’m going to tell you now, I’m not the type of photographer that subscribes to the school of fancy photography gear with all the bells and whistles.  I definitely believe the old line, the best camera is the one you have, and it rings true with my personal work….especially in summer. As much as I love photography and get a thrill from perfectly exposing a photo or manipulating the shutter speed to create movement in a scene, I am lazy.  Like, really freakin’ lazy, y’all.  And I’m forced to be active and move by my two small children for most...

Let me tell you a scary story.  About a month ago, I was held hostage.  By my father-in-law. In his garage.  With a 300-photograph album from the teenage years of his kids. With him explaining every. single. one. Now, you might be thinking, “OMGEEE! Ashley! I LOVE LOOKING THROUGH OLD PHOTOS!” Me too, but let me tell you about these.  You open the page and there are 6 photos in the spread.  In some of the pages, there would be 6 photos of my then teenage husband standing in front of a Christmas tree holding a t-shirt.  I’m pretty sure...

Ahhh…another post about the importance of self-portraits.  If you are reluctant to read this it probably means you aren’t in enough photos and I’m going to need you to listen up. It’s summer, you are loving life, getting a little more time with your kids, going on summer adventures, soaking up the sun, and documenting the heck out of all of the fun.  You are an important part of the story.  If you are anything like me, you might be the director of it all.  Packing bags, making lists, confirming reservations, double checking the sunscreen, prepping meals.  When I say...

Summer is here! Kids are out of school, calendars are filled with fun activities, and along with all that you have going on, your camera is probably going to get a lot of use in the next couple of months.  Isn’t this the most exhausting yet amazing time of year?! We are a bunch that thrives on adventure and experience as much of the outdoor world as we possibly can, but one thing that is SO important to me is that I live in these moments as much as I document them.  It’s so easy to get lost behind the...

Several years ago I sat in a conference room and listened to Joy Prouty speak about her photography journey.  It was a great talk and I was jotting down notes…then she showed a personal home video and I was mesmerized.  There were her children and their sweet little voices and chubby little fingers playing outside, set to this magical music on this huge screen before my eyes.  I had to do this…immediately.  I almost got up and left just so I could conquer this plan but I just sat and watched and got teary, imagining these were my kids and...

There’s a lot to be said about the natural beauty of backlighting. This technique can add a certain something to images that is striking and unique. The drama of backlit images can add an extra level of drama to depth to images that make the shot interesting and capture the attention of the viewer. So, how can you create the perfect conditions within your home or indoors space for capturing the perfect natural backlit photograph? Here are a few ideas to help you on your way backlit heaven: 1. Focus on your camera settings Aperture is king when it comes...

What Is Bokeh? Bokeh is the soft, creamy, out-of-focus blur in an image. Generally, bokeh is best seen in the background of a photograph. Want More Bokeh In Your Photographs? Creamy blur and even out-of-focus circles in the background of your images are generally seen as desirable—especially in portraits and macro shots. To get more bokeh in your photos, follow these simple tips. Aperture Focal Length Distance Choose an open aperture or low f-stop number between f/1.8 and f/5.6. The lower the f-stop number, the less depth of field there will be (or how much of your photo is in...

A very common mistake new Lightroom users make is to create multiple Lightroom catalogs. I've even helped users who have created a new catalog every time they imported, with one of them having over 200 catalogs! Yikes! Most Lightroom users only need to have one catalog. Even if you are a photographer, it's highly advised to keep just one catalog, and use collections to keep your personal and professional images separated. What if you already have made multiple catalogs? Don't worry, there is a fairly simple fix. All you do is "Import from Another Catalog," for each alternate catalog you...

It’s almost time to celebrate America’s birthday and for many photographers, the draw of shooting fireworks is hard to resist.  I don’t know about you, but some of my early attempts to capture fireworks resulted in a blurry mess of smoke!  Frustrated, I took to the Internet to figure out the secret of capturing plumes of spectacular color and light — without the smoke!  Believe it or not, it’s actually very simple and once you get the hang of it, you’ll be wowing your friends and neighbors with gorgeous photos! You’ll need: Camera Tripod — this is the magic ingredient...

Congratulations to our 2017 Spring Scholarship Winner! During the past 6 months, Pretty Presets for Lightroom collected essays written by college students from the United States and Canada.  We loved reading through these incredible submissions about Lightroom.  A huge thank you to everyone who submitted to this $500 scholarship.   This year, we're so excited to introduce our 1st bi-annual scholarship winner.  Join me in congratulating Brooke Powell on being our winner of the $500 scholarship.   We are so grateful for the incredible submissions for this first scholarship from Pretty Presets.  Thank you for taking the time to share your...

Written by Brooke Powell For those wondering if there are options other than Photoshop, yes there are!  Lightroom is an amazing tool and it has changed the lives of photographers.  No longer are photographers building a relationship with their computer screen, spending hours editing one picture at a time, or losing an image due to lack of organization. I am so relieved to have stumbled across Lightroom. This software has given me my life back. Lightroom is Simple. I say this not because I have mastered all the features of Lightroom but because it is easy for any photographer at...