Big updates to Lightroom and Photoshop
Adobe has released their October 2022 updates for Adobe Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Camera RAW and Photoshop. The update includes the usual round of camera profile updates, usability tweaks and performance improvements, but the biggest addition (for me anyway) is a new one-click content aware fill function. Simply click or select the thing you want to remove, and Lightroom/Photoshop will automatically replace it with data from the surrounding area. This should make the process of removing small debris, spots and entire objects faster. I'm sure the results will still be a little hit and miss, but it sounds like it could be a big timesaving feature. Looking forward to testing it out.
The masking tools in Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Camera RAW have also been updated and expanded to include more sophisticated auto-masking options for people, objects and backgrounds. Most interestingly, people masks can automatically select the entire person, or one or more specific areas of their head. Looks like a really powerful tool for portrait photographers.
Click below to see everything else added in these updates.
What's new in Photoshop (October 2022)
What's new in Lightroom (October 2022)
(Ironically, I was producing a video and writing an article about "the future of Lightroom" containing interesting information from a recent user survey conducted by Lightroom's development team, plus some predictions for the future, and this update...well, instantly made that content outdated. Oh well, guess it's back to the drawing board!)
New daylight LED lights from iFootage
In case you missed it, I recently published an extensive written review and video about a new line of Anglerfish COB LED lights from iFootage. I got super nerdy with these, for iFootage has made bold claims about their color accuracy, and was curious to know if their lights were any better than the daylight LED studio light I've been using the past couple of years. To test their claims, I used a Sekonic C-800 spectrometer, and the results were very interesting.
Check out my written review and video to see how well the Anglerfish lights performed, and whether they're worth buying for illuminating your own photos and videos.
Coming soon: new landscape videos from Utah
Another trip to the American west to photograph one of my favorite states. I've been to southern Utah (and northern Arizona just across the border) numerous times, and never seem to run out of incredible landscapes to photograph. Slot canyons, open vistas, arches, wild rock formations, it never gets old. Planning to revisit a couple of areas I've been to previously, plus a number of new places I've yet to photograph.
My last trip to the area was back in late 2021 when I photographed the beautiful Glen Canyon area near Lake Powell. Featuring huge yellow and orange boulders strewn across an ashy landscape, the area often feels like walking on the moon, or some surreal distant planet. The weather and and light wasn't always on my side, but it was well worth the effort. Check out the video from that experience below.
Favorite things this week
• I have no idea why, nor can I see the resemblance (well, maybe a little), but a bunch of people have been commenting on my YouTube videos that I look like Matt Smith/ Daemon Targaryen (with black rimmed glasses and without his flowing white wig). Perhaps I should rethink my Halloween costume. 🎃
• Why y'all is the most inclusive pronoun. I've been telling people for years how simple and utilitarian y'all is, and now it seems to be catching on for its inclusiveness and gender neutrality. I've never had a southern accent, despite being born and raised in "the south" (the southeastern-corner of the United States, for my international readers), but y'all will always be with me.
• I'm probably late to the party linking to this, but until now I wasn't aware of the Content Authenticity Initiative, a non-profit initiative initially founded by Adobe to verify the authenticity of an image using hard-coded metadata. Once adopted by more camera manufacturers, it could help prove that an image captured in (for example) Death Valley, California was actually created there and not mistaken for AI or photorealistic digital art.
• Dehancer has released an iOS version of their film emulation software. I reviewed both their DaVinci plugin for video and photo plugin, and have achieved great results with both. I don't use Dehancer for everything, but rather select images and videos that benefit from analogue film look. I haven't tried the iOS app yet (my iPhone X just misses the compatibility cut-off), but if you're looking for accurate film emulations for your mobile photography, it's worth checking out.
👋 Thanks for reading! Find me elsewhere on Glass / Vero / Instagram / YouTube.
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