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Google Map Lightroom Web Gallery

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:11:00 +0000 GMT

Untitled Document

Now that Lightroom 4 is here geocoding is suddenly centre stage and images don't feel properly filed unless they have a set of co-ordinates attached to them.� Whilst LR4 offers many features that are needed to handle geocoding and maps, it is noticeable that the web module does not offer the facility to export these pictures in a map format.

As part of the redesign of my site I decide that it might be nice to create a photo gallery driven entirely from a Google map and produced from Lightroom.

For those who just want the goodies

`To install the web gallery

Extract the downloaded zip file.
Copy the archive contents to one of the following destinations, depending upon your system. If you have not already done so, you will must create the Web Galleries folder manually.

Mac
Users/username/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/Web Galleries/
Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Adobe\Lightroom\Web Galleries\
Windows Vista/7
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom\Web Galleries\
In Windows XP, the “Application Data” directory is usually hidden. The same may apply to the AppData folder in Vista.
Open Adobe Lightroom and access the Web module. In the upper right, under “Engine”, you should seea new gallery called Shepherdpics Map.

For those who want to know how it works

To borrow some text from Joe Colson:

This information is intended for plug-in developers and those intrepid souls who want to understand what lies beneath the surface of a Lightroom gallery engine. It isn’t my intention to make this series of posts a definitive guide to Lightroom gallery engine design or anatomy. Instead, I’d recommend starting with the Lightroom SDK 2.0 Programmers Guide and Lightroom 2 SDK available from Adobe. The Adobe guide is a good starting point, but you can learn even more by dissecting an actual gallery engine, including those that are included in the SDK.

As per usual I am standing on the shoulders of giants here and in this case the whole thing is based on this article from Sitepoint and some code from Joe Colson's article on a geocoding plug-in.

The first problem to solve was how to generate an xml file of co-ordinates.� To do this I added the following code to the manifest.lrweb file.

AddGridPages {
filetype="xml",
template="markers.xml",
rows=1000,
columns=1
}

this uses the index page markers.xml to generate the xml doc


    
  
  
  <% =image.metadata.title%>
  content/bin/images/thumb/<%= image.exportFilename %>.jpg
  <% =image.metadata.description%>
  source/<%= image.exportFilename %>_large.html
  <% =lat%>
  <% =lon%>
   
  <%  end  %>

Which just builds up the xml file from the details of each image. The only tricky bit is converiting the coordinates to decimal degrees which is achieved by this bit of code

<% 
  local gpsData = image.metadata.GPS
  local lat
  local lon
if gpsData ~= "" then
  local iter = string.gmatch(image.metadata.GPS, "%d+")
  lat = iter() + (iter() * 60 + iter()) / 3600
  lon = iter() + (iter() * 60 + iter()) / 3600
  if string.find(gpsData, "S") then
  lat = -lat
  end
  if string.find(gpsData, "W") then
  lon = -lon
  end
%>

Then it was just a question of modifying the javascript to pickup the values from the generate xml file. Using JQuery this is easily achieved like this:

  var name = $(this).find('name').text();
var desc = $(this).find('desc').text();
var largePage = $(this).find('largePage').text();

The rest of the code is pretty standard stuff from the SDK.

I hope you found this of use and please leave a comment if you use the code anywhere, I love to know who reads this stuff

Mike Otley is photographer of the month for April

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 10:36:00 +0000 GMT

Our photographer this month is Bracknell based Mike Otley. Mikes real love is car photography and he produces some fantasticimages of them, his website is worth a visit.

Porsche Cayenne Biturbo

by Mike Otley

Previous Photographers of the Month

Think Tank Streetwalker Hard Drive Backpack

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:49:00 +0000 GMT

At the beginning of the year I was fortunate enough to spend nearly a month in New Zealand. It truly is a wonderful place for photography and I will at some point be posting some of the pictures on this blog.

Whilst planning the trip, it became obvious that I did not have a camera bag that would be suitable for taking as carry-on luggage. Being a fan of Think Tank bags I took a look at their range for something suitable. I looked at their Airport roller bags first (thanks go to Bob Johnson for letting me look through his vast Think Tank range). Whilst the rollers were beautifully made, like everything Think Tank do, they were not really ideal as fully loaded I would easily go over my carry on weight allowance and more importantly once I was in NZ I would need a rucksack or camera bag as well for use on the actual shoots.

After much looking round the web at various reviews I decided on the Think Tank Streetwalker Hard Drive Backpack :

Photo by ThinkTank Photo

A few points attracted me to the Streetwalker Hard Drive:

It's from Think Tank - their products just ooze quality.
Carry on luggage size
Laptop slot - to save hassle at Airport Security.

In use it proved an excellent bag, it's clean lines meant it fit exactly under the seat in-front on Singapore Airlines. Allowing me to access to all my kit through out the flight: for photos from the airplane windows, reading material or even the carefree 5 hours I spent keywording the 9500 images I took. The only photographic items I put in my suitcase were my tripod and my pro-speed belt, as removing that keeps the bag nice and square for storing in airplanes, etc

Rather than lug a laptop everywhere I just used a tiny netbook, which meant the laptop slot had room for magazines and other A4 documents that I wanted to keep flat. This slot makes the bag worth buying on it's own with dead easy access to your laptop or documents in seconds. Security scans in airports ask for laptops to be scanned seperatly and the access in this bag made it a doddle.


Packed for travelling between hotels in New Zealand The first aid kit came out for flying as it upsets the security guards The gap bottom left contained the Canon G9 that took the photo.

Travelling between hotels I could fill it with all my camera and computer gear, without worrying about damaging them and being able to grab my camera easily as we reached another "WOW" bit of scenery. The distances in NZ are really short but it took ages to get anywhere as I kept having to stop and snap the scenery.


Big clear pockets in the lid make finding things really easy.

For Morning or evening Landscape sessions I could strip out the bag and just leave in my camera, lenses and filters. Then once the tripos straps are attached I could fix the tripod to the back of the bag and I had a great landscape photographers rucksack. For daytime expeditions I would leave the tripod behind, bung a rain jacket in one of the empty slots and a couple of bottles of water in the expanding side pockets and it was comfortable for very long walks.

For more dynamic trips I used my pro-speed belt and the Think tank modular system to allow me to have access to lenses as quick as possible.

A fair bit of gear for one bag

So what did I put in it:

Laptop Slot

Asus Netbook
Amazon Kindle
2 Magazines
Travel Documentation

Main Compartment

Canon 5DmkII
Canon G9
Canon EF 24-105 f/4 L Lens
Canon EF 17-40 f/4 L Lens in Think Tank Modular Pouch
Canon EF 300mm f/4 L Prime Lens in Think Tank Modular Pouch
Canon 1.4x extender
LEE Filter Holder
2 x LEE filter rings
3 x LEE Soft Grads
3 x LEE Hard Grads
LEE Big Stopper
8 SD Cards
2 Cardreaders
Portable harddrive
2 x Spare Batteries
2 x Battery Chargers
3 x Cleaning Cloths
2 x Power converters
Netbook power supply
Power lead for battery chargers
Waterproof cover

Lid Pockets

3 x iPhone power cables
Kindle power cable
2 x remote releases
HDD Cable
Tripod straps

Front tripod Pocket

Trek Towel for those damp days

Side Pockets

Nothing!

I kept the side pockets clear so that I could use them for water bottles on hikes,etc. Due to the way I constantly changed the packing of the bag to meet the changing demands of the trip I left the front outside organiser pockets empty to make it easier to change things around and so I could put my wallet and keys in there on walks.

I have been trying to think of anything I would change about this bag and I really can't.

David Langan is photographer of the month for March

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:23:00 +0000 GMT

David Langan is a landscape photographer based in Aberdeen. His images reveal his overriding passion for the pure unsullied landscape, a landscape devoid of the apparent hand of man. His website is well worth a visit.

Highland Harmony

by David Langan

Previous Photographers of the Month

Coltrane Koh is photographer of the month for February

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:14:00 +0000 GMT

Our photographer for February is Coltrane Koh. His website shows a versatility for a huge range of subjects, am sure there is something for everyone at http://www.coleshot.co.uk/

The Blissed Days Of Snow

by Coltrane Koh

Previous Photographers of the Month

Lightroom Configuration Backup

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:23:00 +0000 GMT

The other day I hadn't noticed that the power lead had dropped out of my laptop when the battery was already virtually empty. It had so little power left so that instead of hibernating, it just died on me. In the middle of a Lightroom session.

The problem came that when I restarted Lightroom was not in a happy state. It had returned to default and had forgotten all my presets, plugins and export settings. Luckily I could drag them back from a backup but it was a bit of a pain. So I was interested to find this Lightroom configuration backup plug-in, which creates a zip file of all your settings and can be setup to do it automatically.

Another feature of it is the ability to zip up your catalogue backups, which if you combined it with my tip on how to automatically delete old backups could really save some disk space.

Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2011

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:36:00 +0000 GMT

Since knowing I was shortlisted in the Outdoor Photographer of the Year Competition a few people have enquired how I got on. Well it appears that I will have to settle for shortlisting only this year.

The strange thing about the system is they tell you that "one or more" of the images you entered has been shortlisted which means that between 4 and 12 of my shots were shortlisted. Here they are in all their glory - I'll let you decide which ones were shortlisted as your guess is as good as mine:

Category - At The Waters Edge

Isle in the Storm

Leigh Creek

Snaking Ashore

Category - British Landscapes

Curbar Gap

Start Point Light

Ashness Landing

Category - Dawn To Dusk

Gull Rock Blues

Coniston Sunset

Morning Mist

Category - On the Streets

Lunchtime

Looking at Legs

River Pheonix

Peter Simonides is photographer of the month for January

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:05:00 +0000 GMT

I have been recently really enjoying the abstract photographic work of Peter Simonides. Really unusual and interesting wor that is well worth a visit to his website.

Paper

by Peter Simonides

Previous Photographers of the Month

Lighten the land, don't darken the sky

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:02:00 +0000 GMT

A while back I was teaching someone how to use ND grads and I was explaining how putting the dark area of the grad over the sky has the effect of making the land lighter. They looked at me as though I had gone mad!

Eventually they began to understand that you are not really darkening the sky, you are in staid lightening the land/ The key is to think that you are using the graduated filter to reduce the exposure range into something the camera can cope with so that you don't end up with blocked shadows or blown out highlights.

I said I would create an example for them to show the effect of using a graduated filter. The below images show the rather subtle effect of a 0.6nd grad in use. Moving your mouse over the below should show the effect of inserting the filter:

Mouse over to see before and after

Hopefully you can see that we have slightly darkened the top left corner of the image and brightened the right horizon area by using the graduated filter at a jaunty angle like this.

ND Grad Position

The angle of the grad filter was to match up with the way the early sunrise was lighting the land from one side. Although it is usual to use grads in a more upright position it is important to pay attention to balancing the position as well as the intensity of the light.

Here are the before and after images in case the mouse over doesn't work for you. Try opening them in seperate tabs of your web browser & switching between them.

Before - No ND Grad

After - With ND Grad

Can I call you a cab sir ?

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:00:00 +0000 GMT

The lovely people at http://www.heathrowairportcarsuk.com/ are now using my image of Tower Bridge as the header image of their website:

The Original image of tower bridge can be found here.

Tower Bridge

Gary Horner is photographer of the month for December

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:49:00 +0000 GMT

Our photographer for December is Gary Horner and his EastCoastImages.co.uk website. Gary's work overs a wide range of subjects and shows a great eye for the landscape of his native East Anglia and is well worth a visit.

Herringfleet Mill

by Gary Horner

Previous Photographers of the Month

Black and White Photographer of the Year 2011 Comp

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 08:00:00 +0000 GMT

Quite a few people who knew that I had 3 pictures that were shortlisted for "Black and White Photographer of the Year" have asked how I got on in the competition.

Well I didn't win, you can see the winners here. Congratulations to Binh Trinh and the other winners.

I was pleased however to get one shot recognized in the "Shots we liked but didn't quite make it" section featured in this months magazine and was chosen to go on the welcome page of the magazine.

I'm taking that as pretty much a second place in one of the categories - which is nice. I am also really proud that the shot in question is of my beloved Smudge, a dog with more personality than a little dog should have, who unfortunately passed away exactly a year ago.

Below are the three shots that were shortlisted:

Gormley Towers

Smudge

Lunchtime

A hard case for the LEE Big Stopper

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:40:00 +0000 GMT

The LEE Big Stopper is fast becoming one of the most popular filters in photography today. The ability to setup the shot with other filters then slide in the 10 stopper at the last moment makes it much easier to use than the screw in filters.

In fact the only real problem I have found with the Big Stopper is the absence of a hard case for it. The soft pouch they come in is great for stopping it getting scratched but if you are as clumsy as me they offer little protection against snapping the thing. The filter is actually as brittle as cinder toffee, so if you are not careful your �100 filter will end up looking like mine:

Luckily when I explained my predicament to the good people at LEE helped me out with a replacement filter really quick. Fantastic customer service from LEE, I'm never buying filters from anyone else.

So - how to keep my new filter from the same fate? It was time to investigate a hard case option. LEE don't make a hard case and a search on the web drew a blank too. It was time to make my own.

If you are old enough you may remember that before downloads, music used to come on a physical disc called a CD. I happen to have a fair few of these archaic things laying around the house and they are almost exactly the right size to be a Big Stopper case.

Conversion from ancient recording technology to modern filter storage is simple:

Take out that old Steps CD and chuck it in the bin
Pull out the bit the CD was laying in throw it away.
Tape the LEE exposure table to the inside of the case so you can find it easily
Cut two pieces of lens cloth to fit the inside of the case and fix them using double sided tape.
Cut a thin layer of packing foam the to fit the inside of the case.
Cut a filter sized hole in the foam and fix it into the the case with double sided tape
And your done.

Please let me know if you decide to make a similar case & if you find a better way of doing it.

Nigel Wilkins is photographer of the month for November

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 08:00:00 +0000 GMT

Our photographer for November is Nigel Wilkins. Nigels website has some stunning views of The English Lake District and is worth a visit.

Striding Edge

by Nigel Wilkins

Previous Photographers of the Month

Where are we going

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:31:00 +0000 GMT

The other week I was chatting to a good friend of mine and he started ranting about the photography he sees on many of the photography websites. How many of the popular shots seem to owe little relationship to the real world and seem to suffer from cartonification.

I suggested he put his thoughts down and make a blog out of his thoughts. Below is what my friend, who wishes to remain anonymous, came up with. I hope you enjoy reading his thoughts on the state of popular photography today.

The Basics of Photography

A few years ago I enrolled on a one year course to study photography. One of the first lessons I learnt was that 'photography' meant writing or painting with light, the ability to capture a moment in time with the prevailing light was the essence of photography. Little did I realise then what could be achieved without such illumination.

I feel a photograph should represent what the photographer saw at the time of capture, using the skills he has learnt and fashioned to manipulate the camera by adjusting exposure or shutter speed and balancing light by using filters. Gaining a fundamental knowledge of these tools of the trade, with equal importance to how light interacts with the equipment, will lead to better and more honest results. In a recent internet forum thread, about this very same subject, one photographer alluded to better photography results would be achieved with "patience, planning and understanding in the field in the right conditions" I fully endorse these comments.

I had been trawling my way through various popular photography sites recently with a fairly glum outlook to the future of my beloved hobby. It seems an image has to go through a Photoshop metamorphous before it is appreciated and applauded. One such image so infuriated me it prompted this blog.

The image in question is from a popular photographers spot, shot many times, in fact I had been there recently, what grated me was not so much the photoshop manipulation, (well actually it did) but more the comments and accolades it received.

"Lovely colours"
"wonderful colours captured"
" love the winter colours"

couldn't anyone see what I was seeing? The shot was straight out of a Pixar movie and nothing to do with real colours. It was a cartoon still, a make-believe impression from the time it was taken. No one mentioned manipulation, not one mention of

"nice Photoshop work"
"good use of the saturation sliders"
"love the cartoon effect"

It certainly wasn't in the photographers' description. It was as if the image had the emperor's new clothes on and what pains me is this seems to be becoming the norm. With more and more images sent through the Photoshop grinder coming out appearing total unreal from the original "painting with light" concept than ever before.

A photographer I have huge admiration for wrote

I want to recreate the scene that you would have witnessed with your own eyes had you been standing next to me at the moment I fired the camera's shutter.

This is a poignant statement to those in the modern era of photography that the basic concepts of photography should be learnt and not everything should be resolved after the occasion via the PC.

So, what do you think? Have we forgotten the essentials of taking pictures? Has manipulation taken over from craftsmanship or is it all part of a broad church called photography and everything is valid?