Author: Tim Grey

Today’s Question: At the end of your answer about setting a camera to automatically rotate photos that are captured in horizontal versus vertical orientation, I noticed that you said that “rotation [would be] generally not required”. Why would you ever need to rotate an image if the camera was set for automatic rotation?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While just about every camera includes a sensor that determines the orientation at the camera at the time of capture, that feature can be turned off and it may also not always provide the intended result depending on how the camera was held.

More Detail: If the option to apply automatic rotation to captured photos is turned off, your photos will obviously not be rotated based on how you were holding the camera. That means that horizontal photos will still appear horizontal, but also that vertical photos will appear horizontal as well rather than vertical.

Even with the option enabled to automatically rotate photos, however, the camera won’t always get the rotation right.

For example, if you hold the camera at about a 45-degree angle, you would have intended the captured photo to appear either horizontally or vertically. However, with the camera held at a 45-degree angle there is a certain amount of ambiguity about what you intended, and so there is about a 50% chance that the orientation of the photo won’t match your intent.

Similarly, you may find yourself in the unusual situation where your camera is held upside down. This is admittedly rare, but I have found myself in this situation a few times. Interestingly enough, many cameras don’t accurately detect when they are upside down, and so the resulting photos will not have the intended orientation.

The point is that in some situations, even when your camera is properly configured for automatic rotation of photos, you may find that you want to rotate the photos to a different orientation later. Fortunately, that rotation is easy to apply regardless of which software you’re using to manage and optimize your photos.

Today’s Question: When I first read the question about filtering photos captured in portrait mode, I thought it was referring to iPhone photos captured with the Portrait setting, rather than being about portrait versus landscape orientation. So, is there also a way to filter photos captured in Portrait mode, because I’ve not been able to find it.

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can search for photos captured in the Portrait mode (narrow depth of field) on a smartphone using the Depth column available on the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar in Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: Most recent iPhone models (and some Android smartphones as well) include a narrow depth of field option. On the iPhone this is referred to as Portrait mode, and it can create images that can be quite stunning. The process involves essentially capturing an in-focus and an out of focus image and blending them together so that the subject is in focus but the background is out of focus.

When you import photos captured with this Portrait mode into Lightroom Classic (or other photo-editing software) the narrow depth of field effect will not be retained. To retain the original effect you would need to use the software from the smartphone, such as the Apple Photos software in the case of iPhone captures.

However, a depth map that indicates the areas of the image that would have otherwise been in focus versus blurred is embedded within these photos, and you can actually use that depth map for applying targeted adjustments to these photos using Lightroom Classic.

Of course, first you need to be able to identify which photos were captured with this special narrow depth of field effect, which means finding photos that include an embedded depth map. Fortunately, Lightroom Classic includes exactly such an option, though it might not be all that easy to find.

Start by navigating to the folder or collection you want to browse. Note that you can also choose the All Photographs collection in the Catalog section of the left panel if you want to search across your entire library of photos. Then switch to the grid view display in the Library module by pressing the letter “G” on the keyboard. If the Library Filter bar isn’t shown at the top of the grid view, press the backslash key (\) on the keyboard or choose View > Show Filter Bar from the menu. Go to the Metadata tab, and click the heading for one of the columns to bring up a popup menu. Choose Depth from the popup for that column, which will cause that column to show options for the images in the current location based on their status.

You can then select “Has Depth” to show only images that include an embedded depth map, meaning photos that were captured with the Portrait mode on an iPhone, for example. You can also select “No Depth” if you want to filter based on images that don’t have an embedded depth map.

Once you’ve located the photos that include an embedded depth map, you can also use that depth map as the basis of a targeted adjustment in the Develop module.

Today’s Question: Is there a way in Lightroom Classic to set a filter to select the images which were taken in portrait orientation (with the camera turned on end) so that they can be selected and rotated left or right?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Lightroom Classic does include a filter based on the orientation (vertical versus horizontal) of photos. However, your question suggests that you may not be able to take advantage of this option in this case due to the camera setting used when capturing the photos. You would need to change that setting on the camera in order for photos to be automatically oriented properly on your computer.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic includes an option to filter photos based on the orientation, with settings for Portrait (vertical), Landscape (horizontal), and Square. This option is a little hidden, however, since it is labeled as an Aspect Ratio option available on the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar.

To get started, switch to the grid view in the Library module, and make sure the Library Filter bar is displayed. If the filter bar is not shown above the grid view display you can reveal it by pressing the backslash key (\) or by going to the menu and choosing View > Show Filter Bar.

On the Library Filter bar go to the Metadata tab. Then click the popup for one of the columns on the Metadata tab and set it to “Aspect Ratio”. The column will then populate with options based on the photos you are currently browsing, which could be a particular folder, a collection, or the “All Photographs” collection in the Catalog section at the top of the left panel, for example. Click on the desired option, such as “Portrait” in this example, and the photos will be filtered accordingly.

However, today’s question suggests that the intent is to filter photos that were captured in the vertical orientation but without having the camera set to automatically rotate those photos to appear vertically. If so, the solution above won’t work. That’s because the Aspect Ratio filter operates based on the current orientation of the image in Lightroom Classic, not how the camera was oriented when the photo was captured. For example, if you rotate an image from vertical to horizontal it will only appear when you select the Landscape filter option, not the Portrait option.

Many cameras include options for the automatic rotation of images. If the automatic rotation option is turned on, then an image captured in the vertical orientation will appear vertical on the LCD display. Some photographers prefer to turn this option off so that each image will fill the full area of the LCD display, even though that means images won’t be rotated properly.

In many cases cameras include an option to not rotate the photos on the camera, but to still set the rotation flag in metadata so that the photos will be rotated properly on the computer. In this case it sounds like the camera was set with the automatic rotation option turned off. As a result, every single photo will be treated as being in the horizontal (landscape) orientation, even if the camera had been rotated to capture a vertical photo.

Therefore, you’ll likely want to change the camera settings to allow for automatic rotation of the photos. You would then be able to filter photos properly based on whether they had been captured horizontally or vertically, with rotation generally not required to get the photos into the proper orientation.

Today’s Question: Should I switch my organizing program from Adobe Bridge to Lightroom? I have been using Bridge for a number of years, but everyone talks about using LR. What criteria should I use in making this decision? I have several TB of photos that would have to be loaded into LR, but Bridge does not require loading files into its program. What am I losing by sticking with Bridge?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In my mind there are only two things (one good and one bad) that you’re missing out on by continuing to use Adobe Bridge rather than Lightroom Classic. First, you’re missing out on a faster and more comprehensive search capability. Second, you’re missing out on the learning curve involved with making sure you understand Lightroom Classic so you can gain the benefits without encountering the pitfalls.

More Detail: The key difference between Lightroom Classic and Adobe Bridge is that Lightroom Classic uses a catalog (central database) while Bridge is a simple browser without a corresponding database. This translates to both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to considering a switch from Bridge to Lightroom Classic.

The potential advantage of having a central catalog is that you can search across your entire library of photos very quickly and easily using a wide variety of criteria. You can quickly see every photo in your entire catalog that matches specific metadata, such as those captured in a particular date range, captured with specific camera settings, containing certain metadata values such as keywords, and much more.

For many photographers, including myself, this is a tremendous advantage. Trying to find photos across an entire library based on specific metadata is a much slower and frustrating experience with Bridge. For other photographers, this may not provide any real benefit, if they don’t need to be able to search across an entire library of photos based on specific criteria. I was just speaking with a friend the other day, for example, who never needs to use this type of broad search because he only really needs to locate photos based on his folder structure.

The point is that for some photographers this benefit for searching photos can be significant, and for others it may be minor or inconsequential.

It is important to keep in mind that switching to Lightroom Classic will also involve a bit of a learning curve. It is critically important that you understand how Lightroom Classic works, especially in the context of the catalog, before using it in your workflow. If you’ve not previously used Lightroom Classic I strongly recommend using resources (such as my video training courses) to make sure you understand how to use the software before you use it in your actual workflow.

I find Lightroom Classic to be tremendously helpful in my workflow. I also frankly find Bridge to be frustrating to use when I do put it to use. So, I’m very happy that I’ve adopted Lightroom Classic in my own workflow, but I also completely understand that it isn’t the right solution for everyone. I don’t recommend that all photographers switch to Lightroom Classic, but rather recommend considering whether it is the right solution based on your workflow needs.

Today’s Question: In the Develop module of Lightroom Classic, I no longer see the menu across the top where, for instance, it would select File and I could obtain a dropdown menu and export. I can right-click on the image and obtain those commands and export, but I wonder what else I am missing with the menu bar gone from the top of my screen. How do I restore the ability to see that menu?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In this situation you can view the menu bar in Lightroom Classic by moving your mouse pointer to the very top of the screen and holding it there until the menu appears. You can then restore the menu bar by choosing Window > Screen Mode and then choosing either “Normal” or “Full Screen with Menubar”.

More Detail: Lightroom Classic includes a couple of full screen view options so you can have the interface take up the entire display rather than having Lightroom Classic in a window. One of the full screen options causes the menu bar to disappear, but you can bring the menu back by hovering your mouse pointer at the very top of the display where the menu would otherwise normally appear.

You can cycle through the three options by holding the Shift key on the keyboard while pressing the “F” key. Each time you press Shift+F you will change screen modes, with the three options being “Normal”, which causes Lightroom Classic to appear in a window, “Full Screen with Menubar”, which has Lightroom Classic take up the entire screen, but with the menu bar at the top of the display, or “Full Screen”, where the menu bar will be hidden so Lightroom Classic can really take up the full display area.

You can also select one of these options by choosing Window > Screen Mode from the menu, followed by the preferred setting.

In this case I suspect you accidentally pressed the Shift+F keyboard shortcut, causing the display to cycle to the full screen option with the menu bar hidden. It is worth noting, by the way, that there is also a full screen option for the current image, where the single image can fill the screen without any of the Lightroom Classic interface shown. To toggle that full screen viewing option on and off you simply press the “F” key without holding the Shift key.

Today’s Question: When I make a synchronized collection public [in Lightroom Classic] and use the provided link to view the collection, the images seem to be in some random order and I can’t find any way to force them to sort, such as by capture time. If I log into Lightroom in a browser and look at the collection it is sorted the same way as I see it in Lightroom Classic. Is there any way to change the sort order when using the link?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can set the sort order for a public collection by using the Custom Order option for sorting the images in the collection in Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: When you enable synchronization for a collection in Lightroom Classic, that collection can be viewed from virtually anywhere with an internet connection using the Lightroom app on a mobile device or in a web browser by signing in at https://lightroom.adobe.com.

In addition, you can make a synchronized collection public so that anyone can view the images in that collection if you share the link for that public collection with them. To make a synchronized collection public go to the grid view display for the collection and click the “Make Public” button found at the top-right of the thumbnails of pixels in the grid view.

A custom link will appear to the left of the button, which at this point will be labeled “Make Private”. You can click the link to open the collection in a web browser, or right-click on the link and choose “Copy to Clipboard” so you can then paste the link to send to someone else, such as via email or text message.

If you want the images in the public album to be sorted in a specific order, you should set the sort order to “Custom Order” using the Sort popup below the grid view display when viewing the collection. After selecting “Custom Order” you can drag the thumbnails around to change the order of the images to anything you like. Once those changes have had a chance to synchronize to the cloud, you can refresh the web browser to update the sort order for the public album.

If the sort order appears completely random when you initially make the synchronized collection public, I suspect it is because you had previously adjusted the Custom Order sort for that collection of images. Otherwise, the images would generally be sorted by capture time rather than a random order. Fortunately, however, you can use the Custom Order sort option to change the order to anything you’d like, and the updates will be synchronized to the cloud.

Today’s Question: I’ve heard you talk several times about using star ratings and color labels as options for marking your photos in Lightroom Classic. Is there a reason you don’t use pick flags instead of star ratings to identify your best photos?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The key reasons I prefer star ratings over the pick flag are that the pick flag and the related reject flag are not supported as a standard metadata field, and star ratings provide the ability to stack-rank photos.

More Detail: The main reason I don’t use the pick flag attribute in Lightroom Classic is that this option is not part of an established metadata standard. That means the pick (and reject) flag is only supported within the Lightroom Classic catalog. Other software would not be able to see the pick (or reject) flag, and if I lost my Lightroom Classic catalog I would lose these attributes altogether.

Because of this issue, I treat the pick and reject flags as “temporary” settings, because I would lose them if I ever lost my catalog. I use a reject flag to mark photos for deletion, but I don’t use a pick flag to mark favorite photos.

Instead, I use star ratings to identify favorite photos. Another key reason I prefer star ratings for this purpose is that they provide a stack-ranking capability, meaning there is a difference between a “favorite” photo and a “very best” photos.

As a very broad way of thinking about the way I use star ratings, I start with a one-star rating for any image that is a “keeper”, meaning a photo I think I might possibly use for some purpose. A two-star rating represents a favorite from a given photo trip or outing. Three stars is for images that can be thought as being a best photo of the year, while four stars is the rating I think of as being “best of the decade”. A five-star rating to me signifies “best of all time”, meaning an image I would put in my portfolio of very best photos.

I also use color labels as a supplemental tool in my workflow, with a red color label being used to mark photos (and folders) that still need to be reviewed to identify favorites and outtakes.

Once I’ve reviewed all photos from a given trip or outing I will review the photos I marked with a reject flag, and delete those photos once I’m confident I really don’t need to keep any of them.

By the way, I cover my full workflow for identifying favorite photos versus outtakes in the “Identifying Favorites and Outtakes” lesson included in my “Lightroom Lectures” course featuring long-form lessons on key topics in Lightroom Classic. This course is included in the “Mastering Lightroom Classic” bundle that you can find on the GreyLearning website here:

https://www.greylearning.com/bundles/lightroom-classic-bundle

Today’s Question: Is there a way in Lightroom Classic to search for photos captured on a particular date but for any year? For example, could I find all photos captured on my birthday or wedding anniversary for all years?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can search for all photos captured on a given date (month and day) for any year using the Month and Day options on the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar in Lightroom Classic.

More Detail: I suspect most photographers using Lightroom Classic are aware that they can search for photos based on a specific date or range of dates using the Date column on the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar. What I find many photographers don’t appreciate is the potential value of the Month and Day columns.

With the Date column on the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar you can select an individual date or range of dates. You can also select an individual month or group of months, as well as a year or group of years. But this option mostly enables you to select a range of dates, since it wouldn’t be very easy to select a single month for every year that is represented by the metadata of your photos, for example.

However, the Month and Day columns make this task an easy one to accomplish.

To start off, you’ll want to select the “All Photographs” collection from the Catalog section near the top of the left panel in the Library module, so you’re viewing all photographs in your entire Lightroom Classic catalog.

Next, select Month from the popup on the heading for one of the columns on the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar. You would generally use the left-most column for this purpose unless you needed to specify other filter criteria first. For example, since my birthday is in May I might select “May” from the Month column after selecting “Month” from the popup in the first column of the Metadata tab.

You can then select “Day” from the popup at the header for the column to the right of the column that is currently set to Month. Then select the specific date for the selected month that you want to search for. For example, my birthday is on May 20th, so I could select “20” from the “Day” column.

At this point the grid view display will show every single image that was (in my example) captured on May 20th of any year, based on the metadata for the photos in my Lightroom Classic catalog. I could, of course, use other criteria to further filter the photos. For example, I might use another column on the Metadata tab, or I could use the Attribute tab to specify a star rating as an additional setting for my filter.

The point is that the Month and Day columns on the Metadata tab of the Library Filter bar make it easy to locate photos captured in a specific month or on a specific date, but for any year for which you have captured photos.

And happy birthday or anniversary, as the case may be!