Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: We hear about cameras having a dynamic range of 14-15 stops. Ansel Adams’ zone system was 1-10, I assume a form of dynamic range. I wonder how and where the elongation of the classic zone system has taken place? Also, how is the range determined?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Dynamic range has improved as a function of advancements in image sensor technology, with many cameras now offering greater dynamic than was possible with film photography. Note, however, that the zone system doesn’t truly relate to a specific dynamic range, but is rather more of a concept related to tonal distribution in an image.

More Detail: In the context of photography dynamic range is a measure of the range between the brightest and darkest values. For a digital capture the dynamic range indicates the number of stops of light between the darkest value and the brightest value that can be recorded in a single exposure.

We often think of the brightest value in a photo as being white and the darkest value as being black, but in reality it isn’t quite so simple. Think of the difference between “white” for an image that includes bright white clouds in the sky compared to a photo that includes the sun in the frame, which would be considerably brighter.

With film photography we were able to capture a range of around five stops with slide film and around eight stops with negative film. Today’s digital cameras are often capable of capturing a range of about ten stops, with the top cameras reporting a dynamic range of around fourteen stops.

There are a variety of factors that impact dynamic range capabilities for an image sensor, including the size of the individual photodiodes, microlens arrays used to focus more light at each pixel site, improved amplification technology that minimizes noise, and more. And, of course, you can create a photo that represents a greater dynamic range than a camera can record in a single photo by bracketing exposures and assembling them into a high dynamic range (HDR) image.

The zone system typically covers a range of eleven shades ranging from pure black (zone 0) to pure white (zone 10). I think it is fair to say that the emphasis of the zone was the photographic print, where zone 10 for example related to paper white. So, this isn’t a true measure of dynamic range in the context of variable photographic conditions, but rather how a scene was interpreted in the final print. Also, it is worth noting that even treating zone 10 as paper white is a little misleading, considering different papers will have a different effective brightness or whiteness value.

Because the zone system is something of an abstract concept rather than something directly tied to specific luminance values in the real world, the concepts related to the zone system can be applied to digital photography even though digital cameras have exceeded the capabilities of film in terms of dynamic range, and that the zone system was developed in the context of film photography before digital cameras had arrived on the scene.

Today’s Question: After reading about how much you appreciate having a camera with a GPS receiver, I have upgraded to a camera that includes this feature. Is it possible though to add location information in Lightroom Classic to existing photos that were captured with my previous camera that was not equipped with GPS?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can very easily add GPS location information to photos in Lightroom Classic by dragging the thumbnails for photos onto the map within the Map module.

More Detail: If you’re using a camera that has a built-in GPS receiver then GPS coordinates will be embedded in metadata automatically as long as the feature is enabled and a good GPS signal is received by the camera when the photos are captured. That, in turn, will cause markers for the photos to appear on the map within the Map module. However, you can still add this information later in your workflow in Lightroom Classic as well.

To add GPS metadata to photos in the Map module simply select the applicable photos on the filmstrip and drag the selected thumbnails to the location on the map where the photos were captured. If you captured a reference photo with a camera that has a GPS receiver (such as a smartphone) you could use that photo’s location as a reference. You can also use the search field at the top-right of the map to navigate to a particular area, and then pan and zoom around the map as needed so you can view the correct location on the map.

You could also copy and paste the information from the GPS field for an image that has those details to an image that doesn’t. It is even possible to record a GPS track log with a device (including a smartphone) and then synchronize that track log to photos that were captured with a camera that doesn’t have a GPS receiver. But in many cases the easiest option is to simply drag the thumbnails for selected photos directly onto the map within the Map module.

Today’s Question: I find that I sometimes accidentally click on the button to add an image to the Quick Collection when I’m just trying to click on a thumbnail to select an image. Is there any way to disable the button for the Quick Collection to avoid accidentally clicking on it?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can indeed disable the clickable badges that appear on thumbnails for photos in Lightroom Classic, but do keep in mind that you will miss out on some helpful utility in the process.

More Detail: First off, I should point out that the “Quick Collection” button that appears at the top-right of thumbnails in Lightroom Classic is actually the “Target Collection” button. By default, the target collection is indeed the Quick Collection, but you can right-click on any collection in the Collections list on the left panel in the Library module and choose “Set as Target Collection”. That will cause the letter “B” keyboard shortcut and the circular badge at the top-right of thumbnails to add an image to that target collection rather than the Quick Collection.

In addition to the target collection badge at the top-right of thumbnails there are other badges that indicate keywords have been assigned, an image is in a collection, the metadata includes GPS coordinates, the image has been cropped, and adjustments have been applied in the Develop module. These badges are also clickable, such as to click on the GPS badge to navigate automatically to the location where that photo was captured in the Map module. Disabling the badge for the target collection will disable all these badges.

If you want to disable the ability to click on these badges, you’ll need to change settings in two places, one for the filmstrip on the bottom panel and one for the grid view display.

For the filmstrip you’ll want to bring up the Preferences dialog by choosing Edit > Preferences from the menu on Windows or Lightroom Classic > Preferences on Macintosh. Go to the Interface tab, where you can either turn off the “Show badges” button to hide the badges altogether, or turn on the “Ignore clicks on badges” button if you want to disable the effect of clicking on a badge while keeping the badges visible. Both of these checkboxes are found in the Filmstrip section of the Interface tab in the Preferences dialog.

For the grid view display you’ll need to choose View > View Options from the menu and then go to the Grid View tab within the View Options dialog. If you only want to disable the badge for the target collection you can turn off the “Quick Collection Markers” checkbox in the Cell Icons section. If you want to hide all the badges you can turn off the “Thumbnail Badges” checkbox.

The badges do provide a useful reference for certain information about your photos, along with the utility of being able to click on those badges to access certain features. I personally like to keep the badges displayed and clickable, but obviously if you are finding that you often click on these badges accidentally there are options to avoid that issue.

Today’s Question: I was intrigued by your suggestion that it is possible to apply adjustments to multiple images at the same time in the Develop module. How do you enable this? When I’ve selected multiple photos on the filmstrip only the image shown in the preview area is adjusted when I make changes.

Tim’s Quick Answer: The quickest way to synchronize adjustments for a batch of photos in Lightroom Classic is to turn on the Auto Sync feature associated with the Sync button at the bottom of the right panel in the Develop module.

More Detail: There are several ways you can apply the same adjustments to multiple photos in Lightroom Classic, including applying a preset to multiple photos, copying and pasting settings, and synchronizing settings after they have been applied to a primary photo. However, to me the easiest approach is to simply turn on the Auto Sync feature.

Start by selecting all the photos you want to synchronize adjustments for on the filmstrip. For example, you could click on the thumbnail for the first image, hold the Shift key on the keyboard, and click on the thumbnail for the last image to select all photos in that range.

Next, click on the thumbnail (not the frame around the thumbnail) on the filmstrip for the image you want to use as the basis of your adjustments. That will cause this image to be the one you see in the large preview area within the Develop module.

At this point you can click the little toggle switch on the left side of the Sync button at the bottom of the right panel in the Develop module. I think of this as being like a light switch that you flip up to turn on and flip down to turn off. When you click that toggle the Sync button will change to indicate “Auto Sync”.

With Auto Sync enabled all adjustments you apply in the Develop module will be automatically synchronized across all the selected photos. When you’re finished you can turn off the Auto Sync feature by clicking the toggle button again, so that you’re back to only adjusting a single image at a time.

Today’s Question: I understand the Quick Develop section in the Library module of Lightroom Classic might save me a tiny bit of time by virtue of not having to switch to the Develop module to apply a basic adjustment, but it doesn’t otherwise seem all that helpful. Is there some other benefit to the Quick Develop adjustments?

Tim’s Quick Answer: To me the biggest benefit of the Quick Develop adjustments in the Library module is that they enable you to apply relative (rather than absolute) adjustments to multiple images at once. The ability to apply adjustments without switching to the Develop module is a smaller benefit in my view.

More Detail: When you apply adjustments to multiple photos at the same time in the Develop module you are applying absolute adjustments. In other words, each image will be adjusted to the exact same value for a given adjustment. If you apply an adjustment of +0.5 for the Exposure slider to multiple images, for example, all of the images will be set to exactly a value of +0.5 for Exposure, regardless of what adjustments to the value for Exposure had been previously applied to the individual images.

When using the adjustment controls in the Quick Develop section in the Library module, on the other hand, the adjustments are relative.

For example, let’s assume you have selected three images. The first has the Exposure value set to -0.5, the second had no adjustment (so a value of 0.0), and the third has had the Exposure value set to +1.0. With all three images selected if you then click the double right-arrow button for Exposure in Quick Develop, each image will be adjusted by one full stop. So, the first image will go to an Exposure value of +0.5, the second will go to a value of +1.0, and the third will go to a value of +2.0.

This relative adjustment feature of Quick Develop can be helpful for situations where you have applied adjustments to individual images to compensate for specific issues, but then want to apply the same relative adjustment to all three. This can be helpful when you are preparing images to be printed, for example, and the printer has indicated the files need to be brightened in order to print properly.

Today’s Question: Do you worry about losing your files or having your data compromised when traveling if your laptop gets lost or stolen? It’s not so much that I am afraid of losing my files entirely since they are backed up, but rather someone else gaining access to them via my laptop.

Tim’s Quick Answer: I’m certainly concerned about the risk of having my data compromised or potentially lost when traveling with a laptop, but not enough to give up the benefits of traveling with that laptop.

More Detail: As I’ve noted previously, I use a laptop as my exclusive computer, meaning I don’t have a desktop at home to use when I’m not traveling. This is in large part because I have generally traveled so extensively that it didn’t make sense to have a desktop computer at home that I might only be able to make use of a couple of months or so out of the year.

Having a laptop as my exclusive computer means that I’m able to have most of my important data, such as my Lightroom Classic catalog, with me anytime I have my laptop with me (which is most of the time). It also means there is a degree of risk that my laptop will be lost, stolen, or damaged while traveling with it. Fortunately, this isn’t something I have experienced so far.

I don’t personally feel that my data is especially valuable to someone else or is of a nature that would put me at risk if it were to fall into the wrong hands. So the bigger concern for me personally would be losing that data altogether.

I take a few steps to help mitigate these risks. Before departing on a trip I update two backup copies of my laptop and all external hard drives that I will be traveling with, and I leave those updated backups behind so I can recover from them if needed.

I maintain an online backup using Backblaze (https://timgrey.me/onlinebackup) that may not remain completely updated during my travels based on sometimes limited internet access, but that generally remains relatively well updated when I’m traveling. I also travel with backup drives, including a Time Machine drive for backing up the internal hard drive on my laptop while traveling. Obviously this backup drive could be lost along with my laptop, but it provides some degree of confidence that I have options to recover my data if that should become necessary.

No backup solution provides an absolutely perfect degree of data protection for all potential circumstances. However, I feel reasonably confident that my backup workflow helps to minimize the risks of data loss. I also do my best to keep careful track of my laptop and external hard drives when traveling. So far my approach is working, and hopefully that record will be maintained moving forward.

Today’s Question: I’ve been interested in display calibration and have a question. Does the monitor have to have a way to change the settings? Does it have to be a special monitor? I have an LG monitor and it has no knobs to adjust.

Tim’s Quick Answer: In general, you can calibrate any monitor display using a device such as the Calibrite ColorChecker Display (https://timgrey.me/calibrite), even if the display doesn’t have any direct adjustments. However, note that sometimes those adjustments are somewhat “hidden” on a more general menu for the display.

More Detail: You can generally calibrate and profile any monitor display, including displays without physical adjustment controls and displays that have their own built-in calibration hardware. The ability to adjust brightness and contrast directly on the display can be helpful for the initial calibration process, but it isn’t required with current display calibration tools.

For example, part of the calibration process involves adjusting the overall brightness levels for the display to ensure it falls within a target range of values. However, if your display doesn’t include options for making adjustments to brightness levels this adjustment can still be applied through software as part of the profiling process.

It is worth noting, however, that even when a display doesn’t appear to have any buttons or knobs related to a brightness or contrast adjustment, those adjustments are often found on a menu system for the display. For example, a number of monitors only have basic menu function buttons that will bring up an on-screen menu you can navigate through. That type of menu often includes adjustments for the overall brightness and contrast, as well as for the color temperature control.

So, I would check to be sure whether there are adjustment controls for your display, but regardless you can calibrate the display using tools such as the Calibrite ColorChecker Display (https://timgrey.me/calibrite) that I recommend.

Today’s Question: I’ve heard people reference Lightroom Classic for years but genuinely don’t know why one would use it if only editing one photo at a time. It would be a lot of work to learn Lightroom Classic and I don’t know what it would give me the Photoshop doesn’t already. Can you explain what Lightroom Classic offers by comparison and if there’s really any reason for me to learn it?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In my mind the key advantages of Lightroom Classic are a streamlined workflow for organizing, optimizing, and sharing photos, as well as the benefit of being able to quickly search among a potentially very large catalog of photos. If you simply need to optimize a relatively low volume of images, then Lightroom Classic likely doesn’t provide any significant benefit for you beyond Photoshop.

More Detail: While I find Lightroom Classic tremendously helpful for organizing, optimizing, and sharing my catalog of around 400,000 photos, I certainly don’t think every Photoshop user should add Lightroom Classic to their workflow.

To me the biggest benefit of Lightroom Classic is that it employs a central catalog for managing a large library of photos. Among other things the catalog makes it possible to quickly search for photos across the entire catalog based on a wide variety of metadata and image attributes. I can instantly, for example, view only the 5-star rated photos out of my entire catalog, or filter based on a single keyword or just about any other metadata values.

Another benefit of Lightroom Classic that I appreciate is that it provides a streamlined workflow for managing photos. I can organize my photos using the Library and Map modules, optimize in the Develop module, and share photos in a variety of ways including by exporting photos, producing print layouts, and more.

For those who are managing a relatively small number of photos or who have somewhat simple organizational needs, the image-management benefits of Lightroom Classic may not be especially helpful. The Develop module in Lightroom Classic provides the exact same editing features as Camera Raw does in Photoshop. And of course, with Photoshop you can most certainly prepare photos for sharing in a variety of ways, though perhaps not as efficiently as is possible in Lightroom Classic.

There’s no question that learning Lightroom Classic requires an investment of time, and that not learning to use Lightroom Classic properly can lead to significant problems in your workflow. After all, my video course “Cleaning Up Your Mess in Lightroom Classic” (https://timgrey.me/mess) remains my most popular offering. So, if you don’t feel the advantages of Lightroom Classic suit your needs and you’re not interested in taking the time to truly learn Lightroom Classic, I think it is best to stick with a Photoshop-based workflow.

Today’s Question: Are you comfortable applying sharpening to layered Photoshop PSD files for output using Lightroom Classic? Or would you rather keep sharpened layered files?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, I am perfectly comfortable applying sharpening to a layer-based Photoshop PSD (or TIFF) image using Lightroom Classic when printing or otherwise sharing a photo.

More Detail: The sharpening algorithm in Lightroom Classic is actually quite good, producing excellent results. In addition, even if the image you’re applying sharpening to is a layered Photoshop PSD file, the sharpening will be applied to what is effectively a flattened version of the image. So, whether you’re exporting, printing, or otherwise sharing an image from Lightroom Classic, I’m perfectly comfortable applying sharpening as part of this workflow.

The only problem I have with sharpening for output in Lightroom Classic is that there isn’t a preview of the actual effect. Rather, you first select the output type between “Screen” for digital sharing, or “Matte Paper” or “Glossy Paper” when printing an image. You then select “Low”, “Standard”, or “High” for the sharpening amount option.

These sharpening options work perfectly well for what they are, and with a little experience you can get a sense of which settings work best based on your preferences and output type. However, for a situation where optimal sharpening is a critical concern I do prefer using Photoshop to apply the final sharpening to an image.

So, most of the time I will simply use Lightroom Classic to apply sharpening to a photo for sharing. If I’m especially concerned about the sharpening settings, however, I’ll use Photoshop for that final image preparation so I can take advantage of the preview available with sharpening filters such as Smart Sharpen.

Today’s Question: Would it be worthwhile to upload the scans and derivative files to Lightroom (cloud) to be able to take advantage of its AI search capabilities based on subject to weed out duplicates? Or would this end up creating confusion between the two Lightroom versions?

Tim’s Quick Answer: While the AI (artificial intelligence) search feature in the cloud-based version of Lightroom is impressive, it isn’t perfect for tracking down duplicate photos. In addition, a workflow that involves both Lightroom Classic and the cloud-based version of Lightroom can be somewhat problematic.

More Detail: The cloud-based version of Lightroom includes an AI-based search feature that makes it possible to locate images based on the subject matter of photos even if you had never added keywords or otherwise identified the subjects that appear in your images. While this can be a helpful feature when attempting to locate an image, I don’t consider it a great feature when trying to locate duplicate images.

To begin with, in my experience the AI search results are never all-inclusive when searching for a given subject. Based on variations in camera angle, lighting conditions, and more, many images that contain a subject you’re searching for will be excluded from search results.

In addition, I’ve found that there are a very large number of false positive results in search results. Sometimes the search results are at least related, such as when images of helicopters are included in results when you search for “airplane”. However, other times the results are completely off, such as when a rock formation is somehow interpreted as being a person in the photo.

Because this AI search is cloud-based and is being updated based on an ever-growing library of photos being evaluated, the results will certainly improve over time. However, in my experience the results are not so good as to be very helpful for locating duplicate images.

Using the cloud-based version of Lightroom to identify duplicates from a Lightroom Classic catalog would also be problematic, since the approach to image storage for these two versions of Lightroom are so different. If you located duplicate images using Lightroom it would be somewhat cumbersome to then delete the original images from a Lightroom Classic catalog. Adding to the challenge, before you could use the AI search in the cloud-based version of Lightroom you would need to synchronize the source photos from Lightroom Classic, which could require considerable time depending on how many images are in your catalog and how fast your internet connection is.

I generally find it more effective to track down duplicate images in Lightroom Classic based on capture time or other metadata values, rather than trying to use the AI image search for this purpose.