How To Download and Install Lightroom Mobile Presets
Lightroom Mobile Presets -- How to Install
If you've purchased my Lightroom presets for iPhone, these are the instructions for downloading them on an iPhone and installing them in Lightroom directly on your phone. You don't need a computer! If you don't have Lightroom on your phone, download it by clicking here! (Adobe Lightroom Mobile)
Step 1: After your download begins, you can find the zip file by clicking on the arrow in the top right hand corner of the browser on your phone.
Step 2: Click the arrow and then click on the zip file.
Step 3: Click on the zip file. The file will unzip and you'll have a folder of the presets in your files.
Step 4: Click on one of the presets. Then click the arrow in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.
Step 5: If Lightroom Mobile isn't in your recent apps, scroll to the right until you see the button with 3 dots that says "more." Find Lightroom Mobile and click on it. Click on "Launch Lightroom Now."
Step 6: The DNG file will be in your recently added photos. Click on it. After opening the DNG file, click the 3 dots in the top right hand corner of the screen. When the menu opens on the bottom of the screen, click on "Create Preset." Type a name for your preset and click "done." Click the arrow in the top right corner to save the preset.
Step 7: You've now saved your preset. Click the preset tab to find your newly saved preset.
If you have any problems downloading or installing the presets, email me and I'll be happy to help!
How to succeed as a freelance creative...
I've been working as a full-time creative for six years and I still screw up regularly. It's a game of strategy and I'm constantly learning new moves. I've been doing this for 16 years total and I still have a long way to go to get where I want to be, but I'm so much closer than I was even last year. These are a few things that I've learned along the way that have helped me get to where I am...
Underpromise and over deliver.
If you think it will take you two weeks to finish a project, tell your client it will take three. There have been very few times I've been late on a project, but it is officially the worst feeling in the world for me. My wedding contract says photos will be delivered in an online gallery within 4-6 weeks. I can only remember one time that I didn't deliver before the 4 week mark and it was due to overwhelming personal circumstances for me and my wedding business partner. I ended up editing 3 weddings in one day to catch up because I can't handle being late on a deadline. If you promise you'll be done on a certain date, finish before that date!
Be on time.
Houston traffic has given me a run for my money on this one. I always check the map about an hour before I have to leave to see exactly how long it's going to take me to get somewhere. But in a city like Houston your ETA can be altered by 30+ minutes in no time at all. I was 30 minutes late to a session a couple weeks ago because my map went from a 25 minute drive time to 45 minutes. Thankfully, it was a session with a friend and he was cool about it, but that taught me a lesson. I'll never trust my map and I'll always plan to arrive at least 30 minutes early. Seriously, though... I waited for a videographer once who was TWO HOURS LATE. If you want people to take you seriously, respect their time! This goes both ways. If you want me to take you seriously as a client, don't make me wait for hours... my to-do list never ends and sitting in my truck waiting for a client doesn't help me get anything done.
Communicate.
I'm honestly a horrible communicator. Ask my friends. My family. My kids. I've had to teach myself to be better at this for business reasons, though. If I don't respond to an email immediately, I'm probably going to forget. For this reason, I answer emails as quickly as possible. I've also learned to communicate what I expect from clients. For instance, as photographers we don't like it when people put instagram filters on our photos. That's a pretty awkward conversation but if you don't tell your clients what you expect, then you're setting yourself up for even more awkward convos later.
I've also learned to communicate what clients can expect from me! As a creative, sometimes I just have to be bossy. People hire me for my vision and in order to give them my best work, I have to be able to control the project a little bit. This doesn't mean I won't take suggestions for shooting locations or I that I want to choose your wardrobe... it just means that I have to say no if something isn't going to work well. Ultimately, my clients are trusting my professional opinion. Even if they suggest something, I have to be willing to say, "I'm sorry but the light just isn't good right there." It's up to me to deliver a finished product that my clients will love and that I can be proud of.
Respect Deadlines.
This is about more than delivering when you say you will. I had an inquiry for a small project recently. I sent a draft over and was given some more specific direction. I realized pretty quickly that the window I had to work on this wasn't going to allow enough time for what the client wanted. Rather than waste time trying to come up with something, I simply texted the client back and told him I wasn't going to be able to produce what he wanted fast enough. It was already a rushed project so I didn't want to waste any of the time that he would be able to find someone else to do it. Just put yourself in your clients' shoes and don't take advantage of anyone's time or deadlines.
Give a quality product.
If you're not giving a quality product then none of the other things in this list matter. Learn your craft. Get better at what you do every single day. Experiment and find your own lane. Get inspired by others but take your own work to another level. If you can't look back at your work from last year and realize what you're producing today is better, then you may not be moving forward. Always push yourself beyond your comfort zone. Take on projects that stretch you and then surprise yourself with the finished product!
CREATE. CREATE. CREATE.
Whatever you do, don't stop. You never know when the link will come that connects you to your dream gig. You never know who is watching your drive. You never know when the momentum will open the flood gates. Continue to create, continue to push, and continue to put yourself out there. If you push hard enough for long enough, eventually you'll find yourself at a place you only dreamed of before. In the words of Dori, "Just keep swimming!"
"You just have to find that thing that's special about you that distinguishes you from all the others, and through true talent, hard work, and passion, anything can happen." Dr. Dre
How to create a double exposure in camera (with Canon 5D Mark 3)
There are already tutorials and blogs on this subject, but sometimes a new explanation hits someone just the right way and a lightbulb goes off. I'm a trial and error kind of girl. My first attempt at these didn't go so well. But the more I try them, the better they get and the more I love creating them!
The pics in this blog will be from the back of my camera and I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark 3. I'm sure other cameras have this capability but this is the one I've used to create these.
The first step is to find the multiple exposure setting in the menu. It's disabled by default so you'll have to enable it.
Next, I set mine to "additive" and "2 exposures". (Additive is the similar to how film records light and in my opinion it's the easiest way to learn how to do these.)
You can either take your first image now or you can find an image you've already taken and use it as your base image. (Only RAW images can be used.) Your first image should be taken against a white background. If I don't have a white wall nearby I typically shoot my subject's profile into the sky. (Squat low and shoot up so you only get sky around the subject.) In my last (and favorite) double exposure, we were shooting on a white wall so it worked perfectly. Here is my first image:
The coolest part is that you can now put your camera in live mode by hitting the start/stop button while you're still in camera mode. In other words, don't flip the switch to video mode. Leave it in camera mode and just push the start/stop button. On your screen you'll be able to see the image you've chosen for the base of your multiple exposure. You can see exactly where to fill the subject with another image.
I decided to flip my camera from landscape to portrait and took this as my second image:
Because I was in live mode I could see exactly where I wanted the building to fill Jenel's profile. And this is what I ended up with:
Just a hint about my post production... I brought my whites all the way up. It got rid of any "extra" from my second image and gave me a beautiful clean, white background. Exposure and shadows were brought down to create really rich colors.
I hope this helps someone who's curious or has tried and hasn't quite figured it out yet. These are so much fun once you get the hang of it. Shoot me an email and let me see yours! hello@trisha.thedreamvillage.co