After more than 80 hours of real-world testing, here are the pixel dimensions and quality settings photographers should use when exporting images for posting to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Photo Taco Podcast

Export Pixel Dimensions and Quality Setings For Social Media

Practical help for photographers struggling to have enough drive space and have good backups

Help With Drive Space and Backup For Photographers

Drive Space and Backup Help For Photographers

Jeff shares data from more than 20 hours of real world testing of DeNoise AI from Topaz Labs and how to make sure your computer runs it as fast as possible.

Making DeNoise AI Faster

Should photographers spend the time and money to print their images themselves rather than sending their images out to printing labs? Here are 5 decision points photographers should use to make that decision.

Deciding to Print Yourself

Adobe just released updates to Lightroom and Photoshop that include a new HDR editing feature. Greg Benz helps with how this is different from the HDR processing that has been done for decades.

HDR Editing in 2023 Using Lightroom and Photoshop

A practical guide for photographers buying a 2023 M3 MacBook Pro and only spending what they need!

Photo Taco

M3 MacBook Pro Buying Guide

Jeff Harmon compares RAW to JPEG and talks pros and cons

RAW vs JPEG

Jeff Harmon talks about how you can sync a Lightroom catalog between two computers.

Syncing Lightroom 2 Computers

Jeff Harmon shares tips on how to get an all white background in a portrait and something that may save you some time with large group portraits indoors.

Portrait Backgrounds

Jeff Harmon talks about contrast vs. phase detection and single vs. cross-type focus points.

Focus Points

Jeff Harmon tells photographers (in very technical detail) if they should plan to split their Lightroom catalog after putting a large number of photos in there.

Large Lightroom Catalogs

Jeff Harmon answers listener question from Angela Norton who loved the Culling Like a Pro episode but came away from it wondering something:

Angela:  Jeff Harmon LOVED this episode. I ignored it in my feed, because I thought I was doing good with culling...LOL... My question is, how are you presenting client proofs? If they are able to give stars, I'm assuming you using something with adobe cloud? Or maybe I misunderstood, and you are presenting in-person. ((Thanks so much for all you do!))

Jeff details how it is he uses the Zenfolio (not an advertisement) web hosting service to accomplish this task and send low resolution proofs to clients so that they can pick the shots they want to be professionally post-processed.

This episode was sponsored by improvephotographyplus.com and by MacPhun where listeners can get $10 off their Luminar post-processing software using coupon code "PHOTOTACO" at checkout or by using this link http://macphun.evyy.net/c/362006/185399/3255.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Photo Taco - Culling Like a Pro: http://improvephotography.com/43595/photo-taco-culling-like-pro-2/
Jeff's 1,000th Instagram follower: https://www.instagram.com/matthattanyc/


Other resources:

Vote for Jeff’s “Cull” module idea to be added to Lightroom: https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/less_redundancy_actions_during_import_into_lr_instant_rating_during_import

Photo Taco Archive: http://improvephotography.com/category/taco/
iTunes review link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/photo-taco-quick-photography/id980781096?mt=2#
Facebook Photo Taco Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/phototaco/
Photo Taco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phototacopodcast/
Photo Taco email: phototacopodcast@gmail.com

Jeff’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/harmon_jeff
Jeff’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jsharmonphotos/
Jeff’s Portfolio: http://jsharmonphotos.com
Jeff’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harmonjeff/

Client Proofs And Culling

Jeff Harmon answers year old listener question from Improve Photography writer Aaron Taylor:

Here's a Photo Taco episode if there ever was one: AF Microadjust/Fine Tune. Why do it? When to do it? How important? Is it obsessive or necessary? Use a Lenscal device or just something you print yourself? 

Jeff talks about how autofocus micro adjustment (AFMA) is something specific to DSLR cameras, not needed and therefore not offered in mirrorless cameras.  Not all DSLR cameras have the feature to do AFMA, but if it does then it is something worth doing - especially if you shoot portraits using narrow depth of field.

Jeff talked about an 11 point setup needed to do AFMA:

1. Set your shooting mode to aperture priority.
2. Set your aperture to the very widest setting (f/2.8, f/1.8, f/1.4).
3. Set ISO to 100.
4. Set the focus point to use the single, center focus point.
5. Set your focus mode to single shot on Canon, af-s on Nikon
6. Turn off image stabilization.
7. Good amount of light.
8. Use a tripod.
9. The camera needs to be as level with the target as you can make it.
10. The camera needs to be a specific distance from the target.
11. Set AFMA to 0.

Jeff outlines 3 methods or processes to doing AFMA that seem to have almost equal support in the photography community with fanboys for each one:

1. Ruler method - setting up a ruler target on a 45 degree angle and then shooting shots with different AFMA values set through the camera menu to find which one most consistently results with sharp focus right where the focus point was placed in the scene.  You can use DIY targets here with a ruler or tape measure, but paid for targets simplify things and are nicer to use.
2. Software calibration.  Tethering your computer to your computer you can have software figure out what AFMA value most consistently has sharp focus where the focus point is.  The most popular of that software by what seemed on overwhelming majority is FoCal from Reiken.
3. Dot Tune method invented by Fred Miranda.  Ingenious out of the box thinking that leverages a comparison between contrast detection autofocus and phase detection autofocus plus the focus confirmation lights that come on when a lens is in manual focus mode.

After using all three methods Jeff preferred the Dot Tune as a process with FoCal software coming in as a very close second.  A distant third was the ruler method.  He did the tests many times across his four lenses capable of wide open apertures and couldn't find that one method was more accurate than another and unfortunately each method has fans of that method dead convinced it is the most accurate so it is hard to say if there is a meaningful difference in accuracy.

Links mentioned on the episode:

Photo Taco - Focus Points Explained: http://improvephotography.com/36979/photo-taco-focus-points-explained/
LensAlign MkII target: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004G3PANY/ref=psdc_3109910011_t1_B0041L3JS4 http://amzn.to/2p8y0OW
Datacolor SpyderLensCal SLC100: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041L3JS4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://amzn.to/2p8wLzo
FoCal Target Distance Tool: http://www.reikan.co.uk/focalweb/index.php/online-tools/test-distance-target-size-calculator/
Michael Tapes Design LensAlign Distance Tool: http://michaeltapesdesign.com/lensalign.html
Fred Miranda Dot Tune: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1187247

Other Photo Taco Resources:

Vote for Jeff’s “Cull” module idea to be added to Lightroom: https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/less_redundancy_actions_during_import_into_lr_instant_rating_during_import

AFMA Explained

Jeff Harmon talks with Bill Claff about his Photographic Dynamic Range testing and math that can be seen on his photonstophotos.net website. Jeff goes over the following questions with Bill:

1) Who is Bill Claff and what do you do with photography?
2) What is the story or background of your excellent photonstophotos.net website? Why did you create it?
3)You have a lot of math and explanation behind your Photography Dynamic Range (PDR) number, can you explain that to someone who may not have as much background in math? Maybe a PDR for dummies kind of guide?
4)Is there a way to compare PDR to the Landscape score that DxOMark publishes from their testing?
5) I am a Canon shooter, currently shooting the Canon 7D2, and when I compare it to some others that are supposed to have significantly better dynamic range (7D2 11.8EV, Canon 80D 13.2EV, 5D4 13.6EV, Nikon D810 14.8EV) the difference in the PDR doesn't seem nearly as significant as the EV rating from DxO. Why is that? How should we be looking at differences in PDR numbers on your site?

Resources Mentioned:

Photo Taco - Bracketing Explained: https://improvephotography.com/42041/photo-taco-bracketing-explained/
Bill's site: http://photonstophotos.net

Other Photo Taco Resources:
Vote for Jeff’s “Cull” module idea to be added to Lightroom: http://bit.ly/cullmodule

Photo Taco Archive: http://improvephotography.com/category/taco/
iTunes review link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/photo-taco-quick-photography/id980781096?mt=2#
Facebook Photo Taco Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/phototaco/
Photo Taco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phototacopodcast/
Photo Taco email: phototacopodcast@gmail.com

Jeff’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/harmon_jeff
Jeff’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jsharmonphotos/
Jeff’s Portfolio: http://jsharmonphotos.com
Jeff’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harmonjeff/

Photographic Dynamic Range

Jeff refreshes information from his 2015 article, the ULTIMATE Backup Workflow for Photographers, with information from 2018 including the two "storage walls" photographers slam into in their photographic journey and how to recover from hitting both of them.

Photoshop Feedback forum post on the Wacom tablet drive problem: https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/wacom-touch-ring-for-zoom-in-out-closes-select-and-mask-workspace

The ULTIMATE Backup Workflow for Photographers Improve Photography article: https://improvephotography.com/33562/how-to-manage-storage-storage-workflow/

Photo Taco Lightroom Organization episode: https://phototacopodcast.com/2017/02/11/lightroom-organization/

Photo Taco Cloud Backup (BackBlaze) episode: https://improvephotography.com/49132/cloud-backup-photo-taco/

ULTIMATE Guide to Backup for Photographers!

ULTIMATE Guide To Backup For Photographers

Jeff walks through the details of XMP, what it is, why photographers should care, the pros and cons, multiple options to turn in on in Lightroom, and a couple of lesser known options.

XMP Explained!

Jeff Harmon talks with custom PC building expert Matt Bach of Puget Systems about the components that are worth spending money on to run Lightroom fast.

Lightroom Computer 2018

Jeff Harmon answers a listener question about how it is that adjustment syncing between two or more photos should work in Lightroom.  He describes some important details about how photo selections work, the role of the "active" photo in selections and adjustment syncing, and some reasons why it may be that adjustment syncing may fail.

Lightroom Adjustment Syncing

Chris Marquardt talks with Jeff about everything you need to know about digitizing prints and negatives/slides using scanners and cameras.

Ultimate Guide To Digitizing Photos

Jeff and Greg talk about the what, why, and how of RAID for photographers.

Photographers Guide To RAID

Jeff and Aaron Nace provide 7 steps photographers can use to take the intimidation out of Photoshop so that it can become the tool they need to achieve their creative vision.

7 Steps To Taking The Intimidating Out Of Photoshop With Aaron Nace

Best Background For Composites

Learn how to create stunning water droplet refraction macro photography where the water droplets act as little lenses to show what is behind them.

Water Droplet Refraction Photography with Don Komarechka

A checklist of things photographers should do or know in order to have the very best chance of getting sharp photos.

Sharp Images Checklist

More than 60 hours of testing different ways to have your Lightroom Classic catalog and photos stored on external drives proves that four features are 50% faster with your photos on an external SSD.

Performance Of External Drives With Lightroom Classic

After more than a month spent putting hundreds of images through DeNoise AI it is a tool that I think photographers who consistently shoot in low-light environments should have in their toolbox.  I explain why in this episode.

DeNoise AI Testing

Learn how to use the embedded preview workflow with Lightroom Classic to slash 90% off the time to import raw files!

Slash 90 Percent Off Your Import Time In Lightroom Classic

Can the relatively inexpensive and tiny form factor Intel NUC be a good photo editing computer? The PC counterpart to Apple's Mac Mini, this is the first in a series of videos taking a look at the Intel 10th generation Next Unit of Computing (NUC) to see how well it can run Lightroom and Photoshop.

Inteln NUC - Inexpensive Photo Editing Computer

Conversation with Matt Bach from Puget Systems about AMD vs Intel for running Lightroom and Photoshop here in mid-2020.

AMD vs Intel For Lightroom and Photoshop

Apple switching from Intel to Apple Silicon should mean faster Mac computers with longer battery life.  Great news for photographers who use Macs.  However, there are likely to be challenges during the transition and photo editing software like Lightroom and Photoshop may suffer.

What Does Apple Silicon Mean For Photographers

The details of how I created a picture of a full moon that includes a foreground and looks more like a sunrise than a moonrise

How I Shot The Full Moon With A Foreground

It is highly unlikely a "bad" copy of a lens is to blame for any lack of sharpness in your images.  Let me explain why and how to tell.

Lens Variance vs Bad Copy

An overview of diffraction and tips on how to find the aperture where it makes images soft.

Find Your Lens Diffraction Point

13 steps photographers can use to troubleshoot problems with Lightroom and Lightroom Classic

13 Steps To Troubleshooting Lightroom

13 Steps To Troubleshoot Lightroom Problems

Frequent host of the Photo Taco podcast where photo tips are shared in about the time it takes to eat a taco for lunch.  Hobbyist Editor for improvephotography.com and hobbyist photographer shooting landscapes and family portraits in Utah.

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