Photo Editing, Tutorials, Photography News, and More
This blog covers a range of topics from Lightroom, Photoshop, Capture One, Fujifilm, Canon, Nikon, iPhone Photography, and more. If you want to see more of my actual photography work, visit my Portfolio and Photo Journal blog.
There are no good eCommerce options for photographers
I’ve been doing some research lately on an idea I had to start selling some images directly to potential customers and clients. I used to do this before with Photoshelter, but I stopped using that platform. The more I’ve been researching the topic, the more I’ve come to realise that there really aren’t any good platforms out there for photographers. It’s actually pretty frustrating, but also an opportunity for any enterprising developers.
A feature of Lightroom 14.5 I almost missed ! You can now Copy and Paste only the adjustments you have changed in an image
When Adobe recently released Lightroom 14.5, there’s one tiny feature I almost missed. Well, I did miss it until today when I discovered it by accident. It’s one of those things that’s so small you might not even notice it - I didn’t - but it can make a big difference and it’s something I think people have been wanting for a long time. You can now copy and paste only the parameters that have changed in an image.
DXO PureRAW 5.3 Released - X-Trans Support now out of Beta
As well as DXO Photo Lab 9, DXO also released an update for PureRAW today that Fujifilm users will be happy with. The latest version brings X-Trans support out of beta, and more importantly, it now supports all fujifilm cameras.
DxO Releases PhotoLab 9 with AI Masking and Expanded Local Adjustments
DxO has released PhotoLab 9, the latest version of its RAW photo editor. The update adds AI-powered masking, expanded local adjustments for noise reduction and sharpening, workflow improvements such as image stacking and batch renaming, and support for Apple HEIC/HEIF and ProRAW formats. The release also introduces DeepPRIME XD3 processing for Fujifilm X-Trans files.
Lightroom 14.5 Fixes a major problem with generative remove
It’s only been a short time since Adobe released Lightroom 14.4, but the next iteration is already out. I’m actually a little late on this - as it didn’t get much fanfare when they launched it. While this is mostly an under-the-hood update, the release does have a couple of new features and one big fix for generative remove.
Enhancing Low-Quality Film Scans with this new Photoshop Beta Feature
One of the mildly frustrating things about shooting film in 2025, apart from the cost, is getting your negatives scanned. Most labs will scan your film at the time of development, but the results are pretty terrible. They usually give you very low-resolution scans, with horrible noise reduction and sharpening turned up to eleven. These scans are mostly useless for anything except for previews. I have tried upscaling them and processing them in the past, to make them at least suitable for social media posts, but generally to no avail. Even using super resolution in Lightroom, the results aren’t great. Enter a new feature in the latest beta version of Photoshop.
How-to Background Process Denoise in Lightroom Classic 14.4 (and other AI Settings)
The 14.4 update to Lightroom caused quite a degree of consternation with its changes to how the software handles Denoise, Raw details and Super resolution. While I prefer the new method of applying these tools, some people really preferred the old way of creating DNG files. One of the biggest complaints I received, which is totally valid, is that when batch processing Denoise with the new method, it no longer updates in the background. If you’re doing a lot of images, this can take over Lightroom for minutes or even hours. After a bit of trial and error, I have found a way to get this to work in the background. It’s not perfect, and it’s a bit of a hack, but it means you can process hundreds of images without it taking over Lightroom.
AI is killing the Photography Internet (and the rest of the open internet too)
I know this may seem like a link bait headline, but in my opinion it’s actually true, but it’s not in the way you might think. I’m not talking about generative AI taking photographer’s jobs or anything like that. It’s the “AI everywhere no matter what” that’s making it harder and harder to get traffic to your website or portfolio. It’s also making content on tips and techniques obsolete. Ever since google started doing its (frequently wrong) AI summaries for search results, traffic to almost all sites has seen a steady decline. It’s not just something I noticed, it was actually on the news the other day.
A Quick Website Update
I’ve been a bit remiss in posting over the past two weeks, and that’s because I’ve been preoccupied with a little side project. For the longest time now, I have not been happy with my website(s). My photography web presence is basically split into two parts. There’s this one, which is my “gear and news” blog and then my portfolio site, which also has my (mostly) gear free “ pure photography” blog. Ive hosted these on Squarespace for years now, but I’ve been increasingly frustrated by the way the sites work, and by Squarespace in general. Unfortunately moving platforms isn’t really a viable option as the sites, particularly this one, are too big to easily move. With that in mind, I’ve set about trying to update them within the confines of the current host.
New Video: London Photo & Video Vlog: A Walk Along the Thames with the Canon R6II
Back at the end of April I was in London for a few days, so as always I took the opportunity to get a few photos and some video while I was there. I didn’t really go very far from our hotel in Southwark, pretty much staying to the south bank, but even here there is plenty to see just walking up and down the Thames. So Join me for a walk along the Thames in London taking in bridges, river traffic, and life by the water, capturing both video and stills with the Canon R6 Mark II.
DxO Releases Nik Collection 8.1 with Free Bonus Software Offer
DxO has announced the release of Nik Collection 8.1, an incremental update to its suite of photo editing plugins. The update brings performance improvements and new usability features. From now until July 27, 2025, customers who purchase Nik Collection 8.1, either as a new license or an upgrade, can choose a free copy of either DxO PhotoLab 8 Essential Edition or DxO ViewPoint 5.
If you prefer the old DNG based Lightroom Enhance to the 14.4 method, then here are two possible solutions.
I know I’ve been covering the topic of the changes Adobe made to the old “enhance” workflow a lot lately, but there seems to be quite a bit of questions and confusion around the topic. When I first made a video about it, I knew some people would have an issue with the way Lightroom now works, but I wasn’t really expecting such a backlash. On hindsight, I probably should have, but anyway. As some people really still want to be able to batch process Denoise or Raw Details in their images to a DNG, there are really only two solutions that I can think of.
The Best Way to Process Fujifilm X-Trans files in Lightroom in 2025
I’ve been exploring the challenges of processing Fujifilm X-Trans files ever since the original X-Pro 1, sharing tips, sharpening methods, and even an eBook along the way. Historically, Lightroom struggled with these unique raw files, demanding extra workarounds. But with Adobe’s latest update, that’s finally changed. Processing Fujifilm files is now straightforward, and it mostly comes down to one simple checkbox.
How to batch process Denoise in Lightroom 14.4
The recent release of Lightroom Classic 14.4 brought with it a major change to how denoise, raw details and super resolution work, and with that, some confusion. One of the most recurring questions I received since publishing a video on the new version last week was “how do you batch process Denoise in the new version?”. It’s pretty straightforward, and there’s actually several ways of doing it.
Lightroom 14.4 Released. Big Changes to Raw Details, Denoise and Super Resolution.
Adobe has released a new update to Lightroom Classic and the rest of the Lightroom and Photoshop family. In Lightroom Classic, there are a couple of significant changes in this release, including a change to how “Enhance” works and some new functions in the remove tool.