Lightroom 3

Image: 5D Mk II, EF 300 f4 L IS, f 7.1, ISO 3200, 1/250 sec.

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Lightroom 3, on the surface you wont see a lot of change, where Adobe worked their magic is under the hood.

The new engine for processing noise and sharpening has improved immensely, one of its biggest draw backs since Lightroom was first released, I prefer to do my noise reduction and a small amount of sharpening in RAW format and then complete it in 16 bit TIFF format in PS.

I went back to this image I took in Costa Rica of the of a Chestnut-Mandibled Toucan in the rain forest near Vulcan Areal, I could not believe the improvement in noise reduction that Lightroom was able to do on this ISO 3200 image, detail is maintained while almost completely removing all traces of noise, the image was cropped to about 60% of its original size.

One other big improvement is the lens correction, LR now has lens profiles that can fix distortion and fix it well. I have heard more profiles are coming, so soon you will be able to fix most lens aberrations, a nice feature.

I have always liked LR, but now it really is a great tool to have.

If you have been waiting for an improved Lightroom, now is the time.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Vulcan Arenal, Costa Rica

Image: Margay, 5D MK II, 300 F4 IS L.F 7.1, ISO 400.

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Image:Chestnut-mandibled Toucan. 5d Mk II 300 F4 IS L. ISO 3200.

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Arenal is located in central Costa Rica 90km NW of the capital of San Jose in the Arenal Tilaran Conservation district and is home to many of Costa Rica's diverse animals and birds, it is a bird lovers paradise and a volcanologists dream, the volcano is close to La Fortuna which is every one's kick off point to explore the area, we stayed on our last trip at the Arenal Observatory Lodge which is a very nice place to stay, its clean and well equipped and as close to the volcano as you can get, as a matter of fact most rooms have a view of the volcano and the extensive grounds include acres of land and trails to explore, bird watching is supperb here. Lago Arenal is also excellent for fishing, I managed to pull a 10 lb Wapote out of the lake on one of my trips, use the local guide ,Gato Negro from the Lake Arenal Lodge. I saw 2 species of Toucan and also Toucanets while visiting for just a few days and I am not a big birder, we also saw Kinkajou and a Margay as shot above. The area is home to monkeys, Red Eyed Tree frogs, Pizotes, Sloth, Hummingbirds, Poison Dart Frogs and a large variety of exotic animals. I have visited here 4 times and still not come away with a good image of the volcano, weather usually being the part that kills it, maybe next time.

More info: Arenal.net.
Ross Murphy Images In Light