My Lightroom Classic Photography Workflow

My Lightroom Classic Photography Workflow

I was viewing an YouTube video about DxO. I didn't watch much and started to look at the comments. On the top was a rant about the Adobe subscription. I thought many miss what is available and how useful the ecosystem is.  I had only scratched the surface for the last 10 years I have been using it.

So I used chatGPT to discuss my limited use of how I was using the ecosystem. And after several conversations of my use. I asked chatGPT to write my way. Most of the following is our workflow. My thoughts his words. I'm still implementing the the process.

My workflow is built around intent. There is no single correct Lightroom workflow because the purpose of a photograph determines what I need to do with it.

I don't believe a Lightroom workflow should be a rigid set of rules. The workflow should support the photographer's purpose rather than dictate it. What I do with an image depends on why I made it, what I see in it, and what I ultimately want to do with it.

1. Import

I import the photographs I want to bring into Lightroom Classic and place them in an appropriate broad category folder.

An import does not necessarily represent a complete shoot. I may import an entire shoot, part of a shoot, or selected photographs. The important point is that the photographs being imported are the photographs I have decided to bring into my Lightroom Classic catalog.

Immediately after import, I begin the organizational and culling process.

2. Location Information

When the camera provides GPS information, I use that information rather than creating location keywords.

Lightroom Classic's Map module provides a useful way to work with location information. When appropriate, I use reverse geotagging to add location information based on the GPS coordinates.

If GPS information was not recorded but I know where the photographs were made, I can select the appropriate photographs and assign their location using the Map module.

This keeps location information in location metadata, rather than unnecessarily duplicating it in my keyword structure.

3. Initial Culling

My culling process is designed to separate photographs that deserve further attention from those that don't.

I use Assisted Culling as an aid, not as the final decision maker. Its purpose is to identify photographs that may have technical problems or may otherwise warrant rejection.

I review the images Assisted Culling identifies as rejects. If an image has potential despite being identified as a reject, I can promote it to the Selects for further consideration.

The important point is that the computer does not make my final artistic decisions.

4. Two-Pass Culling

After the initial culling and review, I use my two-pass culling process.

The first pass is intentionally fast. I am looking for photographs that create an emotional or visual response and avoiding the temptation to pixel-peep or analyze every technical detail.

The second pass is where I slow down and critically evaluate the photographs that survived the first pass.

I look at such things as focus, composition, exposure, distractions, timing, expressions, and similar or duplicate frames. I also consider whether another photograph better accomplishes what I intended.

The complete two-pass process is described in my article:

A Two-Pass Culling Workflow in Lightroom Classic

The purpose of the two passes is not to make perfect decisions in two seconds. The purpose is to avoid spending significant time evaluating photographs that don't deserve it while protecting the initial reaction that caused me to notice an image in the first place.

5. Ratings and Editing

Once I have identified photographs worth developing, I use star ratings to express my judgment about them.

My typical working convention is:

• 4 stars — photographs I intend to edit or develop.

• 5 stars — photographs I consider particularly strong.

• 5 stars + Green — my favorites or photographs I consider among the best.

These aren't universal rules. They are part of my system and can change when my purpose changes.

I then process the photographs in Lightroom Classic. When Lightroom doesn't provide the tools I need, I use Photoshop for more advanced editing, such as complex masking or localized adjustments.

6. Organization

I organize my physical folders using broad photographic categories such as:

• Animals

• Education

• Landscape

• and other major categories appropriate to my library.

Within Lightroom Classic, I use Collection Sets and Collections to provide another level of organization.

For example:

Animals

• Birds

• Mammals

• Other Wildlife

This is not intended to create a perfect representation of my photographs. There is no perfect photo organization.

A photograph can belong to multiple collections without creating duplicate files. That allows Collections to provide organizational views that would be impossible to reproduce with a rigid folder hierarchy.

7. Keywords

Keywords provide another layer of organization, but their purpose is different from folders and Collections.

I use keywords primarily to describe what is in the photograph.

For example:

• Birds

• Great Blue Heron

• Mammals

• White-tailed Deer

• Wildlife

• Flowers

• Architecture

Keywords allow me to find photographs across my physical folders and Collections without requiring my folder structure or Collection hierarchy to anticipate every possible future search.

I don't need to make location keywords a major part of this system because Lightroom's location metadata and Map capabilities provide a better way to handle geographic information.

8. Collections Are Flexible

Folders answer one question:

Where is the photograph physically stored?

Collections answer a different question:

How do I want to group or use these photographs?

A photograph can be in a physical folder, belong to several Collections, have multiple keywords, have a star rating, and have a color label—all without creating multiple copies of the photograph.

This is why I don't try to build a perfect folder structure.

Collections and Collection Sets solve the problem of having more than one way to organize the same photograph. Keywords provide yet another way to find it.

9. Favorites and Finding Photographs

My use of ratings and color labels gives me several ways to find photographs.

For example, I can find:

• All Green photographs

• All 5-star photographs

• 5-star Green photographs

• Photographs matching particular keywords

• Combinations of these criteria

This makes the Lightroom Classic catalog much more powerful than simply browsing folders.

I can use these searches to create Collections for particular purposes without moving or duplicating the original photographs.

10. Syncing

I do not automatically need every photograph in the Adobe cloud ecosystem.

I selectively synchronize Collections when I have a reason to make those photographs available through Lightroom Web or Lightroom Mobile.

Sometimes I may synchronize a group of photographs from a shoot because I want to work with them on another device. At other times I may synchronize only my best photographs for viewing or sharing.

The important distinction is that Sync is a purposeful action, not a backup strategy.

Lightroom Classic's synchronization makes Smart Previews available through the Adobe ecosystem rather than requiring my original RAW files to be uploaded.

This provides considerable practical value without changing Lightroom Classic's role as the hub of my local photo library.

11. Sharing and Presentation

One of the advantages of the Adobe ecosystem is that the same Lightroom Classic library can support several different purposes.

Depending on my intent, I can use:

• Lightroom Web for web-based galleries and sharing.

• Lightroom Mobile for viewing and sharing photographs from a mobile device.

• Shareable links when I want someone else to see a group of photographs.

• Adobe Portfolio when I want to present photographs as part of a website or portfolio.

The photograph doesn't have to be reorganized or duplicated simply because I want to use it for a different purpose.

12. Export

Sometimes the destination is outside Adobe.

For example, if a photography group asks me to provide photographs in a shared Google Drive folder, I can use Lightroom Classic's filtering and selection capabilities to identify the photographs I want and then export copies in the required format.

Export is therefore another purpose-driven step.

I don't export a photograph simply because Lightroom gives me an Export command. I export it because I have a reason to deliver that photograph somewhere else.

13. Backup Is Separate

Organization in Adobe and backup are separate processes.

My Lightroom Classic catalog, photographs, Collections, keywords, ratings, edits, and the Adobe ecosystem provide a system for organizing, processing, finding, presenting, and sharing my photographs.

That does not make the Adobe ecosystem my backup system.

My original photographs and catalog require a separate backup strategy designed specifically to protect them against loss.

Keeping these two functions separate makes the purpose of each system much clearer.

Why I Use This Workflow

The common thread through all of these steps is intent.

I don't ask:

What is the correct Lightroom workflow?

I ask:

Why am I doing this, and what do I want to accomplish?

That question determines whether I need to cull an image, edit it, rate it, add a keyword, put it in a Collection, synchronize it, share it, export it, or simply keep it in my library.

My system therefore isn't intended to be a universal Lightroom workflow. It is my practical workflow, developed around how I photograph, how I evaluate photographs, and how I want to use my library.

The Adobe Ecosystem Adds Value

Lightroom Classic remains the hub of my photographic library, but the value of the Adobe ecosystem goes beyond Lightroom Classic itself.

Folders provide physical organization. Collections provide flexible photographic organization. Keywords describe what is in the photograph. Ratings and labels express my judgment. Culling determines which photographs deserve further attention. Editing develops the photographs. Sync makes selected photographs available across the Adobe ecosystem. Lightroom Web and Mobile provide access and sharing. Portfolio provides presentation. Export connects my library to services outside Adobe. Backup protects the library independently of all of this.

The value isn't simply having several Adobe applications. It is the way those applications work together around the photographs I have chosen to make and the purposes for which I want to use them.

Focus Point

 I had a photo that I thought was good. But on a closes inspection, zoom 100%, the subject was a little soft, maybe more than a little. So since I hadn't cropped the image I decided to use OM Workspace to take a look. Most editing is in Lightroom/Photoshop but OM Workspace has a coupe of features that Adobe doesn't have. One is the focus point.

So where did I focus and what focus mode did I use?

Spot focus mode and something out of the DoF of the subject. This is the screenshot. 

The green dot is the focus point. So next time I give a 9x9 grid on my OM-D E-M5 iii.

What's the Characteristics of a good Photo?

Many photographers have their own view.  Many have attended classes, videos, presentations about settings, cameras, lenses, "rules". Some photos are great, some not so much. 

When a different genre isn't familiar with you? Where do you start?

Joe Edelman's video where he discussed he about a new to him genre.

Even I've taken a lot of photos I gave ask a question like "What are the characteristics to create an interesting landscape photo"

So I asked Gemini, chatGPT, and Chrome.

Similar results and things to think about.

Please use the comments area or my Skool Community.

A Two-Pass Culling Workflow in Lightroom Classic

I had done a little research that said both casual social media scan of photos averaged 1.5 to 2 seconds. Also Competation judges used the same time to get the initial possibles. Both use very critique to pause the scroll or make it as a possible.

That led my could use the technique. Following my discussion with chatGPT I asked "it" to write the steps.

I followed the steps, below, to cull 65 images from 2017. It worked for with one addition. I selected the Picks and used Assisted Culling with 80% focus, Exposure Issues and misfires. Then went through the rejected and marked those with a 77+ score as select.

Now I had 22, Pass 2, to critically review.

Below is steps that chatGBT wrote for me.

YMMV.

The idea

Don't try to make every culling decision at once.

The first pass is about your immediate response to the photograph. The second pass is where you slow down and make the more considered decisions.

Pass 1 — The Fast Cull

The goal is to quickly identify photographs that deserve a second look.

1. Open the shoot in Lightroom Classic's Library module.
2. Select the images you want to cull.
3. Switch to Loupe View.
4. Turn on Auto Advance.
5. Set yourself a very short viewing time—about 2 seconds per photograph.
6. As each photograph appears, ask only two questions:
   • Does it create an emotional connection with me?
   • Does it have any obvious major flaw?
7. If the answer is yes to the first question and no to the second, press P for Pick.
8. If it doesn't make the cut, press U to leave it unflagged.
9. Keep moving. Do not stop to inspect a Pick.

The important point is that a P is not a final keeper.

It means:

This photograph caught my attention. I want to look at it again.

You're deliberately resisting the temptation to examine focus, noise, subtle exposure problems, or other details.

Pass 2 — The Deliberate Cull

Now filter the shoot to show your Picked photographs.

This is where you slow down.

Look more carefully at:

• Focus and whether the important subject/detail is sufficiently sharp
• Composition
• Exposure
• Distracting elements
• Timing and expression
• Similar or duplicate photographs
• Whether another frame in the sequence is actually better

This is where X — Reject becomes useful.

If a photograph that initially caught your attention doesn't survive closer examination, mark it X.

You can now make comparisons that would have been counterproductive during the first pass.

The principle

The two passes serve different purposes.

Pass 1 asks:

Does this photograph make me stop emotionally, and is there no obvious reason to reject it?

Pass 2 asks:

Now that I've stopped, is this actually one of the photographs I want to keep?

The first pass protects the emotional response to the photograph.

The second pass applies the critical judgment.

And most importantly, don't let Pass 2 contaminate Pass 1. If you stop during the two-second pass to pixel-peep a photograph, you've changed the nature of the first pass.

The objective isn't to make the perfect decision in two seconds.

It's to make a good enough decision about which photographs deserve your time.

Lightroom Classic Editing?

 Should you edit in the folder or use a collection and why?

When I started using LrC in 2017 or 18 the WHY escaped me because both edited the same information. So why was I told that?

Now in 2026 I now why I should use collections. 

My choice is creating virtual copies within the collection so I have different crop ratios as well tonal adjustments depending on the output version, B&W, display, print media.

Your sensor usually is 2x3 or 3x4 so you use virtual copy to crop for your output media ratio.

Goodhart's Law

 How does Goodhart's Law apply to photo evaluation?

There’s a well-known concept in economics and management called "Goodhart’s Law": "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."

When a metrics are main goal, people start optimizing for the number/rule instead of the actual goal—and the overall quality suffers.

Think about how we evaluate photographs. Drop your thoughts and examples in the comments below.

AI? Is it Intelligent? My RANT. (UPDATE)

Artificial Intelligence.

But is it Intelligent?

The answer is NO! In my definition.

They are Large Language Models that are statical models that predict what's next.

Yes I do use Gemini, chatgpt and Claude. I follow the advice of President Reagan "Trust, but verify" and when you challenge the response it may provide results that fit your beliefs.

Use with care. Ask better questions.

Following are  two discussions, using "Is AI intelligent? It depends on the definition and the prompt." from Claude, charGPT and Gemini .

Sharing photo(s) with text

 Some would like to add select metadata fields, settings when sharing photos. Lightroom Classic, LrC, and using the library metadata fields a dedicated library folder and shared collection, Development module, Print module and, optionally Lightroom Mobile, you can do that. 

The Workflow

​Part 1: The One-Time Bridge Setup

​Sets up your hard drive and cloud connection so they talk to each other automatically.

​Create the Local Folder: On your local drive, create a folder named _To Mobile Sync.

​Link the Collection: In LrC's Folders panel, right-click that new folder and select Create Collection "_To Mobile Sync".

​Turn on Cloud Sync: In the popup box, check Sync with Lightroom and click Create.

​Set Target Collection: Right-click the newly created _To Mobile Sync Collection and select Set as Target Collection (a small + icon will appear next to it).

Part 2: The Creative, Metadata & Print Preset Setup

Step 1: Import & Culling

Library Module

Import your camera images into your main local storage directory. Rate and select the best shots you want to process.

Step 2: Post-Processing

Develop Module

Perform your standard development adjustments (exposure, cropping, masking) to get the visual look right.

Step 3: Populating Text & Metadata (Optional Fields)

Library Module (Metadata Panel)

Open the Metadata panel. You can populate any combination of optional metadata fields:

Title (Optional: Short title or identifier)

Caption (Optional: Primary description)

Headline / Instructions (Optional: Secondary text block)

Alt Text (Multi-Line Control Character): To insert a line break within a single metadata text string, add an ASCII control character (e.g., Alt + 0010 / Alt + 010 on the numeric keypad) right at the start of your text line inside the Alt Text field.

Step 4: Configure Output to JPEG

Print Module (Print Job Panel)

Scroll down to the bottom-right Print Job panel:

Change Print to: from Printer to JPEG File.

Set File Resolution (e.g., 300 ppi for maximum detail or 72 ppi for quick web rendering).

Set JPEG Quality (e.g., 80% - 100%).

Step 5: Load Matching Tokens

Print Module (Page Options Panel)

Under Page Options > Photo Info, click Edit... and build your token string using your preferred optional fields (e.g., {Title} {Caption} {Alt Text} {Shutter Speed} at {Aperture}).

Step 6: Save as a Print Preset(s)

Print Module (Template Browser)

Once your layout, margins, metadata tokens, and JPEG settings look perfect:

Go to the left-hand panel under Template Browser.

Click the + (plus icon) next to Template Browser.

Name your preset (e.g., Two-Line Mobile Export).

Click Create. (Now you can apply this entire configuration in a single click on future prints!)

Step 7: Render JPG to File

Print Module

Click Print to File... at the bottom right. Route the output destination straight into your local _To Mobile Sync folder.

Step 8: Sync & Add to Target Collection

Library Module

Return to the Library Module:

In the Folders panel, right-click _To Mobile Sync and select Synchronize Folder..., then click Synchronize.

Select the newly imported JPEG layout in the grid and press B on your keyboard to instantly send it to your Target Collection.

Part 3: Mobile Delivery & Distribution

Because the file is now in the Target Collection linked to the cloud, Lightroom automatically syncs it across your device ecosystem.

Open Lightroom Mobile on your smartphone or tablet.

Tap into the _To Mobile Sync album.

Save the final layout JPEG directly to your photo gallery or share it to your online platforms.

A few areas you should do;

In the Page Setup choose the orientation

Following are my tokens I used. Yellow highlighted items.

Once satisfied create profile(s) as needed.

You can create profiles for various uses and photo orientation.

Following are some examples;

​Stop letting your camera screen misguide you

​Stop letting your camera screen misguide you: The "Flat Profile" trick for RAW shooters

​We’ve all been there. You’re out in the field, tracking a difficult high-contrast scene, and you glance at the back of your camera. The histogram is crammed up against the right wall, and the "blinkies" are flashing furiously, warning you that your highlights are completely ruined.

​So, you dial back your exposure, wrap up the shoot, and head home. But when you open that RAW file in your development software, you get a surprise: that histogram snaps right back to the left. You actually had plenty of headroom left. The camera screen gave you a highly conservative estimate.

​Why does this happen? It comes down to a fundamental technical limitation: Your camera cannot display a RAW file directly.

​To show you an image on the LCD screen and generate that on-camera histogram, the camera’s internal processor must first convert the linear sensor data into a compressed, 8-bit JPEG proxy. It bakes in a picture profile (like "Standard" or "Landscape"), forces a white balance, and applies an aggressive contrast curve to make the image look punchy. If that temporary JPEG clips, the camera histogram flags it as clipped—even if the underlying 12-bit or 14-bit RAW data is completely safe.

​The Field Fix: Creating a "Flat Preview"

​To work around this, you have to strip away the consumer-oriented contrast curves that manufacturers bake into their default settings. On my OM-D E-M5 Mark III, I use a disciplined technique to make the LCD histogram accurately reflect the underlying data:

​Select the "Muted" or "Flat" Picture Mode.

​Go into the profile settings and drop the Contrast all the way down to -2.

​By softening the JPEG conversion map, the live histogram on the screen closely mimics the true boundaries of the sensor. The image on the LCD will look a bit dull and washed out in the field, but you aren't shooting for a pretty screen preview—you're shooting to preserve raw data.

​Is This Available on Other Cameras?

​I recently had a discussion with a fellow photographer who wondered if this technique is exclusive to Olympus/OM System gear. The answer is an absolute yes, it’s available on almost everything. The physics of data conversion are identical across brands, even if the menu names change.

​If you shoot with a different system, here is how you build your own accurate RAW-mimicking proxy:

​Sony: Don't use standard Creative Looks. Look for Picture Profiles (PP1–PP10) in the menu (the settings originally built for video). Set the Gamma to Cine2 or ITU709 and the Color Mode to Still. It creates an incredibly accurate, flat RAW baseline.

​Canon: Go to Picture Style, select Neutral or Faithful, hit the detail settings, and pull the Contrast slider down to -4.

​Nikon: Go to Set Picture Control, select Flat (or Neutral on older bodies), and drop the Contrast down to -3.

​Fujifilm: Their default film simulations are highly stylized. Go to the I.Q. menu, set the Film Simulation to PRO Neg. Std or ETERNA, and turn both Highlight Tone and Shadow Tone down to -2 (Soft).

​Trust, But Verify

​When you flatten your camera's preview, you are taking control back from the camera's internal processing engine—the one that prioritizes a punchy, high-contrast screen image over accurate data monitoring.

​No matter what development software you use—whether it is Lightroom, Capture One, DXO PhotoLab, or a local open-source raw processor—the software completely ignores that internal camera JPEG. Instead, it reads the full uncompressed sensor data and maps it out across a wide, non-destructive color space workspace.

​Try it on your own camera body. Shoot a high-contrast target with your new flat profile in RAW+JPEG mode, pull both files into your editing software, and do an A/B comparison of the histograms. You'll quickly verify exactly how much extra highlight safety net you've unlocked.

​What about you? Do you adjust your camera's internal JPEG profiles for a flatter preview, or do you rely on your RAW developer's recovery tools after the fact? Let me know in the comments below.

The Great Sharpness Lie (And Why Your Prints Don't Care)

The Great Sharpness Lie (And Why Your Prints Don't Care)

​Go to any online photography forum or gear review site, and you’ll see the exact same obsession: people zooming in to 400% on a digital monitor, hyper-ventilating over a slightly soft corner, or arguing that you must stop down one full stop to hit your lens’s clinical "sweet spot."

​I’m here to tell you that the obsession with hyper-sharpness is a trap. It’s a distraction from what actually makes an image great, and frankly, it's overrated.

​When you step away from the glowing screen and look at how photography works in the real world, the technical argument for sacrificing physical light just to chase micro-sharpness completely falls apart.

​Here is why the "sharpness lie" is ruining your peace of mind—and why you should stop worrying about it.

​1. The Monitor Trap vs. Normal Viewing Distance

​We’ve been conditioned to judge our work from six inches away from a high-resolution LED panel. But nobody looks at art that way.

​At a normal viewing distance—whether an image is framed on a wall or laid out in a book—the human eye physically cannot resolve the microscopic difference between a "tack-sharp" shot taken at a stopped-down aperture and a slightly softer shot taken wide open.

​Your viewer doesn't care about the resolving power of your glass in the extreme corners. They notice impact, emotion, light, and gesture. If a photo makes you feel something, a tiny bit of optical softness isn’t going to ruin it. If a photo is boring, making it hyper-sharp just makes it a sharp, boring photo.

​2. Print: The Great Equalizer

​The ultimate proof that sharpness is overrated happens the moment you transfer your work from the digital screen to the physical world. The printing process inherently changes the nature of image detail—and it destroys the sharpness issue entirely.

​When ink hits paper, a beautiful, natural transformation occurs:

​Dot Gain (Ink Bleed): Microscopic droplets of ink hit the paper and naturally spread into the fibers. This tiny, organic bleed instantly smooths out the harsh, clinical, jagged edges of digital pixels.

​Paper Texture: Whether you print on a heavy matte, a fine-art rag, or a textured canvas, the physical medium breaks up pixel-level micro-detail. The paper itself becomes part of the image structure, adding a painterly depth that no digital screen can replicate.

​Reflected Light: You are no longer looking at light blasting directly into your eyes from pixels. You are looking at light reflecting off a surface. This creates smoother tonal transitions and naturally masks minor optical imperfections.

​The Real Trade-Off

​Think about the physics of capture. If you stop down your lens by a stop just to chase a theoretical "sweet spot" on a chart, you are cutting the physical amount of light hitting your sensor exactly in half.

​To get that brightness back, you either have to crank your ISO at capture or drag the exposure slider up in post-processing. Both moves force a digital multiplier onto your data, amplifying the electronic noise floor and adding ugly shadow grain.

​Why sacrifice clean, physical photons and risk digital noise just to fix a "softness" that disappears the second the image is printed?

​The Bottom Line

​Keep the light. Shoot wide open if the moment or the exposure demands it. Stop pixel-peeping at 400% on a monitor, and start judging your work by how it feels when it's printed, held in your hands, or viewed from a reasonable distance.

​A technically "imperfect" image with soul will always beat a sterile, hyper-sharp test chart.

Don't Read your Camera Manual

Is that startling for me to say?

Why do I say that? I've often said, read your manual. But I don't I don't read mine. It's not a novel, not interesting, book clubs don't recommend it. Don't read it.

About 70 years ago my highschool instructor, Mr Donaldson, offered this advice. "You don't have to remember everything. You need to know how to find everything". Reflecting on much of my life that's just what I've done. 

Technical documents, manuals, ... You don't read them you discover where to find "everything".  Start with the chapters,  contents, features index, index.

So don't read, discover. Remember you eat and elephant bite by bite.  Topic by topic.

Don’t Ask Me What Lens You Should Use

Listen to the post

Photographers often ask, “What lens should I use?”

The usual answer in photography articles and YouTube videos is something like, “It depends on what you are photographing.” Then comes the familiar advice: use a wide-angle lens for landscapes, a telephoto lens for wildlife, and a normal lens for everyday photography.

That answer is easy to remember, but it does not teach anyone how to solve a photographic problem.

Several years ago, I wrote a post about camera settings. My point was that nobody can tell you the correct camera settings until they know what you are trying to accomplish.

The same is true when someone asks which lens to use.

The first question is not:

What lens should I use?

The first question is:

Why am I making this photograph?

What is the photograph about? What do I want the viewer to notice, feel, or understand?

Until I can answer that question, I cannot make an intelligent decision about a lens.

Lens Choice Is Not Just About Focal Length

Once I know why I am making the photograph, lens choice involves three tightly connected considerations:

• Field of View
• Depth of Field
• Focal length

They are not separate decisions. They work together.

Field of View determines what is included in the photograph and what is excluded. Do I need to show a person in the environment? Do I need to include a dramatic sky, foreground flowers, or a distant mountain? Or is the subject a bird, an animal, a face, or a small detail that should be isolated from everything around it?

Depth of Field determines how much of that view needs to appear sharp. Perhaps the photograph needs detail from the foreground to the horizon. Perhaps only the subject’s eyes need to be sharp, while the background becomes a soft suggestion. Perhaps a macro image needs enough depth to describe the entire flower—or perhaps one tiny detail is the story.

Focal length affects the Field of View available from a particular camera position. It also affects the practical depth-of-field choices available to me, especially because focal length, camera-to-subject distance, aperture, and background distance all work together.

I cannot choose one of these without affecting the others.

Camera Position Determines Perspective

There is another part of the problem that is often misunderstood.

A lens does not create perspective.

Camera position creates perspective.

Moving closer or farther away changes the apparent relationship between objects near and far. Moving lower can make a subject look more powerful. Moving higher can reveal patterns or show more of the surroundings. Moving left or right may separate a subject from a distracting background.

If I am free to move, I should first find the camera position that gives me the perspective I want. Then I choose the focal length that gives me the Field of View I need from that position.

For example, if I want a person to appear large against a distant mountain, I may need to stand far away and use a longer focal length. If I move close with a wide-angle lens, the person may become large in the frame, but the mountain will appear much smaller and farther away. The framing may be similar, but the photograph will not say the same thing.

Of course, I cannot always move. Wildlife, sports, a stage performance, a cliff edge, a fence, or a restricted location may determine where I must stand. In those situations, the available position may dictate the focal length I need.

Either way, choosing a lens is not as simple as saying, “wide-angle for landscapes” or “telephoto for wildlife.”

The Lens Helps Solve the Visual Problem

After I answer why I am making the photograph, I need to decide:

• What belongs in the frame?
• What should be excluded?
• How much of the scene needs to appear sharp?
• Where do I need to stand for the right perspective?
• What focal length gives me the necessary Field of View from that position?

Only then can I choose aperture for the Depth of Field I need.

Then I choose shutter speed for the amount of motion I want to show or stop. A fast shutter speed may freeze a bird in flight. A slower shutter speed may show motion in water or allow a moving subject to blur.

Aperture and shutter speed determine how much light reaches the sensor. They establish exposure.

ISO does not change exposure. ISO is a brightness setting. It changes how brightly the camera renders the signal that was captured. If I need f/8 for the Depth of Field and 1/1000 second to freeze a bird, I may raise ISO to obtain the brightness I want. But ISO did not put more light on the sensor.

A Better Question

Instead of asking, “What lens should I use?” try asking:

Why am I making this photograph?

Then ask:

• What Field of View supports that purpose?
• What Depth of Field supports that purpose?
• What focal length gives me both from the camera position available to me?

Photography is a problem-solving exercise.

The lens is not the answer. It is one of the tools used to create the answer.

​The Photography Absolutes: Why "Guides" Trump "Rules" Every Time

Pressing the shutter release is the simple part. The rest takes time, knowledge, and experience.

​Most everything you read, the videos you watch, or the workshops you attend suggest doing one specific thing to suddenly become a better photographer. They pitch it like a silver bullet. But let me clear something up right now: there are no absolutes in photography—only guides.

​To actually improve your photography, you need to do two things: take photos, and critically analyze your results.

​If I had to name the only true absolutes, they would be composition, focus, and what instructor Matt Kloskowski calls "The Why." Why did you take the photo in the first place? Everything else is a variable. Yes, there are "rules" for composition, but the real skill is knowing which one applies to your specific situation.

​Let’s look at a few of these so-called photography rules and unpack the "buts" that the pundits always seem to leave out.

​Aperture Priority for landscape, but...

​If there is anything moving in your frame—or if things might move because of the wind or people—you have to consider your shutter speed.

​Assuming a fixed ISO, your camera is going to create a "proper" exposure based on your other settings (like your Metering mode, White Balance, and Picture Profile). To accomplish that exposure, the camera will automatically adjust the Shutter Speed (SS). But remember the general guideline for a sharp, proper handheld shot: 1/\text{focal length}. If you’re shooting at 50mm, you need to be at least at 1/50s. If Aperture Priority lets the shutter drop below that on a windy day, your sharp landscape is gone.

​Shutter Priority for motion, but...

​Similarly, if you lock in your shutter speed, the camera will automatically adjust the aperture to balance the exposure.

​Here's the catch: your photo might end up soft at the extremes of your scene. Imagine you're shooting a landscape on a windy day. You want the foreground, middle ground, and background free of blur, so you dial in 1/600s. Your camera analyzes the scene and determines the proper aperture for that speed is f/4.0. Is everything from front to back acceptably sharp at f/4.0? Maybe, maybe not.

​Low ISO for a cleaner photo, but...

​Back in the day—actually, not even that long ago—many preached that you must "always use ISO 100."

​Modern camera sensors and processing software have come an incredibly long way. Yes, ISO 100 is technically cleaner with less noise than ISO 12800. However, my humble opinion is this: get the shot. Ensure it's well-exposed, focused, and acceptably sharp. Let your camera sensor or your noise-reduction software handle the noise later. A noisy image can be saved; a blurry, missed shot cannot.

​Never use AUTO, but...

​Consider using AUTO as a quick guide to check what settings the camera thinks are appropriate, or when you need to hand your camera to someone else to snap a photo of you. Frequently, the resulting photo is perfectly acceptable. It has its place.

​Use JPEG, but...

​JPEG is fine when you don't plan on doing much post-processing, or if you need to immediately post or share the images with others. Just remember that a JPEG is like a tightly wrapped deli ham sandwich. You can unwrap it and add some condiments, but at the end of the day, it is still a ham sandwich. You can't change its core structure.

​Use RAW, but...

​On the other hand, a RAW file might look like a plain ham sandwich on your camera’s LCD screen. But because it holds all the data, you can use post-processing to turn it into a toasted turkey and ham sandwich with all the fixings. The choice of flexibility is yours.

​Fast shutter speed to eliminate motion blur, but...

​Is that actually what you want? Slowing things down is an artistic choice. Do you want to show the passage of time and motion via creative blur, or do you want to completely freeze an arrow or a bird in flight? Don't let a rule choose your artistic intent for you.

​Aperture controls Depth of Field (DoF), but...

​Yes, a large aperture (a small f-number) yields a shallow DoF. However, there are several other variables in play that dictate what is "acceptably sharp" between the nearest and farthest objects in a photo.

​Your sensor size, the distance between the camera and the subject, the distance from the subject to the background, and your focal length all play massive roles. Often, those variables are far more important than the aperture setting itself. If you want to see the physics of this in action, go spend some time playing with an online DoF simulator.

​Use Evaluative Metering, but...

​All consumer cameras are factory-set to evaluate the light reaching the sensor and average the brightest and darkest areas out to an 18% gray. Remember that the other metering modes—center-weighted and spot—do the exact same thing; they just measure the 18% gray of that specific, localized area. You have to know how the camera is thinking to override it when the scene demands it.

​Use Scene Modes, but...

​Use them as a loose guide when you're starting out. Once you have traveled further down the photography path, you will seldom use them. They ultimately become nothing more than talking points.

​Full Frame or Crop is best, but...

​Yes, Full Frame has clear advantages over smaller sensor sizes in certain conditions. But when you view an image, is the glass half full or half empty? You need to evaluate your unique workflow, lenses, and needs to make your own decision.

​Lighting...

​Back, front, side, shadow, harsh, soft, golden hour, blue hour... You need to learn what these qualities of light are and when to use them. Sometimes, you just have to deal with the exact light you are handed. When that happens, use your feet. Walk around the scene to see what angle of light works best for your photo.

​"A new camera will improve my photography"

​No, it will not. If you take bad photos with your current gear, brand-new equipment will still take bad photos.

​New gear might be physically easier for you to hold, it might assist your eyes with better Auto Focus tracking, and it might provide other features you desire—but it will not magically make a bad composition better. Learn your current camera to the absolute max before you blame the silicon inside it.

​The Takeaway

​There is no single item, setting, or piece of gear that magically makes you a better photographer. It is the combination of all the items above, and more.

​But in my opinion, it all starts with knowing your camera. Which button does what? Which menu item changes that specific behavior? If you don't know your gear inside and out, you will never be able to utilize it to its fullest potential. This applies to the simplest Point and Shoot, a cell phone camera, or the latest whiz-bang mirrorless body.

​To paraphrase President Kennedy's famous quote: We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

​Let's look at it this way: We choose to become better photographers not because it is easy, but because it is hard. And you only get better by taking photos and analyzing your results. Now get out there and shoot.