in the great outdoors using Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 3 software. Tyler
Stableford is lucky. He has found a way to combine three of his passions—.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Success Story
Tyler Stableford
Outdoor adventurer
Tyler Stableford Carbondale, Colorado www.tylerstableford.com
Adventure photographer Tyler Stableford creates studio-quality work in the great outdoors using Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 3 software Tyler Stableford is lucky. He has found a way to combine three of his passions— photography, the outdoors, and adventure—into one profession: adventure photography. His talent and hard work have earned him a worldwide clientele for his commercial and editorial photography. He’s one of Canon’s 60 prestigious Explorers of Light and Men’s Journal named him one of the seven “World’s Greatest Adventure Photographers.” Making a significant contribution to the quality and impact of Stableford’s amazing photographs is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 software. More than standard editorial work Stableford has always loved rock climbing and mountaineering and started his career as the photo editor of Climbing Magazine. But it wasn’t long before he picked up a camera to capture the stunning scenery around him. Living in beautiful western Colorado, with the Rocky Mountains in his backyard and Moab, Utah only three hours away, Stableford is well positioned to capture images that represent healthy living, the mountain lifestyle, and adventure sports. Today, Stableford shoots both editorial and commercial work and feeds his passion for giving back by donating his time and creative talents to worthy non-profit organizations. He’s found that editorial shoots give him access to restricted activities and places he would not otherwise get to photograph. For example, in late 2009, he had the incredible opportunity to fly in an F-16 with the 120th Fighter Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado for an assignment with 5280 magazine. “Most of the editorial assignments I shoot are things that I would pay to experience,” says Stableford. “They offer me a creative outlet and let me shoot things that are a life passion.”
Stableford shoots almost entirely in natural light and relies heavily on Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 to give his images a polished and professional look.
Challenge
Paying the bills in style
• Capture one-of-a-kind images for editorial and resale
Commercial photography makes up more than half of Stableford’s business. He shoots catalogs for well-known outdoor companies, including Patagonia, CamelBak, and Cabela’s, as well as advertising campaigns for companies such as Stetson and Aspen Snowmass. Being based near Aspen, Colorado is helpful because he can accomplish a full range of shots locally and often on a tight budget.
• Entice commercial clients with a variety of outdoor images • Overcome challenging outdoor lighting conditions • Find ways to volunteer time and talent Solution • Process all images using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 • Use Adobe Photoshop CS5 for detailed retouching Benefits
Stableford applies his climbing and mountaineering background to his approach to photography. “When you’re climbing, you have to travel light or you’re not going to make the summit,” he says. “The same is true for my photography. I like to keep it light, both in terms of equipment and crew, and I think this helps me get the best shots.” One thing he doesn’t sacrifice on location is a laptop loaded with Photoshop Lightroom 3. On larger shoots, when an art director wants to see images in the field, Stableford hands his first 50 shots over to Draper White, his first assistant. White quickly imports the images, picks the top ones, and uses the new Develop Presets in Lightroom 3 to apply instant adjustments. The images are then shown to the art director, who can then make decisions on the spot about the direction of the shoot.
• Deliver outdoor images with a high-end studio look
“The faster importing and loading of images along with the new Develop Presets in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 make it easier than ever to provide proofs on the spot, like photographers used to do with a Polaroid, only with much better quality,” says Stableford.
• Develop a stunning portfolio that inspires commercial clients
A workflow that just works
• Produce high value stock images
• Support non-profits with multimedia pieces used for fundraising Toolkit Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Adobe Photoshop CS5
Stableford and his two full-time assistants use Lightroom 3 to select images that they want to process. They first go through images sequentially, giving one star to anything they want to keep, even if it is just part of an image. Next, they go through the one star images and give two stars to images that they want to process quickly for a client. They will then give three, four, or five stars, depending on the size of the shoot, ultimately narrowing it down to five or ten images that they want to process. These top images are edited in Lightroom 3 software to achieve the best possible look for clients. Stableford sees the new features in Lightroom 3 making a big impact on his images. “The biggest improvement I see in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is the sharpness and noise reduction tools,” says Stableford. “The processing engine is completely redone and operates at a world-class level. The level of image definition and crispness I can get using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is equivalent to going from a mid-grade zoom lens to a high-end lens, which can be a $1,000 to $2,000 lens upgrade.” He also uses Photoshop CS5 for advanced retouching and loves working with the new features, including HDR Pro, improved selection tools, and Puppet Warp. “HDR Pro in Adobe Photoshop CS5 is highly relevant for our outdoor-based photography while Puppet Warp helps us add or subtract width when converting a horizontal shot to vertical for a magazine—with great results,” says Stableford.
The simplified and more powerful import feature in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 enables Stableford to use presets when importing images from a shoot to save time.
“The faster importing and loading of images along with the new Develop Presets in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 make it easier than ever to provide proofs on the spot, like photographers used to do with a Polaroid, only with much better quality.” Tyler Stableford
Stableford sends the top ten images, along with several hundred quickly processed images, to his clients so they can choose the images that will work best, knowing that the final selections will be processed with the same amount of detail as the top ten.
Conquering outdoor lighting challenges Shooting outdoor photography presents many challenging light conditions. While Stableford does use some lighting equipment on his shoots, he is often still faced with the sun coming in and out of clouds or trying to capture a perfect shot at 12,000 feet in the blaring sun. Photoshop Lightroom 3 helps Stableford give his outdoor images a high-end, studio-lit quality. “With Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 I can apply multiple raw processes to hold cloud details and apply vignettes or gradients to the bottom of an image to create a nice foundation,” he says. “Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 helps me balance the qualities of light and give my images a polished look that no amount of time in the field can achieve.”
Shooting high selling images Over the past few years, he’s tagged along with Western Colorado’s wildfire fighters, learned about the dirty job of coal miners, and captured the life of workers on an oil/natural gas drilling platform. Even though editorial work makes up one third or less of his total photography business, it produces the highest selling stock images.
Stableford loves the sharpness and noise reduction tools in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 because they give him greater image definition and crispness.
“The level of image definition and crispness I can get using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is equivalent to going from a mid-grade zoom lens to a high-end lens, which can be a $1,000 to $2,000 lens upgrade.” Tyler Stableford As a 13-year contributor to Getty Images, Stableford evaluates every opportunity with an eye toward whether it will produce dramatic imagery and high selling photographs. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, together with Adobe Photoshop CS5, helps him give all of his images a commercial, polished look that increases their value. “The life of an image determines its value,” explains Stableford. “Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 and Adobe Photoshop CS5 software help me maximize the value of editorial assignments by creating images with a high portfolio return that also lend themselves to reselling as stock images in the future.”
The art of giving back Stableford enjoys giving his time and talent to causes he believes in, such as helping destitute children and orphans around the world through Wide Horizons for Children, or supporting people with disabilities through Challenge Aspen. The projects he produces with both still images and video expand his life and provide the organizations with multimedia pieces to use for fundraising purposes.
For more information
“The last few years I’ve worked on some of the most exciting and meaningful projects of my career,” says Stableford. “Travel is great, but you don’t need to get on an airplane to Iceland to shoot great images and have personal and professional growth as a photographer.”
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