Version 1.1 of External Editors brings a new interface and nice improvements.

When I first wrote about the app in February, it didn't have a mechanism for handling RAW file transport. But version 1.1 features many refinements, including being able to convert RAW files to Jpegs or Tiffs in the extension itself.

This leads to many possible workflows. The one I've been using goes like this for RAWs.

• In Photos, duplicate the RAW file and name it as an external edited version.
• Open the duplicated RAW in External Editors and use the Convert To command to change it to Tiff or Jpeg.
• Send it to the processor of your choice and edit.
• Save the file and return to Photos.

Silver Efex Pro 2 running with External Editors and Photos.

The edited Tiff or Jpeg will be positioned next to your original RAW in the Photos library. You have other workflow options, such as Replace with Image from Disk. It's worth playing with to find the sequence that works best with you. Because the bottom line is this: Exernal Editors opens up all of your image editing tools to your Photos library.

The Apple Photos Book for Photographers

For photographers who are more than just casual snapshooters, or who are making the transition from Aperture or iPhoto, The Apple Photos Book for Photographers shines a light on the sophistication of this app and the ecosystem it taps into. Available as an eBook now, and coming to print later this year.

Get it for $15 using checkout code APPLE15!

And dont forget... For hands-on tutorials, be sure to take a look at Photos for OS X Essential Training on lynda.com. I cover everything you need to know to get the most from this surprisingly powerful image management application.

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If you're looking to up your mirrorless game, you might want to take a look at the Panasonic Lens Sale at B&H Photo.

Nine very nice optics with discounts between $50 and $200. The timing could be perfect if you're planning a photo vacation this summer. And if you're an existing B&H customer, check your e-mail inbox (or promotions tab) for an note titled "B&H Exclusive: Panasonic Lens Promotion Total Savings up to $350." They've sweetened the pot even more. That super-special offer ends on June 18.

The Nimbleosity Report

Do you want to keep up with the best content from The Digital Story and The Nimble Photographer? Sign up for The Nimbleosity Report, and receive highlights twice-a-month in a single page newsletter. Be a part of our community!

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You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

Flickr on the desktop is useful. But firing it up on your iPhone or Android device is a blast! And I show you why in my latest lynda title, Flickr Mobile: Photo Sharing Anywhere.

In this title, you can learn to use the mobile version of Flickr to shoot and enhance photos, share them, and explore photos taken by other community members. The app is available for iOS and Android and offers the same great features as the Flickr website, in a compact form you can take on the go. Here's a overview movie that will show you the highlights.

In all honesty, I think this is one of the most enjoyable titles I've recorded lately. I think you'll really have a good time watching it.

More Flickr Tips and Techniques

Sharing Photos with Flickr is a deep dive into this venerable online photography platform, focusing on how to best use its tools with a Mac or Windows computer. I show you how to configure Flickr to automatically backup your images, organize them, and share your favorites with friends, family, and the entire online universe. This training will show you how to best take advantage of Flickr's 1TB of free online storage and its comprehensive set of imaging tools.

And if you prefer using an iOS or Android device for your Flickr experience, you definitely must take a look at Flickr Mobile: Photo Sharing Anywhere. It's fun and informative.

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You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

This is The Digital Story Podcast #536, June 14, 2016. Today's theme is "macOS Sierra for Photographers." I'm Derrick Story.

Opening Monologue

Last week I wrote a piece on The Nimble Photographer titled A Moment of Truth for Photos. My feeling was that Apple had to step up to the plate with something interesting for this app. And indeed they have. We'll focus on Photos and other photography goodies in macOS Sierra on today's show.

macOS Sierra for Photographers

Apple announced macOS Sierra during Monday's WWDC keynote address. The latest operating system has a number of goodies for photographers. Here are the highlights.

• Live Photos Editing - The Live Photo Editing API allows third-party editing extensions to apply edits to an entire Live Photo, while retaining the motion and sound of the original Live Photo.



• Memories - You've spent years capturing moments worth remembering. Now Photos can turn them into unforgettable experiences called Memories. And powerful new technologies make Photos even better at face recognition, let you display all your photos on a world map, and even allow you to search your photos by the objects and scenery in them. A new Memories tab appears along with the Photos, Shared, Albums, and Projects tab. In Memories, Photos for Mac automatically makes slideshows and collections of photos based on events, people, places, and more.
• Brilliance Tool - Perfecting your photos like a pro is now even easier with the new Brilliance tool, which pulls in highlights and adds contrast to enhance details throughout your images.
• Copy and Paste Between Devices - Continuity across your Apple devices also gets better in macOS Sierra. With Universal Clipboard, the contents of your clipboard are available across all your Apple devices via iCloud. You can easily copy and paste text, images, photos and video between your Mac and your iPhone and iPad.
• Search Based on Objects and Scenery
• Better iCloud Integration - Seamless integration with iCloud makes everything from your Desktop and Documents folder available on your iPhone and iPad so you always have access to the files you need.
• Optimized Storage - Optimized Storage frees up space when your Mac starts getting full by storing infrequently used items in iCloud and reminding you to delete used app installers, and even clearing out duplicate downloads, caches, logs and more. Federighi showed a Mac with 20GB of free storage space; after running Optimized Storage, the amount of free space expanded to 150GB.

Rocky Nook's Guide to Travel for Photographers

I have open on my iPad right now Rocky Nook's Guide to Travel for Photographers, a free eBook just waiting for you to download.

And as a cool bonus (because I do have major connections at Rocky Nook, we're giving away 3 travel book bundles to our listeners who download "Travel for Photographers." The bundle includes: Architectural Photography, Street Photography, and The Traveling Photographer.

If you download the eBook, you will be automatically entered to win the travel bundle. Rocky Nook will randomly select the three winners next Monday, and I will announce on Tuesday's show.

Using Hedge to Improve Your Lightroom Experience

Because many users feel that Lightroom is slow on import, they are turning to Hedge for Mac because of its speed. If you're on the road, speed and reliability what counts. Then you can take care of your Lightroom when you come back home. This is particularly important for wedding and event photographers who need to protect their images and work quickly.

Keep these three things in mind...

• Hedge is the fastest app for importing and backing up media on macOS.
• Import multiple sources to multiple destinations, at the same time.
• Every file copied by Hedge is cross-verified with the original.

There's a free version and a premium version. Use this URL, hedgeformac.com/tds and save 20 percent off the price of the pro version that provides the full Hedge experience with Fast Lane copies, unlimited simultaneous transfers, plus NAS and RAID support.

Out of Chicago - The Nimble Photographer Workshop Thursday June 24th

Over the course of the day, we'll explore the gear, techniques, and philosophy that enable nimble photography. You'll learn how to lighten your load and expand your creativity. We'll then put these ideas into practice and go out shooting. And finally, nimbleosity applies to post production too. Derrick will show you ways to minimize your time in front of the computer and increase your efficiency.

We have a couple seats open. You can sign up here. You can choose the workshop only, or signup for the entire conference.

Updates and Such

Just Released!: The Apple Photos Book for Photographers

You can get your eBook copy of The Apple Photos Book for Photographers for $15 by using the checkout coupon: APPLE15. That saves your 5$ off the price.

And finally, be sure to visit our friends at Red River Paper for all of your inkjet supply needs.

See you next week!

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.

Podcast Sponsors

Red River Paper - Keep up with the world of inkjet printing, and win free paper, by liking Red River Paper on Facebook.

MacPaw Creators of CleanMyMac 3 and other great software for Apple computers. Visit www.macpaw.com today.

Hedge for Mac - The fast solution for moving photos and videos from memory cards to drives, or drives to drives for that matter. Learn more at Hedge for Mac.

The Nimbleosity Report

Do you want to keep up with the best content from The Digital Story and The Nimble Photographer? Sign up for The Nimbleosity Report, and receive highlights twice-a-month in a single page newsletter. Be a part of our community!

Want to Comment on this Post?

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

DxO continues to refine their ONE Camera with Firmware Update 1.4. Among the list of goodies, one that really caught my eye was adding author copyright to each image's metadata.

DxO ONE shooters can now set up automatic inclusion of their copyright, author info, and even watermark to their images.

I updated the DxO ONE via my iPhone. The procedure was simple and fast. In general, I have to say that the software interface for the camera is one of my favorite aspects of it. It's so easy to use. And these days, it's quite powerful too.

After the firmware update, I added my copyright and www.thedigitalstory.com for the author info. After all, I want people to know how to get a hold of me. I then opened the image in Photos for OS X and ran the picture through the DxO ONE editing extension for fine tuning. I exported the shot to my desktop and opened it in Preview.

The Get Info window displays all of the information that I entered in the settings for my DxO ONE. This is a wonderful addition to an already full-featured camera.

The DxO ONE is available for $439, featuring a 1" sensor and excellent feature set.

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Just because you left Aperture or Lightroom behind, that doesn't mean that you have to abandon your favorite plugins too. I've been using Silver Efex Pro with Capture One, and the two get along just fine. This also works for other apps/plugins too.

What you might not realize is that, even though you've been using Sliver Efex Pro 2 as a plugin, there's an app in your Applications folder: Applications > Nik Collection > Silver Efex Pro 2.app. Capture One Pro can connect with that app using the Edit With command: Control-Click > Edit With > Silver Efex Pro 2.

Start with the Edit With command in Capture One Pro.

Going this route allows you to set up an Edit Recipe, where you can choose between Tiff or Jpeg, color space, resolution, and scale. A new file is created from the original RAW, and it is sent to Silver Efex for work. Here's how to do it.

The Actual Steps

• In Capture One Pro, start with a RAW file. By doing so, the original image will stay protected.
• Right-click on the RAW file and select Edit With...
• Set up the job to your liking, including selecting Silver Efex from the Open With popup menu (see the top illustration). You can choose any of the apps that appear here.
• Click on the Edit Variant button.
• Adjust your image in Silver Efex, then click on the Save button.
• The new Jpeg or Tiff will be returned to your Capture One Pro library.

File retured to Capture One Pro and placed alongside the original.

I've just stared playing with this workflow, so I'm sure there's more to learn. But this should get you pointed in the right direction is you want to continue to use your favorite plugins with Capture One Pro.

More Capture One Pro Tips and Techniques

Improve your skills by watching Capture One Pro Essential Training now available on lynda.com. More than 5 hours of tips, tricks, and techniques. Plus many free movies using advanced techniques.

I've also created a dedicated Capture One Pro Training page on The Digital Story. You can follow all of the tips and techniques that I publish in one convenient spot.

Thinking About Making the Transition from Aperture or Lightroom? - Download my free eBook titled, Rocky Nook's Guide to Moving to Capture One Pro. I show you the steps to create a test library, then build the foundation for a smooth transition to Capture One Pro.

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You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

At last, Instagram will now be available in the Share menu for iOS devices, allowing users to send a picture directly from Photos and other iPhone apps to Instagram. Version 8.2 adds this feature, along with bug fixes and performance improvements.

I just tested this capability on my iPhone 6S, and it worked well. I opened an image in Photos for iOS, tapped the Share icon, scrolled all the way to the right, and tapped on More to add Instagram to my list of Share applications. I then selected the Instagram icon. The Instagram option will stay in the Share menu once you've added it.

I was able to write a caption, but there were no editing options. So if you like to use Instagram's filters and adjustment tools, then you'll want to post the old fashioned way. But if you're fine with the image as is, then you can save time via the new Share capability.

The Apple Photos Book for Photographers

For photographers who are more than just casual snapshooters, or who are making the transition from Aperture or iPhoto, The Apple Photos Book for Photographers shines a light on the sophistication of this app and the ecosystem it taps into. Available as an eBook now, and coming to print later this year.

Want to Comment on this Post?

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

This is The Digital Story Podcast #535, June 7, 2016. Today's theme is "To RAW or Not." I'm Derrick Story.

Opening Monologue

Many years ago I was giving a digital photography talk and was covering the scenarios where I thought shooting RAW was appropriate. A voice from the back exclaimed, "But why wouldn't you shoot RAW all the time?" My answer was a simple, "Why sir, I don't do anything all the time." Now years later, my opinion remains unchanged.

To RAW or Not

I have three capture modes that I usually choose from: RAW only, RAW+Jpeg, and Jpeg only. Today we're going to play a little guessing game. I'm going to put forth a shooting scenario, then pause and let you guess which capture mode I would use for that situation. Then I'll give you the answer and tell you why.

1. Auto race at a speedway
2. High school senior portrait
3. Wedding for hire
4. Executive portraits for a commercial client
5. Son's birthday party
6. Family reunion
7. European vacation
8. Weekend backpacking trip
9. Fall color in the Eastern Sierra
10. Semi-pro baseball game

Answers: 1)Jpeg, 2)RAW, 3)RAW+Jpeg, 4)RAW, 5)Jpeg, 6)Jpeg, 7) RAW+Jpeg, 8)RAW, 9)RAW+Jpeg, 10)Jpeg

In the News

Magnum signed square print sale returns for third year as reported by DP Review.

Signed or estate stamped prints for $100 from over 60 Magnum photographers and artists will be available for a limited time, from 9am EST on Monday 6 June until 11pm Friday 10 June 2016, here: shop.magnumphotos.com

Magnum's Square Print sale is back, offering up museum-quality signed prints for just $100 each. Upwards of 70 prints are on sale from photographers like Martin Parr, Alex Webb, Rene Burri, Eve Arnold, Tim Heatherington and many more. Each photographer contributed an image that plays on a theme of 'The More or Less Decisive Moment(s)'.

The 6x6" prints are available for five days only, starting now through 11pm ET on Friday, June 10 at shop.magnumphotos.com.

Robust Backups with Hedge

I've been using Hedge for Mac for backing up my recent shoots. Essentially what I've been doing, is as soon as I get to my computer, I insert the memory card, run Hedge, and backup its entire contents to an external drive.

Then, when it's time to decide if the images go into Capture One Pro, Photos for OS X, Lightroom, or somewhere else, I just import them from the external drive. Once the shots are in two places, I'm free to erase the cards. Hedge is the software that makes this entire process so easy.

• Hedge is the fastest app for importing and backing up media on OS X.
• The simplest interface you'll find, yet very powerful under the hood.
• It's built with video, photo and audio in mind.
• Import multiple sources to multiple destinations, at the same time.
• Hedge's Fast Lane is the fastest copy/verification engine you'll find.
• Optimized for files 100 MB and larger, it's even faster than Finder.
• Every file copied by Hedge is cross-verified with the original.
• Full support for NAS, RAID and uploading to cloud providers.
• Use Scripts to sort, transcode, rename, tag your media after import.

There's a free version and a premium version. Use this URL, hedgeformac.com/tds and save 20 percent off the price of the pro version that provides the full Hedge experience with Fast Lane copies, unlimited simultaneous transfers, plus NAS and RAID support.

Do You Have a Film Story to Share?

If you love film photography and would like to be featured on theAnalogstory.com, just send me a few paragraphs and up to six film-based pictures to theanalogstory@gmail.com. And if you have been over there lately, there's tons of great content.

Updates and Such

Just Released!: The Apple Photos Book for Photographers

You can get your eBook copy of The Apple Photos Book for Photographers for $15 by using the checkout coupon: APPLE15. That saves your 5$ off the price.

And finally, be sure to visit our friends at Red River Paper for all of your inkjet supply needs.

See you next week!

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.

Podcast Sponsors

Red River Paper - Keep up with the world of inkjet printing, and win free paper, by liking Red River Paper on Facebook.

MacPaw Creators of CleanMyMac 3 and other great software for Apple computers. Visit www.macpaw.com today.

The Nimbleosity Report

Do you want to keep up with the best content from The Digital Story and The Nimble Photographer? Sign up for The Nimbleosity Report, and receive highlights twice-a-month in a single page newsletter. Be a part of our community!

Want to Comment on this Post?

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

A week from today many of us will be watching the WWDC keynote on our Apple TVs. Most folks will be listening for what's new in their favorite area of technology. For myself, I'm keenly interested in the next chapter of digital photography with Apple tools.

In many ways, I feel like we've been putting together a jigsaw puzzle the last couple years. The evolution of iPhone cameras, iOS photography apps, iCloud, and Mac-based software have all been spread out on a table while we try to figure out how to assemble them.

The missing piece has been Photos for OS X. Although a lovely application in its own right, it's hardly the Aperture/iPhone replacement that enthusiast photographers were hoping for... at least at first.

The emergence of Editing Extensions has provided much-needed functionality for adjusting our pictures. And depending on which extensions you have available on your Mac, you can do everything from retouching a portrait to creating an HDR landscape. Add robust iCloud connectivity, and the pieces are truly beginning to make sense.

So what's missing? What I and many others will be hoping for on Monday, June 13 is improved digital asset management. Simply marking a picture as a favorite isn't adequate. If Photos for OS X is ever going to become that software that's it's capable of, then Apple needs to address the front end of post production.

It's then next chapter that I want to write for my book. And if Apple provides that missing piece, the picture that we've been hoping to see should be worth the wait.

The Apple Photos Book for Photographers

For photographers who are more than just casual snapshooters, or who are making the transition from Aperture or iPhoto, The Apple Photos Book for Photographers shines a light on the sophistication of this app and the ecosystem it taps into. Available as an eBook now, and coming to print later this year.

Want to Comment on this Post?

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

Flickr remains an important component in my online photography presence. But how I use this platform has changed over the years.

"The Dancing Ladies" by Derrick Story. Shared on the TDS Flickr page

When I first signed up long time ago, there weren't the variety of options for photo sharing that exists today. For example, there was no Instagram. I mention that particular service for a reason, because I love Instagram. Yet, my embracing it did not replace my activity on Flickr; it augmented it. And that's the story I tell in the following video: How my use of Flickr has evolved to where it stands today.

In general, that's what I like about new technology... such as Instagram compared to Flickr. It helps me fine tune my workflow. Instead of forcing one tool to meet all of my needs, I can tap the strengths of a handful of tools to create a better experience.

Take a look at my video titled, Tips for Using Flickr, and see what you think. How can you leverage these tools to create the best photo experience possible for you?

More Flickr Tips and Techniques

Sharing Photos with Flickr is a deep dive into this venerable online photography platform, focusing on how to best use its tools with a Mac or Windows computer. I show you how to configure Flickr to automatically backup your images, organize them, and share your favorites with friends, family, and the entire online universe. This training will show you how to best take advantage of Flickr's 1TB of free online storage and its comprehensive set of imaging tools.

Want to Comment on this Post?

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.