Data plot plugin for Lightroom

This is an introduction to Jeffrey Friedl's plug-in named Data plot which help you to plot a histogram of focal length, aperture, ISO, shutter speed... in your current Lightroom catalog.
After install this plugin, you will have an extra plugin option named JF data plot in menu File\Plug-in extras

Data plot plugin

How to Add A Plug-In To Lightroom

Example of Lightroom plugin (JF data plot)

If you’ve every said “I wish Lightroom would let me do X”, then you might be interested in a plug-in. These little packages provide a powerful way to extend the functionality and capabilities of Lightroom in a number of different areas. There are plug-ins for exporting images to other sites like Flickr, Facebook, or 500px; adding more options to the LIbrary Filter; managing and consolidating your keywords; adding new file types for exporting; and analyzing your catalog for camera, lens, and focal length usage. If you regularly send your images to retail stores for printing, there is likely an extension that will allow you to export directly from Lightroom to the store.

Finding Plug-Ins For Lightroom
A good place to start

5 Tips for Shooting Better Landscapes

Hands down, the number one question I get is how to make better landscape images. Many fall into the new-gear trap thinking that when I upgrade to some new DSLR then I’ll be able to take better pictures. They buy the gear and suddenly the wind drops from their sails and their images still lack impact. So let’s talk about some things you can do to make your landscape photos pop.

1. Fanatically Chase the Best Light

What is good light you say? There is really no such thing as bad light, but it’s hard to create images with impact during the middle of the day when the sun is high. Midday the sun is harsh and it washes out colors and texture with heavy dark shadows.
The best time to get out and shoot everyday is when the sun is low in the sky because it creates more interesting side lighting that gives the subject more depth and scale. The light is much warmer creating softer highlights with better texture detail. This low warm light is also near sunrise and sunset and those are obvious times to add amazing colors to a landscape.

5 Tips for a Powerful Picture Every Time

You see plenty of landscape, portrait and commercial photographs every day on the web and in magazines. You can tell by the lighting, staging and seemingly overall perfection of everything in those pictures that days, maybe even weeks of planning were needed to pull of such amazing photographs. With that much planning, all that is left to do when it is time to take the picture is press the shutter. The photographer behind the lens probably even knew exactly what time she was going to press the shutter. In short, the photographer did everything necessary to prepare for the picture

But what about the other side of photography?

You have also seen equally powerful pictures that captured something spectacular in the spur of the moment. These are the kind of photographs that you may think you could never plan for because they present themselves with no prior notice or warning.

Have you ever heard the saying that “luck favors the prepared”? No truer statement could ever be said about photographers and photography.
It’s true that luck can find anyone at any given time, but if you want to be able to pull off amazing photos with just a moment’s notice you need to be as prepared as a studio or commercial. But this approach to photography takes a completely different type of preparation.
Here are five photography tips for a powerful picture every time. These tips will help prepare you to perfectly capture once in a lifetime pictures time and time again

1. Always have a camera

A prepared photographer needs to have a camera close by at all times. It sounds elementary, but any good top five list is going to start off with the basics first. If you don’t have a camera with you, you will not be able to capture that picture of a bald eagle in your backyard. Without your camera, you are left only with your story of a bald eagle. Odds are you have already have a camera on you or near you right now. Your phone! The first tip in photography preparation; always have your camera (any camera) close by.

2. Study light

Photography is all about light (and having a camera). Without light there is no photography. But there is so much more to light than just having it. As a photographer you must become a student of light. What color is the light? How strong is the light? Where is the light coming from? How long until the light changes? Where can you find more light right now?

Exposure triangle

The Exposure Triangle is simply the term used for the three fundamental elements of exposure: aperture, shutter speed and ISO. The following diagram will help you understand more about this three elements in just 5 minutes.

Exposure triangle cheat sheet (source: Digitalcameraworld)

You will need more exposure in low-light condition for example: at night, in door... and vice versa. The aperture is the most limited element in those three. It depends on your lens, and the wider the aperture, the more expensive the lens is. But a kit lens with aperture from 3.5 to 5.6 is good enough for beginner.
You rarely need a iso of more than 1600
And the shutter speed for hand held sometime depends on your zoom level, but with lens' vibration reduction system, you can reduce your shutter speed few stop which is good for low light condition.

@Lam Hoang