After several weeks of preparation, I finally took the Adobe Lightroom ACE exam and good news: I passed! While the experience is still fresh, I wanted to pass along a few thoughts and some tips on my preparation.

First off, as part of taking the test, I also agreed to not share any questions or specific details about it – so you won’t find that here.

But, at a high level the test was easier to take than other Adobe ACE’s I’ve taken. Really, that’s to be expected I suppose. Lightroom, while an awesome tool, has fewer features to remember than the full blown Photoshop or some of the other Adobe applications. Also, a few details I didn’t mention that are publicly available-it was 52 questions long and a 68%+ score is required to pass. I had around an hour to take it and finished well under that (I’ve always been blessed to handle multiple choice questions pretty well). A few of the questions were a bit confusing or worded in a misleading way, as often seems to be the case. But, the majority of the questions were straightforward and had clear answers (as long as you know your stuff). Which brings me to the next part, preparation.

How I Prepared

As with most things, successful execution relies on solid preparation. As I mentioned in my previous post, one of the best benefits to taking an ACE is the added product knowledge it provides.

I used pretty much the same process when preparing for each of the ACE exams I’ve passed. Obviously they worked for me – my disclaimer is that they may not work equally for all. Take each tip for what it’s worth and apply it as needed.

Also, it’s very important to keep in mind that these are just tests. Those that take tests well are going to have a natural advantage, even when it might not mean that they know their stuff any better than another person.

Enough with the disclaimers – onto the tips.

1. Use the Product: My first step is always to become very familiar with the product. I don’t even really consider trying to take the test until I’ve used it for at least 6-12 months (depending on how complex the program is and how often I use it). Nothing beats the real world experience with the program. It puts everything in context. I suppose you could take it without much hands-on use, but it’s exponentially harder without it.
2. Use the Prep Guide as a Reference: I always download the prep guide (you can find Lightroom’s Prep Guide here) and use it to guide the rest of my studying. It lists the various subject areas the test will cover and even provides some sample test questions. It’s true to its word. The questions are based on the subject areas it lists. If a subject isn’t listed, it won’t be on the test.
3. Read a Comprehensive Manual: The exact manual varies. With InDesign I read Real World InDesign. For Lightroom I printed off the 150 page user manual and read that. The key here is to read something (cover to cover) that comprehensively covers the topic. This is where you miss a lot of the small tips/tricks that you might not have picked up anywhere else. It also reminds/reinforces not just how to do certain tasks, but why.
4. Read Blog and Other Resources: Of all the steps, this is probably the most optional. I find, though, that reading regular blogs can also reinforce tips and trics and does a nice job of bridging the how do you do it with the real world (many blogs write how to do something in response to a real world question or problem). InDesignSecrets.com and LightroomKillerTips.com are two great blogs.
5. Memorize the Menus and Other Options: After thoroughly reviewing all the details, I spend a fair amount of time just clicking around and memorizing menus, options, etc. I find that I don’t have a problem doing something in a program, but couldn’t necessarily repeat the steps to do so when I don’t have the program in front of me.

That’s it. That’s my preparation scheme. After my 6-12+ months of using the product, I spend somewhere between 2-6 weeks doing steps 2-5. It all depends on the program’s level of difficulty. Generally, I’d recommend planning 20-60 hours of dedicated prep time.

This week’s Flickr photo comes via the HDR group. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and is a technique that combines multiple exposures of a picture to get a more intense image. You can click on the photo to see a larger version and more information at Flickr.

I attended my first ever live auction today. It’s a hobby of my dad’s and he invited me to go to one with a bunch of golf equipment. I like golf and really enjoy spending a day with my dad, so I went. I had a good time – a live auction is a one-of-a-kind event (the noise, excitement and tons of people at an all-day thing, on a work day, spending money… hmmmm… maybe I should have talked to more folks and figure out how to make that happen). I also found a great new iron set at a steal of a price.

Before I was even home I decided that I’d surpass the typical subjects of the photo marathon (my kids) and shoot these instead. It was an interesting challenge – I had to deal with all the chrome on the clubs and didn’t want to get any of the bag in the shot – I wanted to keep in minimalist.

I shot it with two Canon speedlites (a 580EXII and 430EX to be specific) – one with an 8 inch snoot (a snoot is a tube-like device you put on a flash to keep the light narrow and restricted), camera right and above, pointing down at the clubs. The other speedlite was camera left, also snooted, and pointed at the black muslin background. It had a red gel (a gel is essentially a red piece of transparent plastic).

Camera specs were: Canon 40D, 24-70L 2.8 lens at 45mm, f3.5, 1/250 sec. I used a large aperature to blur out the background (the red light was shining on a black cloth and I didn’t want any distinct wrinkles). After looking at the picture full screen, I might have raised it up a bit, perhaps to around 8 to get all the clubs more in focus. Even with that, though, I really like the shot.

As is always the case, you can check out all our photo marathon pictures at the Flickr group here.

Golf was on the brain when searching through Flickr this week. I live in a place where golf isn’t a year-round sport so I’m really looking forward to spring! This set was found by searching for Golf and Strobist – a group of folks who practice using off-camera flash. Check out the Strobist at one of the best blogs on the net.

See below for a few of my favorites. Click on the image for more about it at Flickr.

It’s 2 a.m. and I can’t sleep. It tends to hit every now and then right around this time. At least now that I’m blogging I have something more useful than the infomercials on TV this late/early. So, my thoughts for today…

Sometimes we all get into a rut, creatively speaking. I suppose it’s somewhat natural – we typically develop a visual style and use recipes that are tried and true and continue with them.

I posted some thoughts a few days ago on a Flick photo (and photographer) that I really like. One of the things I liked most was their ability to do lots of different types of shots with the same subject. So, I’ve decided to do a shot a day (well, a shot a weekday) for the next month or so – all with the same set of subjects – all inside our home (it is February out in Colorado, we’re a bit limited). The idea is to have some fun and try some different types of shots. At least it will be something to help pass the cold winter months.

I’ll post the first one tomorrow, on my Weekly Image post. I’m also working on setting up Flickr to show all the photos together.

Ever had a scratched DVD (movie or data DVD full of photos) that froze at a certain point and seemed unusable? I have and it can be aweful.

This happened to me a while ago and I really wanted to finish watching the movie (nothing worse than getting hooked and being cut off half way through). I was desparate and remembered a tip I’d heard about but never tried; toothpaste.

Put a small amount of toothpaste on your finger and gently rub it around the usable side of the DVD. Then, with a very soft cloth, gently rub it off. It fills in any of the scratches that may be causing the problem.

I’ve used the technique several times since then and it’s amazing how well it works on movies and on data DVDs.