How many times have you seen an album or photo collection someone posted on Facebook but only glanced at a few photos without clicking through to the whole album? Yep. Thought so. Or, if you’re on Instagram, then you might see someone’s grid of photos but only gave it a glance rather than looking at each photo.
That’s the problem with sharing photo collections. You spend a great deal of time selectively choosing which photos to use. Then you take more time preparing and finally uploading the photos.
Why not make it easier and more fun for everyone and cut the amount of time spent on creating the share-worthy collection. I still love grids and take a look at albums but I never pass up a video in my feed right away. Intrigue your followers and cut down the time you spend on choosing and creating all at once.
Use the little known slideshow module in Lightroom to make a quick video of your photo collection.
It’s so simple and so quick, you’ll jump for sheer joy right out of your chair like someone who just got notified they won the lottery. Ok, maybe only a small amount in the lottery. But you will do a little jump of joy, even if it is only in your head. Me? I literally did a little jump, then called my husband because I couldn’t contain my excitement
Here is one I created from Lightroom showing my daughter and I making cookies (you can see that post here on Project Stir).
Baking Kipfuls from Kathleen Scott on Vimeo. Music credit to bensounds.com
Steps to Create a Video from a Photo Collection in Lightroom
Whether you prefer step by step written with photos or a video, I’ve got you covered!
1. Create a Keyword. Open up Lightroom to the photos you want and create a keyword for all the photos you want. Put the keyword on all of them. Here, this is up to you but decide what system you’ll use. I use keywords. If you don’t want to use keywords then you can use ratings, a specific folder, labels, or even dates.
2. Create a Smart Collection. Scroll down on the left side of your screen in Lightroom until you see the Collections panel. Click on the little + icon in the right corner and choose smart collection. The pop up box gives you options. I type in the name of the new collection then, because I use keywords, I choose Other Metadata on the dropdown, then keywords. Go ahead and choose what you want. Then I leave it at contains and type in the keyword I used for the photos. If you are using something different choose the parameters. Then click create.
3. Go to the Slideshow Module. Located at the top right corner of Lightroom between Book and Print. If you don’t see any of those, then you need to click on the tiny upside down triangle in the center top of Lightroom.
4. If you do this right after making the smart collection, then that smart collection should be highlighted, so when you move to the slideshow module it will automatically pull in those photos. Once you are there it’s time to tweak it to make it yours!
5. At this point, play with your options – borders, shadows, backdrops etc. Go through each of these if you want or if you just want to quickly make a slideshow skip it!
6. Add music. You can add music by scrolling down to the Music panel and click on the + icon. It will prompt you to find the music file you want to use. Choose it and there it is! If you have a longer slideshow you can add more music too.
7. Take a look at the playback panel. Here, you can select to sync the music with the slideshow, which is so handy. Then choose any other options you want.
8. Preview and Export. Preview your slideshow. Once you have everything the way you want, click on the button that says Export Video in the lower left of Lightroom. You are done!
Here’s the thing. You can get creative with how you use it and what it looks like. Best of all, you can move your audience through emotions by telling stories with your photos in the slideshow module. Think how powerful this little module can make your photo set!
You could make a slideshow for a party, to display your Christmas celebrations, or to recognize a special day. Best of all you don’t have to leave any photos out like you would with a compilation grid. The result? You don’t spend time thinking and deciding, nor do you take extra time to prepare the photos or a grid to upload to your favorite sharing medium. You can even still post to Instagram as long as you keep the show short!
If you make a slideshow, I’d love to see it! Leave a link or tag me on social media!
I’m pushing this month to get you a free course on how to get out of Auto mode on your dslr and into Manual mode! I take you through 5 simple lessons with worksheets and assignments that will move you quickly to use your camera fully in manual mode. I can’t wait to share it with you!
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