Digital darkROOM Trigger your camera

George Cairns shows how you can use Lightroom to control a camera that’s tethered to your computer, and automatically add keywords as you import

If you do a lot of studio-based shooting then you may find it useful to connect your camera directly to your laptop or desktop computer via a USB cable. This will enable you to import each photo straight into Lightroom’s Catalog as you trigger the camera’s shutter. By tethering the camera to your computer and running Lightroom you can streamline the production stage of your workflow, because you won’t need to import a large batch of photos from a memory card later on.

Looking at an imported photograph on a larger screen also means you can spot problems such as a lack of focus or tiny intrusive details more easily than you could if you were looking at the same photo on the camera’s much smaller rear LCD. This gives you the opportunity to adjust the camera’s settings and retake the photo to capture a better version there and then, instead of having to redo the whole shoot at a later date. So, grab your Nikon and USB cable and let’s try tethered shooting…