Lightroom

September 9, 2013

Why Lightroom

Years ago, I bought a copy of Photoshop CS3. Then I bought a copy of Photoshop CS5 (when I got a Canon 5Dii and found myself up a creek without a paddle with CS3). Then in September of 2013, my friend John told me that what I really wanted was to be using Lightroom. I respected his advice and took the plunge.

I did a little bit of research first. I have a book "Real World Photoshop CS3" by Blatner, Chavez and Fraser. On page 175 there is an inset labelled "Camera Raw + Bridge = Lightroom?". It explains that Lightroom was born sometime between CS2 and CS3. At the time when this book was written (2008), Lightroom was brand new and had not yet become the established and mature product it is today. Even at that time they point out that it is less expensive, expressly tailored for photography, and allows a more efficient workflow.

Many people say that they spend at least 98 percent of their time in Lightroom and jump to Photoshop only in the 1 or 2 percent of cases where they need to do something really special. And in 2013, Adobe has moved Photoshop to the new "cloud" licensing scheme, where you must pay a subscription fee each month (currently $50 per month) for access to the latest versions of all the Adobe products (including lightroom). It is important to note that Lightroom is still available under a "perpetual license", whereas Photoshop is only available via the monthly subscription scheme. If you have a perpetual license to a version like CS5, you are in good shape.

I had this hunch (while I was in the midst of trying to decide if Lightroom really had any merit, and whether I shouldn't just stick with Bridge + Camera Raw) that Scott Kelby might have something to say. A quick search led me to:

He says that one of the most common questions he (and Matt Klowkowski) get asked at their seminars is "why should I use Lightroom if I already have Bridge plus Camera Raw". So he and Matt put together 100 short videos highlighting things they feel Lightroom does better than Bridge plus Raw. This pretty much convinced me. And if I needed more convincing, I found out that one of the most highly recommended Lightroom books is written by Martin Evening (one of my other Photoshop Gurus). So, I am convinced.

Using Lightroom

There are thousands of Lightroom tutorials, guides, and tips online. Here are links to some that I like or think look useful:

Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Digital Photography Info / tom@mmto.org