Lightroom 2 – Testing and Training

Picasa Vs Lightroom

After recently acquiring a new super duper DSLR camera to help create more professional images,  I decided to review the way I manage my digital photographs.

Up till now I have used Picasa from Google which is a GREAT piece of software. It makes it easy to manage and fine tune my photographs. I’ve used it for over 3 years and know it well, but when researching online I learned that there were some professional solutions that may have some advantages over an above Picasa.

Unsurprisingly,one of the most popular professional photo management tools is from the makes of Photoshop itself – Adobe. So I got my hands on a copy of there photo management tool – Lightroom (Lr) and was rather impressed.  It surprised me in that it has nowhere near the learning curve of Adobe’s other products. The interface is clean and clear and you can start using it with no training at all.

However, after playing with it for a few days I still wasn’t 100% convinced that it offered big benefits over Picasa. I needed to take a deeper look into Lightroom to understand why it’s the professional choice for photo management.

Lynda.com Rock!

So to investigate deeper I downloaded training materials from Lynda.com. I’m a great fan of their training materials – they really do a fantastic job and have a comprehensive range of training materials particularly on Adobe products.  The training in question was by a gentlemen called Chris Orwig, a photographer and teacher from the Brooks Institute in California.

Chris does a great job of explaining the Lightroom application, his enthusiasm and passion for photography is clear and it’s hard not to get excited by his tutorials.  Being new to DSLR photography  I enjoyed the bonus photography tips he throws in at the end of each module. The only point I found a little bit irritating was his repetitive emphasis on keyboard shortcuts.  I’m a fan of shortcuts and can understand the value of using them but I don’t need them rammed down my throat every 20 seconds. I do understand why he does it though – rote learning works – it’s just not my style.

Thanks for the training Chris, it was excellent.

Chris has a blog here and has just launched a new book - Visual-Poetry.

So to distill my learnings into a few paragraphs these were my key takeaways:

Main Benefits of Lightroom

• Create multiple versions of the RAW file with very little incremental incease in disk size. (stores the changes/process not new images)
• Powerful image corrections, adjustments,  white balance and color tone tools.
• Great integration with Photoshop – creating HDR’s and panoram’s and editing within Photoshop as layers is simple.

Workflow Notes:

An ultra simple develop workflow

1. J key – check lost detail (burnt highlights or too dark shadows)
2. Color corrections where necessary (White balance with neutral tone or manual)
3. Fix flaws
4. Sharpening – noise reduction if necessary – DONE!

Summary

I will probably keep using Picasa for my personal photographs as it’s quick and efficient but for proefssional projects and photographs I want to really get creative with I will start using RAW in tandem with Lightroom.

Watch this space!