Oh my heavens! How have I never used lightroom before?!?

[jedirunner]

So I recently acquired lightroom. A little turned off by how it organizes photos, but I'll come around to that I hope. It was my major reason for not using it in the past -- everyone only touted it to me for its organizational structure, and I have my own structure in place. But now ... oh man ... I just discovered the adjustment brush tool. Freaking awesome.

With just a little reading about lightroom, it's easy to achieve pretty good results. I can't wait to see what can be done when I really master it!

The context for this discussion is a dance recital in a very poorly lit high school auditorium. So many people snapping pics from smartphones. I dunno, maybe they can get something useable on a small screen. I ended up with my shots having to be 1/250" in order to not over-blur with the movement, no flash, f/8 to try to get some decent DOF, and ISO set to Auto. Going through the 200+ shots, many of them bumped up to ISO 12,800.

I couldn't sleep last night, so I put them all into lightroom, and learned how to sync settings accross similar photos to get some consistent noise reduction. Picked 4 shots, and cropped/aligned, and used the adjustment brush to pull my daughter a bit more into the center of attention on these photos.

Now these aren't anything that's suitable for 8x10 prints due to the really high ISO. But they're going to smash unprocessed photos to bits, and my daughter will love them. Wife loves them too. She absolutely loves the difference between her around-the-house snapshots and my noobish (but improving) results with a better camera, improving compositional attention, and post processing.

How on earth have I never gotten into lightroom before???

Anyway, just had to share my excitement.

Kevin

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the 'Light' side of the force.

I'd suggest doing some reading, watching tutorials and maybe even taking a class. LR definitely has a bit of a learning curve...and once you know 'most of it', you'll be amazed at what you can do with it.
I teach a class on it, and several of the students told me that they've used it for years, but never really knew how to take full advantage of it, until after the class.

I ended up with my shots having to be 1/250" in order to not over-blur with the movement, no flash, f/8 to try to get some decent DOF, and ISO set to Auto. Going through the 200+ shots, many of them bumped up to ISO 12,800.

Are you sure that you needed F8? Find a DOF calculator (on line or smart phone app) and put in your settings (camera, focal length, distance to subject, aperture etc) and it will tell you how much DOF you're getting. You may have found that you didn't need F8, and thus could have used a wider aperture and thus could have used a lower ISO. Also, there comes a point where you may want to sacrifice some DOF in order to get a lower ISO or faster shutter speed. Since you're shooting mainly your daughter (I assume) it might help her to stand out in the photos, if she were the only one in sharp focus.

 

[KmH]

Many don't know that:
Lightroom 4's Develop module and CS 6's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 7.
Lightroom 3's Develop module and CS 5's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 6.
Lightroom 2's Develop module and CS 4's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 5.

 

[Buckster]

Many don't know that:
Lightroom 4's Develop module and CS 6's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 7.
Lightroom 3's Develop module and CS 5's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 6.
Lightroom 2's Develop module and CS 4's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 5.

And many just don't care, no matter how many times you post it, especially since the develop module is just one component of the software.

 

[KmH]

The OP's post is directly related to the Develop module.

I have encountered many, many people that do not know that ACR is used for both the Develop module and for Camera Raw.

I am also aware that most of the people that visit TPF are not members or regular TPF visitors and may not know ACR is used for both the Develop module and for Camera Raw, so it bears repeating.

But thank you for adding attention to the information.

 

[MK3Brent]

I agree with the file organization aspect of LR, as I'm overly annoyed with it.

Also haven't figured out a way to change the scroll wheel options to pan/zoom.
I think default is either "Z" or spacebar to zoom, and it goes 100%.

The dramatic fading and stuff between library and develop or import is annoying too... it's not necessary. (Don't know if there's a way to disable that either.)

 

[Jad]

Many don't know that:
Lightroom 4's Develop module and CS 6's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 7.
Lightroom 3's Develop module and CS 5's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 6.
Lightroom 2's Develop module and CS 4's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 5.

I have only tried the beta version of Lightroom when offered and haven't bought it yet. I did like the print module. I have PS CS5 with Bridge and have found I can pretty much will do everything I want with it. I make mask and edit select contrast areas to create more contrast in one area of the image, dodge and burn , create gradients, used smart sharpen or unsharp mast before printing, etc. I hear people talk about Lightroom as a must have software. I have to ask how do you work on one image with so many different software programs? When does Lightroom come into the workflow? If I have Lightroom maybe I wouldn't use Camera RAW of PS much.

 

[Buckster]

The OP's post is directly related to the Develop module.

All it has to do is barely touch on the subject, and you post the same info, just like you do with your spammy NAPP link.

The question that keeps coming to my mind every time you post it is: Why? Why is it so important to you that everyone who gets near your sphere should know that? It doesn't escape notice that many times your statements about LR are a bit passive/aggressive toward a general attitude that LR sucks in some way. So what is it EXACTLY you're trying to impart to people with that information you never get tired of putting out at every possible opportunity?

Is it along the lines of, "Don't buy and use Lightroom because Camera Raw already has it covered"? That's the message that seems to be pushing through between the lines whenever you post it.

If not that, what?

I have encountered many, many people that do not know that ACR is used for both the Develop module and for Camera Raw.

Again, it's important for them to know that, WHY? So that they don't accidentally buy and use Lightroom?

I am also aware that most of the people that visit TPF are not members or regular TPF visitors and may not know ACR is used for both the Develop module and for Camera Raw, so it bears repeating.

"It bears repeating" because, WHY? So that they don't accidentally buy and use Lightroom?

But thank you for adding attention to the information.

You're so, SO welcome.

 

[KmH]

A substantial portion of the information here on TPF is repeated, over, and over, and over, and over, and over yet again.

 

[runnah]

A substantial portion of the information here on TPF is repeated, over, and over, and over, and over, and over yet again.

 

[Buckster]

A substantial portion of the information here on TPF is repeated, over, and over, and over, and over, and over yet again.

Good excuse. Almost hides the fact that you obviously have an agenda.

 

[terri]

A substantial portion of the information here on TPF is repeated, over, and over, and over, and over, and over yet again.

Good excuse. Almost hides the fact that you obviously have an agenda.

You are free to have an opinion but the rest of your posts in this thread are in some weird attack mode. Keith actually has a wealth of good technical info, so why not share it when a relevant thread appears? Your opinions on his possible motives should be taken to PM, if it matters that much. Otherwise, this type of posting is just inflammatory, non-helpful to the OP and drags his thread off topic. Please don't do that!

 

[Jad]

A substantial portion of the information here on TPF is repeated, over, and over, and over, and over, and over yet again.

Good excuse. Almost hides the fact that you obviously have an agenda.

You are free to have an opinion but the rest of your posts in this thread are in some weird attack mode. Keith actually has a wealth of good technical info, so why not share it when a relevant thread appears? Your opinions on his possible motives should be taken to PM, if it matters that much. Otherwise, this type of posting is just inflammatory, non-helpful to the OP and drags his thread off topic. Please don't do that!

I guess I don't get my question answered because we are in romper room.

 

[pixmedic]

Good excuse. Almost hides the fact that you obviously have an agenda.

You are free to have an opinion but the rest of your posts in this thread are in some weird attack mode. Keith actually has a wealth of good technical info, so why not share it when a relevant thread appears? Your opinions on his possible motives should be taken to PM, if it matters that much. Otherwise, this type of posting is just inflammatory, non-helpful to the OP and drags his thread off topic. Please don't do that!

I guess I don't get my question answered because we are in romper room.

What exactly IS your question, other than why you haven't gotten lightroom before? It sounded like you were just sharing your excitement over discovering LR. Do you have a question concerning LR or its uses?

 

[jedirunner]

Many don't know that:
Lightroom 4's Develop module and CS 6's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 7.
Lightroom 3's Develop module and CS 5's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 6.
Lightroom 2's Develop module and CS 4's Camera Raw are the same software - Adobe Camera Raw 5.

I have only tried the beta version of Lightroom when offered and haven't bought it yet. I did like the print module. I have PS CS5 with Bridge and have found I can pretty much will do everything I want with it. I make mask and edit select contrast areas to create more contrast in one area of the image, dodge and burn , create gradients, used smart sharpen or unsharp mast before printing, etc. I hear people talk about Lightroom as a must have software. I have to ask how do you work on one image with so many different software programs? When does Lightroom come into the workflow? If I have Lightroom maybe I wouldn't use Camera RAW of PS much.

My understanding is that Lightroom forms the organizational backbone of the flow. It's for organizing the photos, flagging, cataloging, key-tagging, etc. It also has very powerful "developing" functionality to tune your images. Then, from what I can tell, for advanced edits, it can open the image in photoshop (or some other image editing app).

Camera RAW + PS can be used to do all of the editing work in lieu of the "Develop" module of lightroom. But the Library and other modules (such as Print) are lightroom's strengths in the workflow management.

That's just how I'm perceiving it so far

Kevin