Lightroom Help?

[ktmrider]

Uploaded photos to Lightroom last night for the first time ever. Am sitting there with a manual in my lap. I know it will get easier but can anyone recommend any OUTSTANDING web links which are worth exploring which might speed up the learning curve?

 

[froyd]

I learned a lot from AdobeTV's videos, which can be found on their site. You have to dig around as they cover all subjects and all versions. Julieanne Kost is a very thorough instructor.

 

[Richard G]

I agree with froyd about the Juileanne Kost videos. Very clear. A good strategy is run down through the options in the right panel of the Develop module. I read through Martin Evening's large book, but Scott Kelby's is said to be easier.

 

[Ronald M]

Agree with all above.

I can make it work, but returned to photoshop.

 

[Frank Petronio]

I went back to Bridge and Photoshop after giving LR a year. Never liked the catalog model.

I am old school however, I delete most of my files and only keep the best so I never have to manage too many.

 

[Dan]

Martin Evening's books are excellent -- skip Kolby's (just my opinion).
Also consider Lynda.com. No contract involved, just $25 per month and unlimited access during your subscription. Outstanding value.

 

[froyd]

Same here. I'm in the middle of my year of LR trial, but I'm old school too, and Photoshop works with files in a way that's closer to how I have been handling my images for years. I do like the develop module, pretty fast way of working through batches of images.

 

[Keith]

I dabbled with LR briefly ... then went screaming back to ACDSee Pro! 😛

 

[ktmrider]

Thanks. Watched a couple of the videos. Now seeing what is capable, I feel like an idiot for resisting digital processing for so long. Of course, I will not be selling the film cameras either as there is room for both.

 

[Bob Michaels]

All those electronic tutorials and books are nice, but.............

What you really need is to cultivate a relationship with someone who understands Lightroom that you can telephone (not e-mail) and ask "how do I ......................???" All those tutorials do great with the basics. Then you actually want to do something but don't know what LR calls it so you cannot look it up anywhere.

 

[willie_901]

ktmrider

A few conceptual tips

LR is a database-driven program. The original image is never modified. Instead the changes in rendering. cropping, etc are stored in a huge data base (the LR Catalog. So all the changes you make to an image are virtual changes. When you export a file from LR (JPEG, TIF, slideshow, web pages) or make a print, then a new image is created. However the exported image is not part of LR.

The LR Folders are an exact replica of the file system (directory structure) of your computer's hard drive. If you move or rename Folders or individual image files using LR, the Folders and images actually change on your HD. But if you move them by using your computer's OS, then LR looses track of their new location. LR can relocate them, but his will be tedious. So if you want to rearrange/reorganize/rename your image Folders/files, use LR to do this.

Finally, when you render images in the Develop Module, work from the top down. The rendering tools are designed to be applied in that order.

 

[ktmrider]

M9 Question

M9 Question

I uploaded about 300 imagines last night from my trip to SE Asia. I noticed a lot were overexposed. Now that was the first trip with the M9 and I am thinking I inadvertently had exposure compensation on. I am still trying to figure out the menu but I thought exposure comp had to be turned on but did not remain on.

Luckily, shooting in RAW is allowing me to adjust the image (first time I have ever done that).

So now I have the exposure comp set to 0 in the menu. Am I on the right track?

 

[jsrockit]

So now I have the exposure comp set to 0 in the menu. Am I on the right track?

Yes, but if you ever use it in Auto mode... dial in some minus exp comp to avoid highlight clipping.

 

[lawrence]

I dabbled with LR briefly ... then went screaming back to ACDSee Pro! 😛

I used ACDSee for many years but with every successive release it became more and more unstable, so I migrated to Photo Mechanic. PM is more stable but I preferred using ACDSee as PM likes to work with virtual copies (thumbnails) which I don't.

Concurrently with this I've been using LR5, having upgraded through some of the earlier versions, however the thing about LR is that it really wants to take over everything, so if you use it it's best not to use anything else. It's also a memory hog and somewhat large and unwieldy and if I want to do something quickly like grab a few photos off a digital camera and email them it just seems to take an age -- I so much prefer lightweight applications for this kind of thing. But then LR won't know where these files are and you'll have to synchronise at a later date. However I have to say that LR is great for some kind of output such as prints or slideshows.

In summary what I'd really like is something small and quick that uses catalogue model, so you can find and group stuff easily, but also lets you work with the original files. ACDSee was the closest although the cataloging was not brilliant and, as I say, it became too unstable to be of any use. :bang:

Edit: Oh sorry I got so tied up in moaning about LR I forgot to agree that the Juileanne Kost videos are superb 🙂

 

[Paddy C]

I second (or third) the Martin Evening books. I think there's a lot to learn with LR and if you are old school or PS familiar, LR presents a different approach that may not be immediately intuitive.

Another very good book is Schewe's The Digital Negative. He uses LR so although the book contains a lot of useful instruction for simply working with digital files, it is, IMO, lightroom-oriented.

I guess I'm old school in that I've always preferred learning from instruction books rather than videos in most cases. Although you are then stuck with a big book that will soon be "out of date" (I'm looking at you Adobe Lightroom 4 - The Missing FAQ), you still have a reference that should serve well for a couple releases.

 

[Bob Michaels]

..... however the thing about LR is that it really wants to take over everything, so if you use it it's best not to use anything else. ......

That is my #1 problem with Lightroom. I have 18 years worth of data (document files, spreadsheets, PDFs, TIF files, PSD files, JPGs) organized in a subdirectory system that has evolved over those 18 years. Now LR insists on organizing digital image files in a separate fashion. So now when I want to look at a topic, I must pull all the files, except for recent digital image files, up on one system and then go look in LR for recent digital image files.

 

[Frank Petronio]

That is my #1 problem with Lightroom. I have 18 years worth of data (document files, spreadsheets, PDFs, TIF files, PSD files, JPGs) organized in a subdirectory system that has evolved over those 18 years. Now LR insists on organizing digital image files in a separate fashion. So now when I want to look at a topic, I must pull all the files, except for recent digital image files, up on one system and then go look in LR for recent digital image files.

Agreed

LR and iPhoto are great for people new to the concept of organization but after using computers since the dark ages I've got my ways and they work!