Digital cameras and software seem to go together, like a horse and carriage, like Darby & Joan---you get the idea! For my photo passion, I use two different programs--Lightroom 5.0 and Photoshop Elements 12 (both produced by Adobe). These versions have now passed their 'best before' dates by a significant margin, but still reliably provide me with all the tools that I require at my hobbyist level. I am a firm believer in only replacing/updating tools when they actively hold me back from advancing
to a new, higher level. For this posting I will restrict my comments here
to my experiences with Lightroom and address PS Elements 12 on another day.
I came to Lightroom (LR), a couple of years after my baptism into the world of digital (circa 2012) when I learned about and rapidly appreciated the benefits of shooting in RAW format. For those who may not know, RAW is a non-destructive large file process of handling digital data. In other words, if one shoots in RAW, then the image can be manipulated digitally in a program like LR without losing any pixels. Maintaining pixel count in the editing/correction process greatly facilitates achieving an end photograph of highest quality. Of course, pictures can also be captured in jpeg (small file) format. Jpeg is a "lossy" process, whereby each and every time the photo is adjusted in a software program, pixels are lost, destroyed and cannot be replaced. Jpeg not recommended if you wish to digitally improve your photographs.
I found LR to be pleasingly intuitive to use and to simple to learn. It is virtually impossible to damage a photo in the program, as there is always the option in the History tab to wind back the editing process to an earlier action, prior to the problem. The finest tool that I ever used in mastering LR were the YouTube videos produced by Anthony Morganti, usually no more than 10 minutes duration per segment---each segment covering a single aspect of LR. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi1-8qYHWaQ This was a very effective learning method for me, as I was able to proceed at my own pace, to take away one technique at a time and practice it myself, achieving and building my brain muscle before proceeding to the next step (FYI: I am not the world's fastest learner and generally need 'hands on' to fully comprehend the theory). In all, Anthony Morganti uploaded about 60 episodes on Lightroom 5. Thanks Anthony.
I know that one should always aim for optimum settings 'in camera'. Post processing software can magically rescue, correct and improve in camera setting errors, but if the composition is
shoddy, then sorry mate, you are scuppered. Even the world's best software genius cannot totally retrieve (although crafty cropping may help) a poorly composed effort!
As I mentioned earlier, I greatly enjoy black and white photography. I shoot in colour and convert to black & white. Not just black & white with shades of grey, but perhaps tending to extremes with crunchy blacks and bright whites. Not by the book perhaps, but maybe my 'personal!!' style is emerging. Being able to "see" in b/w, a subject for a later posting. LR helps me to achieve this effect enabling me to raise up and subdue each colour group to achieve the effect that I seek. Some "experts" say that LR and similar programs are a replacement and a crutch for those that are short changed in creativity. I beggar to differ---they just enable, through the miracles of digital science, many of us lesser mortals, to express our individuality and dreams through a computer and onto paper.
Note on photo -- man with bowl of noodles. I took this photo through the window of a restaurant a couple of years ago, a cold day yet sunny day, very early in the Spring. It appeared to me that the man was a street person, perhaps one of the sad army who choose to sleep outside even in the cold of a Toronto winter. He appeared to have real style and as I watched was clearly able to manipulate those chop sticks with admirable dexterity.
READERS: To make most sense of this blog, please commence reading entries with the earliest posting date.
I came to Lightroom (LR), a couple of years after my baptism into the world of digital (circa 2012) when I learned about and rapidly appreciated the benefits of shooting in RAW format. For those who may not know, RAW is a non-destructive large file process of handling digital data. In other words, if one shoots in RAW, then the image can be manipulated digitally in a program like LR without losing any pixels. Maintaining pixel count in the editing/correction process greatly facilitates achieving an end photograph of highest quality. Of course, pictures can also be captured in jpeg (small file) format. Jpeg is a "lossy" process, whereby each and every time the photo is adjusted in a software program, pixels are lost, destroyed and cannot be replaced. Jpeg not recommended if you wish to digitally improve your photographs.
I found LR to be pleasingly intuitive to use and to simple to learn. It is virtually impossible to damage a photo in the program, as there is always the option in the History tab to wind back the editing process to an earlier action, prior to the problem. The finest tool that I ever used in mastering LR were the YouTube videos produced by Anthony Morganti, usually no more than 10 minutes duration per segment---each segment covering a single aspect of LR. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi1-8qYHWaQ This was a very effective learning method for me, as I was able to proceed at my own pace, to take away one technique at a time and practice it myself, achieving and building my brain muscle before proceeding to the next step (FYI: I am not the world's fastest learner and generally need 'hands on' to fully comprehend the theory). In all, Anthony Morganti uploaded about 60 episodes on Lightroom 5. Thanks Anthony.
I know that one should always aim for optimum settings 'in camera'. Post processing software can magically rescue, correct and improve in camera setting errors, but if the composition is
As I mentioned earlier, I greatly enjoy black and white photography. I shoot in colour and convert to black & white. Not just black & white with shades of grey, but perhaps tending to extremes with crunchy blacks and bright whites. Not by the book perhaps, but maybe my 'personal!!' style is emerging. Being able to "see" in b/w, a subject for a later posting. LR helps me to achieve this effect enabling me to raise up and subdue each colour group to achieve the effect that I seek. Some "experts" say that LR and similar programs are a replacement and a crutch for those that are short changed in creativity. I beggar to differ---they just enable, through the miracles of digital science, many of us lesser mortals, to express our individuality and dreams through a computer and onto paper.
Note on photo -- man with bowl of noodles. I took this photo through the window of a restaurant a couple of years ago, a cold day yet sunny day, very early in the Spring. It appeared to me that the man was a street person, perhaps one of the sad army who choose to sleep outside even in the cold of a Toronto winter. He appeared to have real style and as I watched was clearly able to manipulate those chop sticks with admirable dexterity.
READERS: To make most sense of this blog, please commence reading entries with the earliest posting date.
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