I've been legally Lightroomed!

A friend "passed" me his copy of Lightroom 2, when he got his Lightroom 3, fairly recently, which I've used a lot, and learned to love it! I've mentioned it previously, but this is a longer post.

Here's why I love Lightroom:
1. I have my entire library of photos organized and cataloged.
a.All my pictures are filed according to Country/City/Year/Dates.

b.Most of my pictures have been tagged with keywords, can't say it has been diligently done 100%, but in theory, I could find a picture via keywords, like google search.

c.You can also tag it 3 different ways - color code, # of stars, but I use the simplest, which is to flag it. See more on workflow below.

2.Makes using RAW files a breeze.
a. The problem I had previously with other free RAW processors, is that the JPEGs were always nicer, and better processed. But with Lightroom, processing is decidedly superior, easy to use, and almost anything you need to do, can be done with it - all in 1 software. No more having to switch to different free photo apps to do different things. Lightroom makes handling of files, so easy, except you can't add borders, and do major tweaking (adding or removing elements to the photos), which I don't.

a.With Lighroom, using RAW files, is as easy as JPEG, and still retains all the info (you lose bits when you shoot JPEG). Think Film versus Printed Picture. And you don't need to bother with White Balance - just put on Auto, and you can always tweak it if necessary. I've set LR to automatically convert the Nikon RAW files (NEF) to Adobe's Digital Negative format (DNG), so u just pulls the files, converts, and sorts it into the filing system per 1a above. The advantage of DNG is that the metadata (stuff like keywords) become part of the file, instead of LR having to create a different file for NEF.


3. Simplifies Workflow
a.So after I import in the photos, I do a quick vet, deleting the bad shots, or shots I'd never use. This removes easily... 50% of the shots or more.

b.I go through it again, flagging those I want to post online, and seeing if any of those I want to do some touch ups (whether convert to B&W, boost contrasts etc). I also add in Keywords, if I remember or can be bothered to. *I should be more disciplined..... but.....*

c.With a keyboard shortcut, I export all to a temp folder (same folder I sync my ipad photos with, so that a copy is also available there), then upload. Pretty easy.

4.Love the processing
I just love the B&W processing, boosting the colors of the picture, and I'm still learning. All of my pictures have been processed (some less, some more) through Lightroom. Here's a few examples:

Just take note that, the most important ingredient of a good picture is, composition. This is something you cannot lightroom your way out of. Lightroom is only a tool, to enhance a picture - but you still need to get the basics right, composition, aperture/shutter speed, exposure. 

Lightroom 4.
So lightroom 4 was recently launched. The advantages I see over LR 2 are
a. Controls have been simplified. It is marginally easier to use, and theoretically more powerful too! I'll find out more when I use it more.

b. Can import videos as well (LR2 couldn't, and I would accidentally delete the videos, if I forgotten to use explorer to cut and paste into where I want it.). Just saves a step, but a rather important one.

c. Photobooks - it's there. Havn't used it. But I could, if I wanted too!

d. The Price. LR2 and LR3 used to cost US$299, and Adobe has cut the price 50%.
So I finally decided that, since I love Lightroom so much, I should properly own my own copy.
Walking by so many "software" shops here in Jakarta, I confess I felt tempted to pay Rp50,000 or S$7 for a copy! But in the end, I decided to "give to Caesar what is Caesar's", found a copy online and purchased it for abt Rp1.5mn or S$210.

I'm a happy camper! And I encourage anyone, more serious about getting the best pictures out there, to get one (legally) too!

Keep Shooting :)

Lightroom 4 is out at half the price!

Ever since trying out Lightroom 2, I've been a big fan of it.

Pros:

- Easy to import pictures from camera card
- No extra steps to work with RAW files (which I highly recommend everyone too)
- Organizing your database, with keywords, u can find any picture easily
- Post processing - with built in "presets" or 3rd party free ones, it allows you to give your picture that extra oomph, processing to B&W. You can also then fine-tune using the various controls, to how you like it, if you want. It's very powerful, easy to use, all-in-one package.

Cons: 
- No Video. LR2 doesn't hand any video files.  So if you took any video, you have to separately import them in with Windows Media Player or others.
- No frames or collages. A bit of hassle, I do export the pictures first as JPEG, then open it again with Photoscape if I wanted to put simple frames or make a collage of images into one. So far, it's the best (IMHO) free photo software out there.
- IT"S NOT FREE!

Well, after releasing Lightroom4 beta out earlier this year, Lightroom 4 is finally out!
There are lots of websites out there, with reviews (see DP Review; Fro Knows Photo) check it out - but I think the developments are well worth the $$$ - and the best thing is, it is now US$149 as opposed to US$299 for previous versions - HALF PRICE!!!

The advantages over LR2 are

- Video. It now imports video, and you can sort them in a catalog.
- Simplified controls - like now Fill Light and Brightness, are combined. Easier to use.
- Geo-tagging, if that's your thing
- Photobooks - havn't tried it, but if you are into making photobooks, getting to do it within the same software is very useful & friendly
- Direct export to Web - this, I didn't quite like as much. Prefer to export as Jpeg into a folder, then upload how I like to wherever. 
- Improved software ability - I like B&W images, and I do find that I like how LR4 processes them better. Well, it's supposed to be obvious, since LR4 is 2 generations ahead of LR2.

Who is it for?

This is a great software for serious amateurs, people who have tons of photographs, who like to do some post processing/conversion to B&W, etc.
For those who are still using LR2 (like me), or never used it before, I would highly recommend checking it out. Often, you can do a trial version.

Get it, you won't regret it. I'm going to get my hands on one.