Lightroom
Lightroom 2 Review
September 15, 2008 08:14 PM
By Robert Lachman
Lightroom 2 is a powerful photo-editing software, that is used to import, organize and make some adjustments to your photos.
Most consumers who are happy using iPhoto on their Macs for photo editing, are probably fin
e, and may not be quite ready to take the leap into Lightroom 2. iPhoto is like driving a Ford and Lightroom 2 is like driving a Ferrari to get to the same location. It's a ramped up, supercharged, photo-editing machine with a multitude of features.When you do need the high performance of library modules, dual-monitor support, web-gallery exporting, great control over Raw image import, color correction, gradient tools and adjustment brushes and smooth integration with Photoshop, Lightroom 2 from Adobe is your best choice. The Apple product in this category is Aperture 2.
Lightroom 2 does have a fairly steep learning curve, but that doesn’t mean that there's not an abundance of ways to learn about the softwa
re program. There are plenty of seminars, tutorial videos and books on the subject. A quick check on the Amazon site gave me the name of ten Lightroom 2 book titles which include: The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers, The Serious Photographer's Guide to Lightroom Efficiency, Photoshop Lightroom 2 Adventure, Workflow not Workslow in Lightroom 2 and Lightroom 2 For Dummies.I consider myself to be like the average photographer. I still shoot JPGs on a regular basis, and just do a little color balance, burning-and-dodging, cleaning up the dust spots in Photoshop and then moving on to the next photograph or adventure.
For most of us, you can do a lot of this for a cost of $79 with Adobe Photoshop Elements, which also includes a raw photo converter and the organization photo-editing software Adobe Bridge.
So where does Adobe Lightroom 2 come into play with a list price of $299? You can find it for less at retailers like Amazon or other stores with student discounts.
The program is designed for the serious amateur or professional photographer who wants to get organized and use words like workflow, image capturing and raw non-destructive photo-editing.
The new version, Lightroom 2 continues to work the way the old version did with an interface divided into modules which include: Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print and Web. They go in the workflow order.
-Library Module is used to import, organize, rate and add metadata to your photos.
-Develop Module is used to make corrections to your photographs like color balance, exposure, shadow recovery, clarity, vibrance, saturation and curves.
-Slide Module is designed for presenting your work and has added new introduction screens.
-Print Module is improved with it’s systematic way of arranging photos for printing with different templates, including multiple picture packages from the same photo.
-Web Module gives you a variety of ways to assemble beautiful flash and html web galleries including: Simpleviewer, Autoviewer, and Postcardviewer.
A lot of photographer’s had complained about the inadequacy in the first version of Lightroom because their was no way to make corrections on selected portions of the photograph. Any type of alterations were utilized to the complete image.
On the other hand, Photoshop and Elements both have these features but this was an area Adobe wanted to improve upon with Lightroom and they did accomplish that.
With my workflow, I still make changes in isolated areas to exposure, color balance, saturation and sharpness with Photoshop. With its more advanced layering and masks, it’s really the best choice.
Here are the new features which I would use in the new version Lightroom 2.
Adjustment Brushes, this is probably the most asked for feature. This feature is super advanced for this type of program. You can now use a brush to burn and dodge with exposure tool, add brightness and contrast saturation clarity and sharpness to specific areas using the adjustable brush sizes with an auto mask feature.
You now have a Graduated Filter Tool for adding exposure, vibrance, brightness and contrast in a gradual way .
The new Dual Monitor feature is really nice. This is the top new feature for me. It’s really nice to spread the photo-grid view on a second monitor.
The program now has seamless Integration with Photoshop, making it easier to switch between the two programs to work on a photograph.
Also added in the new Lightroom version 2, is improved sharpening, a new color selector and Smart Collections.
The new version of Lightroom has added many new features and improved others for a more streamlined workflow.
The software is the best in its class but it’s not cheap, making it a tough choice for those advanced amateurs looking for a step up. It’s probably possible to get along with what you already have, but if you’re ready for an innovative, photo-editing workflow, this software is a great choice.
Photoshop Lightroom 2 by Adobe definitely continues to be a complementary implement to use with Photoshop and the upgrade has added some very nice new features.
I would give it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.
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More Deke, More Kelby
July 25, 2008 10:07 AM
The new dekePod video podcast by photographer and graphic artist, Deke McClelland is out. Just under six minutes of pure Deke. His videos always give me something to look forward to. This time it’s Deke’s approach to lab color. Sounds boring, right? Only Deke can give lab color an interesting spin. OK, now that we’re talking about how lab color is boring... I don’t use it but, if it’s good enoungh for Deke, it must time for me to give it a try..
Deke pitches his Photoshop book and his Lynda.com tutorials after the video. The lab color tutorial looks like it would be nice. I ne
ed more knowledge!
Scott Kelby’s taking pre-orders on his new book, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers. This one could be tough to beat. I am still on the fence about Adobe’s Lightroom and Apple’s Aperature it’s tough to know which one to go with. I still don’t shoot RAW images very much. The book might just be the push toward Lightroom for me. It would fit perfect next to my dog-eared Photoshop CS2 Book by Kelby. But then, it all starts to add up, because I would need to upgrade to a Canon G9 point-and-shoot which will give me RAW images. It a viciuous circle of spending. It never ends. Great and cool technology is never cheap.
Deke pitches his Photoshop book and his Lynda.com tutorials after the video. The lab color tutorial looks like it would be nice. I ne
ed more knowledge!Scott Kelby’s taking pre-orders on his new book, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers. This one could be tough to beat. I am still on the fence about Adobe’s Lightroom and Apple’s Aperature it’s tough to know which one to go with. I still don’t shoot RAW images very much. The book might just be the push toward Lightroom for me. It would fit perfect next to my dog-eared Photoshop CS2 Book by Kelby. But then, it all starts to add up, because I would need to upgrade to a Canon G9 point-and-shoot which will give me RAW images. It a viciuous circle of spending. It never ends. Great and cool technology is never cheap.