The contest to try and win one of 3 Picnik Premium Memberships ends at 6pm CST today and winners will be announced tomorrow.
Today’s guest blogger is photographer Susan Keller from Short On Words.
Lightroom is the photo editing software I use to catalog and edit all my images. For me, it’s quicker, easier, more intuitive, and more enjoyable than Photoshop (tho, I will acknowledge, less powerful than PS). It’s the first photo software I bought after I graduated from iPhoto. I was way intimidated by the intricacy, expense and learning curve of Photoshop. I knew I could probably find my way around in Lightroom (especially with the help of my handy dandy Scott Kelby book). And I could. And you can, too. Here’s Lightroom:
Isn’t it pretty? This is where I begin in Lightroom. In the Library mode. This is where I import and tag all my photos. If I’m diligent to tag (label, categorize, etc.) my images, I reap the benefits of being able to very quickly find my desired picture in a flash in the future. For example, down the road I might want to create a scrapbook page of our family hikes. I can open a collection of all our photos tagged “hike” or “canyon”. What about a scrapbook page of my darling 8yo son? Just as easy, pull up a collection of every picture tagged with his name. Incredibly powerful and helpful and wonderful and speedy.
But, do you know what the real magic of Lightroom is?
The ease of edits. Super simple, quick, [oftentimes] one-button-click edits. Even to really poorly exposed images. Case in point (the first image is SOOC):
And it works even better with a properly exposed image (again, first image is SOOC).
To do this fun editing, I move on over to the Develop mode.
Here’s a screen shot of Lightroom’s Develop mode with my SOOC (straight out of the camera) Salton Sea image. To the left are all the [free!] edits (called “presets”) that I have downloaded. I need only scroll over these presets to see the different ways they change the original image – so I can visualize the changes without ever having to “apply” the preset. This makes it quick and easy to see a bunch of different picture possibilities and choose which I like best.
With just a single click I created each of the following artsy images:
So, there’s a cursory tour through my beloved Lightroom.
Susan is a natural-light, on-location photographer living in Southern California with her husband, three boys, and a dog. You can view her portfolio here or visit her blog to see & read about her daily family hi-jinx.
Darcy here! I’m a huge fan of Lightroom. I’ve mentioned before, but I also use Lightroom to organize and run through exposure issues. I’m not a pro like Susan, so I rely quite a bit (read, too much!) on post-production. And everything I learned about Lightroom I learned from Scott Kelby. His book is called “Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers.” I have a copy (that I’m keeping!).
But, I’m giving one lwm3b reader a chance to learn everything there is to know about Lightroom and win a copy of Scott Kelby’s book. If you own LR, this will revolutionize your workflow and editing. If you don’t own LR but you’re thinking about, this will help you decide and when you read it, you’ll know it’s worth saving your pennies. **Also – if you’re an educator or homeschooler, you qualify for greatly reduced pricing on all Adobe software… including Lightroom!**
Rules to enter:
-leave a comment to enter.
- one entry per IP
- contest runs until Thursday at 6 PM CST.
- 1 winner will be chosen via random.org and announced Friday.
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Wow! Lightroom looks like a very cool tool!
Lightroom sounds so cool. I especially love the idea of one-click options!
I am going to check out lightroom, very cool
Very nice — and I didn’t know about the educator’s discount for homeschooler on adobe software….fabulous to know! You rock, Darcy!
Darcy,
Thanks for hosting this. Susan’s overview was very helpful. I like the idea of presets and those are some pretty ones!
Count me in!
Oh! and don’t you think it would have been nice to through lightroom 2 in with this???
I. Am. In!
Thanks, Darcy! ;D
Throw my name in the hat!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love how the pictures changed..wow..what great effects!
-sandy toe
Susan ~ what a fantastic overview of Lightroom! You have inspired me to break out of my Photoshop rut and to start using Lightroom again. It really is an easy, versatile program to use.
And Darcy ~ thanks for the chance to win that wonderful book. I have many Scott Kelby books and have learned so much from him.
~Angie
co-founder of I ♥ Faces
Lightroom sounds great. I would love that book.
Thanks Lenka
Lightroom sounds great. I would love that book.
Thanks Lenka
Ooh! I’m in! Thanks for all your informative posts!
Wonderful tutorial! I love her work! Count me in.
You’re getting me all inspired with this photography stuff! Lightroom looks really great and that book would be oh so helpful.
Thanks for the information. Count me in!
Robin
Really cool stuff!
Great info and great giveaway. Count me in. I’d love to learn more about lightroom.
Oh, count me in. I need better organization with my photos!
I’m a huge fan of Susan’s blog and photography. She’s just amazing.
I adore Lightroom but need to learn so much more! I only use the presets I’ve found and rarely mess with any of the many other ways to edit.
I have LightRoom. I so want to make efficient use of the catalog system. But I’m not doing it. I need help!
A book would be great. Thanks for the giveaway!
this was a fun hop from susan’s. the bride below your sister, dancing, reminds me of my daughter.
i’ve so been dreaming of lightroom.
Ooh. I downloaded a trial version of Lightroom and would love to eventually buy it. A book would be so helpful.
Another fabulous giveaway. Love what Lightroom can do…and it looks pretty easy.
Would love the book and what an amazing photographer! Thanks for sharing!
I would be so very excited if I won this!
I want to know more! Keeping my fingers crossed that it’s me!
How cool! I would love that, and my daughter would too!
Jamie
Oooo, that looks like something I really want to read! Was directed to your site by SKeller (a daily visitor there). I'm going to bookmark your site and check out the rest of your posts!
Thanks bunches!
Hugs & Blessings!
Me! Me! Me! I want to learn this
Thanks for the tips!
Kelby has the best books! Count me in pretty please with sugar on top!!!
This looks awesome! I would love to win!
Sounds great – I would love to try it out! Thanks for the chance to win! Kendra
Saw some of your comments on I heart faces and thought I would drop by and say hello. So glad I did – this is a wonderful tutorial plus I would love to win Kelby’s book. I have been going back and forth between Elements, Lightroom and Photoshop. Thanks!
This would be PERFECT! I think I am FINALLY getting my camera this weekend!!
I’ll take whatever help I can get with my pictures! Here’s hoping…
Oh it’s on like Donkey Kong. I am so in on this.
I am just learning Lightroom – I downloaded the free trail then going to buy with my educator’s discount too!! Thanks for this – I’d love to win!
Scott you ROCK, ROCK, ROCK and You’re Awesome. OK, I’m sucking up for this book. DUDE you rock, seriously!!!