Adobe Lightroom CC [I Finally Switched]

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npod

Lifer
Jun 11, 2017
2,942
1,024
***The following has nothing to do with pipes, tobacco, or pipe smoking***
Early morning ramblings after returning home from vacation. Smoking Capstan Blue in a small billiard while typing.
I have been been using Adobe Lightroom Classic since version 1.0. I was even a certified Adobe instructor for Photoshop and Lightroom at one time. At the peak of my photography side business, a few years ago I had many hard drives and adapters, dongles, FireWire 400, then 800, then esata, off-site backup, rotating drives, you name it. It was a job just managing the backups. Then I broke my back and had surgery and spent months in rehab learning to walk without a cane (that’s when I started pipe smoking btw). When I started back to photography last year I was amazed at the leaps in technology, noteably the Mirrorless cameras with small lightweight lenses. These systems changed my life, literally. I could now carry lightweight rigs without hurting my back. And the joy of making pictures has returned.
But, I was dumbfounded how quickly and profoundly I lost many of my Photoshop skills. It was like I forgot how to even make a layer mask. And in my time away, Adobe went and made it even more complicated by making two versions of Lightroom, classic and CC. Like many others I completely resisted the CC version due to its minimalist technology. I went back to my old hard drives and clunky adapters (yes, the world upgraded to USB-C and Thunderbolt 3, we’ll forget for ancient 3 year old FireWire 800 tech). But at least I new how to use the trusted clsssic software.
This past week I was on vacation and in a place that required many pictures and documentation shots. But also requiring I travel very light and with minimal gear. So I made the jump to Lightroom CC to use the cloud storage because I only had an IPad and iPhone. Well, wow! I am completely hooked on the new platform now. It is so modern, you simply upload the raw files to your iPad and bingo, the pictures since to the cloud and are immediately available on all your devices. I am now able to do 80% of the work from my mobile devices, even basic edits like crop and healing brush and markups without waiting until I get back home to my main computer. And when I did get home the raw photos were there on my computer and my calibrated monitor waiting for me. So cool.
Change is difficult, especially when it involves your work flow. But this change, for me, is certainly a good one.
P.S., I still use Photoshop and Lightroom Classic for important photos that will be printed. Nothing can replace the king that is Photoshop. I just wish I hadn’t lost so many of skills and workflow tricks during my time away.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,348
Sounds interesting though I've never owned a computer. Look forward to seeing your photos!

 

npod

Lifer
Jun 11, 2017
2,942
1,024
Sounds interesting though I've never owned a computer.

Duane, please enlighten me, oh Captain. How do you post all your online pictures and YouTube videos without a computer?

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,348
Samsung Galaxy Luna
51434583


 

npod

Lifer
Jun 11, 2017
2,942
1,024
That is impressive! You are my hero. You are my Captain!
In 4 words, you summarized the ultimate minimalist approach to photography. It took me 7 paragraphs and much rambling, and I’m still not close to my utopian vision of minimalist zen photography.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,348
Before digital became the thing, I had a Canon SLR and a dark room from my college days.

 

bassbug

Lifer
Dec 29, 2016
1,112
905
I spent 30 years of my life in the photo industry. Not as a photographer but a rep for equipment and software. I got in at the infancy of digital imaging and rode that wave through the maturity of pixels.
Hardware was always straightforward. Pixels, optics, sensor design etc, but software was a blessing/curse from the beginning. It seems no one could get the right mix of user friendliness, features and processing algorithms. I don't think anyone has yet, either.
Being in the industry, I would get "evaluation" copies of every bit of software that came out. There was no shortage of brave entrepreneurs, some small, some very big, that wanted to dethrone Adobe. Today, the playing field is somewhat more even and the choices of well written, feature rich, affordable software are plentiful. Each has its own quirks and pleasures.
I use a number of products, depending on mood, purpose and features, but I have been very intrigued by a relative newcomer called Affinity.The price is right, the feature set is nothing short of amazing and reviews are very good.
As far as workflow skills and tricks, they are so dependent on the software being used, that I'm sure you will get back to full speed in short order. You have the foundations already.

 

timt

Lifer
Jul 19, 2018
2,844
22,729
Neil, you really do a great job combining pipe smoking with photography. I’m hoping to acquire some of those mad skills you got there. Pictures really do say a thousand words and to do it with a minimalist approach is attractive.

 

bigpond

Lifer
Oct 14, 2014
2,019
13
That’s cool. I’ll have to add cc for iPad. Recently, I was in a similar situation (sans laptop) and found transferring files over WiFi from my camera to edit on mobile a bit of a pain. The biggest issue was getting Sony to quit downrezzing files to 2m. Glad you’ve made the switch to something easier to carry. I’ve been shooting since the early 80’s and have somehow avoided owning anything with a mirror all this time :)

 

npod

Lifer
Jun 11, 2017
2,942
1,024
Laptop, iPhone, iPad, all three sync instantaneously when a change is made on one device. So cool.

 

jamban

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 6, 2018
154
3
Neal, my utopian vision of minimalist zen photography... Fujifilm X100, flaws and all.

 

npod

Lifer
Jun 11, 2017
2,942
1,024
my utopian vision of minimalist zen photography... Fujifilm X100, flaws and all.

Yes! I totally agree, jamban. I am now shooting 80% of the time with only my Fuji X100F. Flaws and all, it is an amazing little rangefinder and it's the only travel camera I use. Its low light performance is stellar. And the stealthy silence is a bonus for street photography.
This is now my entire travel gear set up (X100F, tele/wide lenses, extra cards, minus an extra battery).

veh3EZv.jpg

Samples from a recent shoot. No flash, no tripod, just the X100F and great subjects to photograph.

3eYzEDB.jpg

Mb3cnNI.jpg

l4gre7e.jpg

mHNJPU0.jpg

3fryJP1.jpg

eXppwNL.jpg


 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,569
15,218
SE PA USA
I've earned my living as a photographer since 1985 and I've never used Lightroom. Took a class in it once, thinking that I should be using it, but decided it wasn't for me. I'm a Camera Raw guy, edit with PhotoMechanic. Maybe I'll take another look at LR.
BTW, I bought the Sony A6500 mirrorless system, which is darned nice and lightweight, but it just isn't anywhere as near as fast to use as my Canon DSLR's. Still, it's a nice camera.
These photos were made with the Sony A6500

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,569
15,218
SE PA USA
If you decide to go the DSLR route, I suggest that you check out Canon's Refurb Site.
Mirrorless will replace DSLR's. My gripe isn't with mirrorless at all, I think that it's a superior system all-in-all. But you will have to pay for a pro-level camera if you want to pro-level performance. The Sony A6500 isn't an inexpensive camera (and I now own two of them, and a bevy of lenses), but it's really a consumer camera with ergonomics designed by engineers, not photographers. Way too may buttons in too small of a space, and too many essential functions buried deep in sub-menus. Just too pimped up.
Nikon just came out with a full-frame mirrorless that should be the shizzizzle, but it requires the user to buy all new lenses. I may end up going that route, if Canon follows suit.

 

bigpond

Lifer
Oct 14, 2014
2,019
13
Hey Woods, I’m a huge fan of Capture One for converting Sony’s RAW files. I believe they allow you to download a Sony specific version for free. Check it out if you haven’t.
Re: The Nikon z6/z7- you can use the old Nikon lenses with a $250 adapter, just FYI.
Neal, love seeing the whole x100 kit and kaboodle! Looks like you’re getting on well. Who are the pipemakers?

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,569
15,218
SE PA USA
Thanks, Bigpond, I'll look at CaptureOne. What are the advantages over CameraRaw?
As for the Nikon Z-mount, I have to assume that there is a loss of functionality with the f-mount adapter.

 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
Another CaptureOne Pro and Canon user here. Funny, I used to use LR but Adobe's Crapative Cloud subscription scheme made me switch.
CaptureOne's engine runs circles around ACR: more natural colours, especially skin tones; better highlight/shadows recovery; luma curve; and more. C1Pro is still lacking in the DAM department, so I use Photo Mechanic 5 in tandem.
I'm still running Photoshop CS4!

 
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