Re the 'lost' Lightroom database, I seem to have got the hang of it now. Thanks everybody. However, it is very labour intensive.
Now I find myself having to manually go into every single folder (stored on an external drive) via MY COMPUTER, finding the relevant file as suggested, and opening it. This process activates the system and the database reimports the files. Fair enough, but this is a very laborious process as I have several thousand pictures to deal with. Surely there must be some easier way to re-establish the connection with the actual database itself in one 'go'. Obvioulsy not all files out of so many are in the library. The relevant import window tells you what pictures are already in the Library and offers to 'show' them - in effect, find them. But this doesn't avoid the task of having to manually deal with all folders one at a time. It's a lot of navigation! Is there a shortcut to do this?
Is all of this a weakness in LIGHTROOM or, more probably, is there something I am doing incorrectly at the first import stage? If so, it isn't immediately obvious to me. My speciality is landscape work for exhibition and sale in local galleries. I shoot RAW. I use a Canon 5D with L lenses. I usually download to a folder on the desktop first, giving me an independent source should something subsequently go wrong. At least I have the Desktop folder to fall back on. I then open that folder and proceed to import the files into Lightroom, using the check/uncheck boxes to select those I want. Meanwhile, all the files are still available in the desktop folder which can be backed up on independent external drives and on DVD/CD for security purposes.
Despite the advice here, for which I am very grateful, I have an instinctive feeling that there must be an easier way to go about this task. Neither am I happy that Lightroom could lose contact with its own database so easily.If this is the case, then I would be very worried. What happens down the line if the same thing reoccurs, only this time there are many, many more folders 'lost' in the system?
I would be delighted to hear some thoughts on this as a general topic - I cannot be the only one on planet earth to whom it has happened (or to whom it is about to happen), and I'm sure people like me who are reasonably computer literate but not technical experts would appreciate a few tips to avoid this kind of hard labour.
I am a newspaper editor. My main work is the written word, but I have a passionate interest in photography and have been working with photo journalists for over thirty-five years, first in the darkrook and now digitally. At work I use Apple equipment, at home WINDOWS. I have been using Photoshop for years and have recently upgraded to CS3. So, I know my way around a little bit. I mention this just to bring some context to the issue. I am perhaps a bit more than a 'keen' amateur - proof of the pudding is that my work sells well. I wouldn't be banging on about this if I didn't think it was worth following up for everybody who uses LIGHTROOM.
This is not a rant. Far from it. I think Lightroom is a really good application with vast potential and I am genuinely interested in finding a long-term solution to a problem which I fear may crop up again at some time when there are tens of thousands of folders for somebody to worry about! And not just for me, but for many others as well.
Incidentally, I have purchased Michael's and Geoff's tutorial series on Lightroom which I found most informative, and have watched it quite a few times so I'm not exactly a novice on the ins and outs of the application. I wonder would Michel ever consider doing something on the kinds of common problems users are now encountering? Like mine! Just an idea but even an article dealing with the warts and all would be really useful.
The other thing I would like to add is that LUMINOUS LANDSCAPE is a tremendous resource- an international gathering place for photographers of all abilities who are willing to share their collective knowledge with colleagues. I am of that generation which is still in awe of the ability to sit down at a machine in my house and share a problem with like-minded people all over the workd - just with the flick of a mouse. It's a far cry from inhaling dodgy fumes in a darkroom and thumbing through chemically-stained manuals trying to find an answer to some toning problem!!
Regards to all,
Seamus
