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Author Topic: A Shot in the Dark  (Read 2923 times)

bravozulu

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A Shot in the Dark
« on: July 04, 2013, 05:24:31 pm »

I must confess. I am a PP software junkie. Of sorts.

A year ago when I got my first digital SLR I heard of PostProcessing for the first time. My only exposure to software was the inclusion of ViewNX2 that came with my D7000 Nikon. So, I ingested images from SD card with this. Renamed files and saved in different formats. Not much more.

It took a year for me to replace my old Mac with one having the Intel chip so I could use up-to-date software. Here's what I got. I was most sure of Photo Mechanic. I had seen demos of it. At the last moment of dithering, I chose the new Lightroom. I would have preferred aperture --- Apple does know its way around a user interface. And I hear the modules in Lightroom are a serious distraction.

And lastly, I added the Nik ensemble. Thinking it would offer great perspective and shadow correction. And also provide B&W rendering. I've read a lot about image software. Including The DAM Book by Peter Kogh.  I think I'll like the way Lightroom manages its libraries and files. Much better than a hierarchical file structure of Int/Ext>year>month>day.

What do you folks think? And what should I do for a pixel editor?
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mcbroomf

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Re: A Shot in the Dark
« Reply #1 on: July 04, 2013, 07:20:03 pm »

I think you should buy the LL Guide to LR5. 

What do you mean by "pixel editor"? (vs the software you've listed)
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Tony Jay

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Re: A Shot in the Dark
« Reply #2 on: July 04, 2013, 07:22:47 pm »

Lr4 and Lr5 are able, for the most part, to abrogate the need for a pixel editor.
Most of the need for Photoshop-style editing in layers is no longer needed since the current abilities of Lr make this redundant.
As for the issue of modules - just get used to it.
Those of us who know Lr well have a pretty efficent workflow using the modular structure of Lr to our advantage - you can too.
As for a pixel editor - if you really need it - there is nothing wrong with Photoshop.

I think you owe it to yourself to get to know Lr well before investing in other software - you may save yourself a lot of money!

Tony Jay
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egd5

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Re: A Shot in the Dark
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2013, 08:43:10 pm »

As for a pixel editor---PS elements 11
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John Caldwell

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Re: A Shot in the Dark
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2013, 10:03:59 pm »

LR5
PS CS6
Nike Silver Efex and Color Efex
You'll cover a lot of ground with these programs.
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W.T. Jones

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Re: A Shot in the Dark
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2013, 06:31:48 am »

I am admittedly a huge fan of Lightroom. I bought it before I discovered this forum or the Lula site.  I found it intuitive and easy to use and the print module blew me away, however I had no inclination of it's real power. Then one day I a clicked a link to some article on a site called LuLa. After I read the article I went to the home page, then the What's New page and I see this picture of Schewe & MR ( I had no idea who either one was BTW) and some thing about a tutorial on how to use LR2.

I looked at the free segment they had posted and  took a chance and bought it, you might say the rest is history. After I viewed the entire tutorial I realized that I had been using only a small bit of Lightroom's powerful features. I then bought Camera to Print and became a hopeless Schewe-Reichmann Lula follower. Then came "Where The F*** are my pictures" I then realized that Schewe & Reichmann had a coconspirator in Seth Resnik to find ways to pry my wallet open. Seth laid out a clear case of DAM for me & it all came together. I had no idea that LR was a data base...Thanks to Seth & Mike I can now find every picture, when I need it.

So to the OP, I say learn all you can about how Lightroom works and I think in most cases you will not need to go to another editor unless you do a lot of compositing, stacking, cloning etc.. I do keep Photoshop handy, just in case in need to do some of that heavy duty cloning or touch up that LR cannot do, but I chiefly use it mostly for Panos & stacking macro shots.

C'mon Schewe where is that damn print book!

Cheers,

« Last Edit: July 10, 2013, 01:16:34 pm by W.T. Jones »
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Warren
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