Really need some help as I am very frustrated...

photomagic

Hello,

Hope you all are having a great labor day weekend and staying safe..

I am very frustrated and tired over how long it takes me to go through and process images. I first pick out all the good images that I want to edit. Process them through RAW converter using Photoshop CS3 and then make just basic adjustments to them in Photoshop. However, it takes me like two hours to do just 20 or so photos. So I am not making much progress and am soooo FAR behind in editing my images. I dont have time for anything else hardly.

Today, another photographer mentioned to switch to Lightroom as it will speed up my editing and I will get through photos much faster.

Would switching to Lightroom be beneficial to me??? I would love to get others opinions, recommendations, suggestions on this..

Thank you!!

Michele

scottV

Lightroom is the answer to all your prayers. Download the trial and you will be hooked. It takes away all the time consuming steps of dealing with raw. I only use PS for the really special shots or when serious cloning is required.

Tips & tricks:
http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/

Good set of free presets:
http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=33

Pupator

Yep. A 2nd vote for Lightroom. You can use import presets to get most pictures pretty close to where you want them. You can reject photos with one keystroke. You can make global adjustments (things like white balance) across dozens of pictures at once. You can also make some local brush adjustments too, when necessary.

Anthony

photomagic wrote:

[..]

Today, another photographer mentioned to switch to Lightroom as it will speed up my editing and I will get through photos much faster.

Would switching to Lightroom be beneficial to me??? I would love to get others opinions, recommendations, suggestions on this..

Thank you!!

Michele

Whilst I respect (and agree with) the comments regarding Lightroom as an appropriate program for photographers to use, I don't quite see how the processing in Lightroom differs from ACR - even down to presets which are available/can be created in both programs.

If you find it necessary to go into Photoshop itself to finish the processing, then this will need to be done in Lightroom as well.

Assuming the basic processing steps for the majority of your images start the same, the use of a preset, made with appropriate adjustments already entered, would be the way to go in speeding up the overall processing task.

Lightroom is good with tagging, sifting and other library tasks, although Bridge (in CS4) is no slouch either.

Anthony.

arodney

scottV wrote:

Lightroom is the answer to all your prayers.

Absolutely!

Whilst I respect (and agree with) the comments regarding Lightroom as an appropriate program for photographers to use, I don't quite see how the processing in Lightroom differs from ACR - even down to presets which are available/can be created in both programs.

In terms of the processing engine, it doesn't. They are virtually identical. Its all about workflow which ACR doesn't begin to match (its really a one image at a time affair despite the filmstrip).

photomagic

Thank you all..

I really appreciate all the feedback and it does give me something to think about.

Qarik

photomagic wrote:

Hello,

Hope you all are having a great labor day weekend and staying safe..

I am very frustrated and tired over how long it takes me to go through and process images. I first pick out all the good images that I want to edit. Process them through RAW converter using Photoshop CS3 and then make just basic adjustments to them in Photoshop. However, it takes me like two hours to do just 20 or so photos. So I am not making much progress and am soooo FAR behind in editing my images. I dont have time for anything else hardly.

Today, another photographer mentioned to switch to Lightroom as it will speed up my editing and I will get through photos much faster.

Would switching to Lightroom be beneficial to me??? I would love to get others opinions, recommendations, suggestions on this..

Thank you!!

Michele

+1 for lightrooom

pathfinder

photomagic wrote:

Hello,

Hope you all are having a great labor day weekend and staying safe..

I am very frustrated and tired over how long it takes me to go through and process images. I first pick out all the good images that I want to edit. Process them through RAW converter using Photoshop CS3 and then make just basic adjustments to them in Photoshop. However, it takes me like two hours to do just 20 or so photos. So I am not making much progress and am soooo FAR behind in editing my images. I dont have time for anything else hardly.

Today, another photographer mentioned to switch to Lightroom as it will speed up my editing and I will get through photos much faster.

Would switching to Lightroom be beneficial to me??? I would love to get others opinions, recommendations, suggestions on this..

Thank you!!

Michele

Michele,

What is your level of interest/involvement in photography? Are you a professional for whom time spent editing in front of a monitor is lost revenue not spent behind a viewfinder? An amateur who shoots for fun? Or what.

120 minutes for 20 images, is 6 minutes per image. Not that much for really first rate images capable of printing large, but a lot if you plan on shooting 1000's of images over a week end as some sports shooters do.

In camera jpgs, shot well color balanced and with very accurate exposure can look very good without any processing. Poorly exposed jpgs not so much, even after rescuing them in PS.

I do agree that Lightroom can help speed up workflow if your goal is speed. You may still find yourself spending more time processing than shooting. I certainly do.

photomagic

pathfinder wrote:

Michele,

What is your level of interest/involvement in photography? Are you a professional for whom time spent editing in front of a monitor is lost revenue not spent behind a viewfinder? An amateur who shoots for fun? Or what.

120 minutes for 20 images, is 6 minutes per image. Not that much for really first rate images capable of printing large, but a lot if you plan on shooting 1000's of images over a week end as some sports shooters do.

In camera jpgs, shot well color balanced and with very accurate exposure can look very good without any processing. Poorly exposed jpgs not so much, even after rescuing them in PS.

I do agree that Lightroom can help speed up workflow if your goal is speed. You may still find yourself spending more time processing than shooting. I certainly do.

I do ALOT of photography shooting all year around for personal and business including sports. For sports, I do shoot all jpeg and not do much processing to them at all just because of the time, but the rest of the photography I shoot raw.

Thank you so much for your input. My goal is definitely trying to spend as little as possible behind the monitor than absolutely necessary..

leaforte

Ah. Work flow. The proof is in the pudding, so they say. Batch process is your friend, and that special shot demands special attention, in my book.