No smoke, no fire. Just hard lights. D300 and a prime lens of some sort.
Another of my pet topics and since it’s an integral part of this whole file format, storage and backup binge I’m on I figured it’d be a good time to hit on it. If you don’t know much about Lightroom then this would be a decent place to start. I’m going to assume you have the software and some images and want to know a bit more. If I get some positive feedback I'll go into more detail, consider this a very basic survey.
Lightroom is usually classified as a DAM (digital asset management) program. It’s really not fair to classify it as such since it’s also a powerful parametric editor (this means that when you edit a file in Lightroom the original file is not actually changed, but a copy is made with your changes applied), a printing pretty decent printing RIP, a serviceable slideshow creator and last, as well as least, a web gallery publisher. We’re going to focus on the first two modules and then finish off by discussing exactly how I make use of Lightroom and a few tips.
The library module in Lightroom is the DAM portion of the software. This is a Bridge like space where your files are stored. The difference is that Lightroom is a catalogueue system, which admittedly has some drawbacks but if you’re like me and have many thousands of images to keep sorted, keyworded, rated and just generally organized it’s a heck of a system. It allows you to quickly and efficiently import and organize large groups of images. Bridge, a program that is touted as an alternative to Lightroom for DAM, is certainly usable in that capacity but not as efficient. This is because Bridge is meant to be a multimedia project builder more than anything else (hence the name ‘Bridge’, it’s literally a bridge for mixed media types). So if you can get in the habit of using Lightroom it will lead to a quicker, more efficient workflow when managing your ‘assets’ (I just call them pictures). The largest drawback has to do with the logistics of a catalogueue system and the fact that if something happens to that catalogue you are up %&# creek without a paddle. All your hard work keywording, editing and other non-permanent changes that were stored in that catalogue (file previews as well) will vanish. Easy way to fix this? Backup your catalogueue to at least one totally separate location, just like you do (or should do) with your photos. Problem solved. Next paragraph please.
The development module is really where the fun starts, I don’t have time (well I do, but I’d like to eat dinner sometime before midnight if that’s alright with you) to go deep into detail about exactly what you can do in each and every setting but I’ll cover some of the highlights. The biggest highlight for me is that it’s literally a single hotkey to take an image from the Library to Develop and back again. No other programs have to open, no minimizing of windows, just clean and seamless transitions. When you’re editing 200+ (after culling down from 500+ in the Library) photos from an event this is a real time saver/simplifier. You can also do basic corrections to a file or a group of files while still in the Library which can be handy now and again. The single most powerful tool in all of Lightroom 3 is, in my opinion, the sharpening/noise reduction feature (the two are linked). For me this tool has replaced a pair of $200 Photoshop plug-ins for 90% of my sharpening and noise reduction means, for most people its good enough for 100% of their needs. Sure you also get that with Camera RAW as well but it’s not seamlessly integrated with a DAM and printing RIP. Another neat feature of Develop is the ability to do lens corrections either through supplied lens profiles as well as manually. This can have a very clear impact on the quality of a photo, especially if your particular lens has distortion or vignetting issues.
So here’s how I use Lightroom to manage my 20,000 images. Step one is to take pictures. Step two is to import the photos directly from the card via a card reader into Lightroom using a date based file system (thus all of my photos are chronologically organized). While the files are importing I am already keywording, culling out substandard images based on a quick visual inspection (any badly missed exposures usually die right here) and maybe even doing some light (ha) editing, by the time the files are finished importing I usually have all the major keywords done and many of the misfit photos culled out. Next I continue to cull and sort files using the flag system. Every photo either gets a ‘pick’ (white flag) or a ‘reject’ (black flag); I delete all rejected photos after this step. For the final culling stage I rate each remaining photo a one star or two star. One and two star files are always unedited files in my personal system (once I edit a file I give it a rating of three, four or five stars). With that finished I begin to edit whichever files I need, usually that’s some or all of the two stars; generally one star files are things that I keep ‘just in case’ or because I think I may use them later for some other purpose, they are not the cream of the crop but I also do not feel they deserve to be deleted just yet (that is the ultimate fate of many, sadly).
Beyond what is listed above it can go in many directions, but most often I edit and do a final export without ever leaving Lightroom. If I am printing I still export to CS to use soft proofing and sometimes a sharpening plug-in. If a file is going to undergo heavy editing, the sort of thing only CS can do then it’s a simple click of Ctrl+e and you’re off to the races, but it always comes back to Lightroom eventually. It’s just the circle of life for my photos. Minus the Narniaesque talking lions, Nazi hyenas, creepy baboons and fucked up Disney sexual messaging.
Cheers mates.
www.PrecariousPhotography.com
Comments