Fiddling with Lightroom

[aparmley]

I finally got around to poking around in lightroom last night. I found that I had quite an easy time at importing all my photos. What I wasn't expecting was to be impressed, but I was. I didn't want to import my entire library at once. Instead, I just selected my 2007 imports folder. Being the RSP user that I was, am, currently, in the past I have subfolders within each folder designated for that days photos named "Converted." What I found pleasantly surprising was that once I selected my entire "Imported 2007" folder I had a list of all the subfolders presented to me, I simply unchecked every folder named "Converted" and now, hardly any effort put forth, I just prepared lightroom to import my RAW files ONLY. I haven't decided yet if I want Lightroom to manage my jpegs yet.

The area I wasn't so happy with was speed of import. I was having lightroom render standard previews thought so perhaps that increased the length of import. RSP is so much faster I can't even compare lightroom to it. Overall, it wasn't bad, just not fast like RSP. There are lots of things for me to discover still and I've been more than pleased with version 1.0 so far. I just wanted to share a few first edits, I've been enjoying the split toning tool and I've been enjoying the new way to work with curves.

http://parmley.smugmug.com/photos/131080451-L.jpg

http://parmley.smugmug.com/photos/131080406-L.jpg

http://parmley.smugmug.com/photos/131080392-L.jpg

http://parmley.smugmug.com/photos/131080310-L.jpg

http://parmley.smugmug.com/photos/131080230-M.jpg

The one thing I've enjoyed the most about lightroom 1.0 is that it feels like a workflow. It feels like less effort is required to allow creativeness in my edits. It feels right.

[boog]

I downloaded the 30 day free trial yesterday and low and behold, I get up this afternoon from graveyard and their's my liscense # for LIghtroom. I've imported only one picture at a time and haven't figured out a lot. I love the control for black and white as I never was real good at converting. I'll post a couple of shots I converted and maybe get some feedback. A bunch of learning to do and I was just getting comfortable with RSP(DAMN ADOBE:D).

[jamison55]

I DL'd it this afternoon and I'm hecka impressed. I'll be editing an e-session on it tonight and a wedding next week...It'll be interestingo see how much faster my workflow will be. Just playing around for a couple hours it feels like I'm gonna save a boatload of time!

[aparmley]

I DL'd it this afternoon and I'm hecka impressed. I'll be editing an e-session on it tonight and a wedding next week...It'll be interestingo see how much faster my workflow will be. Just playing around for a couple hours it feels like I'm gonna save a boatload of time!

It sounds like you experienced just what I was talking about - feeling like its a workflow, a workflow that does just as advertised, "Flows" which allows more time for what we want to do, which is focus on the tweaking of our images.

[24Peter]

Thanks for the report Andy. Oh, and it looks like it's duck season in old St. Lou... ;)

[aparmley]

Thanks for the report Andy. Oh, and it looks like it's duck season in old St. Lou... ;)

No problem Pete. I plan on adding more information as I learn about it. Good year for ducks, hey they're plentiful and a short drive away.

[forno]

Have you guys used the Print & Web sections yet?

[aparmley]

Have you guys used the Print & Web sections yet?

I have yet to use the print section because my old i960 is nothing but a disappointment and I have not used the web section because I don't have need for it - or a place to host it.

[aparmley]

I just wanted to share some interesting resources for Lightroom:

Adobe's getting started guide:
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/designcenter/search.cfm?product=Photoshop+Lightroom&go=Go

http://lightroom-news.com/

http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/

[cdifoto]

I have yet to use the print section because my old i960 is nothing but a disappointment and I have not used the web section because I don't have need for it - or a place to host it.

Ditto except I haven't printed simply because I print from Photoshop. I do some actions and such there with every image.


Nice snaps up there Andy. :)

[aparmley]

OBTW LR is running very slow for me. I think its running slower than Beta 4 actually, importing images from my library (not CF card) taxes my PC to the extreme. when trying to do anything else in LR while this import process is running I get "Out of Memory" Errors - I'm running my PC with 2 GB of RAM.

[cdifoto]

OBTW LR is running very slow for me. I think its running slower than Beta 4 actually, importing images from my library (not CF card) taxes my PC to the extreme. when trying to do anything else in LR while this import process is running I get "Out of Memory" Errors - I'm running my PC with 2 GB of RAM.

Importing wasn't speedy for me but it wasn't horrid either. I did just sit back and let it go though rather than doing any heavy multi-tasking. Once you get those done and are importing from the memory card itself it should be pretty darn fast to import (ie from a card). I didn't get any actual errors but if I tried to get ahead of myself and it, I'd get a big frozen program hangup window but it would always come back on its own when I stopped what I was trying to do.

[aparmley]

Importing wasn't speedy for me but it wasn't horrid either. I did just sit back and let it go though rather than doing any heavy multi-tasking. Once you get those done and are importing from the memory card itself it should be pretty darn fast to import (ie from a card). I didn't get any actual errors but if I tried to get ahead of myself and it, I'd get a big frozen program hangup window but it would always come back on its own when I stopped what I was trying to do.

Funny thing is I was not doing anything really intense during my import, just trying to look at images - it coudn't handle it. My PC isn't cutting edge but shit.

Anyway another thing I've failed to mention that since D/L and installing v1.0 my external HDD has repeatedly become unresponsive requiring a hard reboot (unplugging the power) to recover. I don't like this one bit.

[cdifoto]

Funny thing is I was not doing anything really intense during my import, just trying to look at images - it coudn't handle it. My PC isn't cutting edge but shit.

Anyway another thing I've failed to mention that since D/L and installing v1.0 my external HDD has repeatedly become unresponsive requiring a hard reboot (unplugging the power) to recover. I don't like this one bit.

Hmm that's odd. What are your computer's specs? I know, I know. You're an IT guy so you know what you're doing. I'm just curious because mine isn't all hot to trot either.

[aparmley]

Hmm that's odd. What are your computer's specs? I know, I know. You're an IT guy so you know what you're doing. I'm just curious because mine isn't all hot to trot either.

Let me be the first to tell you most IT people don't have a clue. Ok, now that has been said. My main PC is this nearly 3 years old, P4 2.8ghz, 2 GB PC2700, nvidia 6800 GT. Its all old hardware - but its not a POS, but it is getting closer. I just can't believe the huge difference between LR and RSP in speed. I like LR better, besides the sluggishness.

[cdifoto]

Let me be the first to tell you most IT people don't have a clue. Ok, now that has been said. My main PC is this nearly 3 years old, P4 2.8ghz, 2 GB PC2700, nvidia 6800 GT. Its all old hardware - but its not a POS, but it is getting closer. I just can't believe the huge difference between LR and RSP in speed. I like LR better, besides the sluggishness.

Well that's really wierd because yours is spec'd better than mine. I'm on 2.16GHz AMD Athlon, 2GB PC2700 and onboard video. It hasn't been a speed demon but it's not hanging up either. Just the previews take a few seconds to draw - but DPP is the same way.

Not sure what the issue really is on your end. :confused:

[forno]

Ive got the beta version on my mac 1.5GHZ G4 512RAM seems to be not bad at importing

[cdifoto]

Ive got the beta version on my mac 1.5GHZ G4 512RAM seems to be not bad at importing

And once you get the old stuff imported, bringing in new stuff from the memory card is even faster yet. At least in my full 1.0 and the 30 day trial (since it's the same thing).

[RichNY]

It's kind of peppy on my 2gb Intel iMac.

[cdifoto]

It's kind of peppy on my 2gb Intel iMac.

Yeah it kinda pops on my dual core laptop too. I need to get a better calibration kit for that screen though... I'm pretty disappointed in the quality of the LCD they put in it...or the drivers...or whatever it is that makes the colors suck ass. Hopefully it's just a matter of calibration & the Huey being not up to snuff.

[boog]

I right clicked a picture in lightroom and opened it in CS2. It opened it as a PDF file( I believe that's right). When I finished with it and did a save as, I didn't see an option for jpeg. I know you can convert but have never had to. My question is how do you convert to jpeg? Thanks. Maybe right clicking was problem. Should I have tried to export pic? By the way, the picture I was working with was Jpeg.

[cdifoto]

I right clicked a picture in lightroom and opened it in CS2. It opened it as a PDF file( I believe that's right). When I finished with it and did a save as, I didn't see an option for jpeg. I know you can convert but have never had to. My question is how do you convert to jpeg? Thanks. Maybe right clicking was problem. Should I have tried to export pic? By the way, the picture I was working with was Jpeg.

You mean as a PSD. You have to change it to an 8 bit in Photoshop to save to jpeg. Image > Mode > 8 bit.

You can set your LR preferences to work with 8 bit in the first place when you use the Edit In Photoshop option. Edit > Preferences > External Editors

[boog]

PSD. That's it:o . At work again. Thanks. I knew there had to be something on lightroom to do that. Just haven't had time to look.

[aparmley]

Thanks for chiming in Rich and letting us know how it runs on the new dual core intel iMacs with 667Mhz RAM. i was really worried about that. :rolleyes: But, in all seriousness Rich I'm happy you said that cause I'm considering a 20" iMac with 2GB of RAM and LRs performance on my PC is just pushing me closer to that purchase.

[cdifoto]

Thanks for chiming in Rich and letting us know how it runs on the new dual core intel iMacs with 667Mhz RAM. i was really worried about that. :rolleyes: But, in all seriousness Rich I'm happy you said that cause I'm considering a 20" iMac with 2GB of RAM and LRs performance on my PC is just pushing me closer to that purchase.

For what it's worth, my laptop is 667MHz, 2GB (not sure what type) RAM, and 2.16 GHz Core2 Duo. It zips nicely.

Makes me want a dualy desktop even more now....maybe even a quad. :eek: :D

I love overkill... :)

[RichNY]

But, in all seriousness Rich I'm happy you said that cause I'm considering a 20" iMac with 2GB of RAM and LRs performance on my PC is just pushing me closer to that purchase.

If you are really considering an iMac I think you'd like Aperture better than LR- it is much more refined and has addtional functionality.

[cdifoto]

If you are really considering an iMac I think you'd like Aperture better than LR- it is much more refined and has addtional functionality.

What's the admissions fee? (Too lazy to look it up)

[TenD]

I downloaded a Beta 4 copy of lightroom for evaluation, I like the workflow and the results, I just can't seem to figure out how to do one thing: Save my work!
I have looked in all of the logical places, and just can't see a way to save the photo I am working on, am I missing something...? boy I feel dumb.

[cdifoto]

I downloaded a Beta 4 copy of lightroom for evaluation, I like the workflow and the results, I just can't seem to figure out how to do one thing: Save my work!
I have looked in all of the logical places, and just can't see a way to save the photo I am working on, am I missing something...? boy I feel dumb.

When you edit, you don't have to save. When you get to wanting to use Photoshop or another program you either right click and "Edit in Photoshop" or use the Export tool to convert it. Saves are automatic.

[TenD]

No wonder I couldn't find it. So to use a photo edited by lightroom, to say post on the web, I need to open in PS and then save it as is?

[cdifoto]

No wonder I couldn't find it. So to use a photo edited by lightroom, to say post on the web, I need to open in PS and then save it as is?

Well if you don't want to do anything else, you can export it directly to jpeg at any size you want.

[Vich]

Anyone using it on Vista? How about Photoshop CS or CS2 with Vista?

I've decided I need a desktop upgrade and Vista seems offered on most, but I'm a bit reluctant since it (Vista) is release 1.0.

Andy; when I downloaded off the RSP EMAIL, they mentioned that it's only good for one download and didn't offer both platforms (Mac and PC - it was either-or). Is there a work-around for that?

[aparmley]

Anyone using it on Vista? How about Photoshop CS or CS2 with Vista?

I've decided I need a desktop upgrade and Vista seems offered on most, but I'm a bit reluctant since it (Vista) is release 1.0.

Andy; when I downloaded off the RSP EMAIL, they mentioned that it's only good for one download and didn't offer both platforms (Mac and PC - it was either-or). Is there a work-around for that?

My research leads me to believe that every license is good for two installs, cross-platform.

Rich - Aperture is nice - but free is a lot better. ;) I would most certainly download the 30-day trial though - I'd love having to decide between the two, trust me.

New favorite feature - The before and after comparision, "lights out" ofcourse:

http://parmley.smugmug.com/photos/131672362-L.jpg

BTW making sure the "Render standard preview" button is unchecked does speed up the import process (CF import) quite nicely.

[RichNY]

What's the admissions fee? (Too lazy to look it up)

Aperture is $299 retail, $269 B&H, and $150 if bought as a student (everyone knows a student- this is what I paid)

I think Lightroom is a great product but if one has a Mac and downloads Aperture I really think they'll like the workflow better and appreciate tools that are not available in Lightroom (at least yet) such as the backup vault, the light table, and the improved printing module.

It's going to be nice having these two compete so that we all keep getting improved functionality.

-- I'm a big fan of free myself! I'm looking forward to hearing your comments about the two packages after you've had time to download and play with them.

* For anyone looking to get a really quick cool overview of Aperture take a look at this multimedia link http://www.apple.com/aperture/resources/tutorial/ I think they did a pretty good job of showing and explaining the software on this site.

[boog]

20610

20611

Couple of B&W conversions. Be harsh as I can take it. These were done in Lightroom and sharpened in CS2. Both just snapshots. First is house across street at around 6:30a and second is of my wonderful dog Kasey who passed away Dec. 23 2006. Let me know what I could do better in conversion. Thanks.