If you are a Nikon camera owner and belong to the Nikonians website check out my articles at: nikonian.org.
Please note: This website only addresses instruction for what is now being called Lightroom Classic (LrC), the desktop version.
Welcome to via the lens
Welcome to via the lens. This web site is intended to be primarily about getting to know and understand the Adobe software program called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (LR). It does, however, also include basic information on photography that a beginning photographer might find helpful.
Lightroom, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a photography software program used to edit photographs. It works with either a PC or a Mac computer and you can edit both JPEG and RAW files. Many photographers use it, others do not. There are many photography processing programs on the market, and many plug-in programs that are used with Lightroom and Photoshop, such as On1 or Topaz or Google-Nik software. They are all good programs and sometimes in processing photos people use multiple programs. Adobe Photoshop is a good program and when used with Adobe Bridge it can act somewhat like Lightroom.
I use many different programs to achieve my goals in processing photographs, but I always start with LR and I always use it to organize my thousands of photographs. For me, working in Lightroom is like being in a candy store. I can see some of the candy and can read some of the labels, but way at the back of the shelf, lurking behind something else, is the best candy of all. I just need to search around and seek it out to enjoy it. And that happens to me almost every time I use Lightroom: I find some new way to use a tool or fine-tune an adjustment. I love that experience in Lightroom.
Lightroom allows you to organize photographs in multiple ways, but it is not a data base, it is a multi-faceted software application that contains several modules to allow you to work with your images. The software contains a database application that allows you to link your photographs from the spot on your hard drive where they are stored to a panel in the program where you can access the files once the software is opened. Your original photographs are left untouched in their original file folders and the edits are not applied to the original photographs, only to the image you see on the computer screen. The edits are permanently applied when the photograph is exported. You can save these edits if desired within the program, but the program automatically saves all your edits in its data base edit file so there is no need to hit a save key.
I have posted basic information on this site to get you started in understanding LR and moving on to successful and fun processing of your photographs. From time to time, I will post additional information on using LR that will make your processing easier and faster as well as information on photography basics.
A note, I mostly work with keyboard shortcuts because I find it much faster so that is the information I will most often give you. You can access every command from the Lightoom menu at the top of the program, but you can view the menus on your own, they are: File, Edit, Print, View, Window and Help. Use the Help menu and download the Help Manual onto your desktop to refer to when needed: it is cursory, but helpful in getting started.
Let me know what you think about the site, what tool you would like to read about, or if you are interested in classroom or one-on-one training in Lightroom. You can contact me using the contact page on this website.
You can visit the author's photography page at cassinettophotos.com or cassinettowildanimals.com.
All text and photographs on this website are copyright protected and may not be reproduced or copied without the express written permission of the author. Use the contact information above to request permission.
Lightroom, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a photography software program used to edit photographs. It works with either a PC or a Mac computer and you can edit both JPEG and RAW files. Many photographers use it, others do not. There are many photography processing programs on the market, and many plug-in programs that are used with Lightroom and Photoshop, such as On1 or Topaz or Google-Nik software. They are all good programs and sometimes in processing photos people use multiple programs. Adobe Photoshop is a good program and when used with Adobe Bridge it can act somewhat like Lightroom.
I use many different programs to achieve my goals in processing photographs, but I always start with LR and I always use it to organize my thousands of photographs. For me, working in Lightroom is like being in a candy store. I can see some of the candy and can read some of the labels, but way at the back of the shelf, lurking behind something else, is the best candy of all. I just need to search around and seek it out to enjoy it. And that happens to me almost every time I use Lightroom: I find some new way to use a tool or fine-tune an adjustment. I love that experience in Lightroom.
Lightroom allows you to organize photographs in multiple ways, but it is not a data base, it is a multi-faceted software application that contains several modules to allow you to work with your images. The software contains a database application that allows you to link your photographs from the spot on your hard drive where they are stored to a panel in the program where you can access the files once the software is opened. Your original photographs are left untouched in their original file folders and the edits are not applied to the original photographs, only to the image you see on the computer screen. The edits are permanently applied when the photograph is exported. You can save these edits if desired within the program, but the program automatically saves all your edits in its data base edit file so there is no need to hit a save key.
I have posted basic information on this site to get you started in understanding LR and moving on to successful and fun processing of your photographs. From time to time, I will post additional information on using LR that will make your processing easier and faster as well as information on photography basics.
A note, I mostly work with keyboard shortcuts because I find it much faster so that is the information I will most often give you. You can access every command from the Lightoom menu at the top of the program, but you can view the menus on your own, they are: File, Edit, Print, View, Window and Help. Use the Help menu and download the Help Manual onto your desktop to refer to when needed: it is cursory, but helpful in getting started.
Let me know what you think about the site, what tool you would like to read about, or if you are interested in classroom or one-on-one training in Lightroom. You can contact me using the contact page on this website.
You can visit the author's photography page at cassinettophotos.com or cassinettowildanimals.com.
All text and photographs on this website are copyright protected and may not be reproduced or copied without the express written permission of the author. Use the contact information above to request permission.