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Outdoor Activities => Photography => Topic started by: suspectmonkey on March 26, 2010

Title: Adobe Lightroom 3
Post by: suspectmonkey on March 26, 2010
Adobe have recently released public beta 2 of Lightroom 3.  I've been using the first beta, but too be honest it just had too many bugs here and there to use it exclusively.  Beta 2 seems a lot better, it's ironed out a lot of the problems of the first beta and added in some new features as well.

Lightroom is basically image management and processing software all rolled into one.  A bit like the best bits of Adobe Bridge and Photoshop stuck together into its own unique working environment.  It will also allow you to process RAW files without having to open ACR (Adobe Camera Raw).  And the image editing is totally non-destructive so you can chop and change photos to your hearts content knowing the original file is untouched on your hard drive.  Most photos I import, sort, tag, process and export all from LR without ever having to use PS.

Its definitely worth a try if you are interested in digital photography, especially considering the public beta 2 is free and stays fully functional until the end of June.  You can download the software here: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/

If you haven't used it before its also worth checking out a few tutorials on LR.  Some people get a bit put off by the modules and arent sure where to start, but if you watch a few Youtube tutorials beforehand it will give you the best opportunity to fall in love with this software :)
Title: Re: Adobe Lightroom 3
Post by: Dowser on September 28, 2010
Adobe have recently released public beta 2 of Lightroom 3.  I've been using the first beta, but too be honest it just had too many bugs here and there to use it exclusively.  Beta 2 seems a lot better, it's ironed out a lot of the problems of the first beta and added in some new features as well.

Lightroom is basically image management and processing software all rolled into one.  A bit like the best bits of Adobe Bridge and Photoshop stuck together into its own unique working environment.  It will also allow you to process RAW files without having to open ACR (Adobe Camera Raw).  And the image editing is totally non-destructive so you can chop and change photos to your hearts content knowing the original file is untouched on your hard drive.  Most photos I import, sort, tag, process and export all from LR without ever having to use PS.

Its definitely worth a try if you are interested in digital photography, especially considering the public beta 2 is free and stays fully functional until the end of June.  You can download the software here: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/

If you haven't used it before its also worth checking out a few tutorials on LR.  Some people get a bit put off by the modules and arent sure where to start, but if you watch a few Youtube tutorials beforehand it will give you the best opportunity to fall in love with this software :)

Hey SuspectM'

I've just got Adobe Lightroom 3 but haven't a clue where to start with it.  Do you fancy giving me a bit of a tutorial session sometime.  ::)
Title: Re: Adobe Lightroom 3
Post by: suspectmonkey on September 30, 2010
Hey SuspectM'

I've just got Adobe Lightroom 3 but haven't a clue where to start with it.  Do you fancy giving me a bit of a tutorial session sometime.  ::)

No problem at all, I haven't actually got round to getting LR3 yet as I'm still using LR1, but I had a play with the beta version for a while and it seemed worth upgrading to.  Sure drop me a PM and we can catch up some evening!
Title: Re: Adobe Lightroom 3
Post by: Dowser on September 30, 2010
Hey SuspectM'

I've just got Adobe Lightroom 3 but haven't a clue where to start with it.  Do you fancy giving me a bit of a tutorial session sometime.  ::)

No problem at all, I haven't actually got round to getting LR3 yet as I'm still using LR1, but I had a play with the beta version for a while and it seemed worth upgrading to.  Sure drop me a PM and we can catch up some evening!

Your off the hook Suspect.  My camera club in Bangor had me out taking photos in RAW on Wednesday morning then spent an hour showing everybody how to use Lightroom 3 that evening using my photos as guinea pigs, so to speak.  It really is totally amazing how photos with numerous exposure/burn out problems etc can be recovered and turned into something quite presentable.  I don't think I'll be carrying my big box of Cokin filters with me anymore either, just my Polarisers.

I have a spare copy of Lightroom 3 if you would like me to stick it on your machine.  It is pretty awesome.  I could probably give you bit of a tutorial on it now instead  :P
Title: Re: Adobe Lightroom 3
Post by: suspectmonkey on September 30, 2010
I did a workshop last year with Peter Cox (http://www.petercox.ie/composition_postprocessing_seminar.php) on image processing and composition.  I attended one of the first sessions he ran and both subjects were covered in the one day, but I believe they are now split into two seperate classes.  If you ever get the chance to go I'd thoroughly recommend it, was some of the best money I've spent on photography and much more beneficial to my photos than buying lenses etc!  I have a Word file with notes I made on Adobe Camera RAW module I can e-mail through to you, its pretty useful to have beside the computer when you are processing.

Are you planning on going down to the camera club on Friday night?  I wouldn't mind tagging along if you were...
Title: Re: Adobe Lightroom 3
Post by: suspectmonkey on October 07, 2010
Came across this article the other day about RAW processing using Adobe Camera Raw, which is pretty much the same module that is found in Lightroom.  Worth a read.

http://www.photographyireland.net/articles/show/36