Lightroom 5 vs Photoshop cs6 of cc

[gdeusthewhizkid]

Hi,

Im looking to get into more fashion and editorial photography in 2014. I really enjoy lightroom 5 but Im looking to get my images more into the pro level. Is photoshop that much better than lightroom 5. Photoshop really gives me a headache. I feel like im much better with aperture or lightroom 5. Im just trying to get to that next level...

 

[r.harris1]

Hi,

Im looking to get into more fashion and editorial photography in 2014. I really enjoy lightroom 5 but Im looking to get my images more into the pro level. Is photoshop that much better than lightroom 5. Photoshop really gives me a headache. I feel like im much better with aperture or lightroom 5. Im just trying to get to that next level...

Photoshop is a different beast all together. It's often described as a pixel level editor and tools like Lightroom, Aperture, C1, can better be described as digital asset management tools, with RAW adjustment capabilities and a few other bits thrown in. Photoshop will give you an amazing level of control over your images but that level of control comes with drawbacks. Lots of options and controls gives you, well, lots of options and controls to learn .

If you intend to really spend time at the pixel level, doing a lot of touch-up, swapping out backgrounds, lots of layer work (masking, text, etc), Photoshop would be worth your consideration. Something like Pixelmator, while it does lack the full whack of photoshop, might be a consideration too, if you use a Mac. It's also a lot cheaper.

And of course, you'd not want to give up your Lightroom world either - still very much necessary!

 

[gdeusthewhizkid]

yea I like my lightroom 5 and aperture 3 combo.. But I feel like that polished magazine look always comes from photoshop....

 

[r.harris1]

yea I like my lightroom 5 and aperture 3 combo.. But I feel like that polished magazine look always comes from photoshop....

Yes. It's definitely worth learning the tool and understanding how to work with an image at the pixel level. Many folks (professionals, hobbyists, enthusiastic amateurs, etc) will use a DAM like LR or Aperture and use Photoshop as their image editor.

 

[swordio777]

Is photoshop that much better than lightroom 5. Photoshop really gives me a headache. I feel like im much better with aperture or lightroom 5. Im just trying to get to that next level...

As others have said, they are different tools. But when it comes to editing - Yes, photoshop is that much better. The tools you have at your disposal, and the fine control you have over those tools, is on a different level.

Many people say that the growing list of tools in Lightroom has made Photoshop redundant in their workflow. Personally though, I do not (and would not) deliver an image to a paying client without running it through photoshop. The quality of the results you can get is far superior to anything lightroom can achieve.

Having said this, I completely agree with r.harris1 above - Lightroom (or your choice of any raw converter; Aperture in my case) is still an essential part of the workflow.

Photoshop can take time to get to grips with, but once you do you will never look back.

Hope that helps.

Iain

 

[MCAsan]

LR or Aperture as the basic photo management and raw file editing tool.

To which you can easily and inexpensively add:
Photoshop Elements or Pixelmator as pixel editor
Nik plugin collection
OnOneSoftware plugin collection
Topaz labs plugin collection

I left out Photoshop CS6....as I said inexpensively. If you accept the cost of Photoshop CS6, of course it is a top notch editor.

 

[gdeusthewhizkid]

LR or Aperture as the basic photo management and raw file editing tool.

To which you can easily and inexpensively add:
Photoshop Elements or Pixelmator as pixel editor
Nik plugin collection
OnOneSoftware plugin collection
Topaz labs plugin collection

I left out Photoshop CS6....as I said inexpensively. If you accept the cost of Photoshop CS6, of course it is a top notch editor.

where can I get those at.. are they sold at the app store?

 

[r.harris1]

where can I get those at.. are they sold at the app store?

Photoshop Elements and Pixelmator are on the App Store.

Nik is here.
Topaz is here.
OnOne (Perfect Photo Suite) is here.

 

[gdeusthewhizkid]

LR or Aperture as the basic photo management and raw file editing tool.

To which you can easily and inexpensively add:
Photoshop Elements or Pixelmator as pixel editor
Nik plugin collection
OnOneSoftware plugin collection
Topaz labs plugin collection

I left out Photoshop CS6....as I said inexpensively. If you accept the cost of Photoshop CS6, of course it is a top notch editor.

how is iPhoto as a image editor...

 

[gdeusthewhizkid]

I am trying to figure out the best workflow because I use aperture and lightroom 5 and can't afford to purchase photoshop now. Ive also had iPhoto for a number of years.. I like aperture 3 as a database manager on my laptop where the models go thru aperture shots and flag the ones they like. and I can then import the shots they like in lightroom 5 as raw files and edit from there. I had no idea lightroom 5 wasn't a image editor lol...

 

[r.harris1]

I am trying to figure out the best workflow because I use aperture and lightroom 5 and can't afford to purchase photoshop now. Ive also had iPhoto for a number of years.. I like aperture 3 as a database manager on my laptop where the models go thru aperture shots and flag the ones they like. and I can then import the shots they like in lightroom 5 as raw files and edit from there. I had no idea lightroom 5 wasn't a image editor lol...

It seems like the combo of lightroom and aperture would be a headache since they're both DAMs. I wonder if you could use Lightroom's rating mechanism and leave out the import-into-aperture-export-into-lightroom step? Then perhaps utilize Lightroom for RAW adjustments and if needed, use Pixelmator for image editing? A fairly cost-effective flow in my opinion.

 

[swordio777]

LR or Aperture as the basic photo management and raw file editing tool.

To which you can easily and inexpensively add:
Photoshop Elements or Pixelmator as pixel editor
Nik plugin collection
OnOneSoftware plugin collection
Topaz labs plugin collection

I left out Photoshop CS6....as I said inexpensively. If you accept the cost of Photoshop CS6, of course it is a top notch editor.

To the OP - You asked specifically about fashion photography and achieving professional level results. In my opinion, you NEED a pixel-level editor for fashion work.

Pixelmator and Photoshop Elements are both pixel-level editors and will let you do some of the things you need for fashion work. Both are fantastic and inexpensive tools; however both are also quite limited for the kind of work you want to do. From personal experience, I would say that you need channels and adjustment layers for fashion work - unfortunately neither of these apps provide these tools (as far as I know).

The other 3 plugins that were mentioned all have their strengths as well, but they are not pixel-level editors and I do not believe they will be the right tools for your fashion photography.

how is iPhoto as a image editor...

iPhoto isn't an image editor - it's a digital asset manager (DAM), just like Lightroom and Aperture. As suggested above, each of these programmes is specifically designed to be the place where you manage your photos. Using more than one of them is likely to over-complicate your workflow.

Hope that helps.

 

[nburwell]

While I typically shoot cityscape and landscape images, I have found that I spend most of my time in Lightroom. I really only use Photoshop for final edits and sharpening. But YMMV.

 

[gdeusthewhizkid]

thanks guys. I was clearly confused. I deleted aperture off my desktop and added pixelmator. I kept Lightroom 5 as my dam on my mac pro and I will start retouching those images I really want to get fine tuned with pixelmator.. It looks just as complicated as photoshop but I will def learn study some tutorials on it. Thanks..