Transitioning to Lightroom 5

[stockcerts]

I've been an iPhoto user for many years. It's always been fine for doing basic edits and creating basic events for organization. In addition, the only camera I've been using for the past few years is my iPhone. I recently had a business trip to the UK and borrowed a friends Panasonic Lumix. The pictures were so much better than what I could take on my iPhone, especially with zoom. I did some research and recently purchased the Sony DSC-HX50/V. So far I love the camera! It's not a SLR, but I'm not ready to deal with multiple lenses.

I also downloaded the 30 day trial of Lightroom 5. It's a little overwhelming when you are coming from iPhoto, but I've been working my way through Adobe's video training and I'm learning a lot. There are some things I haven't quite figured out moving forward. I have both a current model iMac and a new MacBook Air. My free trial of Lightroom is installed on my iMac, and that's where my iPhoto library resides. I'd like to be able to work on my photos using Lightroom from either one of my two Macs without duplicating the files. I believe when I purchase Lightroom I will be able to install it on both of my Macs. I also need to look into the cloud version of Lightroom to see if that meets my needs (cost isn't the biggest issue). I believe there is a way to move my pics to an external drive and make edits in Lightroom to a scaled down version that will update the actual file when I sync to the external drive.

Sorry for the long winded post, but if any of you have suggestions...I would be happy to hear them!!

 

[MCAsan]

Since you have been into iPhoto, be sure to check out Aperture. You should have a less steep learning curve and it shares the existing iPhoto library. Aperture is $79.

Then decide if you want to go Aperture or Lightroom. Either is an excellent program. Most of the plugins from Nik, Topaz, OnoneSoftware and others is available for both environments.

 

[mofunk]

If you aren't editing the photos in Lightroom from iPhoto library then don't move them. When I moved to LR I started fresh. Uploaded new photos from my camera directly to LR. WHen I needed to use an old photo, I exported it to my desktop from iPhoto and moved to LR. You can have LR installed from the physical disc on two computers. I think Staples had it on sale for $109.



There are a couple websites and youtube bloggers that can help you. These are photographers that use it on a daily.

Adam Lerner on youtube will get you started. His videos start from the beginning and are very helpful. Every time you turn on your Mac, check out one of his videos. He has a video on how to use an external drive to store your photos. Very easy to do.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF56A0258E7C5C82E

http://lightroomkillertips.com

Occasionally Fro Knows Photos will critique photos inside Lightroom. He will show you what adjustments you can apply.

https://www.youtube.com/user/JaredPolin?feature=g-subs-u

 

[mofunk]

Newegg has LR5 for $70 today

http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?&nm_mc=AFC-dealnews&cm_mmc=AFC-dealnews-_-NA-_-NA

 

[stockcerts]

If you aren't editing the photos in Lightroom from iPhoto library then don't move them. When I moved to LR I started fresh. Uploaded new photos from my camera directly to LR. WHen I needed to use an old photo, I exported it to my desktop from iPhoto and moved to LR. You can have LR installed from the physical disc on two computers. I think Staples had it on sale for $109.



There are a couple websites and youtube bloggers that can help you. These are photographers that use it on a daily.

Adam Lerner on youtube will get you started. His videos start from the beginning and are very helpful. Every time you turn on your Mac, check out one of his videos. He has a video on how to use an external drive to store your photos. Very easy to do.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF56A0258E7C5C82E

http://lightroomkillertips.com

Occasionally Fro Knows Photos will critique photos inside Lightroom. He will show you what adjustments you can apply.

https://www.youtube.com/user/JaredPolin?feature=g-subs-u

Thanks for the helpful information. Amazon had a sale today on Lightroom, $69.99, so I bought it!

Adam Lerners YouTube videos look awesome, and I subscribed. I didn't see any videos that discuss sharing a catalog file, so if you know of one please share the URL. I may try putting my catalog in Dropbox as a sharing point and see how the performance is. My Time Machine backup also backs up that location, so I should be safe there.

Thanks again!

 

[logista]

I didn't see any videos that discuss sharing a catalog file, so if you know of one please share the URL. I may try putting my catalog in Dropbox as a sharing point and see how the performance is. My Time Machine backup also backs up that location, so I should be safe there.

Julieanne Kost (Adobe Evangelist) has a couple of videos about LR catalog files http://jkost.com/lightroom.html

A quick google found someone who's put their catalog & smart previews on dropbox. I might have to try this! http://www.lightroomfanatic.com/workflow/the-new-lightroom-5-workflow/

 

[mofunk]

Thanks for the helpful information. Amazon had a sale today on Lightroom, $69.99, so I bought it!

Adam Lerners YouTube videos look awesome, and I subscribed. I didn't see any videos that discuss sharing a catalog file, so if you know of one please share the URL. I may try putting my catalog in Dropbox as a sharing point and see how the performance is. My Time Machine backup also backs up that location, so I should be safe there.

Thanks again!

I can't remember if it was Adam's or Jared Polin's video. You can google or search in youtube for that video.

here is one on how to set up using the external drive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-avHtI84fQ0


Both Adam and Jared you can do a search for Lightroom. There are a lot of tutorials there to help you get started. Maybe the one that I'm talking about will show up.

Dropbox reminds me of Apple's iDisk. Eventhough I used iDisk, I still backed up my photos and folders to an external drive. When Apple started using iDisk, I had everything set up… then occasionally I would lose things. After that I started backing up to a DVDr and external drive. When you get more into photography you can create your own way of archiving your photos.