Lightroom 4, Baby!

In preparation for my new camera purchase, I have used the weekend to reassess my workflow and try out other raw converters. I have also started to "clean" my MacBook Pro for the upgrades that I intend to do. So out with the clutter: all my previous photographs have been archived, my music files have been migrated to an external hard drive, all unnecessary "bloatware" have been removed,  and I have done a complete reinstall of OSX Lion (a pain since I had to download the entire OS from the App Store again). 

Now back to my workflow issues. I have used Aperture ever since I  switched to a Mac and bought my first DSLR. It sure was a joy to use, especially when teamed up with the Nik Software plug-ins. But I have never been satisfied with the built-in adjustments and the way it organizes files. While it does cover the entire specter of photo editing options, from white balance to noise reduction etc., I still had to resort to external editors to make spot adjustments to my photographs. And that is where the organization issues come to play. Open the same photograph in several external editors, and I end up with the original raw file plus several TIFF images in different project folders. I am an organization and tidy freak. I hate it when my apartment is cluttered, and hate it even more when my collection of photographs are all over the place!

I have been testing the beta version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 for a few weeks now and decided to jump ship when it was finally released. I find the interface to be simpler, but more intuitive. I can easily track the changes that I make, and it outputs the raw files slightly better than Aperture does. I also like the ability to be able to make changes to a photograph and copy those changes to other photographs, very useful if you are editing many images taken during one photo session. The brushes are ideal for spot adjustments. And the built-in watermarking feature is fantastic. Good riddance BorderFX!

All is not just a bed of roses though. The learning curve is rather steep. Unlike Aperture where a lot of processes  are automated, Lightroom 4 uses a different approach and gives the photographer more freedom to adjust settings (and a better capability to undo these adjustments if you go overboard!). So to get those "snazzy" photographs you have to rely on your own creative instinct, another great way to advance your photographic skills. Here is an example of an image I recently edited with Lightroom 4. I am still not all to familiar with the software so it took me about 30 minutes to get the desired effect. But you can really see the improvement. 

One caveat though is that I still cannot get my Nik Software plug-ins to work with this new version of Lightroom, even after installing the updates from Nik Software's website. I guess I will have to wait for Adobe to release updates of their own. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything! In the mean time I am experimenting with presets. I am currently giving Totally Rad!'s Lightroom presets a test run, but there are thousands more on the internet to choose from so I will give those a try as well.

So far I am enjoying using this software and will probably continue to use it. It makes me spend more time on each photograph and makes me more conscious and aware of what settings I need to adjust to get the effect that I want. It's no Adobe Photoshop, not by a long run. But it's a step closer for those of us who will eventually and inevitably make that final big leap to "the be all and end all" of photo editing software.