I follow a lot of blogs, mostly about other photographers. It’s so educational, inspirational, and just fun to see what other photographers do. I’ve learned so much this way! Too many times, though, I see photographers boast about “no Photoshop use.” Well, to someone who isn’t a photographer, that makes those guys seem like the most amazing photographer ever! I mean, geez, you got that with no editing?! Nope. Not no editing, just no Photoshop. There’s lots of ways to edit. Picassa, Gimp, Photoscape, ArcSoft, Corel, etc etc. Adobe’s Photoshop is just one software program (though it’s a lot better than those other ones!), and actually, it’s designed more for Graphic Designers (like my amazing husband) than photographers. The one I use is Lightroom, also by Adobe, which is designed specifically for photographers. If you’re a serious photographer who shoots in RAW, and especially if you shoot on manual, you need to be in Lightoom. It’s awesome!!!!
Here’s a Before and After from a recent session:
Whoa! Big difference huh? You know how much time that took? Oh, about 10 seconds. Seriously. I just used my preset customized buttons for sharpening, skin brightening, vignette, brightness, and cooling temperature, and viola! Not only that, but once I have this photo the way I want it, all others that were shot in the same lighting can be instantly synchronized, no additional editing necessary. So basically, I can edit 20 images in 12 seconds. Neat huh? Other awesome things I love about Lightroom are the skin softening, iris enhancer, and presets for cool colorizing that I can edit and save, and even share! If you’re not on board, get on it!