The Phoenix PAC met to discuss everything concerning Lightroom. The leader, Nicholas Pappagallo, was gracious enough to teach us his knowledge on the subject.

He first stressed that using Lightroom will not necessarily make you a better photographer. The art of photography is about composition, the play of light, points of view. And the science of photography is understanding your camera and settings. On the other hand, Lightroom gives you the ability to process your photos your way in less time; therefore, Lightroom gives you more time to practice and learn the art and science of photography.

PROCESSING POWER
If you’re familiar with any of the Photoshop programs, you’re used to working with layers. Lightroom doesn’t use layers – it creates virtual copies of your photos. So you are always working on a “copy”; the original image remains intact. Personally, I’ve found some of the adjustment options more powerful in Lightroom than Photoshop.  Now, if you want to create HDR, or get rid of the branch sticking out of your subject’s ear, you’ll need to use another program. (And you may want to remember to check your background before you take the shot.) Lightroom easily lets you export photos in and out of other programs and import them back in.

SHOW & SHARE
Lightroom allows you to export directly to programs like SmugMug and Flckr. Upon export, you can easily add your watermark (leaving your own copy unmarked). You can create Collections that let you gather photos you might want to group together without removing them from their original file. Plus, you can customize the Lightroom screen with your logo!

There are people who love processing and people who believe that ‘what you see is what you get.’ Lightroom works for both groups and for those inbe

tween. But it’s one thing to know what Lightroom can do and it’s another to get Lightroom to do it! If you’re thinking about using Lightroom, watch some tutorials, read some articles, take a class (regularly offered through the Photograper’s Adventure Club). I can almost guarantee you that the time you spend learning to use it will quickly be recovered in the time you save at your computer. Now – go take some pictures!

By:  Sandy Klewicki

(Formerly Phoenix East SMUG)