This article is Part 2 in a 3 part series about my experiences with Adobe Lightroom. I told you all about why I love Lightroom. Now go behind the scenes with me as I show you how I learned to use this program.
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I wrote earlier that it took a lot of convincing for me to fully understand the value and benefits of Lightroom. For years, I'd been editing photos in Photoshop and I figured that was all I needed.
Gerry Suchy, photographer, graphic designer, and tutor taught me that I had a lot to learn. Prior to meeting Gerry, I had only heard about Lightroom -- I had never seen the actual program, let alone used it. At our first tutoring session, Gerry gave me a basic overview of the program. He explained how and why it's different than Photoshop, and showed me functions that would benefit me most. It was a lot to take in, but having someone physically sit next to me and walk me through each step made the experience less intimidating.
That doesn't mean transitioning from Photoshop to Lightroom was easy. For starters, getting the most out of Lightroom means using a RAW file format.. (For those unfamiliar with the term RAW, think of a dark room. A RAW file is like unprocessed film. With the right tools, it can be manipulated much more than a JPEG file.) I never shot in RAW before 2015 because I never needed to. Before I thought about starting a business, I was doing photography solely for fun and all of my post processing was done in Photoshop... The same version of Photoshop I got a license for when I was in college... The same version of Photoshop I had been using for almost 10 years. My Photoshop CS3 was so outdated that it wouldn't even read RAW files!
So when I began exploring Lighroom as a viable photo-editing option, using the program meant more than just learning new software. It meant changing the way I work. I'm not gonna lie: that realization was frustrating and scary and felt like an intense uphill battle. There were definitely moments when I thought learning Lightroom was nothing more than a huge waste of time.
It wasn't until I saw the program in action that I started to understand it's full potential. As challenged as I was, I can't thank Gerry enough for helping me see the error of my ways. It might sound silly, but learning how to use Lightroom taught me many valuable lessons, including how to be more trusting and more flexible and less judgmental.
Gerry Suchy, photographer, graphic designer, and tutor taught me that I had a lot to learn. Prior to meeting Gerry, I had only heard about Lightroom -- I had never seen the actual program, let alone used it. At our first tutoring session, Gerry gave me a basic overview of the program. He explained how and why it's different than Photoshop, and showed me functions that would benefit me most. It was a lot to take in, but having someone physically sit next to me and walk me through each step made the experience less intimidating.
That doesn't mean transitioning from Photoshop to Lightroom was easy. For starters, getting the most out of Lightroom means using a RAW file format.. (For those unfamiliar with the term RAW, think of a dark room. A RAW file is like unprocessed film. With the right tools, it can be manipulated much more than a JPEG file.) I never shot in RAW before 2015 because I never needed to. Before I thought about starting a business, I was doing photography solely for fun and all of my post processing was done in Photoshop... The same version of Photoshop I got a license for when I was in college... The same version of Photoshop I had been using for almost 10 years. My Photoshop CS3 was so outdated that it wouldn't even read RAW files!
So when I began exploring Lighroom as a viable photo-editing option, using the program meant more than just learning new software. It meant changing the way I work. I'm not gonna lie: that realization was frustrating and scary and felt like an intense uphill battle. There were definitely moments when I thought learning Lightroom was nothing more than a huge waste of time.
It wasn't until I saw the program in action that I started to understand it's full potential. As challenged as I was, I can't thank Gerry enough for helping me see the error of my ways. It might sound silly, but learning how to use Lightroom taught me many valuable lessons, including how to be more trusting and more flexible and less judgmental.
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