Workflow, guess that’s the buzz word in photography at the moment. So my first real attempt at using workflow software. I’ve played with Lightroom for a number of months now. Slowly getting used to the features. I guess the real beauty of software like this only shines when you know what you are doing.
This is a beta version and sadly it’s probably going to expire next month. That said the US retail price was posted on Amazon.com at around $200, so roughly translated to pounds that’ll be £200 then.
Right about the app. Best thing to do is show the layout.
First glance it looks quite complex. It really is quite simple. Import images to a shoot, select the image and start to edit. Editting is only basic, allowing cropping, colour correction very similar to the options on Camera Raw. One of the most import aspects to Lightroom is the IPTC data. For a pro (or aspiring Pro) this data is valuable. It lists everything from location to copyright information.
Any reservations, yes. Currently in its Beta test version it is a little clunky in operation. It really requires a Mac better than the MacMini 1.66 ghz I’m currently using (my MacBook 2ghz works a lot smoother). Biggest consumer of processing is doing anything by batch. This however isn’t just limited to Lightroom, any batch processes seem to make expensive systems slow.
Simple things on the Mini, like rendering image preview can take about 10 minutes to complete for 40 12mp Canon Raw files.
Still this is a Beta version, the final release will probably be a little buggy. But considering what else is on the table (Aperture, Phase One) this seems to be more of a polished product. Aperture is decent enough but really requires a Mac Pro. Something which I not going to buy at this moment.
Product currently available for free (will expire) download from Adobe Labs. Google it, I can be arsed to find the link. :p