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Happy (kinda) 8th Birthday Lightroom!

Hey everyone. We’re taking a quick break today from our regularly schedule “I’m Giving Up Photoshop” post for a quick birthday wish for the very program we’re on this site for. Yep, it’s Lightroom’s birthday (well, kinda).

On January 9th, 2006 Adobe launched the first beta for Lightroom. When I first saw the date I had to look twice because there is absolutely no way that it was 8 years ago. But it was (that’s freakin’ crazy to me). I mean, my 10 year old son was only 2 then. Crazy!

The beta was Mac only and I can still remember the forums blowing up online with the usual flame wars, that mostly happen in forums, about it being Mac only 😉 On July 18th later that year, they released a PC version of Lightroom. Finally, early the next year on January 29th, 2007 Adobe announced Lightroom 1 would be shipping on February 19th, 2007. But I technically count the first beta as the birthday because that’s when everyone first got a glimpse of the program that would change our photo editing for many years to come.

So I’d like to give a big congrats to the Lightroom team from Adobe for continually developing the kick-ass program that they do. It’s what makes this blog possible, but more importantly, it’s a program that has revolutionized photo editing for so many people out there. Everyone from pros running a full-time wedding business, to brand new photographers using their first camera, use Lightroom because it’s made photo editing so simple. It’s really cool because I see it every time I teach a seminar. People come up to me and just lose their mind all day long at how easy (and powerful) Lightroom is. And how it’s ignited their love for photography and made working with their photos fun again.

I’d also like to give a huge thanks to all of you for helping contribute to the community and friendships I’ve developed here on the blog over the years. Happy Birthday Lightroom! Can’t wait to see where the next 8 years takes us! 🙂

PS: I’ll be back tomorrow with another “I’m Giving Up Photoshop Month” post to close out the week. I think you’ll really like the photo example I picked for the day too 🙂

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6 comments

  1. Craig Beyers 10 January, 2014 at 17:27 Reply

    I remember reading about LR from (probably) John Nack’s blog and Scott Kelby’s blog and being frustrated that I couldn’t sign up as I only had PCs and had to wait until July. I signed up for the beta as soon as it was available for Windows and realized how revolutionary it was. The combination of editing (which was already available in Camera Raw) and digital asset management has been and continues to be indispensable to me. I’m amazed at the numbers of (amateur) photographers I meet who have either never tried it, but pooh-pooh it anyway and those who won’t even consider it because they use Photoshop and don’t need anything else. A few have complained about the cost, which simply astounds me considering how much they’ve spent on camera gear. I, too, would like to thank the entire LR team as well as Adobe (including Julianne and Terry) and Matt for their guidance and continuing assistance in using LR in practice. Thanks!

  2. Jay 9 January, 2014 at 07:22 Reply

    Thanks for the great website and information Matt. I learn something new every time I visit. I have a question if you get time to answer: What resources would you recommend for someone who wants to get certified as a Lightroom expert? Thanks in advance.

  3. David Kelly 9 January, 2014 at 05:21 Reply

    I’ve been using LR from it’s release all those years ago since I got a free upgrade to v1.0 by being a Pixmantec RawShoot Premium user. I loved it since day 1 and with each new version I’ve had to dip into PS less & less – it’s great now just what retouching can be done solely within LR.
    Of course I wouldn’t know quite as much about LR if it wasn’t for your supportive tips over the many years, so thanks are due to you too for your great work Matt.

    • Steve Crane 12 January, 2014 at 03:45 Reply

      I too have been using Lightroom from day one, coming from RAWShooter by way of the free upgrade. I was probably using RAWShooter for two years before the move to Lightroom.

  4. Maciej 9 January, 2014 at 04:15 Reply

    Happy Birthday to Lightroom indeed ! That means that it is now 8 years that I use this great software. I still remember when it replaced the Rawshooter by Pixmantec that I was using before 🙂

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