Lightroom OnlyLightroom Tips

I’m Giving Up Photoshop For the Month of January

To celebrate the 8-year (WOW! 8 years already!) anniversary of the first beta version of Lightroom, I’ve decided I’m going Lightroom Only for the month of January.

The first Lightroom beta was announced on January 9th 2006 and I can still remember wondering whether this program was for me or not. Eight years later, I couldn’t live without it. So much so, that I’ve decided to really dig in and tackle the one question I get asked the most: How much of my photo editing do I really get done in Lightroom?

It is, by far, the most popular question I hear. And my answer is always, “Well, most of it”. But what’s that really mean? You have to remember that I’m a Photoshop Guy. Sure, Lightroom is technically called “Photoshop Lightroom”, but let’s be honest – everyone really knows Lightroom as it’s own product? But for me, I started with Photoshop. I’ve always been really comfortable in Photoshop. So even as Lightroom has developed over time, I always know I have Photoshop to fall back on when I need it.

Like What?
A great example is the Adjustment Brush. I always do my dodging/burning in Photoshop because I’m comfortable there. Layers, brushes, blend modes, opacity, etc… But Lightroom has the Adjustment brush right? And that’s one of the main reasons it’s there for. Is it as good at dodging/burning in Photoshop? Well, I’m about to find out 🙂

Here’s What’ll Happen In January
Every day (mostly business days), I’m going to edit a photo. It could be a portfolio photo that I’m re-editing, or just a photo that I think is worth showing off. Then I’ll post about my experiences here. What I did. How it worked. Did I have all the tools I needed or did I feel like I was missing something.

But here’s the catch. I’m just going to use Lightroom. No Photoshop, no nuttin’. What about plug-ins you ask? Nope. Remember, this is more about me trying to see just how much of my editing I do with just Lightroom – not about finding a Photoshop replacement. I like Photoshop and I’m not looking for a replacement. I just want to know how much I really use it for my photos and hopefully share that info with everyone else. In the end it’ll give me a good place to point people to, who ask me the same question.

I know from my seminars and this blog, there are an increasing number of people only using Lightroom. My goal is to really get a feel for what it’s like when LR is the only tool I have, and hopefully be able to better understand the people I’m in front of.

Early Prediction
So my early prediction is that I’m probably being a bit dramatic here. I don’t think it’s going to be a huge change for me. Lightroom can do a lot! I do think I’ll miss some cloning and healing and I do blend 2 layers of the same photo fairly often. I’ve come to love onOne’s Perfect Effects 8 lately so I’m sure that one will hurt too. Other than that, I think I’ll live 😉

So that’s it. Tune in on Monday to see the recap of the first photo. Here’s to a Lightroom-filled January! 😉

 

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