Photoshop is dead. Long live the King!

Photoshop is dead. Long live the King!

No, Photoshop is not really dead, but it will no longer be at the center of my day-to-day work.  Lightroom has taken over.

I used to think that Lightroom was only for photographers who shoot high volume  assignments such as weddings. But with the release of Lightroom 2.0 last week, I realized it is time to change.

I was very reluctant to switch from Photoshop to Lightroom. I  started using Photoshop  17-years ago; I use it every day. So why switch?

• Lightroom has a more logical and beautiful interface design. I'm a sucker for elegant design.
• Photoshop has become bloated as it has grown, trying to be all things to all people. Lightroom is more lean, and specifically designed for the needs of professional photographers.
• Lightroom is faster at doing most of the work I need to accomplish with my images.
• Lightroom keeps track of my images because it is also a database. I have 40,000 images and I need a good way to keep track of them. I've tried all the other database programs, and none are as enjoyable to use as Lightroom.

I'm not going to throw Photoshop out, there are few things that can only be done in Photoshop. I would guess 80% of my work will now be done in Lightroom.

If you want to learn Lightroom 2.0 in depth, I strongly suggest the video tutorials from Luminous Landscape. They are a tremendous bargain for $35. To learn more, click here.

To see the Adobe Website on Lightroom 2.0 click here.

Comments

[John Storjohann]

Henry, I have to agree with you...only I've been using Lightroom since it was first released. I do wish that Lightroom had employed something similiar to Nik's U-Point technology for their targeted adjustments, but that is a matter of personal preference and working style. Like you, for both post-processing workflow and database use, Lightroom does about 75-80% of what I need, while I still use CS3 to fine-tune the resulting image. Along with some great plug-ins from PixelGenius and PhotoOne, my work at the PC has become much less time consuming and with better results. Many (all?) of LR's processing features are also incorporated into Adobe's RAW plug-in through Bridge with each release, but the interface of LR is just so much more - as you said - elegant.

[John Esberg]

Well, it looks like I'm not the only one who's been in the Photoshop game for over a decade now. Anyways, Photoshop is certainly not dead, but its also no longer the defacto place for handling ALL of our images. You have made a good point of this fact. Thanks.

[hdomke]

John,
"I've been using Lightroom since it was first released"
I'm a bit slower to catch on...
To pull away from a program as wonderful as Photoshop was not easy.

Did you come out and photograph the lotus over the weekend? They are at the peak (as you see on today's post).

[hdomke]

John,
"I'm not the only one who's been in the Photoshop game for over a decade now."
No, by chance I was introduced to Photoshop before version 1.0 was released. My wife was invited to view the multimedia capabilities of the Macintosh computer in 1991. I was allowed to tag along.

The presentation was at Apple headquarters in Kansas City. In addition to the presentation, we were allowed to actually use the computers. They let me try Photoshop and within a few minutes of using it a lightbulb went off in my head and said I thougth "this is it!"

I've been using it (and loving it) ever since.

[John Storjohann]

Henry,

I came out last weekend..arriving just at dawn and spending about 4 1/2 hours photographing...and I'm very tempted to head out again this weekend! The lotus were beautiful...the light wasn't so great in the morning on Saturday...and I think the lotus have come into their own even more since I was there. Hope to talk to you soon.