Earlier this summer I upgraded my software for my entire photo workflow from Bridge+Photoshop CS3 to Lightroom 3+Photoshop CS5. Previously, my general routine involved 1) attempting to organize my photos into folders using some semblance of order; 2) then opening selected items in Adobe Camera Raw and doing minor edits; 3) and finally moving images into Photoshop to do most editing outside of simple sharpening/white balance/exposure correction done in ACR. In theory, this wasn’t too bad, but there were a number of issues on both ends of the workflow. First of all, organizing items into folders was a little cumbersome since if you ever wanted to make a change, you had to migrate the actual files. Bridge didn’t give you a great deal of options on import either, so I was often sifting through duplicate files. You had the option to organize the files on a level by using ratings, but most of the time I found myself organizing things manually. To make matters worse, I personally found Bridge to be a little unstable and prone to slowdown. Perhaps even more frustrating was what to do after files were tweaked. I ended up with a lot of TIFFs and JPEGs in different locations trying to preserve images with my edits. A lot was due to my inexperience creating a cohesive workflow for myself, and I did refine a lot of it on my own over the past few years (i.e. moving from folders named by date to named by subject). However, I still felt like the whole process was lacking. Enter Lightroom!

I won’t do an in-depth review of Lightroom, since those have already been done to death on countless internet blogs (yeah, I know I’m a little late to the game). I will, however, mention a few of the things which I personally find invaluable as compared to Bridge+Photoshop.

1) It’s Bridge on steroids (in a good way)!

Put simply, Lightroom combines the best aspects of Bridge and ACR into one seamless application. Not only is the organization aided by the inclusion of Collections, enhanced metadata options, and rating systems, but simply switching panels gives you access to all the editing tools of ACR. This is a huge time saver. Collections is probably my favorite inclusion, since it simply does what I was always trying to do with folders in a virtual space. Now I can create a folder for a certain subject, and if I want to add photos later, it only takes a single click! No more moving file folders around and trying to add NEFs to different locations on the hard drive. The keyword metadata is also handy, as it allows you to search through any files in the catalog you have tagged. Furthermore, you can do a lot of this when you import items, making the process flow even faster.

2) I don’t need Photoshop 90% of the time.

First, I should note that Camera Raw has progressed a great deal in it’s own right since CS3, and the version included in CS5 is considerably more powerful. However, the value of having the ability to jump between the Library and Development modules on the fly cannot be understated. You have the ability not only to make universal edits to white balance, sharpness, and distortion, but you also have access to brushes that allow you to make changes to individual portions of an image. All this is done within Lightroom and is completely non-destructive (meaning your original RAW file remains theoretically untouched). You can even have Lightroom create an infinite number (okay, it is constrained by your hard drive space) of copies of an image – called “virtual copies” – to apply whatever adjustments you would like, such as black and white conversions, any HDR effects, etc. You even have access to certain plugins within Lightroom (more on that in a future post)!

3) Lightroom makes what to do “post-Lightroom” simple.

Perhaps my favorite part about Lightroom is the ease which you can export your files for different purposes. At some point, you will probably need to go beyond a RAW file. Lightroom makes it super easy to set up presets for exporting images. You can then export images (or groups of images) with specific parameters depending on what you want them used for. For example, I have settings for images I post on this blog, for sending images to Flickr, and for images I want to send to the printer. Once exported, you can still include these images in your Lightroom catalog if you wish, but it’s not mandatory since you will still have access to the RAW files from which they were created. There are even separate modules within Lightroom for printing and making slideshows. I haven’t used these as much, since I generally send my images to an online vendor to print. But if you print at home, it’s handy to have the options Lightroom gives you for custom printing.

So why write about Lightroom 3 when were are probably looking at LR4 in a year or less, and when every other photog has already blogged about it to death? I’m simply sharing my thoughts on the system, take it for what you will. After all – if it’s new to me, it’s probably new to someone else! And some people (like myself) who can’t afford to be on the bleeding edge of technology all the time might still be looking for an average enthusiast’s impressions. So take it for what it’s worth, but I would certainly recommend Lightroom to someone who is looking to streamline their workflow.

If you are interested in learning Lightroom, I recommend Scott Kelby’s book, Lightroom 3 for Digital Photographers.

And Lightroom can be downloaded directly from Adobe.

(Of course I don’t get anything from these recommendations – I think it’s a safe bet to say that none of these folks even know I exist. )