Lightroom 5 + Morganti Training = Flickr Explore and loads of views

Following on from my previous blog I thought I’d update you all on an early success.  I mentioned that I’d recently transferred across to using Lightroom 5 from DPP to be at the core of my workflow and was getting used to using Lightroom by watching the immensely helpful video tutorials provided by Anthony Morganti via his YouTube Channel.  Well I’ve been ploughing through some of my back catalogue to see if there were any previous shots that I’d overlooked for publication that could be “bettered” using my new found skills, then publishing on my Flickr Photostream to gauge interest.

I started to publish a few shots this weekend and struck gold today with a shot I’d taken back in early 2012 at Stone Henge in the UK.  So starting with the shot below.

I added a few tweaks using the techniques I’d learned recently (thanks again Anthony Morganti) and ended up with this shot

  The net result was nearly 7300 views and 140+ favourites in less than 24 hours via a promotion to Flickr’s Explore page.

So a lesson to all when it comes to Lightroom, do your homework before you dive headlong into the product in order to reap the benefits.  Keep an eye out for more of my back catalogue appearing on my Flickr Photostream and Website, can’t wait to see what other Nuggets I can reclaim over the coming weeks and months only problem is I’ve barely taken my Camera out of it’s bag these past few weeks.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the week.

Popped My Lightroom Cherry, again. This time I like it!!!

Sanctuary of the Lady of Lourdes

After a number of years avoiding having to spend a fortune on 3rd Party software and managing my workflow using a combination of Canon’s DPP (Digital Photo Professional) and Picasa to organise  my photos, I’ve finally decided to give Adobe Lightroom a look.

I have actually tried Lightroom in the past (probably version 2-3) but I never really got on with it.  The omission of various features and functionality that I’d grown used to via other tools meant I wasn’t prepared to shell out extra cash for something that would mean either dropping parts of my workflow or continuing to use additional software, as well as lightroom.

This has all changed now after I recently downloaded a full trial of Lightroom 5.3.  Those missing features are now included so I thought why not give it another go.  It seems that you can’t really consider yourself a serious photographer if you aren’t using either Photoshop, Lightroom or both at the core of your workflow or that’s what most of the photography press would have you believe.

Now being new (relatively) to Lightroom can be quite a daunting prospect.  There is a steep learning curve to switch across from DPP which I still find more intuitive in terms of RAW processing if I’m honest.  I thought I’d hunt out a few tutorials on the Adobe site and possibly look into getting a book on the subject to make sure I was setting up Lightroom correctly and understood the various “modules”,  I really advise newcomers to Lightroom to do the same, avoid the temptation of jumping straight in at the deep end and take your time to familiarise yourself.

My saviour in this process was quickly found via the extremely helpful and unsung hero of Lightroom, Anthony Morganti.  When searching for Lightroom tutorial videos on YouTube I stumbled across Anthony’s Channel, opened the lid (so to speak) and discovered a wonderful world of photography tips, tricks and tutorials including a playlist specifically geared at teaching Lightroom with over 8 hours (30+ videos) covering the subject, best of all Anthony provides these resources for FREE!!!  So if like me you’re new or returning to Lightroom you really can’t go wrong with Anthony’s videos and you will save having to buy further material to help you get into the software.

So after watching a number of videos I’ve started on my journey of moving across to Lightroom.  Two weeks in and I’ve purchased the full license so I guess you can say I’m committed now and am making my way through the back catalogue .  I’m sure to blog more on this subject in due course but in the meantime if any of you ladies and gents reading have lightroom tips to share, please do by commenting on this post.  BTW the picture above is one of the first pictures I’ve re-processed using Lightroom 5 – I’m going to have to be very selective about which of my past photo’s I have a play with using Lightroom or I’m going to be here a while!!!!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the weekend.