Lightroom 3

This application makes Bridge look horribly poorly designed. And Bridge isn't really that bad. But Lightroom is that good. I've been importing my photos into Lightroom, one year at a time. One year is a manageable chunk. I can get everything imported, get it sorted into collections and then I can run a backup of what I've gotten imported so far.

Lightroom does not substitute for Photoshop. In fact, to do some things, you move into and out of Lightroom and Photoshop.

The learning curve isn't quite as steep as it would be if I didn't already have some skill with Photoshop. But it isn't a cakewalk, either.

Post Processing Photos

Post processing is what is done to a digital photo in an application like Photoshop, after the picture has been taken. If it's too dark, crooked, has funky colors because of the light, has problems because of the lens used and so on, that's corrected in post processing.

I've been watching videos on Kelby Training on how to use Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3 to post process photos. I can do many of the same things in Lightroom and Photoshop Camera raw. Lightroom is designed to manage photos in groups better and it is designed to be nondestructive to originals. I would have to work very hard to make permanent edits to the original file using Lightroom. CS5 does a whole lot of things beyond what Lightroom does.

One of the things that I've learned is that most people do the same things to post process a photo. RAW photos have more options than .jpgs. Even if I'm using Camera RAW to post process a .jpg, I won't have those options. I watched one instructor go through his process in Photoshop, then watched a different one go through it in Lightroom. Their explanations for why were slightly different, but only in the word choice. The base reason was the same. The Lightroom class was designed to go into much greater detail.

I had been a bit concerned that I'd have a huge learning curve for Lightroom 3. Since I've discovered the similarities between CS5 and LR3, I'm not concerned. I'll be functional in no time flat.

Better Prices

Drat! I was gently alerted to a much better price for Lightroom than I'd paid. I did some comparison shopping. I will be returning the software that I just ordered and am getting it for less. This is not some piddling amount I'm saving, it's $140. That's the problem with only tracking a single source. There might be a sale, but it doesn't mean I am getting the best price.

I'm feeling a little smug, because I got an even lower price than the person who alerted me to the low price they paid. I'm still very happy with the sale on the Kelby Training, though.

Preparing for new Toys!

I have finally ordered Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3. They were on sale. I had enough left to get (also on sale) a year of Kelby Training. Also something I'd wanted for a while. Kelby Training is a mix of pro and consumer level education. That's exactly where I am. I'm a 'prosumer' in photography terms.

While I am waiting for my new software to arrive, (I ordered the CD versions) I'm watching videos from Kelby Training on how to set it up and use it. The level of instruction is perfect for me. There's a lot of 'where' and 'when' included and a little bit of 'why' but not much 'how' because I don't really need 'how'. I watch for a bit, go do something else and let the information perk through my brain, then go back and watch more. Sometimes I re-watch parts that I think will be important.

The learning curves for Photoshop and Lightroom are steep, but I've already done a lot of the work to learn CS3 and I've been watching videos on CS5 since it was announced. I'm excited about CS5. I am really looking forward to playing with the improved selection tools and with content aware fill. Wheee!!!

The Creative Mind

I spotted this in a Martha Stewart magazine and decided to use up some of my stash of black paper. Everyone who has seen it thinks it turned out pretty well. It makes me smile when I walk up the stairs. I'll store the infestation of rats to use next year, too.

I was talking to my husband about this. He thinks it's incredible how I come up with ideas. I don't come up with ideas. I got this out of a magazine. But he said that he would not look at a magazine and see a possibility that he could do that. He'd look at it and think that it was neat, but he wouldn't think that it was something that could be done by him or in his house. His brain just doesn't work that way.

I've been mulling this over. Is it Nature, or nurture? I think in my case, it is nurture. My parents had several books of activities for kids. We were free to look through and pick out things to do. We were rewarded with parental praise, participation and assistance when we did. I created a forest out of newspaper in our basement once. The trees became all sorts of settings for imaginary play until I tired of them and recycled the newspaper. My mother recited, "Woodsman spare that tree..." with great drama and bad acting as I 'chopped down' the forest.

How can I not enjoy looking at idea books and attempting to create things after a childhood filled with memories like that? I still enjoy the rewards of my creations. I don't need to come up with the ideas, I'm fine with following directions.

Creating, Darkly

I finally sat down to work with the last set of 'Greetings to Go' that I got from Club Scrap back in 2008. I love the colors of the kit, Cyprus, as it is blues, with some white and gray. The inks that are suggested for use with this kit are kind of grungy. Mushroom, Slate, London Fog, and Sepia.

I'm not happy with the cards I've made so far, because they don't feel like me. They are dark, grungy, and a bit depressing. I'll keep them, but I'm going to try to perk up the rest of the set. My usual style is much bolder and more cheerful. I think silver embossing powder will work with this paper and it won't be dark and grungy.

Paper and Digital Samples

I get several different e-zines for digital scrapping and I've found some on-line sources for sketches for paper scrapping. So, I'm regularly looking at both paper and digital samples and ideas.

Digital isn't looking so good right now. While I'm willing to admit that paper layouts can overwhelm the photos if too many embellishments are used, the trends in digital towards the white space layouts and the extraction layouts are not calling attention to the photo, but are instead calling attention to the digital manipulation skills of the scrapper.

There are times I like to follow trends. Right now, the trends in digital scrapping are not appealing to me.