My challenge for 2023 is to learn/use Lightroom, particularly for cataloguing. I'm a bit of a slow learner - I've had two lessons from @yorkshirekiwi, read a book she leant me and watched lots of Youtube videos. I've still had more than five aborted attempts, where I created catalogues, uploaded photos, found I'd done something wrong and deleted the catalogues again. But I'm pretty sure that I've finally created the basis for a useable catalogue going forward... I just need to be organised and dedicated to keeping it up to date now.
I think I'll be OK with the actual photo processing because it's similar to Adobe Camera Raw which I've been using for a couple of years. I just need to find the "visualise spots" button in LR to help with removing dust spots!
Nice shot of your grid view. I’ve had LR for a while now and I’m just now feeling more comfortable using it. Great start on figuring out the catalogue to stay organized from the beginning.
@ludwigsdiana I'm hoping that my photos will be easier to find using LR. I was impressed how easily @yorkshirekiwi found photos from 2017 when she was giving me a demo.
@brigette I'm using the current version of LR Classic. I'm starting my catalogue afresh from the beginning of 2023 with a new external hard drive. I'm leaving all my older photos in disarray on other external hard drives - that would be too challenging to organise, lol!
@dkellogg I've avoided LR for two years and used Bridge, Camera Raw and Photoshop. I decided I wanted more of the cataloguing features available in LR. I hope I've created a good basis for keeping organised. I haven't bothered to import pre-2023 photos because that feels too daunting.
I've been using LR since the first version. I'm still a bit behind with the latest changes. Too much and too fast. But once I get to know them, I'm happy with them. It's good that you try to organize everything in directories right away. It's very helpful. When you ask about this magic button from PS, I don't know it. I check the clarity of the image by brightening the "exposure" and significantly increasing the "dehaze" value. After cleaning, I reset these values.
@haskar I used "Visualize Spots" in Camera Raw when removing dust spots with the Healing tool. I find it helpful for being able to see the fainter spots. And, yay, I've found it in LR. When I've got the Healing tool open I turn on Visualize Spots by ticking a check box at the bottom left below the photo. I'll try your tips too because they sound very useful for seeing in colour instead.
@dkbarnett Still lots to learn but at least I seem to have got the basic set up for the catalogue now so I can actually get to my photos to edit them, lol!
@nickspicsnz@haskar Great tips, I have been using LR (in a very unorganised way) and am a self learner. I hadn't seen the Visualise spots box before and I will try the other method too. Thanks :)
What version are you using