It's a New Year

Welcome to the second decade of the 21st century everyone. It's been quite a decade and a wonderful one too. I am looking forward to an even better next ten years.

Happy New Years, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and any other holiday I have missed.

I was blessed with many photography gifts this holiday season and am beginning to used them as the new year begins. I received Adobe Lightroom 3 as one of those gifts and the following information will all stem from that little program.

I have been an avid Adobe Bridge user for years and seem to have a wonderful and easy flowing workflow. Many friends and associates have been raving about Adobe's Lightroom program, so I decided I would try it. I downloaded the demo a month or two ago and tried it out. I have to say that I looked like a two-year-old pressing keystrokes as I battled through a workflow test. I have to give thanks to Christopher Barr for explaining enough to get me into the individual editing of each image, but when I look at it now, I feel like I'm jumping into shark-infested waters.

Even though I could not seem to work the software correctly, I still asked for the program for Christmas. I know the scope and power of the software is beyond me and I feel I can really create a great workflow and rhythm with it, but it's like learning how to ride a bike all over again. I'm a firm believer of "if it's not broke, don't fix it."

For the last three days (roughly eight hours per), I have been reorganizing my images; in which were placed with the same workflow I have been using for over three years. I realized that my workflow needs help, and that desperate cry involves using new software. After I sort through all my images, organize them in one location (backed up in two on-site drives and one cloud server), I will begin my treacherous journey into a new workflow. I'm sure many of you, if not all, have delved into this journey yourself. It is NOT EASY! Did you know if you want to change a habit, you must do it 18 times before the brain can change it? Looks like I'll have a busy and rough January, but I think it will be worth it.

If you are in the market for Lightroom or any other photography software, remember that students and teachers get a remarkable discount.

As soon as I figure out what Lightroom does and how it stores files, I will post my records of how it went. If you have any input, suggestions, or ideas, please feel free to comment.


Until next time,


B