Recommended Lightroom Tutorials

[RDSChicago]

Just getting into photography. I have a Leica CL and several native lenses. I’ve been using Apple Photos for post-processing and everyone suggests I switch to Lightroom. Any advice as to which version I should get and how I can best learn how to use the program, such as live or virtual courses, YouTube videos, etc.?

 

[RichardC]

Youtube is full of free resources many of whom will be delighted to help you buy their Lightroom presets and overpriced courses.

However, if you are starting from scratch, my recommendation would be a subscription to LinkedIn Learning. In my country, this is free in the first month - you might be presented with different options in the USA. The longer courses are structured with a beginning, middle and end and are not full of advertising.

Theresa Jackson's stuff is easy to follow. Richard Harrington's is comprehensive but I found him less watchable. Marianne Kost and Deke McLelland are excellent tutors.

Don't rush ahead. If the course recommends you download a picture and practice as you watch, then do just that.

When starting lightroom from scratch, decide which place you are going to keep your pictures (mine is 'all photographs' on one drive which is backed up regularly). If you subsequently move a picture, do so in Lightroom's file manager NOT Windows or MacOS.

Also, when Lightroom suggests you back up your edits before you close the program, do it! Your edits are a set of instructions which Lightroom applies to your RAW files. The actual files remain exactly as you shot them.

 

[pdk42]

There are a few things worth mentioning at a very high level which may help you to orientate yourself:

- There are two quite different versions of Lightroom. Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC. The latter is sometimes referred to as just “Lightroom”. The Classic version is almost certainly the one you want. It’s a full-feature app that runs on Windows and Mac. Lightroom CC is a platform portable version targeted at tablets etc. It’s got a lot less functionality than CC and wants to store your images etc in the cloud.

- Lightroom (either version) is a non-destructive editor that works with raw files principally. It’ll work with JPEGs, but that’s sort of missing the point. It will not change the file you’re working on. Instead it saves all the edits you make and then renders these edits on the screen as you do so. If you want a final version of your image, then you export it as a new file (JPEG, TIFF etc), or print it. The original raw never gets changed.

- A key part of Lightroom is using masks. Thankfully, LR masks are much easier to use than Photoshop. Spend some time learning how to use them.

- You can no longer buy LR as a perpetual licence. Everything is now subscription. There is an excellent “Photography Plan” that offers LR, PS, and some cloud storage for a reasonable price per month.

As regards learning - my best advice is to play with it, ideally with an objective in mind. It’s not too hard to use, certainly way easier than Photoshop. But we all learn in different ways. Personally, I prefer to read about how things work rather than follow video guides. If you are similar, I can recommend The Lightroom Queen. There are a lot of free reading resources there.

The Lightroom Queen

Tips, Tutorials & Troubleshooting for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

www.lightroomqueen.com