When do you use Lightroom (If at all)

Hi all, I'd just like to say that I love what I see on this side of Mac Forums!!!

I recently picked up a part time job with a photographer who does senior, sports, and wedding pictures. I was hired on to do post processing. However I am looking to speed up my work flow.

I have only used Lightroom a handful of times and I find myself using Photoshop 99% of the time when I need to correct and image. Will Lightroom speed up my workflow at all?

Or should I try to find some downloadable actions and presets - or even make my own?

Any suggestions?

Lately I've been doing A LOT of compositing and it takes me about an hour from start to finish for one photo...Is that too much time?

This isn't something that anybody can really answer for you. You have to figure out how your workflow is going to improve, if it needs improvement at all.

I use LR almost all the time, except for troublesome shots which need a bit more attention. If you're under the tutelage of another photographer, it would be best to sit with them a few times, and run through their workflow and see if you are able to catch on and take it from there. The big deal here is that you're working under this photographer, and that you need to make sure your work is not going to differ from his output, and confuse his clientele, or him for that matter.

If I was the person you were working with/for, I would take the time and make sure that you understood the look I was going for and how to achieve it.

That said, there are many schools of thought where this type of editing work is concerned, but none of them are "right". Photoshop is great if you learn how to use it, especially if you can do so efficiently. Personally speaking, I use LR more than I do PS.. but this is also because I'm not really shooting the stuff you are, anymore. If I was working in fashion, I'd likely use PS because it is what is expected of you to use, especially for pictorials and editorials. But for sports, seniors and even head shots, I'd be able to do 99% of my work in LR.

Doug

1. As far as compositing goes, I'm not the guy to ask. I don't like faking things like that. If I can't shoot it the way I want or need it beyond using light and props, I won't shoot it.

2. Actions are the power behind PS so yes, create and use them!

3. Using Presets in LR is fine if you're going for a specific look which is able to be used for the entire shoot, or at least for half of it. You can always find tons of presets, and use them as a base and then build it out from there by yourself.

The thing about presets is that you can set one up to as an import model. This really helps with batch editing and fixing white balance and exposure etc..

Have stuff to do so am in a rush, but will post more about this later.

Doug

i also use lightroom almost all the time, using ps just for the awkward shot. but for me the power behind lr is mainly its DAM and keywording, 40,000+ photos on my system and i can find any individual photo within 5 secs through lightroom

Thanks guys for the great comments so far!

I use LR for pretty much 95% of my work unless I need to clone or do anything with layers.

LR all the way. I only go into Photoshop if I need to remove a large section from the background.