Lightroom Workflow Guided Tour

Lightroom is the core of my photo editing workflow because it scales nicely from a quick Facebook post to those few special shots that warrrant careful attention. I will demo an orderly practical workflow developed over the years.

This is a guided tour: the why, how and flow of using Lightroom's tools. "Why" means I present the tools via examples of meeting photo composition objectives, not just a button and slider reference manual. It's the yellow brick road, avoiding the rabbit holes. I found the hard way that just messing around and watching random videos is a frustrating way to approach Lightroom overall, though it works fine adding a new feature.

Get the most out of Lightroom whether you are a new user looking for a solid start, or someone who has been working with the basics but wants more tools and ideas to get better results faster.

Bring out the best in the photos you love:

1. Crop compositions for efficient engaging storytelling --there is a science to cropping
2. Adjust the exposure to fit the mood and bring out detail
3. Level horizons and correct wide-angle perspective
4. Make smart use of the powerful Masking tools with local adjustments
5. Guide the viewer's eye with Dodge and Burn (enable your inner Ansel Adams)
6. Vignette to draw attention without being obvious
7. Learn how to quickly winnow the winners from losers
8. Export jpeg files tailored to social media, email or print service requirements
9. Advanced options: AI Remove tool; access Photoshop or Topaz for AI-driven tools

Steps 1 and 2 are easy to do once you see how and why. They improve almost any photo -- sometimes substantially like the mostly black duck in deep shadow under a pier next to bright sunshine above. Add in the other steps as they support your own style of photography.

The camera sees the world differently than we do. The image we consciously see has been carefully captured and edited by the visual cortex in our heads. The brain moves the eyes around in quick twitches called saccades to sample the scene, building the conscious image, adjusting brighteness and sometimes even content as is goes. A camera takes a single sample of the whole scene. The editing I do in Lightroom is intended to present the scene as I saw and was inspired by it.

Adobe has a family of Lightroom apps. The grandaddy is Lightroom Classic that has been the enthusiast and professional choice for decades. The up-and-coming new generation is Lightroom CC or Desktop. It became my own editing workhorse this year in place of Classic because its user interface and file handling are simpler and smoother without the catalog complexity. Still gets what I need done. Lightroom Desktop, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop are all in Adobe’s Photography Plan, a $10 monthly subscription which brings new goodies several times a year including hot new AI features. (Give up a deli lunch once a month, your photos are worth it)

Live on Zoom in 3 Thursday sessions June 6, 13 and 20 at 7 to 8:30 pm. Class fee covers all three sessions. Class demos will use Lightroom Desktop with the latest 7.3 AI, but the methods generally apply to Mobile, Web and Classic's Develop module except for screen layout and keyboard/mouse action details. Classes are recorded so you are covered if you have to miss one or want to review the demonstrated keystrokes. Slide set and sample files are included.

Student comments:

• "Bill Ray's specialty is translating the technical for the rest of us to understand."
• "Thank you for the class, which was practical and clear, and which I think will help me solve a lot of photo problems that I was perplexed by."
• "That was really good. I'm amazed at what you can edit. Like that scene with the barn; you could not even see it was there at first."

Contacts: billray@apian.com, www.facebook.com/BillRayImages, Gallery website: bill-ray-images.pixels.com