Getting Started With Lightroom

 Don't purchase a subscription, install the application and start using it!

Take an online course.

Mattk https://mattk.com/lightroomsystem/

Tim Grey https://www.greylearning.com/courses/mastering-lightroom-classic-2023

Lara Shoe https://laurashoe.com/lightroom-5-6-classic-cc-the-fundamentals-beyond-video-tutorials/

Anthony Morganti https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLllFqBuTM0WJTD4rpvf748Um9MMmbo4r9

In the words of Thomas Watson "THINK".

I started using Lightroom sometime in 2016. At a recommendation, a helpful friend, I purchased a $30 book. Yes it got me started but not the best way. I then found an online course which I purchased. It made sense and it was quite good and through. But led me, I found later, a some of a rabbit hole.

What's the hole?  Basically I didn't THINIK. I just had images on the 'C' drive on my PC.

FIRST THINK about your folder/volume structure. An  early course suggested year, month, day structure. That worked but... Use a large, 2 to 3 terabyte, external drive. Consider an SSD, Solid State Drive. Get another one as a backup drive. 

Second Understand that Lightroom is a DAM, Digital Asset Management application. A relational Database. It uses a Catalog to know where your on your filesystem your images is with the metadata about your camera, serial, lens, Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, Focal Length, and other information, 

The important is to what makes sense to you. Based on recent  videos I have landed on Categories. So I am  moving to;

CATORGIES

   TRAVEL

name of trip followed by date. For example Alaska Trip 2016 or yyyymmdd Alaska

    PEOPLE

    WILDLIFE

    LANDSCAPE  

 what works for you.

IF or when YOU INSTALLED LIGHTROOM CLASSIC AND STARTED USING IT 

DON'T MOVE YOUR FILES USING THE COMPUTER'S FILE SYSTEM 

 Finder or Explorer 

Now if you want to avoid the Lightroom Classic catalog and a few features that Classic has install Lightroom, which was call Cloud. Lightroom is basically a image browser in the Local tab.

Watch this video by Brian Matiash about Lightroom

Also my blog post here about how I am moving to Lightroom

 

My Lightroom Desktop Workflow

1. Insert camera card to computer reader.

2. Select the images you want to save to your "image library" and copy them. 

3. Paste to the desired location. 

4. Using Lightroom Desktop review and select your picks and select those selections and create a subdirectory and move the selections to that directory, which I label it to PICKS. 

5. Review the PICKS and those I choose to edit and give them 4 stars.

6. When it is ready to publish I got to Photoshop to add my signature them make those 5 stars.

7. Optionally copy the best to the cloud.