Adobe Lightroom 3 for small photography business

[sydneyguy34]

Adobe Lightroom 3.

Hi, I'd love to have some serious photographers thoughts on if I am on the right track from your point of view - by wanting to purchase Lightroom 3 from a small business.

Iv always used canon software to do basic edits with raw images and then i use google picasa to do bulk edits/saves. I mostly just ajust white balance / size of picture / levels / contrast and add borders ...

Occasionally i used elements to enhance images.

Guess I wanted to know if Lightroom in your opinion really is one of the most closest to perfect tools as i like to be organised and like to play around with raw images ... but not have the feeling of being overwelmed by more comprehensive applications.

I do paid social events work on part time basis for last 4 years but started doing basic real estate photography as well.

[kiwi]

cant talk as a ft pro, but Im a sport shooter and occassional wedding/event shooter and lr3 is a fabulous tool for processing lots of images, eg events. it does not though at this stage completely replace photoshop....so...it depends on the extent of processong you do. photoshop is still better at masking/layers, cloning, making posters etc

[ricktas]

download the trial and give it a 30 day test. No such thing as the perfect tool, otherwise we would all be using the same thing. You need to trial it to see if it suits your needs. I use it and love it, but each person needs to decide for themselves.

[sydneyguy34]

sweet as. will trial soon but most interested in points of views as well.

[Redgum]

Like any software you will need to wrap your head around some of LR3's quirks but the software has a tremendous ability to cope with the working professional, say product shots, news photographs where time is of the essence but you still need high quality and speed.

[James T]

As Rick says, there's no such thing as 'perfect'. I use LR2, and wouldn't be without it, for event and journo/doco work it's all I use. Other work may go onto Photoshop, but not before it's been through LR for initial processing and cataloguing.

Download the trial to see if it fits you, I have friends who swear by Apple's Aperture and others who prefer Capture One.. as usual it's the old 'horses for courses' thing.

[William]

I use LR3 for most of my work flow, Just a finish off in CS5 for framing and other stuff that LR cant do , Tried Capture One but found it a bit complicated for me

[Allann]

I use LR3 nearly exclusively nowadays. I have a few plugins for it that I use a lot for extra effects, like the NIK suite and a couple of others. It's only if I need to clone, layer, or alter the photos that i'll hop into CS5.

[sydneyguy34]

wow. how exciting. thanks for input guys. Iv made up my mind. im getting lightroom 3. my pal is a teacher so i can also pay teacher rates. awesome.

[James T]

.. my pal is a teacher so i can also pay teacher rates. awesome.

That doesn't sound entirely legal to me mate, look into the licencing first, especially as you're using it for business.

[Blueywa]

I agree with JT,
I trust your teacher mate is aware of the consequences; If anyone is considering using a product 'outside' of normal conditions of use, they probably should'nt be advertising the fact on this or any similar forum.
If funds are a consideration use one of the free programs; GIMP or similar.

I'm not saying dont do it, that decision is up to you.

[ricktas]

Using and educational copy of software for a business is breaching the conditions of use of that software. Educational versions can only be used for educational/private use. Note Ausphotography Site Rule:

[4] Information regarding copyright infringement may neither be requested nor discussed. This relates specifically to requests for software copyright infringement, discussion or promotion of software copyright infringement, or requesting/providing access to serial number generation software, or download information regarding potential copyright infringement of software, but is not limited to these.

Any discussion that involves illegal activity could result in site bans. So I suggest this conversation ceases immediately.

[Erin]

Play it safe, buy the correct license. It's not THAT expensive, especially when paying in comparison to the rest of the Adobe suite. Having said that, I'll always be a PS junkie. When LR can do something that PS can't (that I personally find valuable), I'll change. Heh. As mentioned before, horses for courses.

[kiwi]

I think lr3 and ps elements make a good bundle too

[wmphoto]

I think lr3 and ps elements make a good bundle too

I think a lot of people overlook how good Elements is. It does everything I need, it will have some limitations but usually there is a work around.

Edit: and it's relatively cheap.

[Sobriquet]

The great strength of Lightroom is in the reduced processing time when you are working with a high number of files and you want to add artistic effects. If you don't have a lot of volume it is probably not worth it but if you are processing a lot of images it is fantastic. Marcus Bell has some free tutorials available that would show you the power and uses of lightroom and help you get started if you do a trial download. I am not associated with this website in any way but I found it useful http://au.photographersresources.com/tutorials

[jeffde]

If your a student buy there student version yourself. I love LR3 especially when your processing alot of images. Its also non-destructive and i find speeds up workflow enormously.

[sydneyguy34]

it is perfectly legal. you dont know situation to make that passing. as ricktas said. conversation ended.

[sydneyguy34]

cool. yes. i have elements too but sounds like lightroom is great too too. im so glad to hear of other peoples positive eperiences with it too.

[kiwi]

Just an interesting point, i looked at the adobe licence conditions for a student purchase on their website, and it does not apparently restrict what is may be used for, it just states you must be a student and you must install it only on one private computer. On the other hand ive seen other sites state it also cant be used for commercials gain that would prohibit business use of any kind....so....best to do some research