Photographers | What Software Is Right For You?
Blue light illuminates windows in Berlin, Germany.
Folks often ask me what software applications I use to process my photos. Most of my work is done inside Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. If you’re a newbie, when it comes to high end photo processing applications, I would not recommend that you purchase Photoshop. It’s a huge program with a visually unattractive interface that’s very, very hard to learn.
A sculpture on the facade of a building at dusk in Berlin, Germany.
Adobe Lightroom | It's Made For Photographers
However, Lightroom (actually called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) is another thing entirely. It was made by Adobe for the vast majority of photographers, whether enthusiasts or professionals, who are simply unable or unwilling to commit to the extremely long learning curve required to become a proficient Photoshop user.
It’s true that I still use Photoshop. But that’s because, when I started, it was the only option. I had no choice. Now that I have a solid understanding as to what, how and when to employ certain features within the program I can do so relatively quickly and without too much effort. But I always start in Lightroom and, frankly, Lightroom offers almost everything that most photographers would want or need to be able to successfully process the average photo.
Lightroom Is An Amazing Application
Lightroom allows you to import, organise, process and export (e.g., email, print, slideshow) your photos quickly and efficiently. I’ve found that I'm able to bring folks up to a proficient level with Lightroom in a single three hour, one-to-one private photography session. And that’s why I’m so comfortable recommending it. That, and the price, which is very affordable.