GLKTN Loc: TN

I have Lightroom 6 and Photoshop 5 and have been watching YouTube videos trying to learn how to use them. Even the basic videos seem to cover too much info at a time. The next issue is what is the proper picture. What needs adjusting. With all this high powered processing software I end up selecting auto adjust and leave it at that. It is totally overwhelming to me. I am really enjoying my Nikon d750 and shoot in M, one card raw and one jpeg. The processing stuff is just not fun. HELP.

steve49 Loc: massachusetts

Hit auto adjust and move on.

Don't worry about it.
Maybe you will move toward it at some point, maybe not.
Do it for enjoyment.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Find a local camera club.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

You might want to simply shoot jpeg and let the camera do the processing. Be careful with exposure and all you will need is basic lighten/darken/color adjustments in LR or PS. As you get more comfortable switch to RAW and play with each slider. You’ll then be able to make major adjustments/corrections and unlock the real power of post processing. Those Youtube videos will start to make more sense. Keep watching and learning.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

I think this is a step in the wrong direction shooting only jpg. First off you only get to massage 8 bits. if only a jpg is wanted just export the raw as jpg which is what the camera does but you still have the raw files for the day they improve their editing skills.

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

Forget the videos for a while. Pick a photo and play around with the sliders etc for a while, look at how they change the picture, use the sliders very gently. When you have a good idea of what the basic sliders do, move onto another picture, decide how you want to change it, reduce/increase exposure, adjust contrast and or saturation and try to achieve your vision with what you have learned about the various controls. Keep trying, it will come. Once you have a basic understanding you can try the videos again.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

This is how I started in post processing. I did a contact print to evaluate overall contrast and tonal values. I cropped and straightened the image on the easel. Then I selected a paper, or later a filter and polycontrast paper to address the major contrast issues, with a second print to see how I did. Then I used a marker to identify which areas had to be "held back" or dodged, and which needed additional exposure or "burned".

This was 1967.

Fast forward to 2000, when I got my first digital camera and a couple of years later when I got my first copy of Photoshop. The concept was very similar - so the translation was relatively easy.

The takeaway here is learn as you go as far as techniques and tools are concerned, but the thing that has to precede any editing is previsualization/self critique. It starts by making good choices even before you take the picture. Previsualization involves being aware of tilted horizons, being too far/too from the subject, composition, where the shadow and light is, etc. The self critique part comes in when you review your images, as you cull the ones that are beyond help. The big culprits are too slow a shutter speed and too much unintended blur and overexposure with lots of blown highlights. Many of the other "flaws" can be successfully addressed in post processing.

This is where Google search comes in. So you find a picture you like but it's too dark - Google it by searching for "how to fix an image that is too dark" in the search field. You will get 47,000,000 answers, but the first page or two will have what you need to get started. And so on.

It is hard to get started learning Photoshop in a classroom or a course. You first have to learn what needs to be addressed in your pictures, then start to learn what is possible. Almost 30 yrs later, I am still doing both, and I continue to learn and sharpen my post processing skills. It didn' hurt that I got a head start with a darkroom in my "formative" years.

I hope this was somewhat helpful. Good luck!

GLKTN Loc: TN

I belong to a local Club. A member does a monthly digital LR/PS class. The experience of class members is so diverse that it jumps around and some people feel they need to interrupt with their opinions and it gets confusing and boring. The instructor is very knowledgeable but has been doing it so long he asks for suggestions. There is no step by step from the beginning process. It is a selfless and we'll meaning effort but not really for beginners because of the vast difference of experience of the class.

anotherview Loc: California

The photographer Minor White said it takes 10 years to learn photography.

He did photography in the film era when the photographer had to wait hours if not days or longer to see the result of his pressing the shutter release button.

Today, in the digital era, we see an instant result from pressing the button. Thus, we can learn faster from our mistakes and successes. But it still takes time to go through the process of learning photography.

Attend a workshop or two in basic DSLR operation.

Attend a workshop or two in basic image editing.

Yes, join a camera club. Others there can guide you.

Plenty of tutorials exist on the Internet. Stick with the simpler ones. Adobe produces some no-nonsense tutorials.

Study composition and exposure along with the importance of subject and intention for a given photograph.

Learning and doing photography does require dedication and diligence over time. Stick with it and you will see improvement.

Good luck.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

GLKTN said in part: "I have Lightroom 6 and Photoshop 5 and have been watching YouTube videos trying to learn how to use them. Even the basic videos seem to cover too much info at a time."

GLKTN forget about Lightroom and photoshop, get a simpler edit program and plugins. Modern plugins do most of the work and they attach to all edit programs. For safety, you save the original and work on a one with a different name.. perhaps just adding "mod 1" to the original file name. The goal is to enjoy photography not learn advanced calculus or astrophysics or Photoshop or Lightroom.. old stuff... antique store programs that refuse to die.

Kleenex and Photoshop [PS] are generic names for photo edit programs. "Obviously it has been Photoshopped" simply means the photo has been modified to show Custard with Indian Head Dress smoking a peace pipe.

If you love the word Adobe, then get PSE, and if you wish for $12 add Elements Plus to open more PS doors. Learn by playing with basic tools especially straighten and crop. People mostly see the composition, that is the most important goal... The composition tells the photo's story. Thre are many very good elementary FREE edit programs. Or modern ones like Affinity which is a one time $50 fee.

Topaz s a great group of plugins... lesser-known and lower cost is JIXIPIX ... for excellent Turn photo into art there is Dynamic Autopainter [sip coffee while it does the work].

I have a friend who beat her head against the Adobe learning wall and found joy in dropping back to a simpler "have fun with photography" life.

The problem with tutorials is that they are long and assume you know what they are teaching and they do things quickly like the magician with the pea under the walnut street game. I have found that an hour-long tutorial ambles on and what they claim they have done is not visible on your screen. In teaching editing, step one is to look at the photo and analyze what needs to be done. Set up a routine... Straighten, Clone in some things, Crop, then color adjust brighten denoise etc. Print the original photo and write on it with a Sharpie like Trump used to direct the hurricane to Alabama. Sharpies are powerful! Do things stepwise based on your notes.

In the beginning, I would put my mods on the kitchen cabinet and see it fresh when I walked by... amazing how one sees smaller hidden problems over a week's time. Composition scan read the free works by a university art and psychology departments "art and psyche." "A psychological exploration into how people create, share, and react to images in the age of cyberspace and digital photography"
http://truecenterpublishing.com/photopsy/article_index.htm

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

Save those raw files for a later date. Start getting involved with just one thing in processing. Something simple and at the same time important, like exposure correction. Don't worry about anything else. I use only PS6 so I can't speak to using Lightroom, but I am certain the basic adjustments would be similar. If you use either program for just that, you will become comfortable with it. You will eventually discover the benefit of your raw files, where the latitude for just exposure is considerably expanded. Herd one sheep at a time. Let your flock grow at your pace. Photoshop is like a mega mall, and you only need to use one store at a time.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Maybe try a free editor with fewer sliders and tools for awhile. If you have Windows:
https://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

Or step back from processing and rediscover the joy of the hobby. Once you're re-energized, you can come back (and come back to this topic) and take smaller bites. Stop when you begin to feel overwhelmed, and take a break before continuing.

Best on your journey!

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Concisely stated what I ambled on about...

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

5 seconds.

GLKTN Loc: TN

I got my camera a few years ago and took a beginning dslr class in my local camera club. I have been shooting in M mode from the beginning. I use the meter and histogram trying to do the best in camera exposure I can. I have an understanding of aperature, shutter speed and ISO and how they affect a picture and which to use for a particular situation. I know how to convert raw to jpeg so that is not an issue. My wife grows irises and day lilies, many hundreds, so I take lots of flower pictures. I take pictures for her trying to improve all the time, which is fun. I have gotten to the point I give her the card with jpeg so she can post them in her club, then I format the card. I have gotten to the point of helping her then starting over next time. Like when I was a singer. I do a concert then it is gone too the next one. There was no record. Don't see the point in keeping all the photos since I don't know what to do with them.