Sunsetpar Loc: Texas

Hi friends. I enjoy my daily dose of Ugly Hedgehog, and value the expertise, opinions, and humor I find here. I have a dilemma, and would appreciate your thoughts. Bottom line...am I too old (age 70) to learn, use, and benefit from Lightroom? Put another way, should I shoot RAW + JPEG or just JPEG on my upcoming (mid-August 2023) trip to Brazil to shoot wildlife? A little background-- following a less than stellar photography performance on a trip to Costa Rica this past February, I vowed to improve my skills, and equipment, in an attempt to better deal with low-light (and other light challenges) photography in the wild. To this end, I acquired a Nikon D500 and a 500mm prime lens (the cheap one!) and have been practicing every day to shoot in manual mode, especially in low light. I feel that I am making progress, so I started looking ahead to my trip to Brazil, and the nuts and bolts of shooting and processing the photos I anticipate taking. As I sit here this morning, I am overwhelmed at the prospect of learning Lightroom (or some other PP program) prior to my trip, and am starting to question whether I should even try. After several hours of research (including in the post-processing forum) my mind is boggled. Heck, I am not even sure if I should try to use the Classic version or the cloud version. Right now my gut feeling is that JPEG images are more than sufficient for my needs (I have a website/blog that I created and maintain for my grandchildren and other friends who are interested in archaeology and birds), and I should devote my time to just taking the best JPEG images that I can at point of capture. I feel that I still have most of my wits about me, but I find myself doubting that I have sufficient gray matter to shoot and process RAW. What do you think this old man should do? (PS- attached is a "practice" photo I took a few days ago at a local park on a cloudy day)

(Download)

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Tom, I took up with Lightroom when I was 77. Go to the Anthony Morganti or Mark Koslowski videos to get started.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

I don't use LR but it seems to me that you could shoot both JPEG and RAW and learn to use LR after you come back if you are so motivated. There's no urgency in post processing. Work with them in Photoshop now and whatever strikes your fancy later. Just don't alter the originals.

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

One other tip. Look into using auto ISO.

Lastcastmike

I think manual settings are too hard when things are changing fast under low light. Try auto ISO -shoot raw and JPG and try one of the noise reduction programs. I have used DXO pure raw - there are other ones. You’ll get good results. You’ll also need Lightroom. You can get a 30 day Trial with DXO - both are not inexpensive.

williejoha

At 70, you are just a pub. You can handle it. There is plenty of YouTube support out there.
WJH

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I applaud your desire and commitment to expanding your knowledge and skills. I made the same transition as you a few years ago but unlike most here, I still shoot a lot of pictures with no intent of ever post-processing them. There is absolutely no reason for you not to save both JPEG and raw versions of your Braziluan images. That way you can know that you will bring back good images, and you will have the raw files to work on as you learn and gain skill.

To that end, get the biggest memory cards you can afford. Save your raw files to the CFExpress and the JPEGs to the SD card. If you save uncompressed raw and Fine/Large* JPEGs, you'd like for your CFE card to be twice as big as your SD card. (You can reverse the storage if it would work better for you.)

Folks here tend to believe that there is something evil about JPEG and will seek to rip you away from it as rapidly and violently as possible. Don't fall to that pressure. You can move very successfully at a much more gradual and intelligent pace.

Make sure to investigate the Picture Controls of your D500. You will want to choose a more vivid option than the Standard option. If you haven't already, learn how Active D Lighting works and how to use it. And DO NOT WORRY. None of these things you are doing to make your JPEGs better will harm your raw files in any way. But you can choose to make these settings your starting point for editing if you choose to do so.

I'm not a fan of Auto ISO. It will change the fundamental character of your JPEGs in ways you may not like. Once you start post processing and recreating everything later, you can get by with it a little better. I also prefer to set White Balance intentionally. When you are in scenarios with a strong prevailing color, the camera can mess WB up really badly. You don't need a correct "as shot" white balance for pist processing, but you do for your JPEGs.

Have a great time in Brazil. Have fun shooting. Bring back some great captures. Have fun. And don't stress.

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

You're equipment is more than capable of capturing award winning images. First and foremost, I suggest you focus (pun intended) on capturing the best image possible. Later, when you return home, worry about learning lightroom.

Lightroom is actually quite easy to learn and use. There are many free youtube tutorials teaching how to use every aspect of lightroom. There are many people on this site that can help with specific questions and techinques regarding the use of lightroom.

However, the key to bringing home those award winning images is camera technique. I would suggest immersing yourself in Steve Perry's videos. He has a website (and a UHH member) called BackCountry Gallery. It is dedicated to teaching wildlife photography using Nikon equipment, such as yours. Much of his examples are from his trips to the forests of Central America.

https://backcountrygallery.com/

Have a great time in Brazil and hope to see some of your images in future posts.

Mike

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

When I started in photography, computers didn’t exit. Everything was film. I learned to do everything for a photo in my Zenit-E and Canon AE-1.
Nowadays, everything is Lightroom this or PhotoShop that. Don’t feel to bad. These youngins think they know stuff. Give me a stick and I could teach them. My favorite photograph is by Storm Thurgerson who photographed the cover of the Pink Floyd album, Wish You Were Here. The photograph depicts two men shaking hands. However, one of the men (on the right) is on fire. He was doused with gasoline and set ablaze. No Photoshop then! To me, that is true art. (By the way, there are some photographs off to the side where you can see men with fire extinguishers. The were never used.

You are never too old to learn when it comes to photography. Just keep doing what you do and keep improving. Now…what the H€LL is a computer? LOL!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Heck no! You're not too old!

I'm over 70 and I still program (hand code) websites and edit RAW images.

P,S. Why so intent on manual mode? Why not use the mode that works best for the conditions?

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

You can learn lightroom, limitless resources online and a book case full of articles and books. YouTube is your friend in this endeavor. HOWEVER, the biggest error is jumping right in without learning the basics of file management. I’m dealing with my failure to learn that basic step before fully comprehending where to start. The actual manipulation is so easy that it is tempting to jump right in. I believe you will be fascinated by what a little post processing (PP) will do to a photo.

neillaubenthal

Nah…LR isn’t too hard to learn the basics…and you should definitely shoot RAW…don’t bother with RAW+jpeg unless you want to get those off the camera card quickly for social media use. Even if you only click the Auto button in the development module the images will look better and the RAW means you can easily brigantine shadows up or highlights down, crop, adjust exposure or whatever else you like, and so on.

And..use LR Classic as the other one doesn’t work without internet access and works terribly with slow hotel internet…not to mention it is less fully featured than Classic. Review some of the free tutorials on YouTube…learn what catalog, collections, etc means. Everything LR does is non destructive…ypu can reverse 1 or more steps or even start over with processing if you like…it’s complicated to learn everything and even after going on 10 years of use I’m not an expert…but you can learn the basics in a few hours.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

As far as the processing side of Lr goes I had Lr5 then Lr6 for about two years before I watched any videos on processing with Lr. If you know what the basic sliders do you should be able to just get right in there and start using Lr. The HSL tool, the Tone Curve tool, Split Toning, Transform etc are not what you would call basic editing tools and you can tackle them at whatever speed suits you. You don't need them for basic editing.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

At this point, skip the software and keep working on your shooting skills, especially your camera set-up. The colors and pose of this image are wonderful. Alas, the soft focus can be traced to your set-up.

Change from AF-S to AF-C and practice tracking subjects with the shutter half-pressed, to continuously engage the AF. Better yet, configure back-button focus (BBF) and use your thumb to hold focus and your index finger to release the shutter, with your thumb actively pressing / holding the assigned BBF.

Next: learn, practice and achieve the finger dexterity to move / position a selected AF point onto the subject's eye, when possible, or at least the face. This image has a centered AF point on the body, not the eye. If 1 AF point to too hard to track the eye of a moving subject, use any of the 'zone' options, such as a 9-AF box or the slightly larger 12-AF box. Get that box over the subject eyes, the camera will do the rest. That 'dexterity' means changing the AF location with the camera held to your eye in a shooting position.

If you're going to be a JPEG shooter, not a post-processor, change from Adobe RGB to sRGB. Otherwise, you have to process every image before sharing, if for nothing more than correcting the colorspace to the online standard.

As a JPEG shooter, customize your Standard picture control. Bump the sharpening to +4.0 or +5.0. Add some saturation, say +0.5 or +1.0. You have clarity at +1.0, consider Contrast at +0.5 to +1.0. Test how these changes impact your images and fine-tune further, if desired.

This result shows you're in the neighborhood of success. Up your game with these setting updates and technique adjustments. Let the camera make you successful and you're justified in skipping the post processing downstream work.

When you become one with your camera, the magic begins.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Hi, Tom!
First, I have to say that's one of the best Yellow Crown Night Heron shots I've ever seen!! Congratulations on that!

I just turned 69 and I don't have any desire to learn Lightroom! Even if I had just turned 29, I would have no desire to learn Lightroom! I'm not a post processor and never will be! I use Picasa for the very minimum post processing that I do. And have ever done! You DON'T HAVE TO BE a post processor to get great shots! I have a great many photos posted here and other places and have numerous followers who will attest to the fact that most of them are very nice photos! ALL JPEGS! (I use the Large/Fine setting).

Your choice of the D500 will take you far with wildlife photos! I use a D500 and a D850 with the Nikon 200~500mm f 5.6 zoom. Your 500mm will do great, though I think a zoom is more versatile with just as good or very near as good IQ as the prime! There, I've said it, bring it on UHH'ers! And I'll put money on it that most people won't be able to tell the difference! I love the D500, the only problem I have with it is the relatively small sensor makes cropping more problematic than with the D850. But with the "crop factor" of the DX camera with an FX lens, I get 750mm equivalent so cropping is less of a concern to begin with.

I would say that you could do both RAW and JPEG just for peace of mind on a once in a lifetime trip. I've been to Alaska, Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and more, and have only shot JPEG and have never had any regrets. But shooting RAW will only cost you a couple more cards so why not?

I applaud your thoughts about taking the best shot you can in JPEG at point of capture! That is what I have done since day one! And have never regretted it! I'm looking forward to seeing some photos from Brazil!

Last thought, my D850 is more capable in low light than my D500. It's an older camera and you can pick one up for considerably less money than when they first came out. But still expensive! A lot of them are available used, and one of my two D850 bodies was purchased used from B&H Cameras. Never a problem with it and it has several thousand "clicks" on it now. I wish you luck on your trip to Brazil! I wish I was going with you!!