dcampbell52 wrote:
I just looked up Kelby's book on Barnes and Noble, etc.. They have the LR5 book for about $35 the Nook version a $23. B&H and Adorama both want $43 I think suggested retail was $50. Kelby also has a Photoshop for LR users book for about $26 Nook version for $18. The book is paperback and I would probably pay for the paperback as I could use my computer while referencing it.
The Photoshop CC for Dummies is $14 on Amazon. They're selling Kelby's book on LR5 for $36. There's also a book by Andrew Faulkner, "Photoshop CC in the Classroom" for $36 plus another "in the Classroom" book for LR5 for $36
I've worked with Photoshop quite a bit; but, I'm no way near close to mastering it, so for the price, the "Dummies" book may be my best best, even though I'm rather insulted by the title.
Also, I found a book by Rob Sheppard, titled, "Adobe Camera Raw for Digital Photographers Only" and it's only $11. It sounds like this book will take me from the beginning to the end. Plus he follows Ansel Adams ideas about black & white!
So the question remains, Do I just learn Photoshop & Raw, or do I need Lightroom, too? I have my camera set to RAW + Fine.
I will try using Bridge, even though I'm in the habit of creating folders by date & title for all my photo "shoots" in the My Pictures folder, then backing them up after my edits to an external drive.
marcomarks wrote:
I hope you signed up for the Photoshop CC/Lightroom package at $10 a month. You don't need any of the other apps on their cloud just to do photo editing.
Photoshop is a complete, you might say, "Suite" of three things - Bridge, Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) and Photoshop itself.
Bridge is for cataloging your files, looking at where your files are, viewing files before working on them, moving files around, backing up, copying, pasting, importing, exporting, etc. and it works as a librarian. It has four or five different ways you can look at the files. I prefer one with a file tree arrangement like Windows Explorer but there are several others. In my view Bridge is hands down much easier and logical than LR's cataloging mess. You find a file you want to work on there, right click it and tell it to "open in Photoshop" and ACR opens first.
ACR essentially is the grownup fully-matured editing portion of LR on steroids that is much more powerful and does more for you. After you edit everything you can in ACR you can either save the file as is (your edits so far have been non-destructive just like LR if you leave them in RAW format) or move the file on into Photoshop with "open file". Then you have the full blow Photoshop to do all your other complex editing that may require layers, or a healing brush, or cloning, or gamma correction, and things that ACR isn't meant for.
You can start in Bridge, move to ACR, and then to Photoshop without opening or closing any program - staying in the Photoshop arena from beginning to end of your editing session. I have other stuff like the NIK Viveza 2 plug-in and Topaz plug-ins that also work within the environment too.
I hope you signed up for the Photoshop CC/Lightroo... (
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Thank you Marc for your detailed reply. Yes, I did sign up for CC at $10/mo. I will copy & paste your reply to a Word document & refer to it often I'm also watching all the tutorials online.
I may have to purchase Kelby's book on the app to have something concrete to refer to & highlight. I'm still reading his book on digital photography (book 1). Plus I have "Understanding Exposure" by Brian Peterson and "Mastering the Nikon D5000" by Darrell Young. I feel like I'm back in college!
After I master the D5000, I'll probably want a newer body, maybe even a FF.
Greenguy33 wrote:
Thanks, I definitely have that. :thumbup:
This is so funny...I have a LIST of all the gear I want/need. Just trying to justify upgrading to full-frame. After all, my Nikon D5000 is sooo out of date. It makes more sense to upgrade and THEN get good glass instead of wasting $$ on glass for my "old" body. The GAS pains are getting severe. We only have ONE local camera store. Sure wish I lived in New York so I could visit the B&H store!!!
Bill Houghton wrote:
I don't read books. Try this link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF2RMd3L83w
This is a good link. Thanks
Racmanaz wrote:
You might want to save your hard earned money and download the free Lightzone editing software, it will do just about anything you want it to do and more and it's completely FREE! :)
http://lightzoneproject.org/
I downloaded it and did a few edits. Will "play" more later. Thanks for the link
dcampbell52 wrote:
Here is a good series of FREE lightroom tutorials for LR 5. Note it starts with episode 41 so keep scrolling to the bottom. They are also free by him on you-tube.
I subscribe (also free) and he had some pretty good presets for about $20.00. There are several others also with tutorial but he is a great starting point.
http://www.anthonymorganti.com/
I like FREE!!! I watched the first video and liked it. The other videos I watched, the moderator talked so fast that I couldn't keep up. Even with the little experience that I have with lightroom, I could follow Anthony Morgan. Thank you...think I'll subscribe too!
Bill Houghton wrote:
In light Room, there is no save, you are right. What you will want to do is select all the photos you wish to EXPORT. Once you click on EXPORT you will be given many optons on how you want to EXPORT.
When importing, you should select "Copy as DNG". It will convert any RAW files to DNG. It will also import the JPGS as JPGS with out converting them.
As far as buying PS I believe you will find it cheaper to rent it for ten dollars a month. You will get all three for that price and any upgrades will automatically applied to your computer.
In light Room, there is no save, you are right. W... (
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I just imported some files "Copy as DNG", made edits to a RAW file and Exported it. I've done the export that way before but not the Import. Worked like a charm. I lost a few others that I had done edits on. I think I put it in Quick Collection or other folder in Lr, but when I went to retrieve it, the file was missing.
Thanks for clearing that up. I still haven't figured out the usefulness of Bridge; but hey, I'm new at this and still learning.
Any recommendations on a good book to learn these apps? I have an older book for PSE written by Scott Kelby and he probably wrote books for the newest photo software, too.
robertjerl wrote:
Canon Pixma MX922 gets a PC Magazine Editor's choice handles up to legal size paper so 8x10 and 8.5x11 photo paper. Only con they gave it was "slow"
'Slow" is a relative term. I've also read they are "noisy". I love mine. I ordered my PIXMA directly from Canon and got a $100 rebate plus ink and Canon Glossy II paper. The only thing I don't like is the ink tanks are no longer clear, so you can't see if the ink is actually low. I find you can print way beyond the "Ink is low" warning, and even beyond when it tells you the ink has run out. Just press OK on the screen. Also, I can send documents or photos to my printer from my laptop, tablet, or phone. It's really easy to use.
GrandmaG wrote:
I'm still using PSE 8 & was going to upgrade to PSE 12. Before doing that, I decided to try the cloud. This is a great way to try out the non-watered down version of Photoshop (a $700 app). There are so many other apps on the cloud that I will never use. I did a look-up on them & typed myself a Word document on what they all did. So I just downloaded Lr, Ps, and Br. I'm using Win 7 on a PC. Here are my questions.
1. I've been working with Lr (it's new to me) but most of the time I end up sending the file to Ps to finish my edits. I've watched several videos (on both) but Ps is more familiar to me.
I'm perplexed about two things:
I'm still using PSE 8 & was going to upgrade t... (
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Sorry I didn't post my questions yet. Here they are.
1. Lr has no "Save as" button. I'm in the habit of saving my finished photo as both a dng and jpeg so I can send them to family and a photo processing site.
2. When I import a photo, I only get the jpeg (I shoot in RAW + FINE) and I want to work on the RAW file.
3. What is the usefulness of the Bridge app?
4. How much more is on the Ps app compared to PSE? theire's quite a difference in price $700/$70. Is Ps worth it? I'm not a professional photographer. I may have answered my own question.
Any advice would be welcome. I read a lot of the threads on this site and enjoy the advice of you all.
I'm still using PSE 8 & was going to upgrade to PSE 12. Before doing that, I decided to try the cloud. This is a great way to try out the non-watered down version of Photoshop (a $700 app). There are so many other apps on the cloud that I will never use. I did a look-up on them & typed myself a Word document on what they all did. So I just downloaded Lr, Ps, and Br. I'm using Win 7 on a PC. Here are my questions.
1. I've been working with Lr (it's new to me) but most of the time I end up sending the file to Ps to finish my edits. I've watched several videos (on both) but Ps is more familiar to me.
I'm perplexed about two things:
jerryc41 wrote:
A lot depends on your printing needs. I print on DVDs/CDs, and my HP 5280 does a good job. For other printing, I use a Canon iP4500, seldom printing photographs.
Read reviews/comparisons from Consumer Reports, PCMag, etc. There can be a huge difference in the cost per page for ink.
I've had Hp, Epson, and Canon printers but I love the Canon printers the most for pictures. I didn't want to spend a lot on a printer either as the ink is way more than the cost of a printer. I have an all-in-one Pixma MG7120 and it does a beautiful job. I only print a few pictures at home and send the "snapshots" to Sam's club. They do an OK job; but I always like the photos I print at home better. Also, I always wait to get ink when Canon has specials going and I always get paper with the ink. I haven't had to buy paper since I bought the printer 2 years ago. On my previous Canon printer I used off brand inks for $2 each, but the printer quit working, so I wouldn't recommend that.
SharpShooter wrote:
Sorry GG, but I think you may have used up all of your allotment for the year with this one question!
But if you're really nice, you know, like naughty or nice, nice, admin might allow a 1/2 a question!! :lol: :lol:
Again, welcome and good luck. ;-)
SS
You're kidding aren't you! I don't want to start a new thread. Anyway. .how do you ask half a question?
GG
bull drink water wrote:
like you I too have trouble reading the whole manual. when I get past the basic"how to take pictures" part, I refer to it for specific situations.
Well, the specific parts aren't specific enough. That's why I ordered the book, "Mastering the
Nikon 5000".
bull drink water wrote:
you didn't say you couldn't shoot in other modes, just that you were in too big of a hurry. so slow down, choose a mode ahead of time. if you have time to switch between 3 lenses, then you have time to set your mode for a series of shots.
I took all my gear and the manual that came with my camera on vacation with me a while back so I could figure out all the controls & menus. I kept falling asleep reading the manual. However, I did learn a few things, just not the confidence to shoot in the other modes. This site has given me the confidence & motivation to really learn my camera and I've already read the first few pages of the books I ordered. They are much better written than the manual!
Once, I was "forced" to use manual at my grand daughter's baseball game because I was taking her picture through the fence and auto focused on the fence, not her. The picture came out great in manual. Other times I've used the other modes "by mistake" and, of course, didn't make the other adjustments so the pictures were horrible. A few times I've tried taking a picture without the auto focus but I guess my eyes see different than the camera and the results were blurry. I need to readjust the eyepiece. I can see that I have a lot of work to do and I'm up for that. I have the opportunity to work 6 weeks full-time and I already know what I will spend the money on. Ha!
Thank you to all who responded to my request. Now I'm going to practice with my camera & inanimate objects; but I will be back with pictures & probably more questions!