[quote=DirtFarmer] LR is a pretty good editor, but PS has it beat by far.

Please tell me in which way PS has Lr "beat by far." If that is the case, why would you not use it more than Lr?
I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm just curious.

Walt

I appreciate the comments Linda. I'm continually trying to improve my editing, but have to admit that there is much more that I can learn. I've struggled immensely with learning layers and how it can improve my ability.

Walt

Lr has been my primary editing program for a number of years and I'm still learning things I didn't know about it. I don't subscribe but still use the stand alone variety. At some future time if I upgrade from my 80D, I know I'll have to subscribe, at which time I'll probably take some instruction in it but in the meantime, I'm just trying to understand what I might be missing. I just think the person I quoted may have misspoke.

Walt

I admire your ability to composite but that isn't the answer I was seeking. My question would be why is a photo that has been edited in Lr, not finished? I've read all the replies (3 pages worth) so far, and no one has addressed the question. Some have argued that when it is done in Lr, that it is finished. The person I quoted is a highly respected and knowledgeable member that in almost all his responses gives detailed and relevant replies so I'm thinking maybe there may be something that I'm missing, but I'm stumped to understand what that might be. I may end up sending him a PM to ask him directly, but thought it might make for a good discussion. Perhaps I should post an example of one of my photos that I think is finished in Lr, and see if anyone can show me how it can be further finished in PS.

Walt

In a previous topic where an O.P. asked what the best editing program was, a well respected and knowledgeable member said:

“ Lightroom is a good solution for editing raw and cataloging - and for processing 100s or 1000s of images at a time - but it does not and cannot turn out a finished image, at least not by creative director standards.“

This made me stop and wonder, since I don’t use Photoshop, why are my images that I mostly edit in Lightroom, with an occasional use of Nik filters or once in a while PS Elements, not finished? Of course, my standards don’t have to pass a creative director’s desk, so I simply edit to my own taste, but I’m wondering what more would I need to do in Photoshop, since apparently Lightroom “cannot turn out a finished image.”

Walt

I would agree that Canon’s free Digital Photo Professional would be a good starting point for editing raw photos, but no one has yet mentioned that no matter which program you use (and eventually you’re going to want to use Lightroom), none of them are completely intuitive to use. You’ll need to watch some tutorials to learn how to most effectively use the software.

Walt

Looks great! It must be spectacular in a download version.

Walt

Congratulations!

Walt

I use Lr and PS Elements but don't subscribe.

Walt

According to Google you are correct!!!

Walt

I'm not a professional photographer - just an amateur, so I can't speak to the differences in wedding photographs and I've never been to England (it's on my bucket list), so I can't speak to any differences in the brightness or gloominess factor, but I do believe those persons who say that they notice a difference in brightness of skies and such between the two countries. I'm from Iowa and have lived there all my life but now winter in south Texas. One thing I noticed right away down here in Texas is the difference in the angles of the sun and how it affects the light at certain times of day and night. I'm amazed every evening to look almost straight up at the moon. It's never been directly overhead when viewed in Iowa! There was nearly 1 1/2 hours more daylight here in Texas on December 21st than in my hometown in Iowa.

I don't know if the differences in light translate to differences in my photos or not but it does to my eyes.

Walt

Sally - the issue is in your import process. You are importing the photos not straight into Lr, but rather you are first importing into “Photos” on your PC. After importing to “Photos” you then open Lr and import from “Photos” to Lr. Is this your procedure? If so, when you choose the option “Delete from disk’’ within Lr, you delete the photo from Lr but not from it’s original location within ‘’Photos’’. You can either go back to ‘’Photos’’ and delete them there, or change your import process to import directly to Lr. I don’t know how changing your import process will affect your catalog structure, however.

Walt

Welcome Lisa. As a new arrival here, you may not be aware of all the available sections. There is seemingly a section for every interest. If you go to the top of the page and click home, you will see a list of sections. Scroll down to the last one which is marked “All Sections”. Click on that and it will reveal some specialized sections. You can click on any section you wish and subscribe to whatever interests you. These will then show up on your home page when there are new postings.

Walt

What software are you using for PP? Red is a difficult color to shoot and PP, but there is much more that could be done with this image, with the right software. If you are using Lightroom, you could use the radial adjustment tool to subtly reduce exposure to all of the image except for the one main subject flower giving it more of a “star billing” in the shot. You might also adjust the blacks slider a bit to the left and the whites to the right. There are a ton of good free videos available on youtube on good Lightroom editing workflow techniques.

Walt