Some of the things that have been changed: Library Module views; Develop Module now has a gradient tool and local adjustment brush (non- destructive), and an improved Vignette control; Plug-in manager to work with future Plug-ins; Sharpening can be outputted now (1.xx it is for previewing only), dual monitors can now be used and many other improvements. Imaging Resource Digital Photography Newsletter Volume 10, Number 16 dated August 2008 has a great write up on Lightroom 2 called “Lightroom 2—Turning Work Into Play” http://www.imaging-resource.com/IRNEWS/  and the full article can be viewed at http://www.imaging-resource.com/SOFT/LR2/LR2.HTM . They get a lot deeper into the changes, and are great articles to view if you are interested in digital photo editing.

 

The program was released the end of July, and is being offered on-line at this time. I have not found it in stores yet, but I am sure it should hit the shelves soon. If you already have Lightroom 1.41 (latest version) you can get an Upgrade price +/- $99. If you don’t own Lightroom it will cost +/- $299.

I have been using Lightroom (1.0 – 1.3 – 1.41) since March 2007 and have found it to be a great help in sorting through photos and adjusting my RAW files. If you take hundreds of photos when out on a shoot (fun or professional) I would highly suggest getting this program, especially, if you are not using Photoshop CS and Bridge or Elements. Persons using Elements will find it similar to the Organize/Viewer feature but with a lot more powerful. I like to call it “Adobe Bridge and Elements Organizer on Steroids”. A great thing about the product is that it is an Adobe product so many of the Adobe Shortcuts and Keystrokes are the same which reduces the learning curve for people that use other Adobe products (CS3, Elements, Lightroom, Illustrator and In-Design, etc.).

 

Some background on Lightroom is that professional photographers wanted a program that worked well for the digital photographer, something similar to the workflow of film photography and they created Lightroom (verses Darkroom-Film). Because it was created specifically for photographers, it does not have extra features that you would not use and get in your way. And I must say I now use Lightroom for 85-95% of my digital photo editing. I still have to go into Photoshop for some special adjustments not yet offered in Lightroom, but I now spend very little time in Photoshop, and little to no time in Bridge.

 

So if you have not made the jump yet now is the time, and if you have Lightroom 1.xx it might be a benefit to step up to Lightroom 2 for just $99.

 

Happy Shooting (and now you can take lots of photos and pick through them fast)!

Duane Brovan