5 REASONS YOU SHOULD EDIT PHOTOS IN LIGHTROOM
As a professional photographer, I’ve come to have a really intimate working relationship with Adobe Lightroom. In my opinion, it’s the industry standard photo editing software and the one that has the potential to completely overhaul your workflow- in terms of both efficiency and consistency.
In recent years with the influx of bloggers and influencers coming onto the content creation scene, Lightroom is no longer a coveted software just for photographers- it’s something pretty much anyone can access and learn to use with a little bit of practice. Here are my 5 top reasons you should be editing your photos with Adobe Lightroom, whether you’re a beginner or advanced content creator!
1. ORGANIZATION STATION
Many photographers applaud Lightroom for the many organization features it has. I don’t personally organize my files within Lightroom very often, but the options for flagging and organizing your files within the software are endless. With keywords, catalogs, and collections, you are able to create your own digital library right at your fingertips.
2. DYNAMIC RANGE WITH RAW IMAGES
There’s one thing that most photographers can agree on- shooting in camera RAW and being able to edit those RAW images can be a lifesaver. RAW images have the ability to retain so much more information than straight up JPEG files, and Lightroom can flawlessly handle these RAW images. There have been so many times that shooting and editing in RAW has saved my butt with client photos.
3. BATCH EDITING = EFFICIENT & COHESIVE
My favorite part of Lightroom is that you are quickly and effectively able to batch edit your photos. As a professional photographer, this is invaluable because I can edit a full shoot in one sitting for my client and make sure that all the editing decisions within each photo are cohesive with each other. Not only does batch editing speed up my workflow, it gives my photos a branded visual consistency.
4. ABILITY TO BRAND WITH METADATA, COPYRIGHT, AND WATERMARKS
If you take pride in the digital content you create, you definitely want to make sure you brand it and stamp it as yours. The internet can be like the wild west, and embedding your copyright and metadata information is sort of your way of tattooing your brand on the image to say “hey, this is mine.” You are also able to easily add watermarks to all of your images upon export which can be really handy for certain situations!
5. ENDLESS POTENTIAL FOR CUSTOMIZATION
With endless editing combinations and the ability to create and import creator presets, Lightroom is your one stop shop for customization. You can create any combination you want and easily save it as a preset to edit with again later. This can save so much time and potentially be an income stream in the future if you so desire to package them up and sell them!