Adobe Lightroom CC Review

  

Adobe Lightroom has always been about organization, enhancement and sharing. Adobe Lightroom CC pushes the digital envelope in working with photographs anywhere. It is truly a mobile editing tool; allowing the user to switch from iPhone (or Android-based phones), to iPad, to computer. It also allows for seamless syncing between devices.

 

The full version of Adobe Lightroom CC sports many new enhancements as well as six new features: HDR Merge, Panorama Merge, Facial Recognition, Filter Brush, Pet Eye Correction, and Advanced Slideshows. The mobile versions have a large array of filters to enhance and improve images, as well as distribution of images to social media and between devices.

 

 

 

 HDR Merge

Photographers often take several shots (bracketing) of the same image, at different exposures, in hopes of getting one perfect photographic (often shot under inadequate conditions). With Lightroom's new HDR Merge feature you can now take two (or more) imperfect photos at different exposures, and blend them into one dramatic image.

 

Panorama Merge

Creating a panorama view with several photographs is easy with Lightroom's new Panorama Merge. Simply gather multiple images (including raw files or images with different exposures) and Lightroom will seamlessly merge them together. The Auto Crop check box eliminates uneven edges creating a perfect wide-view image.

 

 

I was very impresses with the merge feature, especially using eight images. Even the ripples in the water appeared flawless. You do not need to use an abundance of images to create a panorama, but I really wanted to push the limits of this new feature. The only downside of merging so many photographs was it took thirty-minutes to render the final image.

                                                                 Final Panorama Merge of eight images

 

Facial Recognition

Using the new Facial Recognition feature makes it easy to find specific images within your organized files. Lightroom does a decent job with facial recognition (if you use Adobe Photoshop Elements you will be familiar with this feature).

The first time you run the Facial Recognition feature can be both amazing and humorous. For some reason the Facial Recognition feature, in both Adobe Lightroom CC and Adobe Photoshop Elements, insists on grouping our old yellow Labrador Retriever with my husband. It is easy to rectify this issue by either deleting the non-person image from the group, or simply renaming the images to correct the grouping.

 

 

I was impressed with how the Facial Recognition picked individual faces in a less than perfect group photograph. Although I could barely recognize the people at first glance, Lightroom CC was able to catch each person's face with accuracy.

As a side-note, Adobe reps have advised me that the Facial Recognition feature is just for humans, and was not intended to seek-out facial recognition on animals. However, I have found that it does a great job of distinguishing specific dogs from a variety of photographs.

 

 

Filter Brush

The Filter Brush is an amazing new brush. It reshapes gradients within the Graduated Filter, by "brushing" to add or erase specific gradient filtered areas. This is a really quick and easy way to add depth to an otherwise washed-out sky.

 

 

Pet Eye Correction

A new feature located under Develop/Red Eye Correction, is Pet Eye. Flash-eye in animals is especially prevalent with the use of mobile phones, and cannot be corrected with the human Red Eye function. This photography flaw can now quickly be remedied with the new Pet Eye Correction feature.

 

Advanced Slideshows

With the need to create dynamic content for the web, the new Advance Slideshow features allow the user to add and adjust pan and zoom. You can also include up to 10 audio-tracks to a slideshow, and sync the music to the images.

 

Another new feature within slideshows is the Quality option: where you can choose from Draft, Standard, and High quality versions of the slideshow images. The draft option is perfect when you are beginning your project, as images are previewed in a lower resolution, loading quicker. Using the new advanced slideshow features would be outstanding for a wedding, or any occasion that you want to make especially unique.

 

 

 Mobile

Editing photographs on a mobile device has never been easier. Although the features and functions of the full computer versions of Lightroom CC and/or Lightroom 6 are limited; the mobile versions of Lightroom (iPad, iPhone, Android Phone) still give you a large variety of editing features. Plus you can import images to the Lightroom computer version for additional post-work, or share utilizing the Adobe Creative Cloud.

 

Conclusion

Adobe Lightroom is an excellent compliment to Adobe Photoshop, and is an essential addition to the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan. As a long time Adobe Photoshop user, I was especially impressed with the variety of special effects and the ease of use. In Lightroom CC, I was able to repair a favorite, yet underexposed photograph. I had tried at different times to correct the image in Photoshop with unsatisfactory results. Yet within a few moments in Lightroom CC my problem photo became a printable image.

 

                                                                            Original photograph – retouched photograph in Lightroom CC

 

The 2015 spring versions of Adobe Lightroom are available in several formats. Lightroom 6 can still be purchased as a standalone version. Lightroom CC can be purchased either as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan, or as part of the bigger Adobe Creative Cloud Plan.

Lightroom can also be downloaded for specific mobile devices for free.

 

Versions: click below for current prices, and computer (mobile) devices' specifications

• Adobe Lightroom Mobile (iPad, iPhone, Android Phone)

 

 

All supporting images are copyrighted by Dee Marie Images cannot be copied or printed without written permission.

 

 

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