about the artist
Adobe Lightroom, Apple Aperture, and the fine art photographer
This week (January 2006) Adobe announced the public beta for their new photographic tool, Lightroom. This follows Apple's release of Aperture a couple months ago. I've been involved with the alpha and non-public beta for Lightroom for a number of years, and have closely watched its development. I believe that these two programs represent a significant change in how photographers will work, and wanted to give my perspective as a fine art photographer.
Why this program is needed
The goal of Lightroom (and Aperture) is to create a workflow tool specifically geared for photographers. Every photographer has certain tasks they need to accomplish. After a shoot, you may have hundreds of photos that you need to review, boil down, and then refine into a final collection of work. Until recently, there was no one tool that helped you do all of this. Each photographer had to cobble together their own unique combination of programs and workflows and habits to get the job done.
While this has worked, it's also a frustrating and inefficient way to work. Relying on a collection of programs from different developers can be the cause of many headaches -- you spend your time tracking down compatibility issues, trying to sync upgrade cycles, and so on. Also, most of these programs were designed for graphic designers and multimedia artists, and are specialize for their needs. So the photographer often had to fudge the tools to make them work for him.
I can't tell you how many hours and days I have spent tinkering with my set of tools, trying to get them to work the way I needed. It feels like I am using some beat up old jalopy to win a car race. Sure, I can soup up the engine, improve the shocks, and give it a snazzy paint job, but in the end, it just wasn't designed to win a race. There are times when it feels like I am spending more time trying to get my set of tools to work than I am taking pictures.
But with the introduction of Aperture and Lightroom, this is starting to change. We finally have tools that are designed to replace this hodgepodge collection of tools with a streamlined product, designed solely for photographers. Both programs are in their infancy, and have a lot of growing up to do. But this marks a new direction in software development, and a new stage of evolution for digital photographers.
Since many others have already written articles that explore both of these programs in detail (see my links at the end of this article), I won't be doing that here. No need to repeat what's already been said! Instead, I wanted to offer a couple observations from my perspective as a fine art photographer, and discuss why I see one of these tools becoming a better fit for my photographic needs.
Which to use, Aperture or Lightoom?
Just a few months ago, photographers had to cobble together their own set of tools, and now we suddenly have two shiny, exciting tools created just for us. Awesome! So the question then becomes: which do I use? Since I've worked with Lightroom for a long time now, I have to admit I am biased. But the answer to this question also depends in part on the type of photographer you are, and how well each program will address your specific needs. Let me give you my perspective. I am a fine art photographer, who specializes in abstract images of nature. I sell these photographs through galleries. I also use these photographs as the basis of ketubah designs that I sell through my own business, Modern Ketubah. This means that I have specific needs that other photographers may not, which directly influences the tools I choose to use.
In typical Apple fashion, Aperture has a silky smooth interface, and some exciting innovations. And yes, some flaws too. But seeing what they did with Final Cut Pro, I have no doubt that Apple will refine those flaws, and grow Aperture into an excellent tool. But the more I looked at Aperture, the more I realised that it would probably not become the right solution for me. Let me explain.