I don't know how to use Lightroom nor Photoshop (gasp) - seeking fellow neanderthals

Bob @ Fatbloke said

Alan Ewart said

Bob @ Fatbloke said

Alan Ewart said

Man creates post saying he wants to learn Lightroom and Photoshop via face to face tutorials because using YouTube or online tutorials do not suit his personal learning style .

Posters come along telling him to use YouTube tutorials.  One person tells him to shoot jpgs and use gimp.

Seriously people WTAF.  Did no one other than the first poster actually read his post?

Indeed I did, which is why I suggested that some of the shorter videos might work for someone with self confessed ADHD behaviours.

So........WTAF, go look in a mirror, or just do us all a favour and mind your own business perhaps?

So which bit of no YouTube video are you struggling with Bob?

You May not have noticed that this is a forum.  So far as I am aware there are no posting restrictions?  Perhaps you know better? 😉👍

No, I fully agree, there are no posting restrictions, which is why I find your earlier rant a little hypocritical perhaps?

If you say so it must be true 😉😂

Holly Alexander Photography said

Bob @ Fatbloke I think the point is the OP wants one to one personal learning , which as I said is a great business opportunity for those who know it very well and are also in the OPs area. The rest of us can only offer our own personal experience... Myself I learn best on my own so can't really give any further advice

Edited by Holly Alexander Photography

Happy to give 1-2-1, and also potentially do 1-2-1 via something like Skype, which allows screen sharing, and audio.  TYhe shopping list suggestion was to give background for the mentoring / learning sessions.

The short (ADHD digestible) video suggestions were an extra.

:-)

Hey Simon - moving to raw ain't so bad. I only did it recently myself. I was a JPEG shooter - processing with an ancient  version of PS Elements (Version 8.0) until about 5 or 6 months ago. I just lasso'd bits of my images and tweaked the various levels and colours up and down (like a dodging and buring with prints in a darkroom.

I now shoot Raw only. I use Nikon ViewNX-i to look at what I've got, and then I open my chosen images in the RAW bit of Elements2018. I move the RAW sliders around till it looks okay and then I click 'open' to edit in the main Elements programme. I'm not a pro and prefer to pay for something once only, I didn't fancy the annual rent charge for full Photoshop.For an amature i reckon PSE is just fine. I also use the free version of Nik Software plugins which takes over where the basic PSE tools lack finesse.

Youtube is okay - you should give it a go, but choose a simple instruction style doing the basic stuff. Rick Peterson is a good place to start. Don't worry about the complicated videos by the likes of fast-talking Pix Imperfect - it goes right over my head at the moment.

You'll be fine.

Tim.

Alan Ewart Yep, use Capture 1.

.

Edited by pose4me

I have tried and failed to learn Photoshop despite buying books on it, getting one to one tutorials and watching many online tutorials. I have used numerous RAW image editors over the years including Bibble Labs, Nikon Capture NX, Apple Aperture, Capture One, Affinity Photo and more recently ON1 Photo RAW and Alien Skin Exposure X4. I also use Nik Software - Color Efex a Pro, Silver Efex Pro etc. 

There are huge advantages of shooting in RAW and probably the best approach is to find an easy to learn RAW processing package to get you started. Lightroom or its alternatives will do 90% of your RAW editing, so forget about Photoshop to begin with as you don’t need it. See https://havecamerawilltravel.com/photographer/lightroom-alternatives/ 

I chose not to buy Lightroom as I don’t want to be held hostage by Adobe for the rest of my life. I prefer to buy my editing software outright. That is why I use Alien Skin Exposure X4, which is easy to learn and does not require you to import photos into a catalogue. Capture One produces much better images than Lightroom, but is quite expensive unless you own a Sony or Fuji camera. 

Get some one to one training with someone who has years of commercial experience in image editing as these people learn the fastest and most effective way of image editing.

In some ways I'm glad others have the same problem I do.  

I have no problem shooting in RAW - when I first got my camera, I did a beginners course and the one thing I took from that was shoot in RAW - in fact, I've only recently begun to use JPG and that only to send images to a remote device!

I've been using Photoshop for years - but what happens is, when there's something I need to do, I use Photoshop alongside Google because invariably someone else has already done it and made a video!  Unfortunately, I don't really learn much from this because I very quickly forget how I did it! 

I started to use Lightroom purely as a catalogue, but very very slowly I'm learning more about that as well, in fact I find myself doing less in Photoshop and more in Lightroom.  Both my wife and myself did an "Introduction to Photoshop" course at our local college a year or so ago - it helped, but we both still struggle.  What makes it more frustrating for me is that, many years ago, I was a software developer, but I just can't get my head around the concept of how Photoshop layers work - I've had it explained many times, in many ways, but it's yet to go into the brain and stay in!

Interesting. I also struggled with PS at the beginning - I found the Adobe documentation virtually useless too because it was so general and I couldn't easily understand how to apply it to my images.

I still remember a 1-2-1 session with a friend on PS which was nice but useless because he just went too fast for me and there was too much to absorb at once. So I find videos are better for me because I can go back over it if I need to, or focus in on a bit I didn't quite get the first time.

The issue with the videos to some extent is finding the one you want, at the right level for your current understanding.

If anyone's interested I'm starting to offer custom tutorials where I talk through my approach to editing in PS, using your image as the example, and your thoughts as to what you want to focus on, or which aspects of PS you find most difficult to get the hang of - so the learning is tailored to you and your work.

Sort of doing requests, if you like - some of the benefits of 1-2-1 without the cost and inconvenience?

The theory is that this might be more helpful to some people but we'll have to see.

For someone starting from scratch, Lightroom is easier to learn, although each has their advantages. I Also struggle with video tutorials, as I tend to learn by doing and find step by step guides easier to follow (also my internet connection isn't the fastest). Until you find someone, try some suitable guides to see if they are easier for you. I have attended some tutorial sessions (albeit not by professionals) and they can be chaotic, so would recommend 1-2-1.

indemnity said

Alan Ewart Yep, use Capture 1.

I love C1 but even I wouldn't inflict it on someone who struggles to learn by watching tutorial videos.

SimonCar said

HI

Does anyone else struggle with tech and struggle with learning?

One of my New Years Resolutions was to at least learn how to use Photoshop and Lightroom BASICS so I can start to shoot and use RAW format. 

I understand the many benefits that are to be had from this RAW format in post processing. Thus far I've always shot in JPG and trusted my cameras conversion. Then a few tweaks with free Windows photo / lighter / darker/ saturation.

However I struggle with online course, my learning style is a bit ADHD. YouTube etc doesnt work for me, and I need a classroom environment.

Instead of going back to school, however, I propose a collective of fellow Neanderthals to contact me, and we will book a pro teacher and meet at London location with laptops for say 3 sessions as a starter.

Happy to hear from those in the same boat as me, also from those who think they could teach us!

I'm happy to arrange a venue to meet in, and logistics. The sessions would be something like 3 Saturday mornings 9.30 til 11.30am say

What sayest thou? Who will join me on this humble quest to move from jpeg to RAW?

SimonCar said

HI

Does anyone else struggle with tech and struggle with learning?

One of my New Years Resolutions was to at least learn how to use Photoshop and Lightroom BASICS so I can start to shoot and use RAW format. 

I understand the many benefits that are to be had from this RAW format in post processing. Thus far I've always shot in JPG and trusted my cameras conversion. Then a few tweaks with free Windows photo / lighter / darker/ saturation.

However I struggle with online course, my learning style is a bit ADHD. YouTube etc doesnt work for me, and I need a classroom environment.

Instead of going back to school, however, I propose a collective of fellow Neanderthals to contact me, and we will book a pro teacher and meet at London location with laptops for say 3 sessions as a starter.

Happy to hear from those in the same boat as me, also from those who think they could teach us!

I'm happy to arrange a venue to meet in, and logistics. The sessions would be something like 3 Saturday mornings 9.30 til 11.30am say

What sayest thou? Who will join me on this humble quest to move from jpeg to RAW?

SimonCar said

HI

Does anyone else struggle with tech and struggle with learning?

One of my New Years Resolutions was to at least learn how to use Photoshop and Lightroom BASICS so I can start to shoot and use RAW format. 

I understand the many benefits that are to be had from this RAW format in post processing. Thus far I've always shot in JPG and trusted my cameras conversion. Then a few tweaks with free Windows photo / lighter / darker/ saturation.

However I struggle with online course, my learning style is a bit ADHD. YouTube etc doesnt work for me, and I need a classroom environment.

Instead of going back to school, however, I propose a collective of fellow Neanderthals to contact me, and we will book a pro teacher and meet at London location with laptops for say 3 sessions as a starter.

Happy to hear from those in the same boat as me, also from those who think they could teach us!

I'm happy to arrange a venue to meet in, and logistics. The sessions would be something like 3 Saturday mornings 9.30 til 11.30am say

What sayest thou? Who will join me on this humble quest to move from jpeg to RAW?

SimonCar said

HI

Does anyone else struggle with tech and struggle with learning?

One of my New Years Resolutions was to at least learn how to use Photoshop and Lightroom BASICS so I can start to shoot and use RAW format. 

I understand the many benefits that are to be had from this RAW format in post processing. Thus far I've always shot in JPG and trusted my cameras conversion. Then a few tweaks with free Windows photo / lighter / darker/ saturation.

However I struggle with online course, my learning style is a bit ADHD. YouTube etc doesnt work for me, and I need a classroom environment.

Instead of going back to school, however, I propose a collective of fellow Neanderthals to contact me, and we will book a pro teacher and meet at London location with laptops for say 3 sessions as a starter.

Happy to hear from those in the same boat as me, also from those who think they could teach us!

I'm happy to arrange a venue to meet in, and logistics. The sessions would be something like 3 Saturday mornings 9.30 til 11.30am say

What sayest thou? Who will join me on this humble quest to move from jpeg to RAW?

SimonCar said

HI

Does anyone else struggle with tech and struggle with learning?

One of my New Years Resolutions was to at least learn how to use Photoshop and Lightroom BASICS so I can start to shoot and use RAW format. 

I understand the many benefits that are to be had from this RAW format in post processing. Thus far I've always shot in JPG and trusted my cameras conversion. Then a few tweaks with free Windows photo / lighter / darker/ saturation.

However I struggle with online course, my learning style is a bit ADHD. YouTube etc doesnt work for me, and I need a classroom environment.

Instead of going back to school, however, I propose a collective of fellow Neanderthals to contact me, and we will book a pro teacher and meet at London location with laptops for say 3 sessions as a starter.

Happy to hear from those in the same boat as me, also from those who think they could teach us!

I'm happy to arrange a venue to meet in, and logistics. The sessions would be something like 3 Saturday mornings 9.30 til 11.30am say

What sayest thou? Who will join me on this humble quest to move from jpeg to RAW?

SimonCar said

HI

Does anyone else struggle with tech and struggle with learning?

One of my New Years Resolutions was to at least learn how to use Photoshop and Lightroom BASICS so I can start to shoot and use RAW format. 

I understand the many benefits that are to be had from this RAW format in post processing. Thus far I've always shot in JPG and trusted my cameras conversion. Then a few tweaks with free Windows photo / lighter / darker/ saturation.

However I struggle with online course, my learning style is a bit ADHD. YouTube etc doesnt work for me, and I need a classroom environment.

Instead of going back to school, however, I propose a collective of fellow Neanderthals to contact me, and we will book a pro teacher and meet at London location with laptops for say 3 sessions as a starter.

Happy to hear from those in the same boat as me, also from those who think they could teach us!

I'm happy to arrange a venue to meet in, and logistics. The sessions would be something like 3 Saturday mornings 9.30 til 11.30am say

What sayest thou? Who will join me on this humble quest to move from jpeg to RAW?

Personally I think the difference between JPEG and RAW is over stated but it is worth shooting in the highest definition that you can. RAW pictures can look a bit flat in the camera's little screen but are transformed in Lightroom. I found it quite easy to use and did not worry too much about the really fancy features (the automatic correction looks fine on moist of my pics). Photoshop is a different matter; it just seems so complicated. I do not find GIMP any easier. Somewhat embarrassingly I am an IT super user in my work life (even then I do not always grasp concepts quickly). I looked for local experts on Google to no avail (most seemed a bit weird). I have gone back to try and fail and fail again and then fail a bit more. My progress is glacial but I may prevail eventually. Good luck to you in your efforts and to all the other tortoises out there.

I've taught Photoshop at a Further Education college both basic and intermediate and could do the same for Lightroom which I use on a daily basis. I also have access to classrooms in the Twickenham area where I've been considering running some workshops.

I've also been looking at on line, live tuition where I can take over your desktop and demonstrate on your own pics and layout.

If any of this interests you please drop me a direct message.

Understand that you're looking for in person tuition.

I first learned lightroom with a book from Scott Kelby on LR3. I actually read it while I was on holiday with my family and no computer near me, then when I got home, I used the book to go through the pictures I'd taken on that holiday.

Having read the book without the computer, then having the book right by men at it, I picked up what I was doing much quicker and the lessons from the book went in much better. I kept the book by my desk for a good while, checking how to do things, but after a couple of weeks, I was very happy with what I was doing.

As I said, above, I understand that you're looking for in-person tuition. This is just what worked for me and may help