# One on one Lightroom Training



## Duane Hemme (Apr 24, 2017)

I understand that both Victoria Bampton and Laura Shoe offer one on one Lightroom training.  I'd like to know if anyone has taken advantage of this and how it went. 

I've read books and watched videos but there's nothing like being able to ask questions as you are developing a photo.  I use Lightroom for managing my photos and some tweaks after I use Capture one for the heavy lifting.  I just can't seem to get Lightroom to process my photos as well as Capture one, I would like to use Lightroom for everything and need some expert help to see what I'm not doing correctly.


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## clee01l (Apr 24, 2017)

Welcome to the forum.   While I'm sure both Laura and Victoria offer excellent 1:1 training, there are other resources that might work well in your community.  Have you looked at local camera clubs?  They frequently offer workshops (sometimes conducted by very knowledgable people) .  In addition to this there are often special LR training  through Community colleges and special schools.  In my community (Houston), in addition to several camera clubs offering regular workshops, Lightroom classes are offered by the Houston Center for Photography and Houston Community College.   You can also search online for Lightroom Workshops.  These are about 1 week in length and often takes place in your city or near you and sometimes in exotic photographic locales.


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## Ian.B (Apr 25, 2017)

there no better why to learn LR than one to one in the same room . Cletus made great comments about that 

Another thought is a few local adverts to find those with LR near you who might be able to share experiences --- once I saw someone use the sync tools it made sense and later on I showed that some person something he didn't know . 

You can also post questions on the forum


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 25, 2017)

Yeah, local's a good idea. It depends on whether you're wanting to learn in a structured course type environment, which most local stuff is designed around, or whether you're looking for someone you can just ask lots of questions. Most of my live sessions are Q&A or troubleshooting, simply because it's far most cost-effective to do more general learning at a local level, or through video training.


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## Duane Hemme (Apr 25, 2017)

Victoria Bampton said:


> Yeah, local's a good idea. It depends on whether you're wanting to learn in a structured course type environment, which most local stuff is designed around, or whether you're looking for someone you can just ask lots of questions. Most of my live sessions are Q&A or troubleshooting, simply because it's far most cost-effective to do more general learning at a local level, or through video training.


I'm concerned only with Develop Module, I'd like to be able to walk through a couple of photos to see how an expert would process them vs what I have done. For example when to use exposure vs shadows and whites to make the photo brighter. I know at the end it's a matter of taste but I'd like to see how someone else would approach them.

I do have your book and it has been very helpful and also have Laura Shoe's videos.  But as I'm working on my photo's there always seems to be that time that you wish you could ask someone how this works or what combination is preferable. 

Thank you very much for responding to my question.


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## Ian.B (Apr 25, 2017)

plenty of those videos on the www Duane and they can be great to get you started ---- remember you cannot break anything by dragging sliders back and forth to see what happens --- there is no exact science to how much how each slider is used or not use, however it's often a case of 'a little can be lot' 
I do have a few online videos book marked and I will post a few when I find the better for you 
You are welcome to post a photo or  two to be edited to give you ideas; that can help also until you learn to see the edited photo inside the original file


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## Ian.B (Apr 25, 2017)

that was quicker than I expected www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYkcD-nhVDA

and a few more by googling _"lightroom editing start to finish" _--- these are just a couple 
http://lightroomkillertips.com/flat-fabulous-start-finish-lightroom-editing-tutorial/
digital-photography-school.com/13-steps-for-editing-street-photography-in-lightroom-from-start-to-finish/

I have also learnt a lot from this lovely lady when I concentrate on LR and not her 
Lightroom Tutorials by Julieanne Kost
She is also drives a camera very well --- I should revisit her to refresh a few thoughts
One tip: become best friends with the lightroom adjustment brush . That one tool can do so much for you but don't expect to become best friends over a weekend --- it's certainly a female; takes a while to understand  properly


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## Replytoken (Apr 26, 2017)

Julieanne does great videos, and I would recommend her for general LR learning.  I think that she does Adobe a great service with all of the LR videos that she has produced over the years.

Good luck,

--Ken


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## Ian.B (Apr 26, 2017)

I'm sure Victoria could do good ones also


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## Replytoken (Apr 26, 2017)

Ian.B said:


> I'm sure Victoria could do good ones also


I have no doubts about The Queen.  But, she does seem to be a very busy lady these days. 

--Ken


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## Ian.B (Apr 26, 2017)

^^that's no excuse


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 26, 2017)

Ian.B said:


> I'm sure Victoria could do good ones also



Funnily enough, an editing video course is one of the two projects I'm working on at the moment...


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 26, 2017)

Duane Hemme said:


> For example when to use exposure vs shadows and whites to make the photo brighter.



If you don't want to wait until my upcoming videos are done (it'll be a few months at least, as they're still at outline stage at the moment), I rather like George Jardine's image correction videos. That kind of decision is the kind of thing they're focused on. The only downside is his photos are a bit too good and a bit too exotic to relate to the kind of photos most of us amateurs shoot, and he focuses a lot more on the technicalities, which is beyond some users.


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## davidedric (Apr 26, 2017)

I also really like George Jardine's approach.  He teaches what the Lightroom controls actually do rather than a predetermined editing route. His approach is to look at an image, decide what it needs, and know what approach to take.  As an analogy, he teaches how to cook, not follow recipes.

Dave


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## Jim Wilde (Apr 26, 2017)

davidedric said:


> I also really like George Jardine's approach.  He teaches what the Lightroom controls actually do rather than a predetermined editing route. His approach is to look at an image, decide what it needs, and know what approach to take.  As an analogy, he teaches how to cook, not follow recipes.
> 
> Dave


And that's actually where the real skill lies, understanding what each control is capable of doing is one thing, but being able to view an image and "see" which controls are best to use is something else. I told him once that I found his Masterclass videos somewhat deflating because of that....


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 26, 2017)

Jim Wilde said:


> being able to view an image and "see" which controls are best to use is something else.



Yep. That's why it's taking me a while! I don't want anyone getting deflated!


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## Ian.B (Apr 27, 2017)

when do you start with the ON1 videos Victoria 
For what's worth: I prefer the shorter to the point lessons and often "fast forward" the longer ones which eat up my 20gb monthly data rather quickly


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 27, 2017)

While we're on the subject then, do you prefer to download videos you've bought, or stream them?


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## Duane Hemme (Apr 27, 2017)

Victoria Bampton said:


> While we're on the subject then, do you prefer to download videos you've bought, or stream them?


I prefer to download, I like having them on my iPad and being able to have them available if I don't have an internet connection.  Just downloaded the ON1 trial, looks interesting.


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## Jimmsp (Apr 27, 2017)

Duane Hemme said:


> .....  I use Lightroom for managing my photos and some tweaks after I use Capture one for the heavy lifting.  I just can't seem to get Lightroom to process my photos as well as Capture one, I would like to use Lightroom for everything and need some expert help to see what I'm not doing correctly.



While not exactly the same as teaching, one suggestion would be to post a link to a raw file that you say you having problems with, then a tiff of the same file processed in C1 that you like and want to reproduce. Some of the folks here could take a shot at it and show you the work flow and settings they used. It gets a little trickier if you have made some local adjustments in C1; you would need to tell us if you made any.
BTW, which version of C1 are you using. I used C1 in parallel with LR through C1 v7.

As another thought - I can take a photo, process it in LR to where I "like it", but then come back a few hours or days later, process it again to where I "like it" - and they are different. And this is before I make a number of final tweaks in Photoshop which really complicates trying to duplicate something.  In other words, your eye and brain can fool you sometimes about what you really like at the time.


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## Duane Hemme (Apr 27, 2017)

Jimmsp said:


> While not exactly the same as teaching, one suggestion would be to post a link to a raw file that you say you having problems with, then a tiff of the same file processed in C1 that you like and want to reproduce. Some of the folks here could take a shot at it and show you the work flow and settings they used. It gets a little trickier if you have made some local adjustments in C1; you would need to tell us if you made any.
> BTW, which version of C1 are you using. I used C1 in parallel with LR through C1 v7.
> 
> As another thought - I can take a photo, process it in LR to where I "like it", but then come back a few hours or days later, process it again to where I "like it" - and they are different. And this is before I make a number of final tweaks in Photoshop which really complicates trying to duplicate something.  In other words, your eye and brain can fool you sometimes about what you really like at the time.



How do I go about providing a link to a photo, can I just attach the photo to a post of is it done with a different process, sorry I don't post in Forums very often.


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## Jimmsp (Apr 27, 2017)

Duane Hemme said:


> How do I go about providing a link to a photo, can I just attach the photo to a post of is it done with a different process, sorry I don't post in Forums very often.


For a raw file and a large tiff, I would recommend something like Dropbox. I use it all the time for exchanging large files. After the files are processed and compared, it is easy to post jpegs.


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## Ian.B (Apr 28, 2017)

_download? _--- _buy? _--- that costs _money_!!


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 28, 2017)

Ian.B said:


> _download? _--- _buy? _--- that costs _money_!!


I know, so does the mortgage on my house. It's difficult to help Lightroom users while living on the streets though!


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## Gnits (Apr 28, 2017)

Ian.B said:


> _download? _--- _buy? _--- that costs _money_!!



A lot of experts support this site and contribute substantial non chargeable time. However, if people develop products, development and support cost money, so it is unreasonable to expect to get such items for free.


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 28, 2017)

Gnits said:


> A lot of experts support this site and contribute substantial non chargeable time. However, if people develop products, development and support cost money, so it is unreasonable to expect to get such items for free.


He was joking Matthew. Well, I think so!


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## Gnits (Apr 28, 2017)

Apologies .... I was puzzled by the response.


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## Ian.B (Apr 29, 2017)

You can always come and live with me Victoria ---- you will need to bring your brooms and mops though  



Gnits said:


> A lot of experts support this site and contribute substantial non chargeable time. However, if people develop products, development and support cost money, so it is unreasonable to expect to get such items for free.



 Yep!! I totally agree with "support" and that is why I bought ON1. I certainly didn't need it, but I am glad I have it. When I think back I certainly spent too many $$ on books/magazines/workshops to learn photography/editing in the pre-digital and my pre-www days --- now I at least try to help anyone when I can by passing on my experiences
i really feel there is too much online information  these days and we spend too much time looking at online pictures and reading conflicting articles instead of getting out there and learning our way. And that takes us right back to the original question and thoughts about learning one to one or small groups.

I also feel that using presets is not the way to learn editing; but so many seem in such a rush to get the "perfect" photo. Apart from the library section; LR is a _great '_fiddle around with' program to learn the basics of editing; however most will need some guidance. 

Learning by mistakes is a great teacher iMO --- we walk all day (practising) but only when we tip-up do we learn not to do _that _again. With photography; we don't learn by blazing away and hoping to fluke a good photo because then we don't really take any notice of the many failures and mistakes --- "I have my good photo so I'm a good photographer" . To learn by our mistakes we need to take less photos as we did in film days; we need to slow down and get back to studying the subject and the light and then take one or two photos. If they don't work out as hoped we are more likely to remember why those one or two files didn't work . I often unfairly don't give a lot of credit to many good bird photos because I know the 'photographer' had the camera doing most of work  while also was grabbing multiply files at 10++ frames per second. I often take just one photo of the stuff 'I photograph'; most of which are not moving but I very seldom use fast frame photography for anything. I hate picking the better or best from heaps of photos of the same or similar subject --- that time IMO, is better spent learning the art of making a photo-picture from the one good file, or studying/asking others what I did wrong when taking the photo

 _Sorry_; I got a bit carried after; _ AGAIN!! _


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## Wonner Naus (May 16, 2017)

davidedric said:


> I also really like George Jardine's approach.  He teaches what the Lightroom controls actually do rather than a predetermined editing route. His approach is to look at an image, decide what it needs, and know what approach to take.  As an analogy, he teaches how to cook, not follow recipes.
> 
> Dave



Absolutely agree. The value for the price is very high.

Haven't tried one-on-one, so no comment there.


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