The Digital Lightroom

The Centre for Contemporary Photography (Melbourne)
03-04 March 2012
16-17 June 2012
25-26 August 2012

This introductory weekend course featuring Adobe Lightroom covers the exposure, cataloguing, development and processing of digital images, including RAW files, workflow design and file management. Browsing, storage and archiving strategies are also critically examined and integrated to guarantee the efficient production of high quality images. The overall aim is to establish a simple but effective image processing workflow

. Topics covered include:

Digital Capture
• RAW versus JPEG
• What is correct exposure?
• Establishing a camera’s dynamic range
• Tethered capture
• Importing and renaming

Developing Digital Files
• Adobe Lightroom interface design
• Basic processing: white balance, exposure and contrast, colourfulness
• Local editing and progressive retouching
• Noise reduction and capture sharpening strategies
• Processing presets and histories

Processing Digital Photos
• Rating and prioritising
• Auto versus manual syncing
• Printing and proofing
• Exporting for web and publishing
• Choosing an RGB working space

Archiving Digital Images
• Browsing versus cataloguing workflows
• Working with IPTC metadata, templates and search engines
• File migration and open source (DNG) formats
• Managing and cataloguing
• Storage solutions

The course is based around a series of structured investigations and practical demonstrations of the capture, processing, and storage of digital images. Examples are drawn from a wide variety of photographic applications with an emphasis on practical solutions to real world imaging problems, such as locating missing files, batch processing large numbers of images, and automating workflows for quality and productivity. Detailed course notes are provided.