My work-to-fun ratio with software reached about 50 to 1 many years ago. I stopped playing PC games and have spent almost all of my time using software for coding (admittedly fun – sometimes) and for work and personal productivity.

The timing was good to see this tweet last week just days after I off loaded my first batch (on flickr here and here) of photos taken from my new Canon T2i (550D) and EF-S 18-135 and 55-250 lenses. While very impressed with the upgraded quality of the images (from my slightly older Rebel Xsi), I was eager to see how I could enhance them with Adobe’s Lightroom 3. I downloaded the trial. While usually lost in Photoshop, I found Lightroom quick and easy to get started and I was able to tweak and enhance photos to an exciting level.

The post production process for me, a former Editor of photography and darkroom dweller back in my high school and college days, is as much fun as taking the photos themselves. To re-discover this in the digital photography world is just awesome.

You can clearly see the richness and difference in photos from left to right. In Lightroom 3, I found adjusting “Temp” and “Recovery” instantly effective. I also found additional detail when playing and increasing “Blacks”, “Brightness” and “Contrast” against each other. Even with these amazing results, there are still Lens Corrections and Effects to add.

If you’ve got a great camera and want the best out of your photos, you should start playing with Lightroom.

Links:
My “Stage Fort Park” set
My “T2i Selections” set
Adobe Lightroom 3