Q: How is Lightroom different from Photoshop? Photoshop is for doing intensive manipulation of individual photos.

Lightroom is for managing your whole photo workflow, including:

Organize your photos

• Manage metadata
• Find, sort, and rank photos
• Create collections
• Compare similars
• Export

Develop your photos

• Color correction
• Dust & redeye removal
• Tonal adjustments
• Sharpening
• Noise Reduction
• Lens corrections
• Virtual copies
• Cropping
• Compare before/after
• Presets

Slideshows

Easy Printing

Web Galleries

Q: How is that different from Bridge?

The corrections are all the same that you can do with Adobe Camera RAW; I believe Bridge, Photoshop, and Lightroom all use the same Camera Raw. So those are more or less the same.

However, Lightroom is based on a database. Any changes you make to the photos are stored in the database, not the original image. Similar to the XMP files that Bridge uses, but more robust.

You can save develop settings as presets. And you can share presets with other users. I have a library of dozens of presets I have collected, and I can go from one to the next with just a click.

Like in iTunes playlist, you can make collections. An image can be in multiple collections. So you can organize your photos for projects. You can also make smart collections; so you can instantly collect in one place all your photos with a particular keyword, or multiple keywords: all your “four star” images taken in “london” with “Susan” in them. Or see what lenses you used the most in 2011.

But probably the biggest difference from Bridge is virtual copies. You can replicate an image over and over without actually replicating the file. That way, you can try different processing variations and compare them side by side.

There’s also a printing module which is useful if you print your own photos. I used to save off .psd’s at different aspect ratios, creating multiple files of my favorite images at 8×10, 5×7, etc. With Lightroom, it’s just a preset for each image size.

It does seem to me that low humidity can correlate with the blue skies and white cumulus clouds that I like for photography. This time of year in particular — late August through October, generally — brings us lower humidity, clear air, and a lot of pretty sky. That, plus the foliage of autumn, is why autumn is my favorite time of year to plan a photo trip.

Of course, even in autumn the weather can be variable. It’s important to note that a change of weather can be the best time to shoot; when the forecast says “rain this afternoon, ending toward evening” can be a really good time to plan a sunset shoot.

But it’s always a crapshoot. I’ve had gloomy overcast days suddenly open up for a gorgeous shot of the sun peeking through the clouds, after I had decided to stay home. I’ve had beautiful clear days suddenly block up in the west more times than I can count.

If there’s a real science about it, I still have not figured it out.

The short answer is shoot what interests you, shoot what you can get to. Almost any subject can become a photo project. Shoot that subject frequently, at different times of day and different times of the year. The subject can be a community of people, a place, or a thing or collection of things. Here are a few random examples:

If you are buying new: Of course Canon and Nikon are the most popular brands; they have the lion’s share of the market and they make fine equipment. You can’t go wrong choosing either one, see which brand feels right to you and which model fits your budget. If you have friends who shoot one or the other, it might make sense to pick that brand because you can borrow/share lenses and equipment. Personally, I was borrowing Canon DLSR’s since they came out, so I was familiar with Canon and everybody I knew at the time shot Canon, so that’s what I bought. Personally, I like the thumbwheel on the back that can be found on the x0D line of cameras, I have always owned Canons with the thumbwheel.

If you are on a tight budget and if you have no particular reason to go Canon or Nikon, I can recommend Pentax line, it has very good value for the money across the line, and the top-end Pentax cameras are as good as anything out there. Plus, the Pentax lens mount has not changed in decades, so there are loads of older manual focus lenses that will fit on it. Pentax offers some sweet and useful lenses such as the Pentax DA 40mm f/2.8 ultra compact lens. Be aware, though, that while Pentax has superb sensors, the line currently has no full-frame sensor bodies available. If you really think you will be pursuing serious fine-art photography or go pro at some point, you might want to stick with Canon or Nikon for this reason. Although I think for most hobbyists, this should not be a consideration.

If you don’t mind buying used, I generally recommend Canon 20D or 30D (not D30). The 20D and 30D are about the oldest DSLR’s that are really good (they are very similar models, although the 30D has a larger LCD).  I do recommend that you avoid anything older than the 20D: this would include the Canon D30, D60, and 10D, as they have very slow buffers and a startup lag (they can take one to three seconds to “turn on”). Here is a Canon DSLR timeline to help you tell them apart.

Be aware that Canon has a (not well-publicized) “Canon Loyalty Program” which allows Canon owners (in North America, at least) to send their used (or even broken) DLSR to Canon in exchange for a significant discount on a refurbished Canon product (approx US$200). This tends to put a floor on the market for used Canon cameras, since they always have a trade-in value of around $200. Don’t expect to find a used Canon DSLR of any vintage for under that price (or if you do, you could try calling Canon to get the trade-in yourself).

As far as used Nikon bodies go, I’m not very familiar with them, so I can’t really comment on specific Nikon models.

They have a software package that makes it really easy to order enlargements; you can set the crop and preview the results. They have 1:3 and 1:4 and other ratios available in a lot of nonstandard sizes; for example, you can get 10×10, 10×13, 10×14, 10×15, 10×16, 10×18, 10×20, 10×24, 10×30, or 10×40!

I ordered two 12×36 (1:3) panoramas with luster coating and a gatorfoam backing, for an exhibit in December. I placed the order 11/20, and it arrived 11/26. Total cost including shipping: US$156. They look great and were packed well in a giant flat box. I live in New England, USA.

Meridian is owned by Dwayne’s Photo, which is another lab I have also used, with good results.

Meridian sizes and pricing.

Level indicator in the viewfinder, so that I know if the camera is perfectly horizontal or vertical. Further, I want the camera angle saved in the metadata, so that I can correct for it in post. That way, if I’m .0256 degrees off from level, software can auto-correct that, if I want. Apparently the 7D has this feature, see page 217-218 of the manual.

Built-in GPS when I want it. While we’re at it, can I optionally have a map installed in the camera, and view my position on the camera’s LCD viewfinder at any time. That way, I can dispense with my handheld GPS when I’m hiking.

Instant connectivity to the Internet, so that I can upload my pictures to Flickr immediately. Actually, I’m not sure I want that feature, but I’m sure many people do. There’s a reason that the iPhone is the #1 camera on Flickr.

I’d love for Canon to take a cue from the four-thirds movement, and design a very small camera body that uses the standard EF-S mount. Ideally, the camera should be significantly smaller than the Rebel series, have no mirror or pentaprism, and shoot in “live mode” only.